Goodyear 3/8" x 50' Rubber Air Hose Reel

This is an excellent unit for the money. It is very sturdy with a solid frame and hose reel assembly that can be floor, wall, or ceiling mounted. I used 3/8"x 1-1/2" lag screws and washers to secure it to the bottom of a shelf (with 2x4's) just above my compressor. Leave about a two inch gap between the edge of the reel and the floor/wall/ceiling when you mount it to give the hose a little extra room. From reading the instructions, I thought I would have to do a lot of setup and adjustments to get the unit working properly. Not So! Once I had the unit mounted and connected to the compressor it worked flawlessly from the get-go with no adjustments necessary. The spring return tension was set at the factory and worked perfectly the first time I tried it. One thing that is a little tricky is the connection of the hose between the reel and your compressor. The unit ships with a 50' hose installed on the reel, but DOES NOT ship with the interconnect hose, so you will have to provide your own. I ordered the matching 3' Goodyear hose because my compressor was close to the reel. You may need a longer hose if it's farther away. The reason I say it is tricky has to do more with physics than the equipment itself. When you screw the hose into either the compressor end or the reel connector it's no problem, HOWEVER, now you have to screw the other end of the hose to the other device. As you start turning the hose in, it starts to twist it tighter and tighter into a knot until you have an unworkable mass of rubber hose. Not good. There are probably fittings available that allow the hose to be tightened without twisting, but there is another way. Simply pre-twist the hose 3 to 4 times counter to the direction you will be screwing it in. This way, as you tighten the hose fitting it is unwinding the twists you put in the hose beforehand. It may take a couple attempts but ultimately you should be able to get both ends of the hose attached without twists. As for the reel, the main hose unrolls easily without binding or twisting, with the guide rollers keeping it properly aligned. The guide rollers allow you to pull the hose out at any angle up to 90 degrees on either side. It is a little tricky to get used to latching the hose while extending it. There are three "clicks" every half-revolution or so that you need to time so that you stop pulling right after the first or second click, otherwise, if you go too far past the third click it won't latch and you'll have to go another half-turn and try again. It's pretty easy after a little practice. To release the hose and let the unit wind it back in, simply give it a little downward tug and let it start pulling it in. It's a good idea not to let the hose go flying back in at high speed, rather, slow it down a bit with your hand as it retracts. I haven't had the unit installed very long, but I did drag out all 50' of hose tonight to blast out every smoke detector in the house. This was easily accomplished with the reel holding the hose fully extended while I did my work. Afterwards, with just a little tug and some guidance, the hose easily rewound itself neatly back on the reel. NICE! If things change I'll update this review, but right now I'm quite happy with my purchase.