"Ashton Crusher" wrote in message
...
I've often wondered how much of the "energy" is getting lost thru
pressure drop in the hose from my air compressor to the tool. Plus
the thru hole in the fittings is pretty small. Yet none of the
regular outlets seems to carry any larger diameter hose or fittings. I
think the standard is around 1/4" or maybe 3/8. It' seems like a
larger hose would make tools that use a fair amount of air work a lot
better. Has anyone used larger hose and can offer a comparison?

There are variables. Any restriction can cause a performance loss but a
1/4" diameter passage can carry quite a bit of air. In the case of impact
wrenches, nail guns, the amount fair per shot is minimal. Some spray guns,
sander, bead blasters can take considerably more cfm. In the case of a nail
gun, the pressure drop is negligible because of the recovery time between
hits, even on a fairly rapid pace. The larger the house or piping in the
system, the more reservoir you have , thus lessening the impact of the
orifice size at the point of use.