# Airless Hose Size



## EcoDec (Aug 23, 2011)

We just purchased two Graco 1095 ironman pumps and to my surprise they came rigged up to use 3/8" hose at the pump. We have another 1095 Ironman we bought in 2014 that was rigged up for 1/4" hoses, along w all our other sprayers (we have 12 total). We've never used a 3/8" hose for anything and I have a pretty good relationship w the pump tech at SW and he has never mentioned this to me before, and he has known we've been using 100' of 1/4" hose on our sprayers. We specialize in new construction multi-unit and we typically spray such paints as PM 400, 200, once in a while some superpaint, but nothing major, no high build or quartz based coatings.

Does anyone else have an opinion on this? As I said, we've always used 2 50' 1/4" hoses, connected together, along w a whip at the gun. 


SW will come switch the connectors on the pump so it will fit 1/4" hoses standard, but it using two 1/4" hoses is affecting the life of our packings I would prefer to use the recommended way. This was just very surprising as yesterday was the first time I have heard about this. Does anyone else use a 3/8" hose connected to a 1/4"? Some things that concern me are the weight and the portability of the bigger hose, how much harder will it be to move these around?

Thanks for any help in advance!


----------



## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

EcoDec said:


> We just purchased two Graco 1095 ironman pumps and to my surprise they came rigged up to use 3/8" hose at the pump. We have another 1095 Ironman we bought in 2014 that was rigged up for 1/4" hoses, along w all our other sprayers (we have 12 total). We've never used a 3/8" hose for anything and I have a pretty good relationship w the pump tech at SW and he has never mentioned this to me before, and he has known we've been using 100' of 1/4" hose on our sprayers. We specialize in new construction multi-unit and we typically spray such paints as PM 400, 200, once in a while some superpaint, but nothing major, no high build or quartz based coatings.
> 
> 
> Does anyone else have an opinion on this? As I said, we've always used 2 50' 1/4" hoses, connected together, along w a whip at the gun.
> ...


It's just a matter of changing fittings. I would get a 3/8 to 1/4 inch reducer at some point down the line in order to install a manageable whip. 

I've sprayed 80% solids epoxy with our gas powered Titan with a 3/8" set up.


----------



## Rcon (Nov 19, 2009)

EcoDec said:


> We just purchased two Graco 1095 ironman pumps and to my surprise they came rigged up to use 3/8" hose at the pump. We have another 1095 Ironman we bought in 2014 that was rigged up for 1/4" hoses, along w all our other sprayers (we have 12 total). We've never used a 3/8" hose for anything and I have a pretty good relationship w the pump tech at SW and he has never mentioned this to me before, and he has known we've been using 100' of 1/4" hose on our sprayers. We specialize in new construction multi-unit and we typically spray such paints as PM 400, 200, once in a while some superpaint, but nothing major, no high build or quartz based coatings.
> 
> Does anyone else have an opinion on this? As I said, we've always used 2 50' 1/4" hoses, connected together, along w a whip at the gun.
> 
> ...


3/8" hoses come standard on larger sprayers - the larger internal diameter of the hose connected to the machine is easier on the pump - i.e. it'll wear out slower. Best to use the 3/8 first, 1/4 next connected to your whip and gun. 

3/8" is not really necessary with the coatings you mentioned as they're thin, unless you're running a lot of hose. 

Like CApainter said, changing from 1/4 to 3/8 or vice versa is a very simple matter of changing the fittings on the fluid filter housing. All you need is a wrench.


----------



## SprayRepairGuy (Jan 15, 2014)

The larger the diameter of the hose, the lower the pressure drop due to friction at the other end. The larger the diameter of the hose, the more volume of material that is available to the gun without pressure losses. The diameter of the hose has very little to do with the wear of the packings since the number of strokes has more to do with the volume of material being sprayed - remember that fluid is minimally compressible. There is some accumulator affect with larger or longer hoses, but not so much as to effect the wear of the packings and number of strokes. The larger and longer the hose, the more material there is in the hose if the cost of material is a concern since you will need to flush it out to clean the system.


----------



## EcoDec (Aug 23, 2011)

Thanks for the help guys it is appreciated! We put about 5,000 gallons through our first Ironman in about 4 months using two 1/4" hoses connected together w a whip, and never had any issues, except the watchdog would kick in every now and then and cut power to the pump. I'm assuming this issue is due to not having a bigger 3/8" hose on the first 50 feet. I was advised by SW pump tech to just shut off the WD but I believe this is why this issue was happening. 

The reason I was so confused is the first Ironman we bought was rigged up for 1/4" hose. I have 8 other 1095s that we've bought throughout the years, all still running, that are all rigged for 1/4", these are the first pumps I have bought rigged up for 3/8" from the factory, so it was a little confusing. 

I'm going to try them out how they recommend and use the 3/8" on the first 50 feet and 1/4" on the second and see how it goes. My concerns are the portability of the hose, as I imagine it gets quite heavy and I'm also concerned w someone running it over w a lift. W such a big hose I believe you'd have a disaster on your hands if such thing occurred.

Thanks again for all the advice and I'll report back how this set up performs for us.


----------



## PNW Painter (Sep 5, 2013)

@SprayRepairGuy thanks for the explanation as I've wondered if various hose diameters effected the life of the pickings.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## [email protected] (Mar 1, 2008)

If I am spraying filler or drywall my first hose is 3/8 just like spray repair said. My speed flow has 1 50 of 3/8 then 2 50' hoses. And I think in storage is one more 3/8. Works out great when doing a 300' long building.


----------



## SprayRepairGuy (Jan 15, 2014)

PNW Painter said:


> @*SprayRepairGuy* thanks for the explanation as I've wondered if various hose diameters effected the life of the pickings.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I'm not sure it really effects the life of the packings, but it certainly effects the balls, seats, and motor.


----------



## woodcoyote (Dec 30, 2012)

If you run over 100ft, which an Ironman can easily do. You start off with a bigger diameter hose and then reduce down to 1/4 hose. It helps keep the pressure consistent further down the line, is all.

If you spray heavy bodied material, like sheetrock mud (which sometimes we do), then you need to use 3/8 almost exclusively. 

If you don't like the 3/8, then just get a different plug adapter to insert into your outlet section and you can attached a 1/4 inch hose directly to your machine. That way you don't have to run a 3/8 to 1/4 hose. 3/8 waste more material because more liquid is stored in them, so you burn more material trying to prime the line. 

Problem solved.


----------

