Looking for recommendations- Automatic electrical cord reel?

[IRQVET]

So I have my 3/8 in automatic air hose reel mounted to the ceiling of my garage. Even after a week of use my first thought was “How did I go so long without one of these.” Then that got me thinking, as looked at my 100 foot electrical extension cord. I wonder if they make a simular automatic ceiling hanging system for those?

Did a search and found alot of Chinese build automatic systems, but none with that rubber stopper that gives you a few feet of hose length so the cord hangs down long enough to easily reach it, without having the entire cord retract into the reel.

Looking for recommendations if you have any experience.

Air Hose Reel with stopper for any example if there is an electrical cord equivalent. . .

 

[M.Wong]

I have two of the Griot's Garage ones and love them, one in the garage and one on the covered back porch for the Traeger.

Solid and well built, adjustable stop as you described, but they are only 45' of cord.

Retractable Extension Cord Reel, 45-Foot

Get organized power for your garage and driveway with our 45-foot retractable extension cord reel: three grounded plugs and an auto-latching mechanism.

www.griotsgarage.com

 

[scooby074]

Reelcraft are the standard IMHO. Ive installed several. Pretty pricy for a home gamer though. https://www.reelcraft.com/catalog/interactive-catalog/cord-cable-reels/power-cord-reels/

 

[WhoWhatNow]

I have a Coxreel. It is awesome. The safety rewind system is incredible.

Amazon.com

 

[senlow]

I've been using Reelcraft for over 20 years. I would buy them again.

 

[Max]

I also suggest Reelcraft if you are willing to pay for quality.

All of this type of reel use sliprings to carry the current through the reel. Most of the cheaper ones (if not all) are not rated for 15A, so if you get a cheaper one make sure you don’t overload it. I used to feed a 15A table saw through a Craftsman reel and it burned it up. My current reel is only 10A rated, and if/when it goes I’ll get a Reelcraft.

 

[619DioFan]

I have two of the HF reels. 30 foot long cord. They are only 16 gauge so not going to handle anything big but work well with my grinders and chop saw. Put them up a year ago.

 

[Ilikeike]

We have Coxreels and Realcraft at work.
Cox seem to be better built to me,just feel beefier, and Blue is my favorite color. Realcraft are very nice also.

I just have generic Amazon stuff at the house.

 

[tarmy]

I have both Cox Reels and Reelcraft. Both are good stuff and have worked great. Sometimes you get what you pay for.
My suggestion if you are a bit patient…load up the ones you want in your cart at Amazon and wait. I have found that the prices fluctuate wildly and you can buy them when they drop.

 

[Zeke]

You can buy the bumper separately.

 

[cvairwerks]

We've got KHI's at work, but they are way more $ than Cox or Reelcraft.

 

[drmarkr]

I wanted 12ga so I wouldn't risk any of the motors in power tools with higher amp draw. Bought this one 4 years ago and it gets used regularly and I'm pleased with it.

A 100ft cord on even your moderately powerful hand tools would require 12 ga wire!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071RVRH5F?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[Ilikeike]

We've got KHI's at work, but they are way more $ than Cox or Reelcraft.

They're pretty close,
just depends on which one I guess, some are more, some are less.
KHI
Cox

 

[cvairwerks]

They're pretty close,
just depends on which one I guess, some are more, some are less.
KHI
Cox

We've got the previous version of these:

KH Industries RTFH3L-WW-B10K | Cord Reel 50 Feet 10/3 Soow Yellow | 13V209 | Raptor Supplies Worldwide

Cord Reel 50 Feet 10/3 Soow Yellow | 13V209 | Worldwide Delivery | +44 203 287 5224 | [email protected]

www.raptorsupplies.com

 

[CamMark]

I put one of the $50 HDX/Home Depot reels in the attached 2-car for light duty things like running a palm sander or other small tools. I'm like you, can't believe I have gone so long without one. It's extremely handy.

But for the shop (detached 30x40) I came across the Flexzilla Pro for something more heavy duty without the price of the industrial units I use at work. 60 ft of 12ga high visibility cord was what sold me. The "self leveling system" as they bill it is more like an active re-wind guide that keeps it from binding up. It works really well, just has a confusing name.

