How I Hooked Up That Damn Hose Reel

Okay so last weekend, figured it was time to finally deal with the hose reel sitting in my garage. Looked simple enough, right? Just connect it to the spigot outside. How hard could it be?

First thing I did was haul the reel out front. Thing’s heavier than it looks, kinda awkward dragging it across the patio. Found the spigot sticking out near the foundation – classic outdoor faucet deal. Dusted it off with my sleeve, got a bunch of grit in my eyes. Great start.

Now, my reel kit had this weird connector piece. One end looked like it should screw onto the spigot, the other had this plastic fitting for the reel’s inlet pipe. Dug through my pathetic toolbox. Found an old washer – looked okay, kinda stiff. Screwed the connector onto the spigot by hand. Felt tight, figured it was good. Yeah, rookie mistake.

Here’s where the fun really started:

• Grabbed the hose reel end. That plastic inlet pipe looked flimsy. Tried jamming the connector end into it. Didn't fit. At all.
• Scratched my head, dug around the box the reel came in. Sure enough, stuffed in the bottom: a different plastic adapter piece, looked like it went between the connector and the reel pipe. Had two rubber washers jammed inside it. Took me way longer than I care to admit to realize that.
• Popped one washer into each end of the adapter. Slapped one end onto the spigot connector I’d already attached. Felt kinda loose, so I grabbed my only wrench – adjustable one, naturally. Gave it a little turn. Heard a tiny crack sound. Stopped immediately. Plastic fittings are scary.
• Tried just hand-tightening the adapter onto the spigot connector. Didn’t seem too wobbly. Figured it was probably fine. Then wrestled the reel's pipe onto the other end of the adapter. That was another awkward push-and-twist battle. Finally got it seated.

Time for the moment of truth. Turned the spigot handle. Slow. Felt water flowing... saw a little drip at the reel's plastic inlet. Tightened the connection there with my fingers again. Drip got worse. Fantastic.

Shut the water off quick. Water spraying like a leaky teapot right where the reel pipe met the adapter. Totally forgot the second washer. Duh. Pulled the stupid thing apart again. Saw the washer I left inside the reel pipe’s end, looking sad and unused. Yanked it out. Shoved it onto the reel pipe before connecting it back onto the adapter. This time, watertight! Mostly. Little seepage at the spigot end where I was scared to wrench it. Just left it.

Final step: Unwound some hose, attached my nozzle. Water blasted out perfectly. Felt weirdly triumphant. Honestly, took maybe an hour? Mostly wrestling with plastic bits and forgetting basic steps. Way harder than that box picture made it look. That thing needs clearer instructions or maybe just tougher plastic. Just happy I got water flowing without flooding my basement. Next up: figuring out why the reel gets jammed when rewinding.