Review on Maximize Your Compressed Air & Water Efficiency With ReelWorks Retractable Hose Reel - 65Ft, 300 Psi, Hybrid Polymer Hose by Philip Wagner

This hose reel is quite good, I just wish there were some aspects of it that were built sturdier (and the retraction mechanism is a bit different than I'm used to). This hose reel comes with a quick connect fitting pair, two lag bolts, and some teflon tape.RETRACTION:When you unwind the reel, there are short segments where the locking pawl is engaged, and short segments where it is not engaged (I estimate about 90 degrees of rotation of the internal reel for each engagement/disengagement section). It's somewhat different than other hose reels I have used, where you pull and immediately release to start the retraction, no matter where you are in the reel rotation. I actually prefer the style here, as it's very unambiguous whether or not the reel will lock (if it's clicking it will lock, if it's silent it will retract once you release it). Just keep in mind if you are the full 65 feet away, it will be difficult to hear if it's clicking, and you will kind of have to guess how much to pull out to get it to retract.BUILD QUALITY:Overall this is built relatively well. There are a couple areas I would like to see changed, though. Some random notes from taking a look through the mechanism:1.) The seal is relatively easy to access, if you need to apply more grease or replace the O rings. It's 9 screws, and then you can remove the flange and expose the seal (see my photo of the sealing area)2.) The hose roller guides on the front are not on bearings. They are essentially just plastic bushings. Not sure how long this will last, and how smooth it will remain over the years.3.) The mounting bracket is actually removable, which I didn't see mentioned in the listing. You just remove one screw on the top, and one screw on the bottom. Each of these screws secures a plastic pin that you can pull out of the housing, which releases the metal bracket. In one of my photos, I showed the internal case area around the bracket, so you can see the mechanism of how it attaches. It looks only mildly reinforced, but it seems to work fine for now.4.) I wish they used metal thread inserts for some of these screws, instead of just tapping the screws into plastic. This is especially important for the areas that are meant to be user-serviceable, such as the cover over the hose seal. As you can see, some of the screws have already stripped out the plastic threading, straight from the factory! It looks to me like they were over-tightened at the factory, because I did not tighten them, only backed them out to see what was under the cover.5.) The hose clamp seems to pinch the hose a bit. I was already unsure about whether to get 1/4" or 3/8", and this seems like it could create a restriction in the already somewhat small 1/4" hose. You can see in some images I posted the hose with the clamp on and off. I would have also really liked to see a strain relief added after the hose clamp. I think it would avoid some of this kinking that I have shown. There is a strain relief added to the working end of the hose, why not also have one next to the hose clamp?6.) There is a nice exploded parts diagram in the manual. This is not all that common to see anymore, and I am very glad to see they included it -- it really helps with serviceability, and indicates to me that the manufacturer intends for this to last a while (and for the user to be able to repair it, should it break).7.) The unit seems to be made of glass fiber filled polypropylene, which is a pretty good material for this application.