After 2 years my Suncast Side Tracker hose reel leaked badly.
About seven years ago I purchased a Suncast Side Tracker STA100 hose reel. For the first two years it worked wonderfully and leak free. Since then it’s leaked like crazy, showering the wall and wasting lots of water. Clearly something needed to be fixed. Here’s how I fixed it.
I don’t really use my hose reel too often. After all, being in Toronto, Canada, garden hoses are really only used in the summer, particularly when the kids want to cool off by running in the sprinkler. In the fall, before winter returns, I take the hose reel off the wall and store the reel and hose in the garage.
Though no one else really notices, wasting water annoys be. Here in Toronto, all water that comes out of the tap is potable, meaning that it has been filtered, cleaned, disinfected, and fluoridated. To simply waste water is to waste all the energy and technology used to make it safe to drink.
So it took me five more years to get around to fixing it. Yes, after a couple of years I did begin to research what could be wrong, but really a hose reel is not high on my priority list. Of course, all the retailers that sell Suncast products do not sell their parts. As a customer you buy, and if anything breaks, you deal with the manufacturer. My search begins.
Going to the Suncast site I notice that the Side Tracker model has been discontinued, though parts are still available in a well hidden cranny of their site. Clearly maintenance is not a priority for them either. I suppose they expect people to throw their leaky hose reel out and buy a new one. Do I really want Chinese workers to pump me out yet another one and pay $30CAD, when my hose reel leaks? No, that is not the answer as I will not waste the world’s resources in such a frivolous manner.
Parts Diagram of the Suncast Side Tracker STA100 hose reel
After finding the parts diagram for my hose reel, it was clear that two o-rings needed replacing: part #11 “O-ring For In-tube #209, 260040” and part #12 “O-ring For In-tube #208 0260029”. Why there are two differently numbered o-rings I do not know, as they are the same dimensions.
Suncast will sell me these two o-rings, one costing $0.10US, the other costing $0.96US, and charge me $0.39US for shipping and $2.50US for handling, for a grand total of $3.95US. All for two o-rings.
So I scoured the internet and some documentation said that I could find these o-ring locally at “better plumbing and auto parts stores”. After visiting 3 local plumbing stores they all said the same thing: It’s cheaper to spend the $3.95US on the internet and don’t bother looking locally. Thankfully the Pickering Partsource store had what I was looking for: 2 o-rings with dimensions 5/8″ ID 7/8″ OD 1/8″ thick, in black, $0.51CAD each.
With a small screwdriver and some care I mounted them onto my reel, and added some automotive axle grease. In under a minute, Voila! My leaky Suncast is cured for at least another 2 years. At least this time I know where to get replacement o-rings locally.
Is it not possible to repair products that break or wear out? Do we always have to throw out broken products and buy new? Certainly Suncast should know that the only wear items in their hose reel were these two o-rings, and that they’d leak after a couple of years. Putting the dimensions of the o-rings into the instructions would have been a better customer service initiative, rather than shipping 2 rubber o-ring over international borders. While I appreciate the power of the internet, sometimes fixing locally beats ordering parts internationally.
thanks for the help Don I have exactly the same problem as you had and the same procrastination. I have taken my o rings out but they look like slightly different sizes. I will try and use the same size as you did to see if it works.
thanks again
peter
Your blog about the leaking Suncast hose reel is most informative. I have the identical problem and am trying to figure out how to open the thing up to access the rings….any tips? Thanks
I agree it makes more sense to replace the o-rings than buy a whole new unit. I have a Suncast SFB 200. I tried to get to the o-rings per the instructions that came with the hose reel. When I popped the black outside piece off, it popped off with such force that it cut my upper lip, leaving a half-inch vertical slit – now held together with a butterfly closure. Instructions say to “grasp the white release tabs and pull.” I see them, but I don’t have the strength to do this. Seems it should be easier to perform maintenance, since Suncast knows it’s going to need it. But, manufacturers know there’s more money in replacing the hose reel, than in fixing it.
