air hose material?

[theopowers]

Looking to buy some longer hoses for my compressor. Why would I choose rubber over pvc or vice-versa?

[Ole Yeller]

Well, my compressor came with one of those yellow plastic coiled lines and the thing was always getting tangled up with itself so I switched to an old fashioned rubber hose that for me is easier to work with.

[MFolks]

PVC is like a bomb waiting to go off! Most air compressors are oil lubricated and this will degrade the PVC line to the point of bursting and throwing sharp bits all over! The safe way to go would be rubber hose or thick walled copper pipe if this will be a permanate set up.

Don't forget when plumbing the lines to allow condensation to flow to drain valves. The website www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/forumdisplay has covered this matter and I believe a plumbing diagram is in the files.

[Saleenguy]

I prefer the heavy duty, rubber hose on my compressor.

It stays flexible, does not kink, and has lasted many years without failure.

The cheapy plastic crap hoses suck, and should be burned.

[Redbeard]

Ease of handling in cold weather. Some of us don't have heated garages.

[QKENUF4U]

the PVC hoses are CRAP CRAP CRAP and dont like to lay flat when ya uncoil them. i switched to black rubber and they are awesome. all from harbor freight to be exact.

[jbsmd]

Corded rubber last longer and will handle more pressure. Plastic lines are just cheap, but will hold pressure from a small compressor and kink easy.

[StarGate]

I have a 100' polyurethane (poly) air hose that I have been using for about 15 years now. It doesn't get dry rot cracks like I had with rubber and it gets very heavy use (daily in most cases) with my nail guns and other air tools on a regular basis. It's rated for 250 psi and will remain flexible and easy to coil in the coldest of temps. I'll never use rubber or plastic again and if this one ever wears out I'll definitely buy another one just like it. I can't even count the number of times I've had this hose run across the concrete driveway on a job, and driven over it with my truck and it's still like new as far as I can tell. Great stuff.

[jeffs99vulcan]

Just don't cheap out... rubber (or poly as above) will stay flexible, PVC will not. Flexibility (lack of it) will become your number one headache if you get a stiff, brittle hose...

[bretsk2500]

The only problem I've ever had with rubber hoses in a work environment is they invariably get 1' shorter about once a year as the jacket splits just after where the fittings are crimped on. These hoses see everything, from air nailers on a construction site to my impact guns fixing/maintaining the caterpillar...