Hose Reel Re-work

[gee-dub]

I don't use much in the way of compressed air. I had plumbed in a system in my previous shop and can count on both hands the number of times I used it. In the new shop I just put a small compressor in the bottom of one of my rolling carts. To make it more useful I added a hose reel that could be connected to the compressor should I need air farther away. I found I never used it since manually winding up the hose was a pain . . . is that a weak statement or what!?!

I inherited an auto-return reel from my dad and decided to put it into service. I removed the clunky rubber hose and put my Flexeel hose on.

The reel didn't have enough turns in its cycle to load all the hose despite me setting it at the maximum. I had gotten along with just a coil hose for years.

This made me confident that I could whack off a bit of hose without suffering too much. I used some of the cut off to connect the reel and the compressor.

Now it looks like so and works great.

Time will tell if the suto-return function makes me use it more often.

[JohnG]

Those coil hoses are reason enough for me to avoid using it…  I started using mine more often when I switched to a straight hose, even without any type of reel. 

[Tom King]

Looks good.  I wish they hadn't stopped making the kind I bought from Senco in 1975, still use, and it has never leaked.  It uses a Milton quick connect coupling as the swivel.  I did wear out the first coupling/swivel after about 30 years from winding up 200 feet of air hose most days.  It winds up fast even though it's manual.  I keep an old T-shirt close by to wipe it with one hand as I'm winding with the other.

I've never had lasting luck with any other one not developing a leak at the swivel.

I like that your self winder doesn't need the stopper with the right length of hose.  Those stoppers kept me from ever buying a second one.

[Von]

You've basically got the set up I do now. Mine is mostly used for car tires but I do break out the brad nailer from time-to-time. I have a little portable tank that lets me take compressed air around the house and out into the driveway.

I have my compressor on a 30-minute timer since our garage is close to the bedroom and having it start up in the middle of the night is annoying. 

I agree with you that if I had to manually rewind it, I'd never use it. Little barriers matter.

I like your storage box for nailers and accessories.

[drzaius]

I put up a Flexzilla self winding reel on the ceiling of the shop and it sure is handy. The reel is not of professional quality, but is fine for my usage and is very reasonably priced.

[gee-dub]

@drzaius  Yep, dad's is a Harbor Freight but seems to do fine.  My limited use won't tax it much .  I have a Harbor Freight 12ga cord reel that I have been using for nearly 20 years.  Not a big HF fan but they do have some useful items.

[pkinneb]

On 9/5/2023 at 10:17 AM, drzaius said:

I put up a self winding reel on the ceiling of the shop and it sure is handy...

That's my set up as well

[Tom King]

There are a bunch of them that look like the first picture.  I'm sure they're a copy of one from decades ago.  I bought one with my big pressure washer, a Mi-T-M that I bought in the mid '90's that looks like that.  It's on a swivel post above the pressure washer, and holds a hundred feet of hose.  That one has never leaked a drop in spite of the high pressure water and being used off and on a few times a year for almost three decades.  It came from Mi-T-M and was made to fit on the pressure washer.  I expect it was made by some other company, but must have been good ones back then.

I have a couple like that for air that I bought from Tractor Supply, but they both started leaking pretty soon.  I keep air hose on them just for storage for when I need a really long one, but I just pass some of the starting end out one of the holes opposite the handle so I can hook it up to another hose and not worry about the leaking swivel.