Ouch! I hope you heal up quickly. I doubt manufacturers like Suncast expect consumers to do any maintenance on their products, or they would consider maintenance in their designs. Are we all too lazy to maintain our stuff?
Products we purchase today are not meant to last, and that’s a sad state of affairs for our environment. I keep doggedly finding fixes for my stuff in order to keep it out of the landfill and to save money. Some old products were built to last. Today, unfortunately, products made in China often look great but are made with inferior quality, leading to premature product failure. I am therefore hesitant to purchase products made in China, but often there is no other choice. This dependence is unfortunate and a tad scary.
Compared to some other manufacturers, I am glad that Suncast at least sells replacement parts, but I agree that they ought to pack some extra o-rings in the retail box, since it is usually the first (and often only) part that ever wears out.
I also agree it can be hard to pop off that reel after it’s been mounted for several years- and you can’t pull too hard on the reel, or it might crack, after getting brittle in the direct sun. Once it releases, watch out! Sorry to hear of your bad luck, Trish- I’ll bet you’re not the first!
The inner o-ring seems slightly larger than the outer, but I am viewing the worn rings and maybe the new rings start out the same size. In any case I had trouble matching up the old rings to the available sizes displayed at Home Depot.
Now that Don has published the dimensions, I have a better chance of finding one locally without springing for Suncast’s shipping and handling costs! Their S&H costs are not too excessive compared to some othes I’ve seen, but still a waste for two rings the size of a postage stamp.
Thanks for sharing, everyone!
Uh oh…Houston (or Canada)- We have a problem:
Having o-rings with dimensions of:
7/8? OD
1/8? thick
5/8? ID
Would defy the laws of mathematics, since if it was 1/8″ thick, that would have to be the difference between the ID and OD.
So my trip to the hardware store came to an abrupt end when I saw that!
I’ll try again, if you could provide a Pickering Partsource part number or revised dimensions.
Lay the washer flat on a table, centre hole on the table. View the washer from the side. You should not be able to see the hole. The thickness is from the table surface to the top of the washer.
Keep the washer on the table. View the washer from the top. You should see the hole in the middle. The OD is from outer edge to outer edge. The ID is the inner edge to inner edge of the hole.
I hope this helps! There is no parts number that I can remember. They have the dimensions on the bin. Besides, Partsource is a Canadian company and you’re in OC!
The part number is \208\ for o-rings (not washers) of the size you cite.
It’s not a commonly-stocked size, for neither Home Depot nor Ace Hardware carries it.
Next stop – plumbing supply stores!
I was looking for the inner O Ring and came up with the size you found on the site. I too looked on the Suncast web site and saw the diagram which you have shown here but did not search enough to find the order page.
As mentioned here, the local big box home stores had all but those sizes. I will now go to other stores to find them. Thanks for listing those sizes.
A search for O Ring size chart yielded some help/ See http://www.marcorubber.com/sizingchart.htm and you will find the correct sizes under the -208 & -209 listing.
PerryinOC, You probably didn’t add correctly because 5/8 (ID) Plus 1/8 (Per Side) equals the OD size of 7/8.
Hey guys. Plumbing o rings are a funny lot. Try an auto parts store or wholesale auto parts store. Plumbing washers and o rings don’t fit anything other than the taps they were made for. Trust me I have 25 years in parts usage in industry. Big box stores should be your last place to look. They are like the manufacturers that only want to sell you a new item. Always go to a dedicated parts store first.
I noticed that the Suncast web site
(www.suncast.com/replacement/replacementdisplay.aspx?prodId=149)
says “In-tube WITH O-rings sta100-0461113” unit price is $0.63,
so why they would charge an individual O-ring (sta100-0260040) at $0.97 is hard to understand.
