How short is short ?

Let's face it, everyone's preference and need is different, as for me less than 40 feet of pressure hoses are kind of too short, it might be okay if it sits at the end of the reel, what's your preference ? And what do you do if it's too short, recycle them or give them away or have some other use for them ?

I like my lead hose to be 100'. And the rest to be 50' or close to it..........the shorter it is, the closer to beginning/center of reel it is.

I always keep a 25 footer on the truck.

I don't cut down the hose to make it though, it is a new hose. Once I start getting a split at the end of a hose, I retire the entire strand. I figure they fail from the inside out most of the time, so once the signs are there, out they go.

The live solution hose reel has 125ft on it which we found to be the sweet spot for the layout of homes around here.      We have a 50ft extensions if needed, but almost never pull them out.    

For vac hose first 50ft is 2.5in which always is on the reel with usually another 100ft of 2in,   that is broken down into 1 50ft,   2 25fts.    

If we use 150ft of vac,   then as we finish the upstairs the first 25ft comes off and many times the second 25ft comes off as well right as you get to the stairs.     We use an 8ft 1.5in whip hose just for stairs which I love,   makes such a big difference on your arms/back.     If the stair tool is 1.5in tube anyways you wont notice a difference using a short whip hose.    

Still using the same lil better for 5years now,    this year I am going to get a new color but wont be throwing away the trusty green.    I want black vac hose and the light green scheiffer skinny for this coming year.

I've found over the years that pressure hoses nearly always fail at the end. We all know quick connects leak around the o rings. The more you have the more leak problems. I run a live reel with 200 feet. If I need more I carry a couple of extras stashed in the van.

Hmmmm, the idea of making the pressure hose live is tempting however isn't that affect the heat at the wand ? ( between 100 feet of hoses and 200 feet of hoses )
Plus if they blow inside the van ( in the reel ) that would mean cleaning a lot more mess in the van ?

dp1 wrote:Hmmmm, the idea of making the pressure hose live is tempting however isn't that affect the heat at the wand ? ( between 100 feet of hoses and 200 feet of hoses )
Plus if they blow inside the van ( in the reel ) that would mean cleaning a lot more mess in the van ?

I do run a 100 ft live and have done so for decades....never had one blow out in the van. It could happen, but I have never run into it before. I don't think I would run much more than that unless you really need that much to reach the building...I never take the live hose into the house as it takes a beating in the snow, mud, gravel, etc.

If the hose is on the reel it doesn't lose heat like when it's laid out. I even turn off the heat after a big job and run cool water through to cool it off.

I'm hijacking my own thread, I can see the point there with the hoses bunching up it retains the heat better, how about the reel itself ? Doesn't it get really hot from the heat transfer ?

dp1 wrote:I'm hijacking my own thread, I can see the point there with the hoses bunching up it retains the heat better, how about the reel itself ? Doesn't it get really hot from the heat transfer ?

The bunched hoses will get hotter. Good if it is cold and you need some extra heat, but can also be bad if you operate a flame thrower already and then they just get cooked. I run at 205 - 210 at the machine and haven't fried any hose, but if you are throwing 240+ through there, it will no doubt age quicker.

As for the reel...depends on the material. An aluminum reel....never witnessed a problem.

I think you should give it a try, run a 100 foot section live and see how much time you save...you might prefer it.

I run 100 ft of 3/8 live with a diesel burner no problems with the hose here
I do replace then every year around this time

I never had a live solution reel until around september of this year. Went live on the garden hose feed and the solution and man it doesnt seem like it would but it saves so much time.

Because its so efficient I am considering going live on the vac reel which I have never done. Between the three of those your saving a lot of time and energy. Every little step that can be eliminated just equals more time on the wand getting the job done.

does anyone here run a live vac reel? I was always worried about the loss of suction but it cant be much different than having a pile of vac hose when your finishing up the last part of a job. Might be a little tricky getting the filter set up conveniently

I did run live on the vac reel for a couple of years with the butler. It adds an extra curve to the hose, but like you indicated, that pile of hose towards the end of job is far worse and I still pull good vacuum.

If you had room to run dual hoses to your filter prior to the reel without adding bends, I don't see how it would hinder anything vac-wise.

I don't think it saved me a lot of time though...maybe if I had an electric reel it would?

I think it is that garden hose reel that saves the most amount of time....especially in the winter when you have to fight them a little more and wipe all the slush off of them as you go.