Moving into my new garage and getting ready to plumb my airlines. Is it worth switching my 3/8 airlines and 1/4 fittings with 1/2 lines and 3/8 fittings? My compressor is a Cambell Hausfield, 80 gallon, twin cylinder, single stage. Will I see better performance in my air tools with more volume?
1/2" Air Lines
- Thread starter bfr57
- Start date
akdiesel
Well-known member
Most air grinders, drills, and such are 1/4" inlets any ways, so for the the answer is no on the inlet size. But for a good impact gun you will need a 1/2" inlet, but again a 3/8" impact gun will do most household work. So the 1/2" line is a better choice and 3/4" is even better in my opinion. It gives more volume as well as your tank and depending on you length of air line run you can get friction loss with the smaller lines.
Too little information. You telling us you've got airline system with only 3/8" pipe . . . is it copper or black pipe steel or what?? Never heard anyone using less than 1/2" airline system.
How many feet of airline system do you have ??
What are "restrictions" on outgoing air as it leaves 80 gal tank . . . sizes ??
How many feet of airline system do you have ??
What are "restrictions" on outgoing air as it leaves 80 gal tank . . . sizes ??
volleyball
Well-known member
If you make a complete loop with your airline, it should be enough for 1 person to use.
astroracer
Well-known member
If you are doing runs of more then 50 ft., 1/2" will get you less of a pressure drop. If you are using 50' or less then, no. Like has been stated 1/2" line has it's uses but, for a regular hobby shop, it's not necessary. I use 1/2" line in my shop exclusively for automotive painting, otherwise it's 3/8ths.
I was running my 1/2" impact yesterday and it worked just fine on the 3/8th hose.
The BEST thing you could do is plumb the shop with 1/2" black pipe. Then you can use shorter hose lengths to get your work done.
Mark
I was running my 1/2" impact yesterday and it worked just fine on the 3/8th hose.
The BEST thing you could do is plumb the shop with 1/2" black pipe. Then you can use shorter hose lengths to get your work done.
Mark
Sorry, haven't been on in awhile.
Here's some more info on my project: 80 gallon, single stage, dual cylinder CH compressor. My shop is 32x80 and I'm mounting the compressor outside and making a shelter for it; I'm in southern AZ, so weather isn't a big issue. I was going to plumb 3/4" pipe for the main run around the shop and use 1/2" for the drops. My original question on airline size was the rubber service hoses for my air tools. I wasn't thinking it all through, and as Akdiesel stated, the air tools have standard 1/4 or 3/8 NPT inlets. I'm wanting the most volume thought going to a 1/2" service hose would increase my volume. So that brings up another question on the connections. Would converting to the larger chucks like these in the pic be worth it?
Here's some more info on my project: 80 gallon, single stage, dual cylinder CH compressor. My shop is 32x80 and I'm mounting the compressor outside and making a shelter for it; I'm in southern AZ, so weather isn't a big issue. I was going to plumb 3/4" pipe for the main run around the shop and use 1/2" for the drops. My original question on airline size was the rubber service hoses for my air tools. I wasn't thinking it all through, and as Akdiesel stated, the air tools have standard 1/4 or 3/8 NPT inlets. I'm wanting the most volume thought going to a 1/2" service hose would increase my volume. So that brings up another question on the connections. Would converting to the larger chucks like these in the pic be worth it?
Attachments
sberry
Banned
The point is not to use as much air as you can but to have enuf to get the work done. The only reason for a 3/4 pipe main is multiple men for body shop. 3/8 hoses with the factory 1/4 ends are the standard for this kind of work and I know everyone likes to think they are special and do more bigger than the rest of the world but it aint so.
Personally I use 1/2 mains in black, its so much easier to make most of the parts one size and 1 less stage to adapt.
Personally I use 1/2 mains in black, its so much easier to make most of the parts one size and 1 less stage to adapt.
sberry
Banned
The number 1 thing you can do if there is an issue, such as big impact is shorten the secondary hose. This produces 10x the results of a larger main.
ixlr8
Well-known member
As far as fittings, I changed from the Milton 'L' type connector to the Milton 'V' type and my 1/2" impact gun behaved totally differently. It was like I got a new gun that was at least twice as powerful. Fittings were the only change to my system. Lug nuts that I was setting the air pressure to 80 psi to get close to the torque specs, I had to change to 60psi or I greatly over torqued the nuts.
bob15
Well-known member
Using 3/8" hose with 1/4" npt ends will be fine. Going with high volume (Euro, "V", etc) fittings will improve the air tool performance. Dragging a 1/2 air hose out to put air in a tire or a basketball is a PIA.
I have a 3/4" drive impact gun that I use with a 3/8 hose, 1/4 npt fittings and high flow connectors and haven't found a fitting I couldn't remove.
What due to plan on using with the air? What type of tools? What due to see working on?
