Air Compressor Hoses and Chucks question

I purchased US made Goodyear hose at Harbor freight.




Ago

87TR

 

All air hoses eventually fail when used all the time. You have to look for the signs, usually bubbling on the outside. They rarely fail if just filled on occasion. I find the polyurethane hoses to be the best to work with and easiest to store. Any Milton product is top quality as far as chucks and gauges but the garbage works equally well for a home garage.

 

If you're going with harbor freight that's fine. Home Depot also has good hose and fittings. Top of the line is the Griot's Garage hose reel that you can mount to the ceiling. I have overhead air, water and electric on reels. Probably overkill for a little pancake compressor (mine is 60 gal.) but very convienient. Don't have to drag out garden hose to wash car. I have 2 extra air outlets piped in to the compressor with PVC in different corners of the garage. I'm not trying to brag here but if you're going to do it why not think about how your "ultimate" garage would be set up?
Photo shows my setup - red reel is air with blowoff valve to get rid of condensation, large black reel with blue hose (25') is water, smaller black reel is electric. The Griot's reels are expensive ($250+/- each) but super high quality. You might find some used ones from a garage closing down but they're usually pretty thrashed from years of use
By the way, (don't want to hijack this thread but...) Does anyone have a good way to drain water out of the 60 gallon compressor tank? There's a valve at the bottom but almost no clearance to the floor. I'm thinking I'll have to remove the concrete anchor bolts and add a drain tube to the valve. Any thoughts?

Steve
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

There are several options:
1. Automatic drain kits which drain the condensation and require no interaction
2. Drain valve with a lanyard attached so you can just grab it and drain, like on a big rig air system.