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Air compressors: what's a "whip hose"?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Deuce Rails, Apr 16, 2005.

  1. Deuce Rails
    Joined: Feb 1, 2002
    Posts: 2,016

    Deuce Rails
    Member

    I just got a great compressor from Sears. (I think it's great, anyways.) It's a 6 horsepower, 33 gallon upright that can easily hold 150 psi. It's rated at 6.4 scfm at 90 psi.

    (If you want one, go to the Craftsman store now. It was a close-out special, and it came with three free air tools, all for $299.)

    I bought the compressor to power a solid rivet gun. (I know that it's serious overkill, but I couldn't beat the deal.) The rivet gun (from ATS) clearly lectures that if a quick-disconnect fitting is used at the gun, a whip hose must be used.

    Is that simply a flexible hose? Is it a hose with a swivel fitting? Or what?

    Thanks in advance,

    --Matt
     
  2. Flathead Youngin'
    Joined: Jan 10, 2005
    Posts: 3,662

    Flathead Youngin'
    Member

    I don't know if it's the same or not but a "whip" in welding terms, is a short (10ft or so) lead on a quick disconnect. That way people can use their own stinger end, remove their's for the next fella.......dunno!
     
  3. CharlieLed
    Joined: Feb 21, 2003
    Posts: 2,463

    CharlieLed
    Member

    It's a short length of hose that has a swivel on the end that allows more rotational movement when you have an air tool connected. I have used one for quite some time now and like it alot. You move the tool around as you use it without feeling like your bending the heavy air hose. I bought mine at WalMart, it's just a cheap Campbell-Hausfield (sp?) but it seems to have held up very well over the last year or so....
     
  4. primered54
    Joined: Aug 3, 2001
    Posts: 66

    primered54
    Member

    I got the same compressor about 5 months ago... so far so good. They're correct about the whip hose.
     

  5. tommy
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 14,757

    tommy
    Member Emeritus

    A whip hose or welding lead is smaller and lighter than the main welding lead or hose. A long welding cable on a construction site needs to be pretty stout to carry the amperage a long distance. The last 10 feet we called a whip. It was a smaller ga so the welder didn't have to horse around a big heavy cable 8 hrs a day. The same thing for a O/A torch or an air hose. The last few feet is lighter and easier to handle...A whip hose. Probably not necessary in the average garage.
     
  6. ray
    Joined: Jun 25, 2001
    Posts: 3,791

    ray
    Member
    from colorado

    is that an oiled or oilless compresser?
     
  7. Wowcars
    Joined: May 10, 2001
    Posts: 1,027

    Wowcars
    Member

    I just thought that it was when you're torching and the splatter lands right on the air hose directly under you and neatly slices the hose in two with 110 psi in the line.
     
  8. Deuce Rails
    Joined: Feb 1, 2002
    Posts: 2,016

    Deuce Rails
    Member

    Oil-less.

    Thanks for all the responses, guys. I just got a proper whip hose to use with my rivet gun.
     
  9. ray
    Joined: Jun 25, 2001
    Posts: 3,791

    ray
    Member
    from colorado

    eeeewww!:D

    sorry to be the bad guy, but oilless compressers SUCK! it's OK, everybody learns the hard way!:D
     
  10. screwtheman
    Joined: Mar 24, 2005
    Posts: 845

    screwtheman
    Member

    I have a Craftsman 6HP 30 Gal. that I picked up a year or so ago. If it's similar to mine, the first thing you should do is replace that drain on the bottom with a beefier one. That rounded jobby they put on there isn't so easy to turn after a while. It seals up with an o-ring and, if you open the drain too far, it will push the o-ring off into the tank. :mad: I replaced mine with a spigot type valve I found in the plumbing department- but a ball valve would probably be even better. Get a moisture trap too.

    I've gotten a lot of good service out of my compressor. I've run it past it's duty cycle a couple of times. It shows its limits with "air hogs" like cutting wheels and sanders. I would not want a smaller capacity compressor for those tools.

    Now get to work!!
     
  11. Deuce Rails
    Joined: Feb 1, 2002
    Posts: 2,016

    Deuce Rails
    Member

    Explain a little further, please.

    You make it sound like an oilless compressor is a yucky worm some boy at school put in your lunchbox. ;)
     
  12. ray
    Joined: Jun 25, 2001
    Posts: 3,791

    ray
    Member
    from colorado

    haha!

    oilless compressers generally use a rubber, or teflon seal on the piston that compresses the air, they always wear out, and generally fail at the least convienent time possible. sometimes they fail by throwing a rod. it would be a good idea to have a few replacement parts on hand. a good start towards prolonging the life of the compresser, is to be sure to mount it away from your dusty dirty work area, in it's own room, a furnace filter filtering the air entering the room ain't a bad idea either.

    my lesson in oiless compressers, a cambell hausfield compresser, it quit on me just short of the warrantee period(1yr), i looked at it, to find that all the compresser components are exposed to dirty room air! couldn't find the reciept, took it to the authorized repair center, they looked at it and denied the warrantee claim, saying it "must have" been used in a dirty environment. it's not like i parked it in a sandblast cabinet! it's a protable compresser, i take it to where the work is, the damn thing is supposed to have filters and such.

    when i need a big compresser, i think i'm gonna build from scratch, use an electric motor, driving one or two york air conditioning compressers. i'm running one in a car, and they put out a shitload of air.
     

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