But the web site won’t calculate shipping on just the O rings anyway (or for the lubricant tube), no matter how many you buy. However, you can buy all that stuff with a mounting screw and it WILL calculate the shipping — $17 to Canada or $12 to my mule in the US.
All this suggests that Suncast is not really interested in selling you the minimum to keep your product working.
marcorubber.com sells these O rings in quantities of (roughly) 300 at less than $0.05 each, so NOT including extra with the original reel is definitely an unfriendly act.
(Where is OC, anyway? Oklahoma City? Orange County? Off Campus? Ontario, Canada?)
Thanks for this!
I’m with you on this point. I’m not going to pitch this and buy a new one. It’s a total waste. Just ordered replacement parts for the next 10 years for the rose reels I garbage picked in the first place! 3 hose reels for free with 15 bucks in parts. I’ve permanently lagged them to the brick now that I know they’ll be productive for years :)
A
I have two of these hose reels. I think that I have had them for about 20 years! I do pull off the removable reel every winter and store it inside. I know that I have replaced the o-rings before, but can’t remember all the details. Both reels are leaking again. I just called Suncast. They were very helpful, and courteous. The lady told me that they use non standard size o-rings, and that the right sizes are not available in regular stores. She is going to send me a set Free of charge. She told me that they are two different sizes, and one is blue, while the other is white, not both black as in the past. It could be that Suncast is using improved o-rings. As I recall, the last time I replaced them a few years ago, Suncast told me what size o-rings to buy locally. I assume that they have made an improvement here, and hopefully these special sized rings will last longer.
I have two of these hose reels. I think that I have had them for about 20 years! I do pull off the removable reel every winter and store it inside. I know that I have replaced the o-rings before, but can’t remember all the details. Both reels are leaking again. I just called Suncast. They were very helpful, and courteous. The lady told me that they use non standard size o-rings, and that the right sizes are not available in regular stores. She is going to send me a set Free of charge. She told me that they are two different sizes, and one is blue, while the other is white, not both black as in the past. It could be that Suncast is using improved o-rings. As I recall, the last time I replaced them a few years ago, Suncast told me what size o-rings to buy locally. I assume that they have made an improvement here, and hopefully these special sized rings will last longer.
I have your O-rings – read on:
I have had 2 Suncast STA100 hose reels for quite a few years, both of which eventually leaked at the O-rings. Unable to easily get my hands on replacement O-rings, I’ve lived with these leaks, and grumbled about it, for some time now.
Recently, I stumbled on this Blog, read the above posts, and was inspired to take action. I found a supply house that could get the correct O-rings and ordered them, although they only sell them in bags of 100. (Yes, there are two different-sized O-rings required so I had to get 2 bags). I’ve installed the new O-rings, applied some silicon grease, and both hose reels work as-good-as-new. I’m now set for life on this problem, with many more O-rings than I’ll ever need.
Since then, Patrick has posted and I’m happy to see that Suncast sent him a pair for free. If you can get them to do the same for you, go for it. If you can’t, or if you don’t want to go through this exercise every year or two, I have lots of O-rings left over.
If you want some, and you live in Canada, send me an email at erv.w@hotmail.com. I’ll reply with my home address and ask you to send me a stamped, self-addressed envelope and five bucks to recoup some of my costs. I’ll mail your envelope back with 5 pairs of O-rings (that’s 5 no. 208 and 5 no. 209 O-rings). Hopefully, this is reasonable. If you want more O-rings, I’m happy to add them at a buck-a-pair.
I live in Canada (near Toronto) so, if you live in the U.S., it works a little differently as you likely won’t have Canadian stamps for the self-addressed envelope. In this case, send me the self-addressed envelope without the stamp and add $5.00 for the postage. No charge for the currency exchange (our Canadian dollar is worth about US$1.05 right now – don’t take it too hard.)
