Legacy Levelwind Retractable Air Hose Reel, 3/8 in. x 100 ft., PVC - L8310

This is one of those things you didn't know you needed until you bought one. Tired of constantly looping, coiling, tangling and mishandling your airhose? Take an extra moment, dear reader, and learn from my mistakes. The hose reel is a little stiff at first; both the reel itself but also the hose. I put some lube on it (the kind electricians use) and it works great with no decay of any parts. The outer case is (I think) ABS plastic, and has withstood one 4 foot drop already (clumsy, not mount failure). The mount parts seem flimsy but do the trick. The hose shipped with the reel is just so-so quality, but more than sufficient for my needs. No rust on any metal parts so far, and it now gets use multiple times per week in summer and winter. I too have a nice 100% duty cycle air compressor that eventually got buried except for when I needed to buff glass, paint, air-up sports balls, or put air in tires. It was a balance between nuisance and need. While browsing, I saw product, and bought one. I ended up mounting it almost to the front part of the garage, between the two doors. WHY? so I can use it outside to blow grass off the driveway, air-dry my vehicles after a wash, and other sundry tasks. But lets start at the beginning. 1. Find an easy access site for your air. Make note you'll be running air-hose *from* that spot, up (or behind) your wall, along (or behind) your ceiling, *to* your mount spot. 2. Take a string and measure the run from your compressor to the anchor-point for your FIXED air-hose. (meaning, attached to or behind garage wall. Picture the compressor. Picture the wall with a female fitting. Hang a string between the two. Then put a loop or two in it for slack. Write this measured distance down. 3. Do the same thing from the site you'll be starting your female fitting for FIXED air-hose, up wall, along ceiling, to your site for the hose reel. Add about two feet. 4. Install a female fitting for your chosen hose size. You can buy them anywhere. Now, if your distance from this fitting to the hose reel is a convenient 25', you are set. Teflon tape the hose end, screw into female fitting, and run/anchor your hose. Anchor the female fitting near your compressor, and drop the other end near the hose-reel. 5. You'll need to buy fittings to make the connection from the service line to the reel. I added in a valve, but it's not necessary if you use appropriate fittings. 6. Mount your reel. Good to go. Looking back, I shoulda left space on wall to mount a water trap. Since doing the above, I've also put in a manifold so I can drop air to other sites in garage. Bear in mind, all fittings leak. The more fittings, the more leaks. Some shops do custom airhose work. Ask around.

This auto reeler works great. My wife always complained about how heavy the hose was to drag around the yard. I found this online and thought we would give it a try. It is great. It keeps the hose off the yard and neatly wound on the reel. My only compaint would be that it takes a little effort to pull the hose out of the reel. It goes back in great; maybe that's why it takes a little extra pulling to pull it out!! For us it has been well worth the money spent.

This is a great all around air hose reel. I originally bought the classic 100 ft metal ones that range in price from $100 to over $1000. They all seem to have the flaw that the winding catch is simply attached with a single bolt through therein body of the reel mount. So if you ever let it lock too hard, the bolt bend the frame and it is now useless. After being frustrated with this and having one for only a few months, I began looking for different designs. I found this one, which also ranges in price to affordable ~$250 TO ~$1000. I was skeptical at first due to the polymer design instead of metal. I have had this for several months and use it all the times, at least once a week... I do NOT use this in a professional garage, although I think it would probably stand up to it. PROS Hose is a hybrid design, not PVC or Rubber. Its thin, easy to bend, and doesn't seem to have much issues in the cold. I have had no problems with it leaking and I do not treat tools gently, they are supposed to take a beating and keep working. In fact I now prefer the hybrid design over traditional rubber. It seems much more durable than the rubber which bubbles and gets pin hole leaks from time to time. It also has an adjustable tension for the winding. CONS It does have issues sometimes winding the last 12-18 inches. This isn't a real big deal for me and can be fixed if you help guide it a little at the end. I think the polymer case is a little too thin for my liking, however have had no issues so far. OVERALL If you have a little more money to spend over the traditional metal reels, I would go for it. I would not buy another metal one unless they drastically improve the flawed design.

