[twt]

just a few questions about your invention

1 does it have a safety clutch

2 can it work with any hose reel

3 can you walk away from the van while it is operating to deal with any snags

4 will you show pictures of your working electric reel

Just curious about your new development as i was about you diy water heater which i plan to copy when i get a larger van.

[Village Gleam]

It's not an invention, just a change in our working method. I posted about the benefits, not about how to biuld one although there were several workable suggestions in the thread.Sorry to be so vague but some parts are still being worked on.

However I can tell you an impact wrench wont work but a drill will (with a socket and a driver).The screw torque settings are of no use, it has to be on drill, and if there are two speeds the lower speed.This works fine.

Anyone with any comments, suggested improvements, or simplifications please feel free to post.

I didn't set out to create a mystery. I hope this helps.

[twt]

ive no comments suggestions or simplifications as i have no idea about your set up. Could you give me an answer to the three prevous question if you dont want to thats no problem.

[twt]

im not a doubter im just asking questions.

[Jeff Brimble]

Hi Mr Sol, what length/make of hose do you generally use on one reel ?
Its good that you can just add a reel and use the elecy winder on any of them and there is an adjustable speed control built into most drills

[Jeff Brimble]

Oh and I have just realised your not saying that you use the socket and driver,  so maybe your actually using something completely different 

[Village Gleam]

This pioneering is hard going Jeff you must have put up with this for years. I can't see what's so hard about it, there are pictures of the relevant bits. My topic was about the benefits of changing the working method.

I locked the thread because a squable developed, but I tried to bow out gracefully by giving decent information but I never saw the mechanics of how it was done as a barrier. A similar strategy here hasn't got me any further.

I can't see any benefit of operating the reel whilst away from the van. A clutch device is being tried, but the drill method definitely works on any reel and already does the job to a very high standard and adheres to  keep it simple rules.

I presume Jeff you are asking about hose and lenght because you are wondering what inertial forces have to be overcome. I use 100m minibore and the device has no problems with this. In fact this should be thermobore if only the supplier had as much gumption as his inventive grandad How long I wonder before it starts being  offered on system installations?

The only other thing I might add is be carefull untill you know what you are doing and as the attachment to reel is plastic it is easy to chew up so put some tape round it and keep the socket on it.

As more users start to use a powered reel no doubt more hints and tips will become available.

[d s windowcleaning]

cant you post a couple of pics mr s .

[Jeff Brimble]

Reason I was asking is I currently have/use plastic hozebox reels on the elecy trolley  and Silicon type hose and do not use the winder for fast winding but put a pencil in one of the screw holes nearer the centre. I have also been experimenting with differ4ent size silicon diameters  and lenghths. I find the 4mmID algarde light and fast to reel but I mainly use small 40psi flojets.I know many use the 100 or 80 psi pumps which I also have in the "van" mount.

Fluid hydraulic friction will not allow the 40psi pumps to go say more than 30m, hence the experiments with diff sizes.
So to get to 100m with 4mm ID I am trying the 100psi pump.
 If your still following...
I can get 100m 4mmID on the small hozebox but it doesnt have a winding nut like the reels most use so I may need to upgrade to try your elecy winder and am thinking through your idea to apply to my application.
Thanks for the explanation  I also do like to make work easier !

[Village Gleam]

I can't believe I have just been out and took a photograph of a drill. This is what a drill looks like when it is attached to a driver that is attached to a socket that is attached to a reel.
The driver must be deattached on winding out. A stop must be fixed to give the drill body something to push against. A harness attached to the end of the hose that fits over the head and under the arm and puts the tap at about waist level is the best method of managing the hose. My harness is red, and this red sash across my chest makes me look like a general.

[Jeff Brimble]

General Sol  As you know you can get 90 degree elbows to fit instead of the drill chuck (Bosh I think) and then anchor/strap the body to the support legs. OK in theory but not so easy in practice because of the need to release. just some input.

