Do you like those slinky type air hoses?

[Santa Clarita Len]

I sometimes use a 25' 1/4" coiled hose attached to a 50' polyurethane hose and it is really great. It worked so well that I bought a 25' 3/8 coiled hose to get more air for my HVLP spray gun. This was a huge mistake as it is way too stiff and wants to pull itself back when in use.

[cork58]

They are a great addition to airplane saftey. If you'er ever going down just jump out of the airplane with one. Its bound to hang up on something!

[dbhost]

I worked in an upholstery shop in college, and the slinky hoses worked great for VERY limited functions. Particularly running a pneumatic stapler at a workstation where there wasn't a whole lot of moving the tool around. If you need to move around with them though, they tangle a LOT and are a general pain in the tail...

I have a Polyurethane non coiled hose that I love. It tangles a bit as well, but is very light, and easy to move around. Untangling it is as simple as just jiggling the hose. It is far less fatiguing to use this than a rubber hose...

[atgcpaul]

I'm going to have to check out the PU hose. I have a blue hose in my shop
that looks just like Loring's but it seems to have none of the properties Loring
described earlier. It doesn't kink but when it's cold, it's stiff as a board. I'll
have to look for some kind of material label or something on it. If the hose is
PU, then I'm not sold on PU.

[LCHIEN]

so here's a PVC hose on the bottom and a PU hose on top...
Blue doesn't mean anything.
FWIW the PU hoses seem to be 1/4" ID vs. 3/8" ID for PU and rubber hoses... if you have high flow requirements that may make a difference.
For air nailers and small tools and blow nozzles it doesn't make much difference.

[Chris_B]

+1 for PU hoses. *Huge* improvement over rubber or (especially) PVC.

FWIW the PU hoses seem to be 1/4" ID vs. 3/8" ID for PU and rubber hoses... if you have high flow requirements that may make a difference.
For air nailers and small tools and blow nozzles it doesn't make much difference.

3/8" PU hoses are available online, but I have never seen them at Lowes or HD.

See: Link

[Bill in Buena Park]

I keep a small slinky hose on my little 2gal CH compressor, which I keep under my workbench and use in-shop with my brad/pin nailers, or in-house for same (moldings, etc.) For big work, I'm still using rubber hoses on my 26g compressor... and tired of the weight, so will also have to check out the PU at some point.

[jdon]

Just to add my .02- I have the short 1/4" yellow "slinkie" and a blue PVC 3/8"from HD- agree with all comments already posted.

I also have a 3/8" polyurethane hose fro HD- neon green, and doesn't have braiding that Loring's blue PU hose does. My PU hose is definitely lighter than PVC, and the slippery surface makes it easier to pull around corners and obstacles.

However, I've found that my PU hose is definitely stiffer than PVC, and also has considerable "memory": it has a persistent tendency to coil, despite attempts to straighten, e.g. stretching out on the yard on a hot sunny day.

IMHO it's a tossup- PVC flexibility but greater weight vs PU lightness but stiffness. Caveat- other PU hoses may be more flexible than mine- as I recall, it was pretty cheap at HD. If a PU hose has the same flexibility as a PVC, it wins hands down.

[LCHIEN]

Just to add my .02- I have the short 1/4" yellow "slinkie" and a blue PVC 3/8"from HD- agree with all comments already posted.

I also have a 3/8" polyurethane hose fro HD- neon green, and doesn't have braiding that Loring's blue PU hose does. My PU hose is definitely lighter than PVC, and the slippery surface makes it easier to pull around corners and obstacles.

However, I've found that my PU hose is definitely stiffer than PVC, and also has considerable "memory": it has a persistent tendency to coil, despite attempts to straighten, e.g. stretching out on the yard on a hot sunny day.

IMHO it's a tossup- PVC flexibility but greater weight vs PU lightness but stiffness. Caveat- other PU hoses may be more flexible than mine- as I recall, it was pretty cheap at HD. If a PU hose has the same flexibility as a PVC, it wins hands down.

PU has a different kind of stiffness. It is very stiff in twist (maybe because of the reinforcement). If its laying out straight and flat, and you take one end and twist it 360 degrees, the other free end will probably turn 359 degrees. So when you roll it up, it will have one twist per loop. If you pull the loops off the side of the roll then you will have a big slinky. If you untwist it as you take it off the roll (or use a rotating reel) then the sucker will lay flat and straight with no memory. Because its so light and thin, its really not much of an issue to untwist it when I need to lay it out straight and flat. And then retwist it to roll it up. I imagione it would work great on a reel. It's very flexible as opposed to stiff - I can bend it into a tight loop:


PVC has a lot of memory esp when cold. If stored rolled up, and its 50 degrees temperaure, you will never get that thing to lay flat and straight to save your life. Its still very difficult when its warm.

[os1kne]

This is interesting. I picked up a couple of PU air hoses for running the roofing nailer when I replaced my roof last summer. I bought them primarily for the light weight. I dislike PVC air hoses and rubber is much too heavy for that type of work. I've never thought of replacing the rubber hose that I use in the shop with PU, but I could probably fit 50% more hose on the reel with PU.

Back on topic - yes, I do use a couple of slinky-type PVC airhoses for quick tasks or portable use.