do vacuums lose suction power the longer the hose is? How does that work?
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Each bit of hose you add increases the friction (the resistance to air flowing inside the hose). The impellor in the vacuum is designed to move a particular volume of air at a particular rate. Changing the diameter of the hose would also affect it. But the biggest impact is the drag on the air molecules caused by friction due to the lengthened hose.
Yes. A longer or smaller diameter hose hose means more air resistance, the more air resistance the slower the air passes through the hose.
Others are right about friction in longer hose. I would like to add that any real hose will have (small) holes or cracks in it, and longer hose means more of them, which will further decrease suction power.
Friction loss is a big factor in the distance you can move air or liquid and the speed and pressure at which that substance can move.
Another factor is the piping itself. If you are using conventional corrugated plastic tubing that comes with a shop-vac, it flexes and expands (or in this case contracts) slightly. That eats into the energy of moving your air. This is why car wash places with a central vacuum have hard piping out to the parking spots and then flexible hose for the last 10’ or so. Also on a pressurized scenario in auto shops why they have hard metal pipes for the air tools to each bay and the. 25’ or 50’ reels of rubber hose. All that length of hose expanding would reduce the pressure at the end.
Friction loss is a function of diameter and pressure. You can reduce FL by increasing diameter or reducing pressure. Increasing diameter reduces velocity… picture 100 cars going down a single lane road versus a 5 lane highway.
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