[AuRavelling79]

My 12" Autobrush arrived from Peter Fogwill today. Looks a simple but clever bit of kit. Will try it out tomorrow and tell you how I got on.

[AuRavelling79]

It's very good indeed! Well impressed!

I used it on one of my commercials and then on a domestic and the on off switch works well every time. A good water saver and time saver too.

[rosskesava]

Hi Malc

Autobrush? 

Cheers

[Gargaax]

What is this autobrush??

I tried Googling it but the only info was from the patent office but that didnt go into any details.  Can someone supply a photo please and describe how it works please?

[Andrew McCann]

It's peter Fogwill's new brush... looks great to me

Here.. have a look


http://www.window-tools.com/auto.htm


Cheers

Andrew

[AuRavelling79]

Yup! By tapping the left hand side of the brush against the frame  or side masonry the water flow is switched on - you then clean the window from top left and finishing bottom right where you tap the right hand side of the brush to switch the water flow off.

Early days but I reckon I save about 10%/15% on water and am correspondingly quicker too. (I use a trolley)

[Andrew McCann]

Malc.. I am impressed.

Are you saying that you are 10 to 15% faster with the autobrush?

Andrew

[Ben Walker]

I was going to go for the trigger option, fixing trigger to bottom of my pole and therefore regulate the water at a touch.

however, i also wanted to have just one pole (unger 5 section)

I could attach trigger to bottom of pole, BUT...
Would be carrying a big weight around and having perhaps loads of loose pipe between trigger and brush when doing lower windows. Not desirable.

With Peter's autobrush, which i have just ordered, i should be able to use length of pole needed (detach lower sections) and go straight to work. no worry about trigger.

Also going to have addable/takeawayable section of 10mm pipe, for changing between occasional high work and the usual not-as-high work. Saves having too much pipe flapping around all the time.

so all in all, autobrush, should be just-the-job

As Peter said "the best way to switch the water on and off is at the brush. all brushes will be like this eventually. ". he might just be right.
cleva! 

ben

[Peter Fogwill]

The time saving will depend on how often you stop what your doing to turn the water off.  The more you stop to turn off normally the more time you will save.  If you normally don't turn off much then you won't save much time but you will save a lot of water.  

What may be overlooked is the safety aspect,  If you don't turn off normally between windows there is a good chance you are rushing a bit to get the brush back on the glass to save water.  This is when accidents can happen.

Peter Fogwill
www.window-tools.com

[Andrew McCann]

What may be overlooked is the safety aspect,  If you don't turn off normally between windows there is a good chance you are rushing a bit to get the brush back on the glass to save water.  This is when accidents can happen.

Peter Fogwill
www.window-tools.com

VERY TRUE Peter...  I usually watch where I put my feet but as I was in a bit of a hurry today I didnt..  Slipped on wet grass and landed in a heap nearly EATING a great big pile of Dog  s.h.i.t. I got the darn stuff in my hair ( wats left of it )   

More seriously though I really hurt my ankle very badly  few weeks ago.. again.. rushing and I put my foot right down an open drainhole. I got badly bruised but I reckon I was lucky to get away with just that much damage.

I will be in touch very soon Peter.

Andrew

[Jeff Brimble]

If you want to work out the potential savings for youself before ordering a brush simply count out the seconds in your head when the brush is not in contact with the glass, stopping the count when you are washing then resuming the count when off the glass. On the job you are doing, then work out how much litres per min. water usage you have saved. I found that doing this also shows you where you are wasting a lot of time.  and you may not need to fit a bigger supply tank.
Or you could just order one, its an excellent bit of kit, well thought out and simple to operate. Because your not dashing back and to it will also save you a small ammount of time/money 

[james44]

Ben   are you going to pick certain houses, as you are aware you will find that on some houses you could not work with  1 pole the unger would be to long on some bottom houses, tight spaces, as you seen when you came out with me, you talk about switching lengths of pole and hose, you make it sound easy you are in for a learning curve, and could you explain why is it better to switch the water of at the brush, and you no matter which way you do it will still have loose hose flapping about, still easy to combat hold it in your left hand against the pole, i am quite happy with the trigger as i have control at my hand not on  the brush 30ft up
the autobrush is a good idea but i feel quite happy with my setup

[Peter Fogwill]

VERY TRUE Peter...  I usually watch where I put my feet but as I was in a bit of a hurry today I didnt..  Slipped on wet grass and landed in a heap nearly EATING a great big pile of Dog  s.h.i.t. I got the darn stuff in my hair ( wats left of it )   

More seriously though I really hurt my ankle very badly  few weeks ago.. again.. rushing and I put my foot right down an open drainhole. I got badly bruised but I reckon I was lucky to get away with just that much damage.

