I was looking at changing my present hose and electrical cable set up to one of those wind up flat hoses and a wind up reel for the power cable.
I saw an advert for Flat Out and they have a package for about $500. Has anyone used these and are they as good as the spruik that they give on their sales pitch. I get sick of winding up miles of drinking hose and wrestling with the power cord all to put them into one of those bags.
Any thoughts?
woolman said
01:40 PM Feb 18, 2024
If you have an electrical lead on a reel make sure it is fully unwound to use. It can generate enough heat to melt the lead insulation.
I just use Velcro strip (fishing rod holder) for hold hoses and a cheap plastic " H " frame from bunnings, about $3 now. On the grey water hose I have a cam lock fitting so when I roll up clip 2 ends together, no smells in storage.
Neil
Whenarewethere said
01:45 PM Feb 18, 2024
A flat hose will have to be fully wound out every use & avoid any accidental folds when on the ground.
What about 2 shorter hoses. Say cut your hose at say the 2/5 3/5 point, or 1/3 2/3 for manageable lengths.
Whenarewethere said
02:00 PM Feb 18, 2024
Same with portable solar panels. I have a few different lengths of cables. A lot easier than 1 very long cagle. I can also use the jumper leads as well if I need a few extra metres to reach the sun. But wouldn't normally use them as they are too heavy.
Don't wind up extension leads around your arm. Wind them loose just short of the ground for a bigger loop. A bit of self hooking Velcro is really handy.
The other option is to crochet the extension lead (same for ropes). They never get tangled, are by nature loose so will not overheat, will pull out to the exact amount needed. But do look a mess! Whichever one's priority?
JOFFG said
04:09 PM Feb 18, 2024
Been using a Flat Out water hose for 10 years full time on the road and still going well. Find if you lay it out straight to wind on reel it is better as it drains the water and if it is cold I run hand along it to flatten it a bit its easier. Dont like wind up for sullage as it is only gravity draining the water and if the hose hasnt expanded it restricts flow. So I just use black spiral stored in a bag. Just use loose power cord and when coiling lay it right out straight and coil as described previously ie. not around your arm. If you lay it out straight the loose end can spin as you coil and twists and kinks can come out of the cord. Always makes me scratch my head watching someone trying to wind a tangled mess onto their arm. As stated always fully unwind a power cord to use.
Greg 1 said
12:21 AM Feb 19, 2024
I have been using the flat out hoses for 8.5 years now.
Like anything there are advantages and disadvantages.
You need to peel the hose completely off the reel. You cannot use it part wound.
The sullage hose does tend to restrict flow to a degree but it works so really not a huge issue.
As mentioned, straighten right out to wind back in to assist in getting the water out.
Spray some silicone lube into the winding case to keep that operating smoothly.
They do make winding up and stiring your hoses much easier plus take up far less space.
Cupie said
08:38 AM Feb 19, 2024
For sullage pipe & water hose, I have fixed 4 conduits, threaded through slots in the chassis under the van. The far end has a cap fitted to each of the four pipes & a hinged cover (I think it is called a 'Plumdinger') to the other. The water hoses are fitted with hose joiners & sealed with rubber feet and clip lock tap fittings. The sullage pipes, when in use, are joined with short pieces of suitable sized conduit. This arrangement lets me store two, about 7M STRAIGHT lengths, of each. I always run them through a rag to clean the outside of the hoses when I feed them into the storage pipes. This way the pipes & hosed are always straight & not coiled. An easy way to store them by just feeding into the conduits with no coils & always clean when pulling them out of storage.
For the power leads, as suggested by others I just coil them in LONG loops of about 1 to 2 M diameter loops and store them in old pillow case in the front boot, always uncoiling the whole lead when using it.
I keep a spare water hose & sullage pipe in the van's box chassis for the rare situations when the outlets are a long way from the van.
I have used this system for about 20 years.
Whenarewethere said
09:43 AM Feb 19, 2024
If you have an air tank & compressor. You could, like cleaning out concrete pumping pipes.
Put a small foam sponge ball in the end of the pipe, a bit oversized & blow it through with your air compressor to scrape out the buildup.
TheHeaths said
11:12 AM Feb 19, 2024
Dmaxer.
Have used one of their reels for my power leads, and it works well, but I always unwind totally.
I have used the sullage hose version, and wouldnt recommend it, as it is a rubber unit, and struggles to inflate, for want of a better term, when being used. It impeded the flow of sullage too much, and created issues. I got rid of it, and it is the reel from that used as my electricity cable reel.
