Overhead Air Hose Reels - Yea or Nay?

[Michael Zerance]

I am re-oganizing my shop and am thinking about installing a couple overhead air hose reels that I picked up a while ago. I have a copper air line running overhead already, so plumbing them in shouldn't be a big deal. I am just not looking forward to mounting them to the steel beams 16' up so, before I go through the trouble, I was hoping to gather some opinions from those that have done it. Is it worth doing?

[Jerome Stanek]

I love mine never have to worry about where it is or tripping over the hose when not in use. As for mounting them look at some beam clamps

[Mel Fulks]

I've only had the chance to use some that were not lockable and therefore made useing them a "tug of war",almost as bad as the spring coil type, so I refused to use them. Guess it depends on how much hose will be needed, for most in shop use I find 50 feet adequate and prefer a hanger as high off floor as I can comfortably reach. Hung in big loops that just clear of the floor it stays kink free and is quickly taken down and quickly put back.

[Mike Henderson]

I have an air hose reel in my shop and wouldn't be without it. I use is for spraying finish and for blowing off stuff. And when I'm not using it, it's out of the way. The alternative of getting out an hose, hooking it up, and then putting it away after use is not attractive to me.

I've had one almost at long as I've had a shop.

Mike

[Any rotating reel will have something like O-rings to seal the place where the air hose rotates. Those can wear out and then it starts leaking air. You can disassemble the joint and replace the O-rings so the reel can last a long time.]

[John Ziebron]

In my garage I have a hand reel. But that's because I have 100 feet of 3/8 hose on it. It's mounted on the back wall of the garage but will reach far enough to get at the tires of a vehicle in my driveway and other areas. And it only takes about 30 seconds to wind all 100 feet up. In my pole barn woodworking shop I have a spring return reel. But it too is mounted on the back wall. And with 50 feet of 3/8 it will reach anywhere in my 30 x 30 shop and then some. I didn't want to mount it on the 12 foot ceiling because I don't like either a hose or an attached pull cord hanging down and eventually getting in the way of something. And maintenance is easier when it's on the wall. A good automatic reel is not light and if you have to take it down from above for maintenance it would be a pain, especially for us older guys not to mention getting it up there in the first place.

[Mike Berrevoets]

I have a spring mounted hose reel mounted on the ceiling and like the convenience a lot. The end of the hose hangs down to about 6 and a half feet above the floor so I don't walk into it but can still reach easily. My only complaint is that it is an older model with the heavy rubber hose which isn't the most flexible. when I pull it across the table saw or some other piece of equipment it has a tendency to knock over anything laying around. I'd opt for one of the lighter hose weight models if I was doing it again. For the hobby workshop I think it would still be durable enough and a little more user friendly.

my dumb install story..... I picked a spot on the ceiling to mount it where it was easily accessible and out of the way. I have 10' ceilings. All was working well that winter. But when I went to open the overhead garage door in the spring the door rolled up and hit the hose reel. My 8' tall garage door went up 5'11". Just enough for me to bang my head. So it was back up on the ladder to move it over a few feet. Not one of my brighter moments.

[Raymond Seward]

I have my compressor AND a hose reel mounted high. The compressor on a shelf and the reel across 2 rafters. Works great in my small shop.

[Ole Anderson]

Wall mounted hose reel in my garage gets plenty of workout, but a ceiling mount would be better, but then it would need to be spring loaded, not hand crank and much more expensive. I do have a spring loaded ceiling mount shop light in the garage though. In my shop I have a polyurethane 3/8" coiled hose that works fine. Stretches much further than a nylon one.

[cody michael]

I have the spring powered one from.harbor freight, i got it on sale for around 50$ it is awesome. It locks in place at whatever length you need, and rolls itself back up. I have mine on my garage ceiling and put the compressor in my attic, works great

[Dave Arnett]

"Is it worth doing?"

IMO...Oh heck yeah!! I have a spring loaded mounted on the ceiling. Sure works for me.

"I have the spring powered one from.harbor freight"

I had one of those, it served me well for years. Finally, the spring just sprung. I replaced it with a "better looking" one.

[John K Jordan]

Is it worth doing?

My experience, yes, but. I have three air reels around the farm, a big Goodyear in one room of the shop close to a rollup door. I use that one inside and also to pull outside for vehicles, etc. This is in a separate room from the main shop where I do some rough wood cutting, small machine shop, and vehicle maintenance.

But through the shop I do get a lot of use from individual air outlets plumbed into the walls. I used the RapidAir parts and so far they have worked great with no leaks. I spaced seven outlets around the shop, close to where I thought I'd use them the most. I like to have a very light-weight coiled air line and nozzle near the lathe, etc., handy for quick use without having to pull down an overhead line or deal with the line draped across the shop. If I used overheads there, I'd want to have several.

JKJ

[Marty Tippin]

I am re-oganizing my shop and am thinking about installing a couple overhead air hose reels that I picked up a while ago. I have a copper air line running overhead already, so plumbing them in shouldn't be a big deal. I am just not looking forward to mounting them to the steel beams 16' up so, before I go through the trouble, I was hoping to gather some opinions from those that have done it. Is it worth doing?

I love my hose reel mounted to my 10 ft ceilings, but I wonder whether mounting one 16 ft over your head is really worth the trouble or will be useful - you're giving up a good chunk of hose just to get from the reel down to floor level. I find that mine, at 11 ft, works out well and it's fairly centrally mounted so I can get it to almost all 4 corners of my 40x40 shop.

The reel I have came from Tractor Supply or maybe Northern Tool, wasn't the most expensive one and mechanically, it works great. The hose that came with it lasted about 8 months before it blew out right at one end. I replaced it with this Goodyear 50 ft 1/2" hose from Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038M50BG and it's far better quality.

[Patrick Curry]

That is the EXACT setup I've been contemplating, with a power switch on the wall. I'm not thrilled at the thought of hoisting up that 5hp 30 gal compressor but it would be nice to have it out of the way.
No problems with the HF reel?

[Marty Tippin]

That is the EXACT setup I've been contemplating, with a power switch on the wall. I'm not thrilled at the thought of hoisting up that 5hp 30 gal compressor but it would be nice to have it out of the way. No problems with the HF reel?

How will you drain condensation from the tank if the compressor is way up high?

[Michael Zerance]

Thanks for the replies!

I moved the wall mounted outlet and, while I was at it, I plumbed in a tee in the overhead line to be used for the hose reel. I originally used Shark Bite fittings in strategic places and that made it really easy to disassemble and reconfigure the layout.

Now I just need to hoist that beast up there and mount it; I think I may procrastinate a little on that!