I will be in touch very soon Peter.

Andrew

I look forward to hearing from you Andrew,

Peter Fogwill
www.window-tools.com

[Ben Walker]

yeah hi james
i was thinking that myself -that the higher you are up the more clumsy it might be with the auto brush, and hence the trigger would be much better, as per your set-up. Interesting to hear what Peter thinks and i'll see how i get on

I will be doing trad downstairs, wfp up. So the pole will come out the van for the job, and glasgow tennements dictating, mostly i will have three sections of pole but sometimes 4 or 5 (i find the sections come away pretty easily) Or if i'm doing downstairs leaded for example i might hold the brush in my hand.

So unlike the houses i helped you on where two pole worked a treat, i just want one long pole. I just couldn't imagine how to rig up the trigger for this usage.

maybe a trigger at the bottom of the 5 sections (for 30' usage)  

not knocking your system  

ben

[Peter Fogwill]

yeah hi james
i was thinking that myself -that the higher you are up the more clumsy it might be with the auto brush, and hence the trigger would be much better, as per your set-up. Interesting to hear what Peter thinks and i'll see how i get on

ben

Good point.  Like anything else the higher the pole the more awkward things become, but I am sure with a little practice it will be an even greater water saver working at heights, as it takes that bit longer to move the pole from one window to the next.

Peter Fogwill
www.window-tools.com

[james44]

Yes  ben one pole would be ideal, is there a perfect system,, not likely as so many houses differ, i have changed the hose i have on my 30ft  i now have a 10mtr  recoil hose fitted so i now don`t have any hose flapping about anymore will post pics over the weekend, the new unger wfp pole is due  out next month  the buisness  i have been told,

[Ben Walker]

recoil hose

sounds good,

yeh, like to seee pics

[AuRavelling79]

In reply to some points:-

It saves water, especially when moving between windows that are not right next to each other and also when stopping to move the trolley or to change brush-head to a shorter pole to do the downstairs or vice versa.

It saves time and water because you don't have to go back to the trolley to switch off at any time.

The safety aspect of not rushing while the brush is pumping out water is true.

I don't know how beneficial the above would be on a van mounted system. But for me, on the basis that I will continue to use my trolley in the months ahead, it is a marked improvement.

[Ben Walker]

James, is the recoil hose like this one:
http://www.andwat.co.uk/acatalog/HOSES__HOSEREELS_AND_RECOIL_HOSES.html
The blue recoil hose
looks like it could work well
Ben

[genesis_windows]

why not just pinch the hose when moving from window to window?
lks like a good bit of kit though,, how heavy is it and also how much? could someone let me know lpease

[Paul Coleman]

why not just pinch the hose when moving from window to window?
lks like a good bit of kit though,, how heavy is it and also how much? could someone let me know lpease

Personally, I find pinching the hose is OK if you are just changing windows.  However, if I need to alter the pole length, I find that I run out of hands :-) and itcan be awkward.  I work by having a hozelock type fitting on the end of the hose which has one of those little on/off taps.  I think Peter's brush sounds a great idea.  If it's possible to adapt them to Omnipole's poles, I will certainly try one out and, if I get on with it, I would probably use them regularly - subject to price and durability etc.

[windows_chepstow]

I've read a post somewhere saying that Peter sells conversion kits for £30 for other types of brush heads, but I looked at his web site last night and couldn't find a link.

[Ben Walker]

Tosh, i think he says that he will convert them for you for £30 on his forum thread 'autobrush'. ie you post it too him

ben

[windows_chepstow]

Thanks, Ben.

