Best Retractable Air Hose For Keeping Your Air Lines Out Of The Way

posted in: Power Tools | 0

Click here to see examples of retractable air hoses.
Click here to see examples of retractable air hoses.
Whether you’re working in close quarters in your home garage or in a commercial shop with lots of extra space, the last thing you want is an air hose running across the floor. It becomes an unsightly trip hazard that makes it difficult to work safely and efficiently. Air hoses that lay on the floor tend to collect dirt and turn a dark dirty color based on the grime they pick up, which can make them harder to see and add to the potential for hazard over time.

Air hoses have an uncanny ability to collect just about everything on the floor from fluids to grease to dirt. This will either become permanently embedded it into the hose itself or help distribute the debris across your garage or shop floor which can spread a small mess into a big mess. In any case, it’s a bad situation that will only get worse over time. Another problem that exists with air lines laying the floor is that they tend to get hung up on anything on the floor. Jack stands, tool boxes, and anything you’re working with suddenly can snag an air hose such that you have to walk over to deal with it the resulting kink or unhook it so that you can reach the place you are trying to work. As you can imagine, this can become quite irritating.

Fortunately, there are ways of preventing your air hose from laying on the ground. The best method is none other than a retractable air hose reel. Since there are tons of choices outt here, we have pared them down to choose our favorite air hose reel.

The Best Air Hose

flexzilla air hose reel
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When it comes to selecting the best air line hose reel, the Flexzilla Retractable Enclosed Plastic Air Hose Reel (item # L8250FZ) is the best heavy duty and lightweight enclosed hose reel we’ve seen. We have reviewed a Flexzilla air hose in the past, so we were already fans going into this one.

First, this durable hose is prepared for extreme temperatures, from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. It also contains bend restrictors that will prevent a kink and break in the hose. This means you will experience no dancing lines whipping through your garage due to a line becoming overstressed. Maximum pressure for the hose is listed at 150 psi (pounds per square inch) and will easy hold up to most garage / shop compressors for years and years.

Regarding trip hazard avoidance, you simply won’t have to worry about it with Flexzilla unit. The plastic housing has a 180-degree swivel mounting bracket meant to mount to a wall or ceiling which keeps it up out of the way. It has a positive latching mechanism internal to the reel housing which will keep excess hose out of your way and locks every 18-inches to give you just the right amount of hose you need to complete the job. When you’re job is complete, release the pressure from the line and give it a little tug to engage the reel to retract the line into storage mode.

The reel housing is made of UV stabilized polypropylene, the air line uses anodized aircraft aluminum fittings for durability under any circumstances, and the air hose has an adjustable hose stopper at the end to allow you to decide how much you want available outside the reel when fully retracted. The reel includes a 3/8-inch x 50 foot flexible bright green (called ZillaGreen) hybrid polymer air hose and 3-foot lead-in hose. The aluminum fitting are standard 1/4-inch NPT fittings, which make them easy to purchase connectors for if you need a custom set-up for your garage.

As far as available purchasing options, Amazon’s competitive pricing makes it an impressive deal for an item this size (which usually costs a lot to ship at other retailers). Overall, it’s a great retractable air hose that is easy to use, flexible, and won’t break the bank. We think it will fit the needs of most people who use compressed air and think you’ll be quite happy. Happy wrenching!

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