I also used the water hose for 7 or 8 years, and it also worked very well. Eventually replaced when it got some pin prick leaks after plenty of outback camps, and I considered too expensive to replace. Would certainly recommend though as a hose, if kept clear of prickle areas. I have gone back to the hose bag wrestle in this case. This reel is my shorter cable winder.
Hope that assists you.
-- Edited by TheHeaths on Monday 19th of February 2024 11:12:57 AM
watsea said
01:13 PM Feb 19, 2024
For my water hoses, (I have two, a shorter one and a longer one) I use bags. Electric cable, I roll like a tradies roll. For the sullage pipe, I took a hint from a forum poster. I use a round soft plastic tub, cut down to about one third of its original height to fit into its carrying location. www.bunnings.com.au/ezy-storage-60l-assorted-colour-flexi-storage-tubs_p0216618 My 10m of sullage hose coils into the tub and any residual leakage from the hose is caught.
-- Edited by watsea on Monday 19th of February 2024 01:15:11 PM
Cuppa said
04:57 PM Feb 19, 2024
We had a Flat-out hose on a reel in our bus when we had it. Mainly as a space saver which it was. Ours was for filling our water tanks. To be honest I didnt like it much. It was expensive & a nuisance to use. I think it was 15 metres & we rarely needed that length to fill the tanks, and so the whole job always too longer than necessary. Unwind the whole thing, & then stuff around laying out the hose correcting any kinks before we could use it. Winding it up wasnt much better, the reel was awkward to use & never squeezed the water out of the hose, so time was required to walk the length of the hose squeezing it by hand as I went to empty out the water.
The whole process was such that if filling up where others wee awaiting access to the tap after me was one I didnt enjoy at all.
We didnt use it after that for a couple of years & the next time we unwound it, found that it had developed leaks in a number of places. Quite a relief really. Bought a roll of standard drinking water hose & made up a short & a medium length capable of being joined to make a longer length & have found them fine. We found a circular bag at one of those cheap shops to store them in which made life much easier.
yobarr said
04:59 PM Feb 19, 2024
Not syre if this is helpful, but on my van I have this. Just pull out as much as you need, hook it up, and away you go!
-- Edited by yobarr on Monday 19th of February 2024 05:01:24 PM
Doesn't look like drinking water hose, bit rubbery Yobarr
Cupie said
09:18 PM Feb 19, 2024
Bobdown wrote:
Doesn't look like drinking water hose, bit rubbery Yobarr
Agree. Gets a terrible taste if left in the sun too long. Could easily replace the hose with a drinking water hose though.
yobarr said
09:37 PM Feb 19, 2024
Bobdown wrote:
Doesn't look like drinking water hose, bit rubbery Yobarr
Just garden hose, Bob, but the water doesn't stay in the hose as I simply use the hose to fill tanks through a filter, disconnect hose, and then pump water out of one of the 6 tanks as required.
There are two separate water pumps, one through a second filter for drinking water and the other for showers and general use.
Had plenty of the flash blue drinking water hose, but couldn't be bothered putting it onto the reel. Cheers
P.S The hose is only connected once a month for 30 minutes, to refill tanks. Otherwise hose is empty, and also has two isolation taps on supply lines.
-- Edited by yobarr on Tuesday 20th of February 2024 06:52:48 AM
Whenarewethere said
10:53 PM Feb 19, 2024
One can always blow out a hose with air compressor to dry in out.
Or:
Actually a garden hose is ok to 60psi. Just set your regulator accordingly. I have a few times run 50 metres of garden hose. Maybe I set to 70 psi for that task!
Whenarewethere said
11:55 AM Feb 20, 2024
Not to forget if you want to dry out airlines (hoses), refrigerated cooling makes a big difference.
Moisture in air (7:1 due to the typical compressor psi adding water to your every tyre every time you inflate tyres. Remove moisture!), pumping up 1 tyre. No refrigerated cooling in this case, still my third line of defence for moisture removal. Actually forth as I had the car air conditioning running to supply air conditioned drier air, but I did have extensive internal & external heatsinks to condense moisture up stream on the moisture trap. Just goes to show how much water is ending up in tyres for the un-educated.
Heat sinks to get 140°C (estimated. As of 130°C externally) air to get hot air to outside (with silver based thermal paste under heatsinks).
The external heatsinks are fan cooled with high volume fans (2 of my 3 compressor set-up, not forget air tank).