The only real negative for me was the power indicator light in the triple tap. It's very dim and can be tough to distinguish from the color of the cord, especially with 6000k LED lighting overhead. The traditional orange would probably have been a better pick functionally. I guess they were trying to stick to a theme.

 

[IRQVET]

Anyone have any experience with these? 15 amp, 65 feet, UL listed.

Maybe I should have included a price range, cause some of the stuff you folks are posting, the prices are blowing my mind right now.

VEVOR Retractable Extension Cord Reel, 65 FT, Heavy Duty 12AWG/3C SJTOW Power Cord, with Lighted Triple Tap Outlet, 15 Amp Circuit Breaker, 180° Swivel Bracket for Ceiling Tested to UL Standards | VEVOR US

VEVOR Retractable Extension Cord Reel features a 65FT heavy-duty 12AWG cord, automatic retraction, lighted triple tap outlet, and 180° swivel mount for versatile power access.

www.vevor.com

 

[Fixr]

You can buy the bumper separately.

Or even (gasp!) make one.

 

[isb cornbinder]

COSCO used to sell a cord reel with SnapOn livery on the shell. I bought about 20 of them at garage sales.
All but 5 have been resold, after a little freshening. I picked up a light duty cord rewinder at a garage sale for a buck. After a few minor repairs, I mounted a battery maintainer to the rewinder and attached it to the 12 volt hydraulic power unit for my lift/table.
It is important to buy a retractable cord unit to match the amps you want to run through it. If you ever take one of these retractable unit apart, you might notice how fragile the components are. I have made new contacts for a few keepers.
I have swapped the male and female ends so I could mount the retractor to a machine and have a permanent cord.

 

[Fixr]

So I have my 3/8 in automatic air hose reel mounted to the ceiling of my garage. Even after a week of use my first thought was “How did I go so long without one of these.” Then that got me thinking, as looked at my 100 foot electrical extension cord. I wonder if they make a simular automatic ceiling hanging system for those?

Did a search and found alot of Chinese build automatic systems, but none with that rubber stopper that gives you a few feet of hose length so the cord hangs down long enough to easily reach it, without having the entire cord retract into the reel.

Looking for recommendations if you have any experience.

Air Hose Reel with stopper for any example if there is an electrical cord equivalent. . .

How many feet, how many amps, and how many hours of use a day/week/month/year?

 

[Mike65]

I have one that I bought at Home Depot a while ago & installed it on the wall next to the work bench. It looks like this one.

 

[240sxguy]

Any retractable is eons better than regular cords! I have one in my garage and it's always the first one I reach for.

 

[IRQVET]

How many feet, how many amps, and how many hours of use a day/week/month/year?

50 foot minimum, 15 amps, light DIY use for weekend warrior projects.

 

[Fixr]

50 foot minimum, 15 amps, light DIY use for weekend warrior projects.

Cool! Now we can argue about what will actually be suitable instead of just jabbering about what we bought. Your specs rule out the cheap plastic ones from the big boxes, like the one I have in my garage. But they don't demand a $500-$2000 unit either. That "light DIY weekend warrior" duty gives you some flexibility. The ratchet/recoil mechanism doesn't have to be extremely heavy duty, and the slip ring hardware doesn't need to be built for the ages. But you shouldn't go for a $50 special, either.

I don't have a specific item in mind, but it seems like you could find something workable for around $200, give or take.

Somebody will be along any moment to prove that I'm an idiot.

 

[John in OH]

I have several ceiling-mounted cord reels in my shop. The main reel is a Reelcraft and is excellent ... sturdy, well-built, reliable ... but NOT cheap!! IIRC, it holds 50 ft. of rubber-coated #12, 3/c wire. For lighter use, I have several Craftsman reels in general work areas. They are much lighter construction and have lighter gauge wire ( #14, 3/c) but have worked fine for several years.

If you really want to go DIY on reels, years ago my Dad removed the retractable cords and mechanisms from a couple of old vacuum cleaners and adapted them for his shop use. They were pretty light gauge wire and the electrical adaptation work was a little sketchy ... but they worked!!

 

[Nutria]

Looking quickly at a couple of tables, it looks like you would want 12 gauge to handle 15 amps at 50' length, if I've got your specs right. So that's fairly beefy stuff to contain on anything but a premium reel.

