Retractable Reels

[cabinetman]

Anyone use retractable reels for either air hoses or electric cords? If so, are they a PITA for you to use or do you like them?
.

[MikeMcCoy]

I have two electrical reels that I got at Northern Tool. They don't get as much use since I've rewired my shop but they still come in handy. The only nuisance is pullling out the 30' of wire when I'm going to be using them

[JR]

I have one for electricity. It's 12/3, the minimum recommended guage, and has three connectors.

I love it. It statione above my assembly table, facilitating the attachment of sanders, routers, and bench-top tools. It also deploys to the driveway or the side of the garage for use with shop-vac, drills, saws, etc. used on household or automotive projects.

It's one of the best tools in my shop.

JR

[LinuxRandal]

Anyone use retractable reels for either air hoses or electric cords? If so, are they a PITA for you to use or do you like them?
.

Both type in the garage (used to part time mechanic, still have privelages)
Both. One short retractable hose reel, in a tight corner that is very handy. The electric lights have an outlet on them, which is handy when you need our corded drill (air one in use on another rack. lot's of air being used), but they do tend to get in your way and hung up, and the lights then drop (hence the term).

Now on the other side of the garage, we have a HF manual reel, with I believe close to 100" of hose. That is the prefered one (can reach anything in there and outside for emergencies.

For the woodworking shop, I keep a 25' (air nailers and such), and am planning on cutting down an older one to around 12', or using coil hoses for the bench.

[pecker]

I have one like this that doesn't work well at all...the retract mechanism is a PITA and the hose is not very flexible:


I also have one like this, which is very useful for long hoses, and costs a pittance. No auto retract, though:

[radhak]

I am interested in this too, particularly for the electric; have been mulling over, but hesitate for the usability.

JR, LR and MikeMcCoy, where did you get yours?

I thought I was being clever when I bought a regular reel at HD years ago, and cut a hole inside to connect to an outlet from one end, leaving the other end open to be pulled out; problem is, it causes a horrendous amount of twist in the cable, and I am not happy at all .

I looked at this :


( $65 at lee valley),

but this one seems better :

(also at lee valley for $22).

Anybody use either?

edit : on closer look, the 'Cord Winder' is a manual-crank operated; but i still don't discount it...

[mclear6]

I have a craftsman 3 tap with surge protect on it. I have it mounted to the ceiling using the unused outlet for the garage door opener. I like it. I like the auto-retract feature and the surge protection. This was on sale with the craftsman club last month. I don't know if it will do on sale again soon.

I also have the airhose w/auto retract from harbor freight. It doesn't reel back in too well. I have a the coiled yellow hose I use for my nailers that is always attached anyway. I would not recommend the HF airhose

[MikeMcCoy]

radhak - I got mine at Northern Tool. It's showing a list price of $69 right now but they regularly go on sale and I got mine for $49. The Sears brand gets marked down fairly often also. It seems steep but I didn't feel it was bad considering the cost of 12/3 wire now.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200237924_200237924

[atgcpaul]

I have a HF one for my air compressor hose. It's bolted to the ceiling of my
shop over my assembly area. It holds 25ft of hose which is great for inside
my shop. I haul out the extra hose if I want to use it for my cars parked
outside. I like it a lot better than the hand crank reel I used to use.

Paul

[Tom Slick]

I have a cheapo HF auto air hose reel. it works very well and is easy to use. I don't remember the exact model but it is the all metal unit that has 25' or so of 3/8" hose .

probably the same one as Paul

[TheRic]

I put a electric on in my shop, hang it from the middle of the ceiling near the garage door opener. Best money I ever spent!!! Got mine from Lowe's, if I remember correctly it's 14/3 30'. Can be mounted on the wall or ceiling. Don't remember the $$. Thinking about getting a 12/3 one down the road.

It seemed like I was always getting an extension cord out since the cord on the power tool was just a little short. Had a short 6' extension cord for such things. Sometimes the short extension cord was too short to reach something else, or around back of something. Now I pull out what I need, if I need a little more I pull out a little more.

[footprintsinconc]

i have the 2nd hose real that pecker shows in his post from hf. i have about 150' of air hose and its perfect. i am actually with this purchase from hf.

[RobC]

I've got a 12/3 electric reel (30') I got from Rockler on a a great sale. It's one of the most frequently used tools in my shop. http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10673

I'd love to find a 50-75' standalone reel that I could haul around w/ auto-retract. I've got a cheap plastic reel that I use for my 14/3 cord, but I have to unroll the entire cord to plug it in. That's a real PITA.

[scmhogg]

I have an HF 25' air hose retractor mounted to the ceiling of my shop/garage. It works intermittently. It always comes out but doesn't alway retract with out a great deal of fiddling.

I wouldn't go cheap here. Its too hard to change out easily.

Steve

[bigstick509]

I'm a big fan of overhead reels, the air reel is a 25' HF #46104, and the electrical reels are 30' craftsman 14/3 tri-tap #83929 and a HF 40' 12/3 tri-tap #91470.