Same problem (plus bad hoses and hose ends…everything gives up after awhile!). I took the two \O\ rings off (1-blue & 1-white but appear to be the same size??) and tried to get them at Home Depot. No Luck. However, a very nice young lady \sales associate\ took a new reel out of the box, took it apart, we removed the two rings (which she gave to me), put the reel back together and back into the box. Then she put the reel with other \defective\ parts to be returned to the mfg, I suppose. How’s that for customer service? I’m not sure that her \boss\ would approve but we got the problem solved. I think that Suncast should convince their dealers to stock these in that it seems all of the reels will need them eventually.
Bob, this is highly unusual but good for you. You must be very charming! Here in Canada I have never seen a Suncast dealer sell any maintenance parts. This is a large problem with no solution. To have to buy yet another hose reel is simply a waste of money and a crime against the environment.
For the rest of us folk I recommend you contact Erv.w (see above) for replacement O rings.
Whew! What a saga for two o-rings! Well I learned from here about the two sizes needed, and I found those sizes for $.49 each at the Ace Hardware here in town (in Iowa). They worked fine but I didn’t realize it until I spotted that the hose connector inside the reel, was leaking!
Wow. Called Sun Cast as the online ordering was not calculating shipping costs. I needed 6 of each o ring. She took my address and name, said they would be in the mail today. No charge! Amazing customer service if they arrive.
Received the o rings, that didn’t solve the leaking. Another call- they sent no charge 3 in/out replacement tubes that hold the o rings. Problem solved. Thanks Suncast for getting it right.
Reading all of the Blogs–sound as if both o rings are of diff size. If one is 5/8 ID–1/8 thick what size is the other one. Does Suncast use same o-rings in most of their hose reels? I sure have enjoyed everybodys comments. My E-mail is (roncam47371@centurylink.net) I would certainly appreciate a response.
had same experience as Jim, just called and they are sending me 4 of each free. I hope I don’t have same experience as Jim that it doesn’t work! but if that is the case I will call back and get the tube as he did.
My white o-ring got mangled. Like Jim says above, I tried to purchase some directly from the Suncast website but it wouldn’t calculate the shipping. So I called them and figured while I was at it I’d just buy 8 white and 8 blue, along with some more lube. When I was done customer service said they don’t change for those items and maybe that’s why ordering online didn’t work. It took about 3 weeks to receive the package. Great customer service. But note that the white and the blue are NOT the same size. When I look at them, the blue has a slightly bigger diameter.
I have to agree with everyone above, great customer service. Just got off the phone with Suncast 1-800-846-2345. They are sending me three of each o-ring and a packet of the silicon lube, no charge, they estimated two+ weeksfor shipping cross border into Canada. Thumbs up Suncast!
To those of you who think the Suncast hose reels are Chinese,you are wrong, they are manufactured and assembled in the good old USA near Chicago, and they have a great customer service personnel. I have a couple carts and replacing the o-rings is quite simple: All you have to do is unsnap the inner reels, take out the wheel cap, and go to a decent hardware store and get o-rings. One size is all I use and they last for a couple years. Suncast has all the diagrams for their models. Unfortunately one cannot order an instruction manual but it is quite easy to dissassemble the total unit if necessary. Good Luck to you all. Rob
Great blog and excellent information. The Suncast website now doesn’t allow the purchase of the O-rings separately but the supply tube with the O-rings is only 65 cents. The problem is when you have the site estimate shipping it indicates the cost to be 20 dollars more! The Parts Source store I went to here in Calgary is a franchise and the person I talked to said they don’t stock the o-rings but I was the fifth person to ask him. Clearly this blog is being well read and the o-ring issue is widespread.
why? so you’ll buy a new product every few years. Built in obsolescence!!!
poor quality product, like so much out of China……
All good info in the messages above.
I live in the UK and cannot find a supplier for the O-rings.
