Another approach to hanging a hose reel.

[dbhost]

Loring (LCHIEN)s post recently regarding how he hung his Harbor Freight self retracting air hose reel solo, got me to thinking, it really shouldn't be difficult, but you know sometimes should and are can be totally different...

Well, Loring's install, tripping all over my existing hoses when trying to run the hose out to the driveway, and a Harbor Freight coupon for the reel in question pushed my motivation to 100%, and I grabbed a reel for myself.



After much consideration and an attempt to gang 2 compressors together that isn't fully abandoned yet, I have decided to at least temporarily borrow the 8' hose that was attaching the 2nd compressor to the system, and remove the tee that connected them all. I went instead with a single compressor connection.

So the first thing I had to do was fab up a simple mount board. I centered the reel on the board, marked the location of the holes for the mounting bolts, measured off where the holes for the lag bolts to hold this up on the 16" OC studs that my house should have, and got to drilling. I countersunk the back side of the mounting bolt holes so that the heads for the carriage bolts don't sit proud of the mounting board.

For mounting hardware I used 1/2" x 2" nickel plated steel carriage bolts, plain washers and nuts. I left the washers and nuts on the bolts that the slotted holes would be in (the front of the reel in my case), and went to hanging the mount board.

I found the first stud, approcimated the center, drilled my first pilot hole, and ran the first bolt, I squared up the mount board in relation to the walls, and drilled the pilot for and ran the second bolt, Then I drilled for the first of the bolts in where the second stud should be...

Problem.

It appears the truss members / studs whatever you want to call them, for my roof / ceilings are NOT 16" OC like I expected, but rather, 19" OC that I verified with a tape measure after cleanly missing the wood by a couple of inches.

So I had to transfer my measurements, and move the lag bolt holes closer to the ends, so that they are 19" between, and then remounted it all up...

So now I have a nice mount board, pulled up nice and flush against ceiling drywall that HAD been sagging off of the trusses. Yeah that needs to get fixed, but I digress... so the mount board is there, and nice and tight.

I was fearing from LCHIEN's description, having trouble getting this up there, but installation of the reel itself couldn't have been easier. It went thus...

#1. With the mount board installed, and the 2 front washers / nuts on but run almost to the falling off point, maybe 3 threads run in, I placed the other 2 nuts and washers on top of the ladder.
#2. After hauling the reel up the ladder, I grabbed the reel by the frame, not the spool part, and slid the slotted holes over the washers / nuts / bolts, then rotated it such that the full holes slid over the other 2 bolts.
#3. with my shoulder, I simply kept pressure on the front of the reel keeping it up against the board, keeping it on the bolts.
#4. I then put the outside washer and nut on so that I had 3 supports. I ran those 3 nuts in finger tight.
#5. I then added the 4th washer and nut, ran it finger tight.
#6. I then snugged all 4 mount bolts up tight with a combination wrench.




#7. Lastly, I changed out my plumbing. 50' blend hose is gone, in its place is the 8' rubber hose, connected via quick connectors, threads sealed off with plumbers tape. And only the 3' whip from the 29 gallon compressor is feeding the regulator / hose / hose reel.







I have plenty of hose with that 8' hose, I need to make some final changes that include changing the mounting config of my shop light from direct ceiling mount to chain mount. Which means i need to find the chain for this... And I need to come up with some sort of clamps to secure the hose to the wall and ceiling.

While I had considered the keyhole slot approach, I found that I really didn't need to go to that much effort.

If you are considering adding one of these to help manage your air hose, and are concerned about one man installation, don't be, it was far easier than I had originally thought, the weight / ackwardness of the reel as it was being installed was really quite easily manageable even for someone with back problems.

[dbhost]

I figured I would post a just over one year update to this installation and let you guys know what's taken place since I mounted this up.

Since the mounting, I completed my dual compressor manifold rig, dual outlet rig. The 8 gallon, and 29 gallon compressors flow together via check valves to eliminate the possiblity of blowback, into a HF regulator / filter, and then into a dessicant dryer / filter, and then out to a stand alone hose drop, and then the upper going to the hose reel...

The good. The system works flawlessly as long as it is in use. Initially the red rubber HF hose shed a lot of rubber "dust" onto my hands the first few months of use, but after about 3 months, that went away. The reel works exactly as it should, and like a hose reel of any price point, this requires careful use as it will rip the hose out of your hands and fling it across the shop with brass end fitting slinging results if you aren't careful. Just walk it back in and you are golden.

The bad. The HF filter / regulator has taken on a bad habit of bleeding pressure down if kept pressurized for long periods of time. It doesn't bleed in the slightest for a day or two, but I have been in the shop, and it seems pretty consistent, after about 56 hours or so of non use, under pressure, the drain valve will pop off and bleed the entire system down, causing the compressors to cycle. Which is either a good or a bad thing. I really SHOULD be shutting off and draining my compressors at the end of the day. I have been getting lazy and not wanting to wait for them to build pressure, and I end up in this situation.