Very easy to mount. I like that as the hose retracts an internal guide moves the hose left and right which lays it down equally and you don't have one side with too much hose. The last 3' of hose are troublesome to retract and requires lifting the hose to remove tension and it will then retract. Other reviews have said the hose is poor quality and broke after a few uses. It's not the highest quality, but you need to take care of it like any tool. I unreeled the hose 40 times. 20 of those were pulled straight out and the other 20 were with the hose rubbing against a tractor bucket, work bench and an abrasive floor. Only minor scuffs were noticed as expected.

This is portable if it doesn't reach and it's lite. I have had no negative issues. I read a lot of reviews. Looked at many different products and this one ended up being the right choice. I wish it came in 100ft length. I would like to buy additional mounting brackets so I can quickly attach it to different areas of my home.

Works great in my semi shop, use it everyday. Id recommend this air reel.

I bought this about a year ago because I wanted a better quality retractable reel that delivered more water, so I purchased the half-inch version. This unit is heavy and at first seems to be good quality. It requires a substantial wall or post to hang. You can read more, but the short version is that the hose retracts unreliably with a flaky clicking mechanism that often does not work well. The plastic feeding guide ring that moves back and forth to help lay the hose evenly while rewinding eventually bends outwardly and pops off the plastic cover that surrounds it (won't stay in even when put back in)...it also does not release to readjust, causing frequent, frustrating binding of the hose. The nozzle end randomly unplugs and shoots off causing water leaks if left pressurized. Disappointing. More details. I have completely given up on the units sold at Home Depot and Lowes, having had every single one break within months--and no satisfying response from the manufacturer. For years I used a Harbor Freight retractable air hose reel for my garden, but, because it is exposed, the sun would damage the hose and eventually cause breaks. So when I saw this larger hose and its cover, I decided to try it despite its cost. My water pressure is about 100psi. I installed a cut off valve feeding the unit, but sometimes forget it if the nozzle itself has a cut-off valve. This proved to be disastrous with nozzle malfunctions if it remained pressurized too long in the hot sun. The nozzle unit at first swivels nicely, but within two weeks, the nozzle shot off causing a huge water leak. It plugged back in and seemed solid, but made me nervous. Over the year, it fired off twice more, so I just cut it off and used a barbed fitting with a hose clamp. Still shot off. I suspect the type of hose material used expands when hot--expanding so much that it won't clamp well......or it is an unusual inside diameter that doesn't work with standard hose barbs. If the feed-ring that guides the hose back onto the reel somehow falls behind or moves ahead of the hose as it rewinds, it causes a hopeless bind. And there is no simple way to disengage it to realign it as is seen in the cheaper models (this is the one feature I wish this had). The click stop reel has an annoying lever to turn on or off the clicking...sometimes works, but I find myself fighting with it more often than using it. Frankly I see no reason NOT to have a clicking function that is always engaged. Who enjoys watering a garden playing tug-o-war with the hose? So my quest continues for a quality retractable, carefree hose that works reliably. If anyone, anyone has found one, let me know. If the manufacturer reads this. 1) Fix the swivel hose end so it can't shoot off. 2) Make the guide have a release to realign it. 3) Remove some hose or make the reel bigger --as there is too much hose for the space. 4) Make the click stop function permanent and remove the lever so there is less to break. Then I'll improve my review.

Most of my shop tools run on air, and the old hose pile was driving me nuts. I mounted this Legacy reel above the compressor by the back door. Install was quick, just lag bolts into a stud and it was up. The hose reaches my front counter for blowing dust off displays, which is exactly why i bought the 100 ft length. Retract works well, you give it a tug and it zips back in without whipping around. The hose is a bit stiff in colder mornings and wants to coil funny, so that slowed me down when airing tires outside. Still beats tripping over a loose hose every day.