[Bazzy1999]

Is that a 12v or 18v or higher drill? and how many times can you reel in 100m of minibore before the battery starts going flat.
I dont mean a whole 100m but on a average days work how long will it last.

Bazz...

[[GQC] Tim]

There is the magical electric hosereel. 

lol

[Village Gleam]

I didn't know about the elbow, thanks Jeff.

I've just had a look bazz and it says 18v 1.3 ah. There are three batteries which take 30 mins to charge.The drill cost £80 To start with I drained one battery, but I had an elaborate giudance/safety attachment that introduced drag. Now I find without this one battery lasts.

I do have another method/motor for powering the reel off the leisure battery but the drill method is simple and works very well. Care should be taken to begin with to avoid accidents. Ohe thing I would say is keep the hose attached to you by a harness when you are by the van winding in. This way the worst that can happen is you get a tug on the shoulder. If you allow the hose to go loose the tap(being a heavy metal bit ) could whiz in and break your wrist. As the hose winds on I hold guide and clean it with a cloth moving from side to side of the reel.

I repeat, this method works very well, and once you have done it you will not go back to winding in by hand. You soon come to view hand crankers as a bit odd.

GQC etc, the reason I posted about the benefits of using this method and not a how to do it guide with pictures was because these topics often get out of hand. Look at the day in the life thread with pictures, harmless good natured and interesting. Then all of a sudden his tanks not strapped down and people paint all sorts of disaster scenarios for him amd his family.

[williamx]

General Sol

Is the driver fixed to the hose reel pernamently and is detachable from the drill chuck and do you need to hold the drill against the hose reel when winding in?

[Village Gleam]

Nothings fixed permanently. I leave the deep 22m socket on the hose reel and take the drill with the driver off.The nut on the hose reel is plastic so I also put some insulation tape round it to try to prevent it from being chewed up.

I suppose you do hold it, but it would be easy enought to put something in to support it. The main thing is that it has a stop behind it to give the drill body some counterforce.

I will unlock the orginal thread, and then others who try this can express their opinions as to what it's like to use.(many have a drill so all they need is a deep 22m socket and the socket driver).

If they find I'm talking rubbish and think manual is better/safer/no less fast, they can say so.

[frames to panes]

What is to stop the clutch facility of the drill being used - would this not prevent premature wear of the nut - what happens when the reel suddenly stops?

[matt]

nice drill Mr S 

Makita were the brand of the pro's 10 years ago ( along with Elu and dewalt, both black and decker owned companies, personally i preferred Elu, but they went very poor, so the only choice was Dewalt ), Makita started to produce in china using chinese parts, they went down hill from then on ( thus then became cheaper ) as a side interest, my first Makita was 7.2 Volt and cost me over 200 quid, my latest cordless is a dewalt that cost just under 400 quid ( this was a few years ago )

for the amount of work the drill is going to do, you could buy a cheapo B&Q drill and wire it to a leisure battery which would power it all day long

[L.J.Thorpe]

i have tried to word this in a way that will not make people think i am just having a go at you mr sol,i have to say that after all the fan fare i feel a bit let down  to discover that the "device" is  a drill.I had expected a purpose built bolt on unit that was only a few months away from being stocked by wcw,cleantech et al.Dont you think that you might win more people over if you had just said that you were looking at using a drill to power the reel,or even just posted the pics with a few lines about how well you got on with it ???All that aside i am glad it is doing the job intended,what about getting a cheap drill (like matt said) and using it as a test bed for other mods,how about a wired remote control switch

[twt]

thanks for your reply clive i didn't realise that you were actually using a drill i thought you had a more permanent set up. The reason i suggested being able to walk away from the van while the hose is winding in is because you would be able to deal with any snags withou having to return to the van.

Just imagine you finish the job walk back to van flick a switch walk away from van to make sure hose is not caught on anything if it is clutch will kick in you free the hose and it thencontinues to wind in. You then knock on door and collect or leave bill return to van to find hose neatly realed in and shut doors. Now that would be my ideal electric hose reel.