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Air hoses

hipaul | Posted in Tools for Home Building on July 22, 2007 05:31am

I’ve been using a standard gray 3/8″ 50′ rubber air hose for the last several years. Works fine, but I keep nicking myself on the pipe clamps that I’ve got wrapped around it to keep the blow-outs closed.
Just picked up a new little Thomas compressor and figured I might as well get myself a spanky new hose.
What’s the opinion out there on good hoses?
Are the flexeel hoses really all that? Haven’t used one before, but I’ve heard they’re pretty nice.
Also 1/4″ vs. 3/8″? I’m mostly running a finish gun, brad gun, or single framing gun doing stud framing. Hardly ever nailing off sheathing or roofing all day long. I use an HVLP spray gun sometimes with a crappy old compressor that I don’t mind short cycling the motor, I figure that might need the 3/8″ hose but I’m not sure if the 1/4″ hose will work fine for my normal framing and finish work.
Any good bites?

Paul

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Replies

  1. vanderpooch | Jul 22, 2007 05:37am | #1

    Paul,

    I'm sure you'll get a lot of recs for the flexeel. Personally, though they are very light, I don't like them. To hard to coil/uncoil. I would definitely not buy more than a 50', 25' would be better.

    My favorite hose of late has been a very pliable grey one I picked up at Home Cheapo. It's branded as Rigid. Really smooth and soft. Love it. $30 with fittings already attached.

    Now all the Flexeel guys can jump on me. I don't like my 10" Makita slider, either (a perennial favorite).

    -Kit

    Technique is proof of your seriousness. - Wallace Stevens
    1. byhammerandhand | Jul 22, 2007 06:14pm | #8

      Campbell-Hausfeld makes a flexible gray one called Maxus (or maybe Maxxus) that I really like. Very flexible and air-tight connectors. I know they OEM & private label stuff for HD, so this may be one in the same.

    2. Buttkickski | Aug 06, 2007 06:49pm | #18

      I've gone through a dozen hoses and the Ridgid ones I have now rock! 

      "I never met a man who didn't owe somebody something."

      1. hipaul | Aug 07, 2007 06:03am | #19

        I used the Ridgid one for the first time today and I gotta say that I like it. It's much lighter than the 3/8" grey one I've been using for years, and it seems to roll/unroll really easily without kinking. As I'm looking at the nice job that the sheetrockers did on this basement and the good paint job I just finished, I'm happy knowing that I won't be kinking and dragging my old house all around the rooms dinging every new corner bead as I do the trim and built-ins!

        1. Buttkickski | Aug 07, 2007 03:26pm | #21

          And it coils and uncoils well even after sitting in the truck all night during the winter. You'll like it. 

          "I never met a man who didn't owe somebody something."

    3. ckorto | Aug 07, 2007 06:21am | #20

      That Rigid is a GREAT hose.  I always run 1/4" hoses, this one feels like an extension cord.

    4. User avater
      basswood | Aug 07, 2007 04:12pm | #22

      VP and ALL,I think flexeel hoses do have a learning curve. It helps if you break them in with a good stretching (work your way down the hose grasping it with your hands about 6" apart and pull, repeat about 50 times).I contend that flexeel type hoses are best coiled into a "loose 8" that when uncoiled tends to lay nice and flat (rather than forcing it into a neat circular coil that makes standing loops when uncoiled).The Eel Green flexell hoses with the swivel connectors at both ends look good but are expensive. http://www.aircompressorsdirect.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=740I run swivel lanyards from my manifold. These do help keep hoses flat. The hose length I use most often is 33'...I bought a 100' poly hose, cut it in thirds and had the local hydraulic shop put new ends on it for me. Just finished switching over to Universal, stab in connectors...nice! I often run a 25' or 50' hose to the manifold, then 33' or 50' from the manifold to my gun.Have a groovy day,BW

  2. DustinT | Jul 22, 2007 05:51am | #2

    Flexeels are pretty cool, I use them, but definitely not as durable as them old rubber dogs.  Bostitch makes a polyurethane hose that can be cut and easily refitted in the field.  I don't think the flexeels are that hard to fix, either. 

    For the work you describe, I think you would be fine with either 1/4" or 3/8".  I use 1/4" for frame and finish, no big problems.

    Take it easy,

    Dustin

  3. RedfordHenry | Jul 22, 2007 06:07am | #3

    When I do finish work and the compressor is right behind me, I use one of those 25' yellow nylon corkscrew hoses.  If I am working further away, or framing or even roofing, I have a couple of 50' flexeel (1/4"), that do everything I need I need them to do.  After getting used to it, the old red 3/8" hose, with the duct tape patches feels like dragging around an old firehose.  These are especially nice in cold weather, the flexeel seems equally limber in freezing cold as it does on a hot roof.