I have a 3/4" drive impact gun that I use with a 3/8 hose, 1/4 npt fittings and high flow connectors and haven't found a fitting I couldn't remove.
What due to plan on using with the air? What type of tools? What due to see working on?
Vegaman_Dan
Well-known member
The only place I can think of where you'll really benefit from larger airlines and fittings are for automotive painting or media blasting. Anything else is nice, but will not really see much difference.
I hope to paint my Triumph later, but plan to have a separate large line dedicated to paint air only so I can be positive about water and oil contamination being removed.
I hope to paint my Triumph later, but plan to have a separate large line dedicated to paint air only so I can be positive about water and oil contamination being removed.
I think it will be fine, what I do is have a short 1/2" hose with high flow fittings ran to the tank for when I need the large air guns power, BUT 99.99% of the time, I plug the 1/2" gun into the reels air line and it blasts everything off, the new guns are so efficient and so strong even with a smaller line they still have gobs of power. Pretty soon the tires are going to start spinning when you tighten up lug nuts...
Thanks all. I do have a cabinet for blasting as I do powder coating as a side job. I use a HF pressure tank and I was going to run a dedicated 1/2" line off the main just for sure. Other than that it's the common impacts, drills, ratchets, grinders, and occasional painting with HVLP.
gregtwojeeps
Well-known member
When I painted my truck in my avatar back in 2001 I used a Sata NR 2000 finish gun that was an CFM air hog. I had a 80 gallon, SpeedAire twin cast iron compressor with a true 22 amp 5 HP motor on it, but I forget the CFM rating it had now. ...
I had my garage air line piped with 3/4 "black from the tank and run the perimeter of the exterior walls with it as a trunk line and then used 1/2" black pipe drops down to outlet taps. Worked great, had condensate drains using ball valves on the end of each drop. .
I was also doing a lot of air DA sanding and such at that time. By switching to the "high flow" hose fittings that I bought from my auto paint store, I could really tell a difference in my tool's performance. ....
They just have a larger diameter inside bore than the standard 3/8 " air hose fittings. Be forewarned though, one cannot mix and match them. High flow to high flow. Standard to standard. jmo
finn
Well-known member
All other things being equal, the 3/8" air hose will be a lot easier to work with, and will deliver adequate air unless you are using 4/4 or 1" air impact wrenches.
JCQuick
Well-known member
A company I use to work for did a lot of Air system's 1/2" drops and 3/8" hose is what we put in a lot of large places some being a city bus garage. of course something like a bus garage had a 2" feed and several very large compressors
sberry
Banned
The connectors probably did make some noticeable difference at 60 and 80#,,, half system pressure.
sberry
Banned
This is a good point to do some good system design and reduce the connections. One of the reason some of them are restrictive is that there are 2 of them and sometimes more where there should be one at the business end.
In many, most of these common garages would be well served by a fixed whip and a reel or 2 in some cases and would need only a couple female couple bodies in the whole job.
It reduces the amount of initial cost and disciplines the user to make any live connections right at the tool where it belongs.
There are special provisions of course, there is tailoring and there is backtracking, we actually remove some unused items. Just cause we put it there sometime in the past dont mean its got to stay.
I do have a hydrant here and there but they are remote. In a good system the user hose is provided, he doesn't move a section of hose. There is no need for the coupled connection, we screw every one till it gets to where is hits the tool. We do have extensions but they are stored out of the way, any of the normal functions have a hose within reach and if its warranted an extension with fixed whip.
In many, most of these common garages would be well served by a fixed whip and a reel or 2 in some cases and would need only a couple female couple bodies in the whole job.
It reduces the amount of initial cost and disciplines the user to make any live connections right at the tool where it belongs.
There are special provisions of course, there is tailoring and there is backtracking, we actually remove some unused items. Just cause we put it there sometime in the past dont mean its got to stay.
I do have a hydrant here and there but they are remote. In a good system the user hose is provided, he doesn't move a section of hose. There is no need for the coupled connection, we screw every one till it gets to where is hits the tool. We do have extensions but they are stored out of the way, any of the normal functions have a hose within reach and if its warranted an extension with fixed whip.
sberry
Banned
Yes, there is a place for big air mains, sometimes its as easy or doesn't add much to the cost. The main reason I stress adequate vs simply big and a lot is that the complexity.
I like copper for the fixed lines. The big reason is easier to make a "no leak" system than black pipe. I replaced all of the black pipe lines in my shop with copper as I got tired of the slow leaks in the pipe causing the compressor to cycle at odd hours. Ideally any hose reels will have shutoff valves in the main lines as they will seep some air no matter what you do. My system in a 36x48 shop will only leak 50 psi over a 4 day period and that's most likely due to quick disconnects at the drops and the one hose reel that doesn't have a shutoff valve.