[Peter Fogwill]

If your handy with these types of things I would have no problem sending the stuff out.  I would prefer to fit it though then I knows it's done right.

Peter Fogwill

[dai]

Peter, I have some town houses that have first floor patio doors with bars half way up them. I can turn a 10 inch Vikan on it's side to go through the bars, then clean a section and repeat the process 3 bars along.
Would the autobrush attatchment get in the way when cleaning these? Dai.

[Peter Fogwill]

I wouldn't think it would be a problem, maybe best if someone doing this could comment.

Peter Fogwill

[Jeff Brimble]

Dai if you mean by turn, spinning the brush 90 degrees so its vertical then yes it will do that ok as the bar operated switch on my my own self fitted brush (not Vikan) is fitted flush horizontally with the base of the plastic head and does not protrude. It could also be fitted on the top plane the same way.
It is sometimes possible to switch on/off  accidentally  by tapping the base (LH side) on the frame either top or bottom but you soon get the knack.
If the brush goes thro now ok then fitting the autobrush parts should not make any difference other than saving you water.

[dai]

Thanks for that jeff. Dai

[Alex Gardiner]

Well done peter with your Auto brush.

I think I will stick to my Flow control valves on each of my pole hoses. I have had these fitted for years now and do not waste any water, or find myself rushing. Also peter I personally find when scrubbibg hard that i knock the brush head from side to side on the window frame this would turn the head off and I would have to turn it on again. But for those with no other method of controlling flow (other than pinching!!!!!!) it seems like an interesting solution. How hard did you find the Patenting Process?

Ben-Chan, you need more than one pole, doing all this adjusting and taking sections off and fitting new hose just wastes time, a few years a ago we bought a Powerpole with the idea that we could remove sections, but we found it such a hassle that we left it as 4 sections and the rest stayed in the roof of the garage and we used our larger poles instead, we have since sold the powerpole because all of these twist grips were just too slow and fiddly! We have about 3-4 different poles sizes for each operator and just switch between them all, very quick and no hassle, also extends the life of each pole.

[poles apart]

Also peter I personally find when scrubbibg hard that i knock the brush head from side to side on the window frame this would turn the head off and I would have to turn it on again.

Peter
I also knock the brush against the sides when cleaning frames or slatted windows in recesses. What happened to the controller that switched on and off when the brush was on the glass? Did it not work well or are you still making it?  Can you also retrofit Ionic brushes?

Rod

[G & M]

Peter, just been looking at the new brush on your website seems pretty good. Just one question how do we order it online?
 Michael - G&M-hickeys45@yahoo.ie

[Peter Fogwill]

Also peter I personally find when scrubbibg hard that i knock the brush head from side to side on the window frame this would turn the head off and I would have to turn it on again.

Peter
I also knock the brush against the sides when cleaning frames or slatted windows in recesses. What happened to the controller that switched on and off when the brush was on the glass? Did it not work well or are you still making it?  Can you also retrofit Ionic brushes?

Rod

If your flipping the brush from side to side hard to shift stubborn birds dirt etc. then it would be a good thing for the water to stop while you shift what your shifting.  I have seen in the past me having to turn the water off for a minute while I concentrate on moving something stubborn.  Sometimes you find yourself wishing you had turned it off but think to yourself it's too late now because it's nearly done, only to find it still takes you a while to do.  With the Autobrush it is just effortless to turn off and on.

There is a lock on it to render the Auto part of the brush obsolete Ideal if you are working in tight spaces where there is no frames, or very thin frames and the wall is too near the glass.  As soon as you finish this type of window you just activate the  brush again and away you go.  Fortunately these types of windows are few and far between.

I done away with the other version as people were concerned that separate rinsing would not be able to be achieved effectively.

Peter Fogwill

[Peter Fogwill]

Peter, just been looking at the new brush on your website seems pretty good. Just one question how do we order it online?
 Michael - G&M-hickeys45@yahoo.ie

Michael, I don't have online ordering.  It has to be the old fashioned way I am afraid.


Peter Fogwill

[G & M]

Peter, have you ever considered using paypal its very easy and convienient.-Michael

[Peter Fogwill]

I should be set up for credit cards in the near future.  I am looking into it, as more and more people want to pay that way.

Peter