  4. caseyr | Jul 22, 2007 06:39am | #4

    My Flexeel not only is a pain to get untangled, it also can kink to the point of shutting off the air supply. It is nice and light, however. I would go along with the suggestion of getting one in a short length to use as the hose before your gun.

    1. User avater
      Sphere | Jul 22, 2007 02:20pm | #6

      I finally got so disgusted with my 50' eel, that I got a cheapie Harbor Freight hose reel and bolted it to the shelf unit near my van back doors.

      It came with 30' of rubber on it already, I added the eel and now, just pull out what ya need and then crank it back up....sweet.

      I can get my van close enough most times and leave the comp in it, or just run a hose to the reel feed from else where.

      Flex eel 1/4 hose is the pits anywhere near a wood shake roof, gets snagged on every little edge, don't do it. You spend all day fighting the damm thing. 

      1. BillBrennen | Jul 22, 2007 07:49pm | #9

        I'm glad to see I'm not crazy. I have a 25' and a 50' Flexeel 1/4" hose. I love the 25, hate the 50. Maybe I'll get some repair ends and have 3 - 25' hoses I love.I like your solution, too.Bill

  5. nikkiwood | Jul 22, 2007 08:36am | #5

    The flexeels are great -- but I too think you ought to buy them in 25' lengths. There is a trick to getting them coiled up, and to keep them from kinking, you want to unfurl the entire hose and get it straightened out before you hook them up.

    I have three 25' hoses, which covers most of my applications.

    The 1/4" are perfectly adequate (and lighter than the 3/8"), even for moderate framing use.

    ********************************************************
    "It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."

    John Wooden 1910-

  6. User avater
    MarkH | Jul 22, 2007 03:12pm | #7

    I like my bostitch prozhose.  I think Home destructo carries it or a look alike version, but Lowes carries it for sure.  I bought several from a bostitch dealer in Hawaii for half the price of lowes.  Got em off ebay, and they had free shipping, which was nice, but I don't know how they did it.

  7. DanH | Jul 22, 2007 07:53pm | #10

    I've got a little gizmo that lets you wrap wire for a hose clamp. Tightens the wire as tight as a factory wrap, and crimps the ends. Picked it up at the county fair.

    So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
  8. Hiker | Jul 22, 2007 09:20pm | #11

    I'll second the Rigid Brand from HD.  Nice smooth hose, limited coil memory so it lays down flat all the time.  I have three or four flexeel hoses sitting in the shop.  None of the guys like them.  It is always a fight to get them out without making a mess.  They also get punctured pretty easy as well.

    Bruce

    1. mmflynn | Jul 23, 2007 04:37am | #12

      I have 1/4" hose by flexeel and 2 other maufacturers- 25 to 100 foot lengths.  They will catch on anything and burning cigarett butts will melt a hole in them.  I use cheap electrical wind ups to store and payout the house as needed.  Flexeel sells sweet conical repair couplings for smooth repair.  I love the light weight of these hoses and would never drag around heavy rubber to my guns again, but I do run a  50 fot 3/8 rubber hose to a 3 way splitter from my trailer for multiple framing nailers. 

      1. dovetail97128 | Jul 23, 2007 06:47am | #13

        Might want to check the air guns instruction manuals you are using for hose specs. Most guns want a minimum of 1/2" or you can void the warranty on the gun. I have always used 3/8' and got caught in that trap, still use 3/8" but won't go smaller than that."Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca

  9. daveinnh | Aug 06, 2007 03:42am | #14

    I've got a 100' x 3/8" flexel hose that I use to power a Hitachi finish nailer in our house (still working on trim). I find it frustrating to use since it coils and coils.

     

  10. hipaul | Aug 06, 2007 03:53am | #15

    I ended up getting the 1/4" 50' grey hose from the home despot on the recommendations of the folks here. I haven't hooked it up yet since it's basically the same hose that I've been using except 1/4" instead of 3/8". I'll probably get it going here in the next couple of days since I'm starting into the trim and cabinetry portion of a basement remodel and it'll be nice not to drag around a hose with a bunch of hose clamps on it runing all the nice trim that I'll be putting in.
    I may end up going and getting a 25' flexeel down the road as well. I'll see how this goes.
    Muchas gracias
    Paul

    1. KenHill3 | Aug 06, 2007 04:02am | #16

      I often use a 25ft. Flexeel with my itty bitty Senco compressor and just tote it around the jobsite.

  11. NEXTLEVEL | Aug 06, 2007 01:37pm | #17

    I also have been using the 3/8 rubber hose for about the past 30 years.  The other day I was in the local lumber/tool store and saw a griprite 3/8 hose that was lightweight and very pliable.  I bought one and love it.  Went back and bought another one.  I use the orange extension cord plastic reels to roll the hoses up on when I'm done.  They fit just right on these reels.

    I can't remember the last time I used the old rubber hose.  I've had these new hoses about 6 months now and would highly recommend them.

    James

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