[Majestic]

This morning when I went to use my WFP the hose had frozen  , and no water could get through .
Without going to the expense of buying a heated system , how do you other pole people stop the freeze

[shinnyshinner]

Hi Majestic
While I was doing my training on drainage we came up with the same problem in winter.
So had to drain all equipment down and apply a small amount of anti freeze to stop hoses freezing up when we was ready to start work this was pumped out and stored in a container to be re-used when work was finished.
If your system has a pump this should be easy to attach a small container of anti freeze to fill hoses? Or not?
Once anti freeze is drained just flush lines to clean?
We also looked into blowing lines clear but did not always clear lines completely as can lay in bottom of coil (small enought to block jets) we had better results by reducing outlet to gain more pressure to pass through coil of hose.
Hope this helps to give another angle of your problem
Alan

[APS_PureWash_Sys]

Majestic
quite a few window cleaners I know which have water-fed systems get round this problem by sit a small electric heater safely on a board ontop of the tank this seems to work okay for them.

hope this is of some interest to you

cheers
         Andrew

[shinnyshinner]

Hi Dom
Well we never came across a problem,
By attaching to a container and bypassing the main supply tank this would not contaminate it and avoid problems of flushing tanks.
Surely the flushing the hoses would not be as much problem as you mention and once flushed through you would not be contaminating any work area
You could experiment on a dosage as enough to stop equipment from freezing
It was only an idea take it or leave it
Alan

[shinnyshinner]

Hi Dom
Fair enough but could surely to drain down a pole system can you not brake down so all the water to be removed i.e. brush heads removed etc.
A lot of worked I carried out was on supervisor roll to large fresh water/sewage works sites i.e. Thames water, southern water and Anglian so it was important to eliminate all risks of contamination. Staff where informed when precautions where needed in cold spells and steps where taken.
These precautions are not so drastic if it meant loosing out on a days work the next day if precautions where not taken. (Around 10-15 min. per day)
Out of interest have the company you work for looked into an anti freeze system to be fitted on pole systems?
I know of a company not so big who is looking around these lines but not heard of any others.
Good luck
Alan

[shinnyshinner]

Hi Dom
Will do
Good luck
Alan

[elfords]

It may seem obvious but having experienced frozen hoses in the past are solution is to remove all hoses and poles from the vans during cold spells at the end of each day and store them in the workshop where we have have electric heaters with anti-freeze thermostats. It is a slight inconvenience but it is the simoplest solution that has worked for us. With regards to the van systems all pipes are lagged and the pump is lagged overnight with foam the tanks have never frozen, not yet anyway! Hope that helps and roll on the summer eh

[The Jester of Wibbly]

Things never change from year to year. Same old.....

[Soupy]

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-Litre-Air-Compressor-Tool-Kit-9-6-CFM-2-5-HP/181321137646?hash=item2a3794fdee:g:nPsAAOSw23NZnA57

[p1w1]

i got a cheap car compressor from Screw fix that plugs into the 12v socket and cut the end off and replaced it with a male pro 26 connector plug that straight into the hose reel and blow all the water out. Obviously have to disconnect the reel at the other end but i use john guest fittings so only takes a couple of seconds to disconnect. 

[֍Winp®oClean֍]

Is it still frozen after 14 years?!!!

[mufcglen]

Whenever we get into the winter frozen nights I try to drain as much water out my pipes as I can then cover the reel up, the rest of the pipes are lagged with the foam pipe strips from b&q.
If anything’s frozen in morning I bang an electric fan heater in the van for half hour and everything’s thawed enough to get the water flowing then I can fire up the gas heater and soften the reel hose up as I work away