The bad 2. My dessicant filter is now fully saturated. I need new dessicant beads. Not available at HF. Need to order the stuff from Amazon. Bleh...

The mounting system I put up. (I.E. mount board sized to span the trusses, and carriage bolts spaced for the mount flange) has worked flawlessly. Getting the thing in place was far simpler than I expected, although it did take some dexterity, but once in place it has been rock steady ever since. I know it is visually un-pretty, but the simplicity of assembly, and secure mounting MORE than make up for it in the looks department.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Looks good Dave. I used the same approach as you (and Loring) - mounted to a board mounted to the ceiling studs. If I ever have to re-mount elsewhere, I'll likely use your approach. In my application, I had lag screws started into all four holes on the board, and only had to hold long enough to drive in first two opposing corners, then could let go and drive the remaining two opposing corners.

[LCHIEN]

...
The bad 2. My dessicant filter is now fully saturated. I need new dessicant beads. Not available at HF. Need to order the stuff from Amazon. Bleh...

....

Can't you bake out the dessicant beads? I think they (at least the silican gel kind) are supposed to be reusable. Some even have color indicators telling when they are dry or saturated.
Put them in a shallow tray and bake in the oven at (I'm guesssing) 250-300 degrees for a few hours, should dry them out like new.

A couple of articles on the 'net:

http://www.protoparadigm.com/news-updates/recharging-reusable-indicating-silica-desiccants/

http://qqjky.qjhbf.servertrust.com/v/vspfiles/info/Silica%20Gel.pdf

Be Careful.

[atgcpaul]

The 8 gallon, and 29 gallon compressors flow together via check valves to eliminate the possiblity of blowback, into a HF regulator / filter, and then into a dessicant dryer / filter, and then out to a stand alone hose drop, and then the upper going to the hose reel...

Dave, could you provide more details on the check valves?

The bad. The HF filter / regulator has taken on a bad habit of bleeding pressure down if kept pressurized for long periods of time. It doesn't bleed in the slightest for a day or two, but I have been in the shop, and it seems pretty consistent, after about 56 hours or so of non use, under pressure, the drain valve will pop off and bleed the entire system down, causing the compressors to cycle. Which is either a good or a bad thing. I really SHOULD be shutting off and draining my compressors at the end of the day. I have been getting lazy and not wanting to wait for them to build pressure, and I end up in this situation.

I forgot to list the HF retractable hose reel as one of my purchases (as well as some ratcheting tie downs) and the same filter/regulator. I was using the compressor the other night and mine cycles even more frequently than yours does--like every 15 minutes. I hadn't bothered to trace the leak since I'm only in the shop for 30-45 minutes at a time most days and I turn off the compressor when I'm done using it. Anyway, the other night I heard a hissing noise coming from the general vicinity of the filter/regulator. I usually have music playing so I hadn't heard it before. Well, now I know where to check first. Mine doesn't pop off like yours, though.

[dbhost]

Dave, could you provide more details on the check valves?




I forgot to list the HF retractable hose reel as one of my purchases (as well as some ratcheting tie downs) and the same filter/regulator. I was using the compressor the other night and mine cycles even more frequently than yours does--like every 15 minutes. I hadn't bothered to trace the leak since I'm only in the shop for 30-45 minutes at a time most days and I turn off the compressor when I'm done using it. Anyway, the other night I heard a hissing noise coming from the general vicinity of the filter/regulator. I usually have music playing so I hadn't heard it before. Well, now I know where to check first. Mine doesn't pop off like yours, though.

I'm going to have to dig for specs, but I used a pair of 3/8 F x 3/8 F brass one way check valves, I believe I got them from Grainger. The link is for the same type, but I didn't pay quite that much for them. You can see in the close up of the items there is an arrow stamped into the body, that is the direction the flow goes. A rough description of the flow would be compressors, hoses, check valves, brass tee, and then to the filtration / regulator units.

The Brass pipe nipples came from Harbor Freight item #68202 as they were the least expensive of anyone I could find. The brass tee fittings I used were sourced from Home Depot.

After my initial setup fiascoes with bleeding joints and threads, I STRONGLY advise against using pipe tape on pnuematic fittings, but rather, a proper pipe dope at the very least, or better yet, a thread sealant that is actually designed for pnuematic systems like the Loctite 545.

I am no longer bleeding down, but rather popping off, and it is at a fairly consistent timing, almost to the point I suspect that this is a designed in behavior of separator drain valve. Perhaps it is accumulating enough moisture to blow it off, not sure...

On the baking the beads to restore them. Hadn't thought of that approach. I know you can microwave the silica packets to restore them. Why not beads?