Can anyone offer some advice as like you all I am very reluctant to have to replace a unit for the sake of two small but not insignificant parts
Thanks
The Fix is Confirmed! I had the same horror story as everyone else and had wasterd far too much time trying to determine ring sizes until I found Don’s excellent info above
I Picked up two pairs (one pair for the inevitable next repair in a couple of years) of O-rings at Hardware Sales in Bellingham (it took about 3 minutes to locate them in their extensive plumbing department).
Inner Ring is larger 1/8 x 11/16 x 15/16
Outer Ring is smaller 1/8 x 5/8 x 7/8
Total Cost $2.00
Time to replace rings 2 minutes
Success rate = 100% with no more leaks !
Thanks for this excellent article.
I have removed these orings every year since buying this unit, but last year I forgot, and with the ice storms and the severe winter we have had up in Canada this year, well, the orings went to pot. Thankfully, through this article, I jusy got off the phone with the parts department at Suncast, and I will be receiving two sets of rings, and gratis no less! The squeaky wheel, and in this case the leaky wheel, gets the grease. Thanks to all who posted here, and to all who helped get this solved!
[Don: Thanks for finding my blog useful, and thanks to everyone who contributes here.]
We need replacement part numbers 8, 11 and 12 to repair a hose reel. Would you please send the price of each one of these parts and direct me to the vendor that I can order the parts from.
Thank you
“O Rings And Things” has every o ring ever made. They have them in different hardness( durometer) and different types of rubber, buna n, silicon, high temp, etc. The common garden variety black o rings are made from buna n rubber and are 70 durometer. They will help you if there are any questions. They only charge a few cents a piece. When I needed a few for a dish washer repair they sold me a pack of 25 and mailed it. It wasn’t expensive, just a few bucks as I recall.
Item #4 on the above diagram worth $6.95 on suncast’s website likely froze & cracked on the my Suncast Landscape series hose reel. On June 23 2014 I purchase replacement parts by Visa on line. Replacements parts were promised in less than 2 weeks. After waiting until (17 July 2014) for nearly one month, I called Suncast to find out the status of my order number 100000361. Maria informed me the order is on hold indefinitely because one of the parts I ordered is discontinued. It doesn’t appear anyone from Suncast was going to inform me my order was on an indefinite hold. This is unacceptable. When I asked Maria of any warranties on the unit she informed me I need to have a copy of my proof of purchase and my maintenance manual or she wasn’t able to help me. I must now dispose of this entire unit because Suncast doesn’t carry a $6 part. No further assistance was offered even after requesting to speak with a supervisor. I am now going to go on to the home Depot and Canadian Tire websites to inform people not to buy Suncast products because when moving parts are discontinued you must throw the entire hose reel away. Too bad Maria’s supervisor was not willing to send me a new unit after I explained my story. Bad on you Suncast and Suncast customer service!!!!!!! You are there to make your company look good, not bad. Unsatisfied customer Canadian customer. Do not buy Suncast anything – they don’t care.
[Don: It is sad to see such companies not back their products, but they are around. The problem is that big box retailers do not sell anything else. I see a lot of Suncast hose reels kicked to the curb here in Toronto and dread the thought that they will be replaced by other Suncast reels. It is such a waste of the earth’s resources. We live in a disposable society, but I do not agree with this philosophy as I feel it is wasteful. Too bad Suncast would not make things right for you. Don.]
I too live in Canada and after reading your post called my local Partsource to avail :( I then continued to scour the internet and couldn’t find the right size so off to Home Depot and Canadian tire I went…nothing. Then it came to me… years ago when the transmission in my car started to slip and I was pricing out a replacement, a sweet and honest mechanic told me that the gaskets where probably shrinking and to go to the local Ford dealer and pick up some “transmission conditioner” that might fix the problem, and it did. This got me thinking, the o rings are just a little dry, nothing noticeable to the eye, so I started searching how to rejuvenate rubber. Found some great ideas and learned a ton of useful tips which I was about to enact when I got cold feet realizing I did not actually know the composition of these o rings (one is blue the other is white) and I could totally ruin them.
