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Selection Guide
Choosing the right industrial hose
Hydraulic hose is chosen by pressure. Industrial hose is chosen by what is going through it. Get that backwards and you end up with a hose rated well above the job that dissolves from the inside in a fortnight.
- The medium decides the tube. Pressure is the easy part and rarely what kills an industrial hose.
- Suction and discharge are different hoses. Suction needs a helix wire or it collapses flat.
- Never specify a chemical hose from a blog. Concentration and temperature change the answer, so use the manufacturer's chart.
- Temperature works both ways. Steam and hot oil at one end, a Long Island January at the other.
- Ends are usually banded or cam and groove, not crimped ferrules like hydraulic.
- Compressed air for cleaning has an OSHA limit of 30 psi at the nozzle.
Start hereWhat is actually going through it?
This is the question that decides everything else, and it is the one people answer last. A hydraulic hose is specified from a pressure figure. An industrial hose is specified from a material.
The reason is simple. Industrial hose usually runs at modest pressure, so the reinforcement is rarely the limiting factor. What kills it is the tube compound reacting with whatever is inside. A hose rated to four times the pressure you need is worth nothing if the medium attacks the liner.
- What is the medium?Name it specifically. Not "chemical" but which chemical, and at what concentration.
- Is it suction or discharge?Anything under vacuum needs a helix. This is a structural decision, not a preference.
- What temperature, both ends?The medium going through and the environment the hose lives in.
- What pressure or vacuum?Including anything that happens on start-up and shutdown.
- What bore and length?And whether it needs to bend anywhere tight.
- What ends?Banded, cam and groove, flanged or threaded, and which side is male.
Answer those six and a counter can specify the hose in about a minute. Miss the first one and everything after it is guesswork.
The structural divideSuction or discharge
Before material comes construction, and the split is absolute.
Suction hose
Carries a helix wire wound through the wall to hold the bore open against atmospheric pressure trying to crush it flat.
- Must have
- Helix reinforcement
- Fails by
- Collapsing shut
Discharge hose
Simpler construction with textile or wire reinforcement holding pressure in. No helix needed and lighter to handle.
- Must have
- Pressure rating above the pump
- Fails by
- Abrasion and bursting
Suction rated hose generally works on the discharge side. The reverse never does. A discharge hose on a suction line folds flat the moment the pump starts, and no amount of pressure rating changes that. More on pump hoses and nozzles.
MaterialsMatching the tube to the medium
Tube compounds each have things they handle well and things they do not. This is a starting point for a conversation, not a specification.
| Tube | Generally suits | Generally avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Nitrile | Petroleum oils, fuel, grease | Ketones and strong oxidisers |
| EPDM | Hot water, steam, many acids and alkalis | Petroleum products |
| Neoprene | General purpose, moderate oil and weather | Aggressive solvents |
| PVC | Water, light chemical, air, low cost work | Cold weather, abrasion, high temperature |
| Urethane | Heavy abrasion, dry material handling | Hot media and many chemicals |
| UHMW polyethylene | Broad chemical transfer, solvents | Very high temperature |
| PTFE | Almost everything, plus high temperature | Little, beyond the price and flexibility |
Nitrile and EPDM are worth remembering as near opposites. Nitrile handles oil and hates steam. EPDM handles steam and hates oil. Fitting the wrong one is the most common industrial hose mistake there is, and it fails from the inside where nobody sees it coming.
ChemicalsWhy this page will not give you a table
Compatibility depends on things a table cannot show
You will find charts online listing a chemical, a liner material, a maximum temperature and a pressure. Treat them with suspicion, including any you find on a supplier's blog.
Whether a hose survives a chemical depends on the concentration, the temperature, the contact time and whether it is continuous or intermittent service. The same acid at ten percent and at ninety percent are different problems. A compound rated at ambient may fail at sixty degrees.
So the correct process is: name the chemical and its concentration, get the compatibility chart for the specific hose from its manufacturer, and check the rating at your actual operating temperature. We hold manufacturer charts and will look it up with you. What nobody should do is specify a chemical transfer hose from a generic table.
The same caution applies to cleaning agents. A hose perfectly happy with the product it carries can be destroyed by whatever gets flushed through it at the end of a shift. That flush is part of the specification.
TemperatureBoth ends of the range
Two temperatures matter and people usually consider one.
The medium sets the internal requirement. Steam, hot oil and heated process water all narrow the material options quickly, and steam in particular is a specialist application where the hose must be rated for it explicitly.
The environment sets the external one. A hose that lives outdoors on Long Island sees the full range from summer sun on a black cover to a January morning where PVC has gone rigid and cracks if you try to coil it. Cold weather handling is a real specification item, not a comfort issue.
Steam hose that is not rated for steam does not fail gradually. And a hose used for steam then left full of condensate through a freeze is a different failure again. If steam is anywhere in the process, say so at the start.
EndsIndustrial does not mean crimped
Hydraulic assemblies get a ferrule crimped to a measured diameter. Industrial hose more often gets a different family of terminations, and mixing the conventions causes problems.
- Banded. A shank pushed into the hose and secured with bands compressed around the outside. The standard on larger bore suction and discharge.
- Cam and groove. The quick-connect standard for transfer work, with lever arms that close over a grooved adapter. Fast to break and remake, which is why tankers and vac trucks run them.