Refrigerated cooling with fan forced cooling to condense moisture as quick as best as possible in a car setup system, very next to no room! If you have a caravan it will be a lot easier as you have a lot more room than in a car only set-up.
Thanks for the replies. I think I might go with the reel for the power cord and just make do with a bit of surgery on the water hose to make two shorter hoses.
Gundog said
09:08 AM Feb 21, 2024
Just to add to the conversation I have moved my water connection from close to the front of the van to the rear (I have found that most CP's have water connection near the rear.
My twin water filters are mounted on the back of the van, removing the PRV and locating it on the in side of the filters and out side is JG pipe to the van, I have a couple of lengths of water hose plus one, all are stored in a hose bag.
As for power cords again I have 3 lengths 20, 10 and 5 meters, all are hand rolled with the male and female end connected and stored in shopping bags, easy to store that way. I do have a waterproof cover if I need to connect 2 power cord together.
I find it interesting that so many, the clear majority, persist in using water hose storage solutions that require the hose to be rolled. In my experience that usually results in the hose developing loops that are a PITA as often is the process of coiling the dribbling hose into the bag or whatever.
My solution uses straight, no kink, lengths stored in conduits running the full length of the van. Just slide out the number of lengths required, click them together & wipe as you slide back into the carrier after use. Simples.
Easy to see how long they have been in use from the age of these photos from my records
I was looking at changing my present hose and electrical cable set up to one of those wind up flat hoses and a wind up reel for the power cable.
I saw an advert for Flat Out and they have a package for about $500. Has anyone used these and are they as good as the spruik that they give on their sales pitch. I get sick of winding up miles of drinking hose and wrestling with the power cord all to put them into one of those bags.
Any thoughts?
If you have an electrical lead on a reel make sure it is fully unwound to use. It can generate enough heat to melt the lead insulation.
I just use Velcro strip (fishing rod holder) for hold hoses and a cheap plastic " H " frame from bunnings, about $3 now. On the grey water hose I have a cam lock fitting so when I roll up clip 2 ends together, no smells in storage.
Neil
A flat hose will have to be fully wound out every use & avoid any accidental folds when on the ground.
What about 2 shorter hoses. Say cut your hose at say the 2/5 3/5 point, or 1/3 2/3 for manageable lengths.
Same with portable solar panels. I have a few different lengths of cables. A lot easier than 1 very long cagle. I can also use the jumper leads as well if I need a few extra metres to reach the sun. But wouldn't normally use them as they are too heavy.
Don't wind up extension leads around your arm. Wind them loose just short of the ground for a bigger loop. A bit of self hooking Velcro is really handy.
The other option is to crochet the extension lead (same for ropes). They never get tangled, are by nature loose so will not overheat, will pull out to the exact amount needed. But do look a mess! Whichever one's priority?
For sullage pipe & water hose, I have fixed 4 conduits, threaded through slots in the chassis under the van. The far end has a cap fitted to each of the four pipes & a hinged cover (I think it is called a 'Plumdinger') to the other. The water hoses are fitted with hose joiners & sealed with rubber feet and clip lock tap fittings. The sullage pipes, when in use, are joined with short pieces of suitable sized conduit. This arrangement lets me store two, about 7M STRAIGHT lengths, of each. I always run them through a rag to clean the outside of the hoses when I feed them into the storage pipes. This way the pipes & hosed are always straight & not coiled. An easy way to store them by just feeding into the conduits with no coils & always clean when pulling them out of storage.
For the power leads, as suggested by others I just coil them in LONG loops of about 1 to 2 M diameter loops and store them in old pillow case in the front boot, always uncoiling the whole lead when using it.
I keep a spare water hose & sullage pipe in the van's box chassis for the rare situations when the outlets are a long way from the van.
I have used this system for about 20 years.
If you have an air tank & compressor. You could, like cleaning out concrete pumping pipes.
Put a small foam sponge ball in the end of the pipe, a bit oversized & blow it through with your air compressor to scrape out the buildup.
Dmaxer.
Have used one of their reels for my power leads, and it works well, but I always unwind totally.
I have used the sullage hose version, and wouldnt recommend it, as it is a rubber unit, and struggles to inflate, for want of a better term, when being used. It impeded the flow of sullage too much, and created issues. I got rid of it, and it is the reel from that used as my electricity cable reel.
I also used the water hose for 7 or 8 years, and it also worked very well. Eventually replaced when it got some pin prick leaks after plenty of outback camps, and I considered too expensive to replace. Would certainly recommend though as a hose, if kept clear of prickle areas. I have gone back to the hose bag wrestle in this case. This reel is my shorter cable winder.