Now comes the good part. Having already pulled them off I decided to try putting white teflon tape on the groove where they came off, then re-installing them and adding a little pink teflon over top before putting the hose reel back on. WORKED LIKE A CHARM!!!! and didn’t cost a dime…. I know it goes against all conventional wisdom, but if it works…who cares…
are there only 1 white and 1 blue o ring on the Sun cast Reel because mine keeps popping off and the water seems to be forcing it off, yet the blue and one white o ring are still there. There seems to be a opening where another o ring might should be next to the white, I couldn’t find the model # of the Sun Cast which was purchased just last year, and don’t know if I kept the paper work which I usually do however never considered this as being a problem which would require a diagram ! ANY helpful info would be appreciated !!
Just following up my post from July 29, 2011, when I offered to sell my extra O-rings.
I didn’t really know what to expect back then but, over the next 2 years, I received a number of requests and sent O-rings to various locations across Canada and the U.S., selling all I had except for a few for my own use. Unfortunately, I had to turn a number of people down once I ran out.
Over time, the requests appeared to dry up, so I stopped checking the email address I created for this. It looked to me, from reading subsequent posts here, like Suncast was sending out free replacement O-rings on request, so my services were no longer required. But, I’ve just checked today and found, to my surprise, 6 new requests received over the course of 2015, all as a result of reading this blog.
So, this post is to let you know that, sorry, I don’t have any more O-rings to sell. The fact that people are coming to me makes me wonder if Suncast has stopped providing replacement O-rings (either for free, or at least without exorbitant shipping charges). Does anyone have any recent experience with this?
Thanks so much to all of you for this valuable information. Just have one issue, are there 2 sizes of o-ring or one. The parts list for my Suncast shows (2) O-ring, so normally, I would assume they are both the same size. But at least you’ve narrowed it down to 1 of 2 sizes. So I’ll be off to a “real” hardware store tomorrow.
Cheers
This is a great find! I volunteer at a local salmon hatchery which is a non-profit organization always short of funds. I do the maintenance and because money is scarce we do as much as possible to keep things working at minimal cost. The wall mount hose reel is old, leaks badly from several points, and wastes a lot of water. I dismantled it and think it may well be a Suncast. I fixed the leaks at the hose connections, then traced the final leak to the O-rings. I hope replacing just the O-rings rather than the whole reel may be the key to getting the device back in good working order. I will now endeavor to find and replace the O-rings for a couple of bucks to avoid having to spend $65 on a new one and sending the existing one to the landfill. Thanks to all who contributed this useful information.
Thanks for this site to provide information regarding my leaking Suncast Hose Reel. I have searched the HomeDepot, Lowes and Ace Hardware store to get a correct size O-Ring. I never had any luck finding in any of the big box store. I stumble across on this thread and somebody mentioned about the “ORings & Things” company, oringsandthings .com . I googled it and it shows the company website. I searched for the Inch > O Rings > 568, 70 Duro Buna-N O-Ring > Then went to the size 568-208 and 568-209. The 568-208 dimension is OD 7/8″ ; ID 5/8″; Th 1/8″. The 568-209 dimension is OD 15/16″; ID11/16″; Th 1/8. Minimum amount to place an order is $5. I ordered 50 pieces each sizes. Shipping and Handling charges via USPS is $6.65. Tax $1.00. For a total of $15.65. This compared to the trip to big box stores and buying the incorrect sizes o-ring and getting frustrated each time, is well worth it.
Does Pickering Partsource store send orders to Canada or do they have a distributor in Canada.
It has been 9 (!) years, but just for the record:
JEFFinCT, you are right – I forgot it is 1/8″ per side. Whoops.
And PAUL, “OC”, in this case, stands for Orange County, California.
Hello to all my Canadian friends and my apologies for Donald Trump.
I totally forgot that I had participated in this discussion 9 years ago!