- Air king and universal. Lugged couplings for air and water service, which should always be fitted with safety cables because the lugs can walk apart under vibration.
- Flanged. For larger bore and higher pressure where a bolted joint is the right answer.
- Threaded shanks. Male or female pipe thread on smaller bore transfer hose.
Cam and groove in particular comes in lettered types that are not interchangeable, and getting the male and female sides the wrong way round is a common trip to the counter. See industrial fittings and adapters.
Air linesTwo rules with regulations attached
Thirty psi for cleaning, and a safety device over half an inch
Compressed air is the industrial application with the clearest rules attached to it, and both are commonly missed on shop floors.
Under 29 CFR 1910.242(b), compressed air must not be used for cleaning except where reduced to less than 30 psi, and then only with effective chip guarding and personal protective equipment. OSHA's interpretation makes clear this means the pressure at the nozzle under dead-end conditions, not the system pressure. Read OSHA 1910.242 and the directive clarifying the 30 psi requirement.
Separately, on construction work, hoses exceeding half an inch inside diameter require a safety device at the source of supply or branch line to reduce pressure in case of hose failure. In practice that means an excess flow valve plus safety cables across couplings.
The practical version for anyone running shop air: put a regulator at the blow-off station, use a nozzle designed to bleed rather than dead-end, and cable every coupling. Cables and fittings on hose accessories and fittings.
In serviceWhat to check and what it means
Industrial hose fails in ways hydraulic hose does not, mostly because it lives a harder outdoor life at lower pressure.
- Cover damage. Once the cover is through, the reinforcement is exposed and on wire helix hose it starts corroding immediately.
- Soft spots. The tube has failed internally. On chemical service this usually means the medium is attacking the liner.
- A flattened section. Something drove over it, or a suction hose has been through a collapse. Either way the bore is compromised.
- Pulling at the coupling. Bands loosening or a shank starting to walk out. Check before it becomes a disconnection under pressure.
- Kinks that stay. A hose that holds a crease has damaged reinforcement at that point.
Read the layline while you are there. Industrial hose carries its specification printed along the cover, and on a hose nobody has documentation for that printing is the only record of what it is. If it has worn off, bring an offcut in and the construction usually identifies it.
At the counterWhat we build
Industrial assemblies from 3/16 inch through 18 inch, built and tested at the counter.
- Suction and discharge in matched sets for pumps and vac trucks.
- Chemical transfer, specified against the manufacturer's compatibility data for your medium and concentration.
- Steam, air, water and washdown, with the right compound rather than the nearest one.
- Material handling and ducting for dry bulk and abrasive service.
- Banded, cam and groove, air king and flanged ends, fitted to the hose construction.
Bring the old hose, an offcut, or the six answers from the top of this page. Full range on industrial hoses, and more on how they are made up on industrial hose assemblies.
Proudly serving Long Island since 1964
Sixty years supplying industrial assemblies to Long Island plants, municipal fleets and contractors, from our counters in Nassau County and Suffolk County.
There is a reason plants keep a local supplier on the list. Research into near-me search behaviour found that roughly 76 percent of people who run a "near me" search visit a business within 24 hours, citing Think with Google. A line down mid-shift is not a next-week problem.
Common Questions
Industrial hose FAQ
Hydraulic hose is specified from pressure and carries fluid at very high pressure through small bores. Industrial hose is specified from the medium, usually runs at much lower pressure through larger bores, and is terminated with banded or cam and groove ends rather than crimped ferrules.
No. Suction hose carries a helix wire through the wall to hold the bore open against the vacuum. Discharge hose has none, so it collapses flat the moment the pump starts. Suction rated hose does generally work on the discharge side, so a suction rated pair removes the problem.
Name the chemical and its concentration, then check the compatibility chart published by the manufacturer for that specific hose, at your actual operating temperature. Generic online tables are unreliable because concentration, temperature and contact time all change the answer. Do not forget whatever gets flushed through for cleaning.
Near opposites, and the most common mix-up in industrial hose. Nitrile handles petroleum oils and fuel and does badly with steam. EPDM handles hot water, steam and many acids and alkalis, and is destroyed by petroleum products. Fitting the wrong one fails from the inside where nothing is visible until it lets go.
A quick-connect coupling standard for transfer work, with lever arms that close over a grooved adapter. It breaks and remakes in seconds without tools, which is why tankers and vac trucks use it. The lettered types are not interchangeable, so the male and female sides have to be specified correctly.
Yes. Under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.242(b), compressed air must not be used for cleaning except where reduced to less than 30 psi, and then only with effective chip guarding and personal protective equipment. OSHA's interpretation makes clear that means the pressure at the nozzle under dead-end conditions rather than the system pressure.
From 3/16 inch through 18 inch, with banded, cam and groove, air king, flanged and threaded ends fitted to suit the hose construction. Assemblies are built and tested at the counter, usually the same visit.
Usually. Bring an offcut in. The construction, the tube colour and compound, the reinforcement type and the wall thickness together identify most industrial hose even without a readable layline. Knowing what it was carrying narrows it further.
Ask The Counter
Tell us what is going through it
The medium, the concentration, the temperature and whether it is suction or discharge. That is most of a specification, and we will check the compatibility data properly.
3/16 To 18 Inch
Built and tested at the counter
Two Long Island shops, six days a week. Suction, discharge, chemical, steam, air and material handling.