Most things that run in hoses, the longer the run a bigger size tube presents less friction losses so is better.
I.E. a 3/8 hose might be fine for a 100 foot run but a 3/4" would be better for a half mile (just an example, I really don't know the appropriate sizes for length of run. Just that bigger is better for long runs. This applies to fluids such as hydraulic lines, water lines, etc and air would be the same only to a significantly lesser degree).
A good mental exercise to relate this is breathing through a straw. Blowing air through a 6" long straw is fairly easy. But doing it through a 30' long hose of the same diameter would present more back pressure and would be harder. Thus on long runs larger diameter hose would present less back pressure to the pump. The higher the flow rate in cfm, the more benefit the larger hose would present.
This is not directed at you Cecil as you probably already know this. Just putting this out as general information for people that may not have had the experience of working with fluids or air in industrial applications. Just like longer runs for a given electrical load takes larger wire, longer runs of moving physical air or fluid at a given cfm requires larger pipes. Longer runs equals more resistance in the line and energy loss do to friction.
The cheap black plastic low pressure water line used for home well water systems is relatively inexpensive and available in different sizes from big box stores like Lowes/Home Depot or commercial plumbing stores in 100 and 500' rolls. That is what I am going to use this spring when I put in aeration to get to the waters edge. Probably other stuff made specifically for the aeration systems, but this stuff is available locally quickly without ordering form mail order for me.
One other question I have had. It is recommended that the hose run down hill so condensation will flow down and be expelled from the diffuser. This is going to be near impossible on a very long run to keep from getting dips and low spots, or maybe even needing to run directly up hill in places. Is this going to be a problem somewhere down the road if condensation or back siphon causes water to collect in low places? A question I have thought about for long runs of air pipe, but do not have practical experience to know if it will become a problem.
Last edited by snrub; 03/28/14 01:44 PM.
