Flex hose source...where to buy?

[John Keeton]

I am at the point where I need to order some flexible hose to finish out my DC system. Where is the best hose for the best price? Seems there is a wide disparity in pricing and it is hard to compare apples and apples. What are some of the choices you guys have made?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John.......I had a friend who gave me some. He bought it from Lee Valley. THen last weekend I found some similar stuff in a hardware store 30 miles away....half the price......

I found some stuff at a local ag supply place but it was terribly stiff.

[Jeff Wright]

Try http://www.wynnenv.com/flexible_hose.htm. They were recommended by Bill Pentz, the well-known dust collection guru (I may have spelled his last name wrong). I was very pleased with the flex hose I bought from them. I visited their place while visiting the Philadelphia area a couple years back and they are nice folks to deal with.

Note especially their Bridge-Style Hose Clamps shown towards the bottom of the home page. They are great clamps for fitting in the grooves of the flex hose and insuring a tight connection.

[Greg Peterson]

The Wynn flex hose is very nice. I bought a 5" X 10' section. Heavier than any hose I've seen and very flexible.

Wynn provides excellent customer service. And super-duper friendly.

[Mike Gager]

anyone know minimum specs that can be used for flex pipe? ive seen some stuff at the hardware store that looks like drain pipe of some kind. its soft rubber not the hard plastic kind. i didnt know if it would work or not

[Keith Outten]

Jeff,

Thanks for the link, the subject is very timely for me as I am looking for new hose for my ShopBot. I just talked with them on the phone and it looks like I will be placing an order for new urethane hose shortly.

.

[Chris Holder]

John,

You might also check out the blast gate company. I believe they are at www.blastgateco.com. I ordered all of my blast gates from them at a reasonable price and I know they also sell flex pipe.

[Jim O'Dell]

I got mine from Woodworkers Supply. I got the regular duty, but they also have a heavy duty version IIRC. I've been very happy with the regular duty stuff. Fits tightly over the 6" PVC in both 4" and 6" versions. Most I haven't even put clamps on. It's a little easier to work with than the Wynn Environmental piece that came on my Clear Vue cyclone, but it isn't as thick walled, so therefore probably not as durable. Jim.

[Ben Grunow]

I have some short sections of hard flex plastic drain pipe currently in my system and they are fine as long as the ends are not open. They howl with a harmonic scream that is deafening.

I am saving to get some real stuff but it is expensive and the drain pipe works for less than 10 cents a foot.

[John Keeton]

Thanks for the input and links. I have done some searching in the meantime and it seems that few of the sources give the mil thickness. A lot of them refer to "R4" as "standard duty." Of the ones listed, wynn is priced the highest, lee valley next, then blastgates, then woodworker's supply, and then peachtree http://www.ptreeusa.com/dusthose.htm

I believe most of those are R4, except possibly wynn - which would go along with what Greg and Jeff said. I don't know how much durability is an issue with just dust and chips from TS, Planer, etc, but imagine that friction will take it's toll over time. I wonder if UV and general deterioration would call for replacement after a few years in any event.

Peachtree comes out to about $1.40 per foot for what they call heavy duty. Anyone familiar with their product?

[Ron Fritz]

For black 4" and several other 4" fittings I have used the Outlet Tool Supply folks on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1?...lection&page=1

I have also used these folks for the flexable Grey 4".
http://store.workshopsupply.com/cata...oducts_id=1960

[Jeff Wright]

I believe most of those are R4, except possibly wynn - which would go along with what Greg and Jeff said. I don't know how much durability is an issue with just dust and chips from TS, Planer, etc, but imagine that friction will take it's toll over time. I wonder if UV and general deterioration would call for replacement after a few years in any event.

Wynn's hose is very smooth inside, an important consideration to reduce resistance and help keep your DC system's performance up. I am also happy to have a possibly more durable hose as I am often switching it between various machines (I chose not to run dedicated lines to each machine) and it gets tossed on the floor and dragged here and there.

[Steve Campbell]

Just as a side note on durability of flex hoses. I used to do a lot of seeding and mulching of lawns. We used to use a mulcher that would grind up and blow out bales of straw. We used to use the cheap 6" plastic hose. I can tell you that stuff is strong and wear resistant. I know we put many thousands of bales of straw through it and only after about 5 years did it start to wear through, and I think that had more to do with dragging it through the dirt than from fiction on the inside. That mulcher sure would have made a great dust collector. It would chew up straw and blow it out about 60' or better. But then it did have a 13 horse Honda to power it.
I sure wouldn't worry about it wearing out with just dust and wood chips going through it. I know I won't live that long.

Steve