My Suncast reel recently started leaking again and this was the first non-Suncast web site that popped up in my Google search, so I came here! It was startling to start seeing posts by “PERRYinOC”… hey, that’s ME!
Anyway, you can tell I am not too hard on my hose reels if it took me 9 years to wear out my o-rings.
“See” you all 9 years from now, when they wear out again and I have to come here to look up the right part numbers again!
I called Suncast and they kindly sent me 3 sets of O-Rings and some tubes of silicone lubricant at no charge, no questions asked. Great service!
The O-rings are two slightly different sizes, blue and white, same as the original ones factory-installed on my STA100 hose reel. For the record, the packing slip described the following items that they shipped:
Part # Description
0260029 – Seal, .375 x .514, O-Ring
0260040 – Seal , .406 x .545, O-Ring
0440093 – LUBE PK, 1.5 cc, Sil
i Found for the wall mounted Suncast hose reel 100fter sidewinder, Danco #13 oring for the front replacement and #15 for the back replacement worked. you can get these in a 10 pack at Lowes or Home Depot
I find myself down this rabbit hole with you folks.
I can’t make sense of Suncast;s response to my query, offering
O-Ring .375 x .514 0260029 $.99 In Stock
O-Ring .0406 x .545 0260040 $.99 In Stock
which sounds totally wrong.
Gave up, and ordered 50 of each of the two sizes (3208, #209) from Amazon (seller = Mr. O-Ring).
That’s more than a lifetime supply for this octogenarian, so if anyone wants a few you could send me a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a buck or two and I’ll parcel some out.
My contact info is n6ac&AT&arrl&DOT&net – edit that appropriately …
It’s great to find a blog like this that has continued for over a decade. The problem and the parts remain the same. I too live near Toronto, Canada – Mississauga in my case – and my Suncast SideTracker hose reel has been leaking more and more over the last couple of seasons. I’ve tried to fix it by lubricating the O-rings and tightening the connections of the hose to the Out Tube, but this year the leak became a flood and required a serious fix. Yesterday I took the reel off again and tried lubricating the O-rings but I still had a big leak.
They’re the usual blue and white O-rings with the blue slightly larger than the white suggesting a tapering in the cavity of the hose reel centre.
Respectively, they’re
Part # 0260040, OD 15/16″, ID 11/16″ and Part # 0260029, OD 7/8″, ID 5/8″
I hoped maybe to get some from Erv, but I see that demand has been high and Erv ran out.
I decided to call Suncast and spoke to Claudia just now and she said that as a courtesy they will ship me one free set this time, but that normally shipping is in the $30-50 range. I can still vouch for Suncast’s great customer service.
Thought I’d jump in.
I’ve had a Suncast wall mounted (lagged to the brick) hose reel (don’t remember if it’s a Sidewinder, Sidetracker, Sidekick or what other clever marketing name) for about 10 years. No leaks.
Those o-rings (white and blue) looked to me like they would dry out, so every autumn I have coated them with vaseline (considered the petroleum product might deteriorate them, but it hasn’t). It was a spur of the moment solution and had no silicon lubricant available.
Then I wrapped the out tube in cling wrap and put a small velcro tie around it.
Didn’t want to take the o-rings on an off each year, in case they would break.
They have remained supple and functional.
This morning, the contractor who was reashpalting our drive way broke one of them. He never mentioned it, but he must have felt bad, unfortunate fellow.
Just to point out that if you keep the o-rings lubricated and protected from the elements, they will last indefinitely.
Thenks to those who have posted the exact o-ring specifications .
Having searched far and wide, I was at a loss.
I just called Suncast today and they want me to pay US$45 shipping charge to Canada.
I tried Teflon tape in the grooves as noted in previous comments and installed new o-rings from a harbor freight kit that were close to the sizes needed. It worked. No more leak (not one drop). We’ll see how long that hold up…
I just put teflon tape over the O-rings. worked like a charm