I purchased the Campbell Hausfeld PA500400AV Retractable Air Hose Reel recently, and am quite pleased with it. This air hose reel review is what I have experienced. It comes with 50 feet of 3/8″ air hose on an enclosed reel. The hose feeds out and retracts smoothly. That is important to me. I have been using a regular hose for years and cursed it every time. Unless you twisted it to get the curl out, it would not lie flat. It was a hassle every time. This hose is a breeze to use. I can pull it out to my driveway. Hold on to the hose when it retracts though!
After using it for some time just sitting by the compressor, I finally mounted it on the wall. It does have a handle on top for portability, but it is better mounted to a wall. It does come with several lag bolts. Remove the bracket from the reel and bolt it down then reattach the reel.
It can swivel side to side. Sticks out from the wall 20″, 15″ tall and 8″ thick. I read an online review that they were concerned it does not have hose guides on the sides, just on the bottom. I don’t think this is a problem as it pivots in the direction being pulled.
I was concerned that it would not be able to provide the volume of air necessary for the impact wrench I use to remove lug nuts on my car. It had to be 3/8″, but I could not find the hose diameter anywhere. Even on the Campbell Hausfeld website. From the pictures it looked smaller and it was not available in a “brick and mortar” store to look at. So I took a chance and it turned out to be 3/8″. Runs my air tools fine. You can get it at Amazon through this link Air Hose Reel .
After mounting it to the wall I attached it to my compressor through a regulator/moisture filter. In the past I have had problems with the cheap regulators that attach directly to the compressor, so I got a better one, but it didn’t come with a bracket. I made a little holder for it and some accessories with 2 pieces of 1/2″ plywood. Coated it in polyurethane. The regulator just sets in it and seems stable since there is no stress on it.
So after getting everything mounted I am quite happy with my setup and no more cursing. At least at the hose.
