Does anyone out there use one of those retractable air hose reels? If so, do they work well, what brand do u have and are they worth the money? I’m tired of manually wrapping mine around the compressor each time I use it. Thanks for any input.
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Replies
I have my garage plumbed for air and I do have a hose reel near the door. I got it at Costco several years ago. I think I paid about $35.00. It works great. It was a no name brand from overseas. The hose is a little thick and heavy for constant use. I have several custom lengths of hose that I made out of a 50'er that I bought at Home Depot. The way my workstation is set up, I can function with 15' hose for 90% of my work. The cord reel acts as a third hose for a blow off gun most of the time. Its primary function is just filling tires on the cars and bikes.
My shop is plumbed with two overhead air lines which has five 25 ft. plastic air hose coils hanging from them. They are easy to get to, reach anywhere in the shop and hang up out of the way.
Thease air coils are cheep at Harbor Freight, I also have a manual hose real with 200 feet of rubber air hose that will reach about anywhere that I need. The shop is plumbed with schedule 40 pvc pipe. The compressor is set at 120 psi.
I just bought a no-name reel and hung it from the ceiling. I usually have a nail gun (18g) hooked up to my compressor. Anyone see a problem with leaving the gun on the hose when I reel it up? It's just up in the air waiting for me to use it whenever I need.
Anyone see a problem with leaving the gun on the hose when I reel it up? It's just up in the air waiting for me to use it whenever I need.
WHAT???? Heeeeeere's your sign!!!!!
Edited 11/23/2007 4:31 pm ET by rwjiudice
What???? Heeere's your sign!!!!!
A little explanation would be nice before you jump on the sarcasm train.
Can you please tell me what I'm doing that's so stupid to you?
Hey JM
The only thing I see that gives me trouble leaving a tool or just the hose under pressure is -- I forget about it for days??
I don't think it is good for the hose to leave it under pressure for days(100-120psi). If yours doesn't leak a bit and the compressor doesn't recycle all the time, I don't think its a big worry. Like wash machines, if that hose pops when you are gone it will run your little compressor non-stop till you get back. That might be a little trouble you might want to avoid.
JM - no matter how many different quick connects I have tried, I always seem to get a little bit of leaking. I can hear my compressor cycle on and off to maintain the tank pressure. When I disconnect my hoses, I don't seem to have the problem.
After seeing a couple of these reels, I think I might flip thru harbor freight and northern hydraulics. I have some long hoses and I trip over them and cuss. Maybe I'll skip the Hock blade and get a reel. ????
later
dan
Thanks for the detailed response. I appreciate the help.
I usually disconnect the power to my compressor when I'm done for the day. I do have some leaks too, it woud be cycling all night long if I left it on.
danmart,
Like I said I've had good luck with mine (Northern hydraulics) .. it's been over two weeks since I last used mine and yes I forgot to disconnect the gun from the end of the hose.. no it hasn't cycled since.
I thought it would be obvious..... a nail gun stored while attached to a charged air hose seems to me to be an accident waiting to happen. Even if you plan to "empty the charged compressor" after each use, the gun will likely be attached when you recharge the compressor.
I know there are "safety" delays (trigger must be pulled while the nose is depressed) but it seems so simple to just disconnect the gun when done.
And the question of "leaving the gun attached while reeling in the hose"..... ? I wouldn't want to be near while a charged gun is dragged along the floor. Seems terribly dangerous compared to simply disconnecting the gun.
Be safe.
Edited 11/23/2007 6:24 pm ET by rwjiudice
Perfect example of misreading, jumping to conclusions and a poor explanation on my part.
When I'm done for the day, I'll either disconnect the gun or the hose from the compressor. Either way, no air will be in the gun when I'm not around. That is obvious.
When I said "reel it in", I was referring to reeling it in between uses while I'm in the middle of a project. Never said a thing about "dragging it across the floor".
I would like to be able to grab it from the shop ceiling to put in a nail or two and then let it reel up to the ceiling until the next nail goes in. I'm always tripping over cords and hoses while I'm working. I would love to be able to just hang the gun from the air.
you can make a cheap one with a large wire reel mabey 12" diameter
weelis,
I bought mine from Northern hydraulic.. watch out because the cheap ones all leak, either at the reel part or where the air hose from the compressor nmeets the reel.
The one I have hasn't leak a single pound of air for months at a time. Yet it reels out the hose nicely and is extremely easy to coil back up..
I've had one in my shop for about 5 years - wouldn't want to be w/o it. The compressor is in the garage and connected to the reel by about 50' of flex air hose. (I don't do any spraying or use air tools which would call for a constant feed of air.)
Imagine my surprise when I went to check on the mfg. - it turned out to be :
AK Reels Pty. Ltd.; AUSTRALIA!
I'm not sure, but I think I bought it from Northern Supply. Have had no troubles.
Frosty
"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
Harbor Freight has a diamond in the rough. I've been using this one for more than five years without any trouble and paid around 30.00 for it.
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