Shopsmith Forums

I have a PC 'pancake' compressor. I find moving it to a location in the house a problem these days (I'm getting older). If I get a longer hose will I lose the effectiveness of the compressor? What if I add another hose to the one I have, how will that effect it's use. Thanks for reading.

First the size of the line matters as well as the length. I have attached a table that may be of some assistance.

Where it leaves your compressor is a choke point. If it is 1/2" and reduced down to almost 1/4" through your regulator, then hose is coiled 3/8" you can improve the performance by upgrading the size of regulator, and supply hose.

See if this helps...

Everett

You will lose some pressure but it will be negligible. I have run a hundred feet of hose on a pancake compressor on job sites with no real issues.
Paul

An important 'detail' is what is on the end of the hose. If it requires a great volume of air, the hose will restrict the delivery.

When used with large nailers, I have added a pressure tank close to the nailer(short hose between the tank and the nailer). That allows the long hose run to replace the air in the tank in between nailing.

JPG wrote:An important 'detail' is what is on the end of the hose. If it requires a great volume of air, the hose will restrict the delivery.

When used with large nailers, I have added a pressure tank close to the nailer(short hose between the tank and the nailer). That allows the long hose run to replace the air in the tank in between nailing.

Good idea!

JPG wrote:An important 'detail' is what is on the end of the hose. If it requires a great volume of air, the hose will restrict the delivery.

When used with large nailers, I have added a pressure tank close to the nailer(short hose between the tank and the nailer). That allows the long hose run to replace the air in the tank in between nailing.

That is what I do also. I have two 50 foot 3/8" hoses and so long as you are not using tools that take a lot of air or have to run continuous this works well. The smaller tank is a lot lighter then trying to move the compressor and tank. It also works better then having to run heavy electrical wires to run the compressor say in the back yard where it is needed.

Most smaller things have no trouble with just the hoses and after working on a project for a short while you will know that you might want the supplemental tank to keep things moving.

You can also get by running somethings that require more air then you compressor supplies by having the second tank. But that has it limits and come pretty quickly.

Ed

So it's just for a nailer. So what size pressure tank should I look at? Is there a brand that is somehow better than others? Thanks again!

A portable tank that is intended for use as a tire inflator will do nicely.

They are inexpensive.

You don't list the model of your compressor, but the pancake compressors I've seen are very small compressors delivering 2.5 cfm or less. With a small tank, you aren't going to be running anything that uses a lot of air for more than a few seconds, so it isn't likely that larger lines would do much.
I would try the longer hose first and see if you notice any difference. If you do, then consider something else like a bigger tank or a bigger compressor if your needs call for it.

If you had a 10hp compressor and loads that consume 20cfm, then line size would be critical to deliver that much air flow.

I have a small HF pancake compressor that won't keep up with a brad nailer if you are driving a lot of brads. I replaced it in the woodshop with a much larger DeWalt unit that should keep up with my framing nailers. I have several sections of hose with snap couplers at each end. That way I can used the amount of hose I need. IIRC the compressor runs 125 PSI and none of my nail guns call for more than 90 PSI max.
I keep that little HF compressor and take it along if I take tractors to a show. I observed that most guys at such shows have no way to inflate a tire if one goes soft. I used to take a tank of air along but with the little compressor I can carry it to an outlet and let it pump up and carry it to the low tire to inflate it. It holds enough air to fully inflate one tire. Over a few years I inflated quite a few tires for other guys. It is worth keeping just for that service. It is as easy to carry as my old "portable" air tank. A lot of portable stuff is considered "portable" if they can attach a handle to it. Never mind that it might weigh 400 pounds...
In the farm shop I always run 100' of hose and that is after the air runs through about 40' of line from the back corner where the compressor sits over to a T at the tire changer. One side goes to the changer and the other is the 100' line. Hose size and length is irrelevant for inflating tires. I do need good pressure for the bead seating ring blast on the tire changer but I have plenty for that and powering the changer. I do make frequent use of impact wrenches. My largest is rated at 625 foot pounds of torque and I never run out of air for it. I have a number of air motor tools that do use a huge amount of air and if operated continuously they will get ahead of the compressor after a while but it recovers quickly. About all I have done for flow is that I do use a larger size snap couplers on those tools and when I installed them I could tell the difference. They were the only real bottleneck in the system and even then only on the very heavy flow tools.


.