Graham Posted June 3, 2020 Report Share Posted June 3, 2020 Just been going through my draw of air line fittings ( yes seriously) and made a discovery, using a precision measuring gauge, a drill bit, the hole in the 'male' fitting is 3/16 of an inch there or there abouts no matter what the diameter of the air line the fitting is supposed to go on. Question is there any benefit in drilling the hole out bigger to improve air delivery volume ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stillp Posted June 3, 2020 Report Share Posted June 3, 2020 Possibly, why not try? Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted June 3, 2020 Report Share Posted June 3, 2020 Hi Graham, if you make the hole bigger you will make the valve weaker Regarding the airflow. Over a short length you will not reduce the flow that much comparing 3/16 and 1/4. If it was a long pipe like a garden hose then the length comes into play and you would reduce flow. The mechanical strength is probably more important than the very slight flow reduction. Stay as is. Roger Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisR-4A Posted June 3, 2020 Report Share Posted June 3, 2020 Airlines on assembly lines are normally 1/2 ins but where high powered airtools are used like 1 ins drive impact tools or multi head tools then 3/4 ins airlines are usually specified. A normal garage compressor would not provide sufficient cfm at 90psi to feed the 3/4 line so a 1/2 ins line with standard quick connectors would feed most garage tools. If you increase the size of the compressor and the working pressure/cfm then more air can pass through the same hose. Roger is right as with an airline only about 20ft long there will be no benefit. Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waldi Posted June 4, 2020 Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 Over here there are 2 types, the “euro” type is an optimized design with larger bore for same hose size. Waldi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Graham Posted June 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 Just checked and the Euro fitting I have is 1/4 internal bore, but think I will leave the PCL fittings I have alone as opinions would say that there wouldn't be any significant improvement in performance, and to Rogers point my Grandfather used to be head of engineering at a large industrial plant in West London in the 50's and when he turned up they were using Pneumatic pressure testing after seeing the results of a few explosive failures he insisted that they changed to hydraulic pressure testing with the failures being less spectacular ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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