Hose Stop Ball for Gardena Hose Reels

The hose-stop on my new Gardena hose reel unfortunately was not the ball pictured on Amazon, and instead I got some re-engineered stopper that kept getting jammed in the slot for the hose feed.  

I wanted to solve this problem permanently without having to return the hose reel, which I liked, so I looked for a solution online.  I found that someone had made a ball design for this.. but it had some problems:

1. The design wasn't 3D printer friendly and wasn't really a sphere when finished. The lopped-off parts made it potentially something that would jam.
2. The sphere was too small.
3. I wasn't sure the hose size would match.

To solve these issues, I remodeled/adjusted this idea in Fusion360 to be more fit for my hose reel.  I provide different size inner-diameter variants for you to choose from, depending on the size of your hose.

The default size, the one that worked for me without slipping on the hose, is the 15 mm diameter version.  Larger versions and a STEP file included in case you need a different size.

Printing

• Printed in PETG, although ASA would work well too here.  I would avoid PLA because it may deform in the heat, and ABS would be bad because it would break down under UV light outdoors.
• Print 2x of the symmetric ball halves with thick walls for sturdiness.  I used 9 walls and 20% gyroid infill, which may be overkill.. but it's a part that needs to take abuse.
• 0.2 mm layer height
• Paint-on supports only needed on the narrow curved overhang areas shown here (overhang angle >~75°).  I used PLA supports for a PETG print as they separate nicely to give a clean finish, but you could really use anything here:
• 

Assembly

• Requires 2x M4 screws of ~12-18 mm in length.
• Before assembling, use the screws to tap the receiving holes, assemble as shown, and torque screws until the ball doesn't move on the hose when you try to slide it.

Remodeled to be more 3D printable, resized to fit better, much larger sphere.