 

[IRQVET]

Went with the Vevor reel, 65 foot, now I have both electrical and air on hose reels.

 

[rebelranger]

How do you like the Vevor reels? I try to buy all American but I'm struggling to find all American reels. A couple assembled in America but none all American.

Unrelated but I hate how we sold out on technicalities "made in America with international parts" "assembled in America" "American owned" errr

 

[kevinottawa]

“I have swapped the male and female ends so I could mount the retractor to a machine and have a permanent cord.”

One of the best ideas I’ve heard in a while.

 

[BWWgarage]

Went with the Vevor reel, 65 foot, now I have both electrical and air on hose reels.

Any reviews? Thx.

 

[i4ni]

This thread reminded me I have bunch of Appleton cord reels equiped with trouble lights stored in a barn that I got from an online school auction that replaced them because of no ground wire. Of course there was no mention of that in the description so I was stuck with them. Those Appleton reels were awesome but had contactor rings in them for the hot and neutral but not one for a ground so I put them in a barrel and kind of forgot about them. They retailed for like $300 way back in the day and were very popular, Maybe I should sell them with a disclaimer.........

 

[Shadowdog500]

I have a 30’x52’ shop and have four of these strategically placed to get coverage everywhere in my shop. I would never want just one long one for my shop because I sometime need to power multiple items in different areas of my shop. I bought them 14 years ago when Sears was still open and the customers still outnumbered the employees. Not sure who carries them now.

Craftsman Retractable 30-Ft. Extension Cord Reel, Model# 3483928​

 

[oldmachinenut]

I have 4 of these in my shop and they work very well.

https://www.baycoproducts.com/products/sl-8904

 

[Shadowdog500]

I have 4 of these in my shop and they work very well.

https://www.baycoproducts.com/products/sl-8904

Baco is a good name I had one of their reeled fluorescent drop lights before going cordless.
If my old crafstman drop extension die I’ll be replacing them with these. Thanks for showing them.

 

[Max]

This thread reminded me I have bunch of Appleton cord reels equiped with trouble lights stored in a barn that I got from an online school auction that replaced them because of no ground wire. Of course there was no mention of that in the description so I was stuck with them. Those Appleton reels were awesome but had contactor rings in them for the hot and neutral but not one for a ground so I put them in a barrel and kind of forgot about them. They retailed for like $300 way back in the day and were very popular, Maybe I should sell them with a disclaimer.........

Plug them into a GFCI outlet and they would be fine.

 

[toyotadriver]

I have one from Tractor Supply. Not sure the brand. Think it’s 12ga wire but might be 14ga. Love it. Between that and a 10 or 12 foot power cord, my longer cords almost never get used. Hangs from the ceiling somewhat centralized in the shop.

I have 3 air hose reels and they also are one of my favorite additions to my shop.




Nothing in this post should be misunderstood, interpreted, misinterpreted, or construed to be of a political nature.

 

[local1]

I have a Appleton that came from the maintenance shop at a local college. I paid $35 for it. It was $1200 new. Great cord reel water proof.

 

[Imatk]

Got his reelworks like two years ago and it's awesome

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RTYNHYB/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[jcarapet]

How do you like the Vevor reels? I try to buy all American but I'm struggling to find all American reels. A couple assembled in America but none all American.

Unrelated but I hate how we sold out on technicalities "made in America with international parts" "assembled in America" "American owned" errr

Bought mine a month ago, Works just fine so far. Used it to run a dewalt metal chop saw and works like a champ. I will note that I did trip the built-in breaker when I was pushing on some 3/16" tube wall with some real gusto.

Going to get another 1-2 for various locations in the future likely.

 

[vlksdragon]

Bought mine a month ago, Works just fine so far. Used it to run a dewalt metal chop saw and works like a champ. I will note that I did trip the built-in breaker when I was pushing on some 3/16" tube wall with some real gusto.

Going to get another 1-2 for various locations in the future likely.

Do you have any issues with the reel not locking consistently? I mounted it hanging, and it take a few tries to get it to lock when pulling the cord out.

 

[jcarapet]

Do you have any issues with the reel not locking consistently? I mounted it hanging, and it take a few tries to get it to lock when pulling the cord out.

Not yet no. Just been listening for the clicky clicky, and it sticky sticky.