Hope that assists you.
-- Edited by TheHeaths on Monday 19th of February 2024 11:12:57 AM
For my water hoses, (I have two, a shorter one and a longer one) I use bags. Electric cable, I roll like a tradies roll.
For the sullage pipe, I took a hint from a forum poster. I use a round soft plastic tub, cut down to about one third of its original height to fit into its carrying location.
www.bunnings.com.au/ezy-storage-60l-assorted-colour-flexi-storage-tubs_p0216618
My 10m of sullage hose coils into the tub and any residual leakage from the hose is caught.
-- Edited by watsea on Monday 19th of February 2024 01:15:11 PM
The whole process was such that if filling up where others wee awaiting access to the tap after me was one I didnt enjoy at all.
We didnt use it after that for a couple of years & the next time we unwound it, found that it had developed leaks in a number of places. Quite a relief really. Bought a roll of standard drinking water hose & made up a short & a medium length capable of being joined to make a longer length & have found them fine. We found a circular bag at one of those cheap shops to store them in which made life much easier.
Not syre if this is helpful, but on my van I have this. Just pull out as much as you need, hook it up, and away you go!
-- Edited by yobarr on Monday 19th of February 2024 05:01:24 PM
Doesn't look like drinking water hose, bit rubbery Yobarr
Agree. Gets a terrible taste if left in the sun too long. Could easily replace the hose with a drinking water hose though.
Just garden hose, Bob, but the water doesn't stay in the hose as I simply use the hose to fill tanks through a filter, disconnect hose, and then pump water out of one of the 6 tanks as required.
There are two separate water pumps, one through a second filter for drinking water and the other for showers and general use.
Had plenty of the flash blue drinking water hose, but couldn't be bothered putting it onto the reel. Cheers
P.S The hose is only connected once a month for 30 minutes, to refill tanks. Otherwise hose is empty, and also has two isolation taps on supply lines.
-- Edited by yobarr on Tuesday 20th of February 2024 06:52:48 AM
One can always blow out a hose with air compressor to dry in out.
Or:
Actually a garden hose is ok to 60psi. Just set your regulator accordingly. I have a few times run 50 metres of garden hose. Maybe I set to 70 psi for that task!
Not to forget if you want to dry out airlines (hoses), refrigerated cooling makes a big difference.
Moisture in air (7:1 due to the typical compressor psi adding water to your every tyre every time you inflate tyres. Remove moisture!), pumping up 1 tyre. No refrigerated cooling in this case, still my third line of defence for moisture removal. Actually forth as I had the car air conditioning running to supply air conditioned drier air, but I did have extensive internal & external heatsinks to condense moisture up stream on the moisture trap. Just goes to show how much water is ending up in tyres for the un-educated.
Heat sinks to get 140°C (estimated. As of 130°C externally) air to get hot air to outside (with silver based thermal paste under heatsinks).
The external heatsinks are fan cooled with high volume fans (2 of my 3 compressor set-up, not forget air tank).
Refrigerated cooling with fan forced cooling to condense moisture as quick as best as possible in a car setup system, very next to no room! If you have a caravan it will be a lot easier as you have a lot more room than in a car only set-up.
(Twin oil coolers with 2.4 metres of plumbing).
Just to add to the conversation I have moved my water connection from close to the front of the van to the rear (I have found that most CP's have water connection near the rear.
My twin water filters are mounted on the back of the van, removing the PRV and locating it on the in side of the filters and out side is JG pipe to the van, I have a couple of lengths of water hose plus one, all are stored in a hose bag.
As for power cords again I have 3 lengths 20, 10 and 5 meters, all are hand rolled with the male and female end connected and stored in shopping bags, easy to store that way. I do have a waterproof cover if I need to connect 2 power cord together.
I find it interesting that so many, the clear majority, persist in using water hose storage solutions that require the hose to be rolled. In my experience that usually results in the hose developing loops that are a PITA as often is the process of coiling the dribbling hose into the bag or whatever.
My solution uses straight, no kink, lengths stored in conduits running the full length of the van. Just slide out the number of lengths required, click them together & wipe as you slide back into the carrier after use. Simples.
Easy to see how long they have been in use from the age of these photos from my records
Good idea.
A bit like pumping concrete. Must be very hard water!
Air hoses & 12v cables I have in shorter multiple lengths. So much easier to handle.