[Bungle]

I want you to create slick connects that rotate, to prevent the pole hose from constantly coiling and tangling. I reckon this would make a huge difference for users, any chance you could consider it?

I'd buy that! (If it lasted 20 years 😀)

[֍Winp®oClean֍]

One thing that makes the Univalve last much longer is the Gardiner 'water through' gooseneck. This neck prevents any dirt, water, etc. getting in through the top of the pole and.... it also makes the valve operate better! Win win!😁 I put a new Univalve on well over 6 months ago, at the same time as a water through neck, and it still looks and operates as new! They normally look knackered by now and are starting to stiffen up!👍

[tlwcs]

If Steve ends up going out of business because of you lot of pathetic whinging cheapskates i'm going to be really upset.

I was really upset when British Leyland went out of business

He makes fantastic products, that last anywhere from 6-18 months or longer and some of you are complaining about having to replace parts or the product that costs £30?  I just don't get it..... 

I can’t get them for £30?

We as window cleaners all know that if our customers just wanted one off cleans every 6-18 months we would all be out of business.  We rely heavily on regular repeat business.

America seems to work on 1 or 2 cleans a year.. We also have massive competition in our market place

If Steve made the Univalve and it was 100% perfect and lasted for 3-5 years you can guarantee that after about a year of sales with the window cleaning industry it would dry up and there would not be enough orders coming in for it to be a viable business.  There needs to be enough of a demand for a product for it to be viable for them to manufacturer it and/or even be in business.

New window cleaners and companies come into to the sector every day.. There would be a constant source of business if he offered a repair kit at say £10

As others have already said people will happily spend £50 on a brush that lasts 6-12 months, but kick off when their univalve for £30 stops working after 6 months?  Or what about the Rectus 21 fittings that cost near enough £10 a set and they need replacing every few months, you dont hear people complaining about that.  Could go on really with all kinds of bits of kit that we have to replace regularly.

People “kick off” because the product seems to be being made with cheaper components while going up in price.

I just don't see why people who benefit from a product that really improves window cleaning day to day would complain and spread negativity about Steves products.  If you genuinely don't like the product that's fine just dont use it, but to keep using it and complaining anyway all you are doing is damaging a businesses reputation as small as the effect may be.

Steve seems a decent bloke.. He has  no real competition to the product but  won’t offer what people are asking for, repair kits and back to stainless steel springs.

Actually baffles me.  We should all be working together as window cleaners and suppliers to make our working lifes better all round.

If another manufacturer brought to market something similar, at half the price with a non nonsense guarantee, would you still be blowing smoke up his arris?

I can’t highlight!

[KS Cleaning]

What people forget is that window cleaning equipment is hardly a mass market! I wonder how Gardiner’s etc would fare if their poles and brushes lasted forever? I’m surprised that anyone could think that someone would spend a lot of time and money to bring a product to a tiny marketplace, then shoot themselves in the foot by offering a repair kit, meaning there was very little or no repeat business.

[Lee GLS]

I think the point is a brush cannot be repaired, whereas if the spring breaks in a univalve it is a replaceable part, so throwing something away that can essentially be repaired for a part that would only cost a few pence goes against common sense. Just because a new univalve only costs a small amount of money doesn’t negate the fact that it can be repaired. If your car, washing machine, oven, boiler, etc break, you replace the broken part, you do not buy a new one, so throwing away a £30 item that I know can be fixed goes against the grain.

[KS Cleaning]

Difference being the cars, washing machines, ovens, boilers etc that you mention are all mass market products and have many components, therefore selling spares for these products can be rather lucrative.

[KS Cleaning]

I actually find it laughable that all the people on here who brag about what they can charge per house and what they can earn in a day then moan because a £50 piece of equipment doesn’t last them more than 2 years.

[Smudger]

I think the point is a brush cannot be repaired, whereas if the spring breaks in a univalve it is a replaceable part, so throwing something away that can essentially be repaired for a part that would only cost a few pence goes against common sense. Just because a new univalve only costs a small amount of money doesn’t negate the fact that it can be repaired. If your car, washing machine, oven, boiler, etc break, you replace the broken part, you do not buy a new one, so throwing away a £30 item that I know can be fixed goes against the grain.

only because you can unclip it - if Steve had bonded it together then you wouldn't get it apart

Darran

[Smudger]

on Ebay...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175166723038?hash=item28c8c013de%3Ag%3ADycAAOSwW4ViEQWk&LH_ItemCondition=3000

Reconditioned Univalve service.
Send your univalve back to us for an official reconditioned unit.
Send to:
5 sheepfold close,
Rowley Regis
West Midlands
B65 8hb.
Please don't buy DIY kits has this will void this offer.
DIY kit suppliers offer no responsibility to their advice or 3d printer products.
Please contact ex-ceedinnovation.co.uk
[email removed by eBay].

[Spruce]

on Ebay...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175166723038?hash=item28c8c013de%3Ag%3ADycAAOSwW4ViEQWk&LH_ItemCondition=3000

Reconditioned Univalve service.
Send your univalve back to us for an official reconditioned unit.
Send to:
5 sheepfold close,
Rowley Regis
West Midlands
B65 8hb.
Please don't buy DIY kits has this will void this offer.
DIY kit suppliers offer no responsibility to their advice or 3d printer products.
Please contact ex-ceedinnovation.co.uk
[email removed by eBay].

Steve only began offering this service after our window cleaning friend started to sell repair kits.
Regarding your earlier post Darran, if it can be repaired then my mentality is to fix it rather than throw it away.

I'm sure that you would just replace a broken/worn/damaged o ring on a Hozelok tap connector rather than buy a new one.

In general manufacturers support the throw away society. In fact they drove it in many instances although they can blame the end user for being price driven when buying the product to begin with.

Then they keep changing the spec of their product to entice the owner to replace rather than repair. They then make the cost of the repair parts so expensive to reinforce it's better to replace rather than repair.

Take our Bosch washing machine as an example. After 3 years it stopped working. The carbon brushes in the motor were worn down.  A £7 replacement part. Local repairer wants £80 labour to replace motor and another £80 for a 'reconditioned' motor replacement. That's £160 + vat. I could buy a new Bosch washing machine from Currys (when I looked) for £365 including vat.

Bosch wanted £265 + vat for a replacement motor which doesn't include labour to fit it. Then they want another £125 + vat for the drain pump motor assembly.

They don't want us to fix the old washing machine. They want us to buy a new one and recycle the old one.

[Smudger]

im totally with you - I have yet to get a univalve with a broken spring but if they get sticky I'll crack it open - clean it and put back together and tell the lads its brand new 

Darran

[Lee GLS]

I think the point is a brush cannot be repaired, whereas if the spring breaks in a univalve it is a replaceable part, so throwing something away that can essentially be repaired for a part that would only cost a few pence goes against common sense. Just because a new univalve only costs a small amount of money doesn’t negate the fact that it can be repaired. If your car, washing machine, oven, boiler, etc break, you replace the broken part, you do not buy a new one, so throwing away a £30 item that I know can be fixed goes against the grain.

only because you can unclip it - if Steve had bonded it together then you wouldn't get it apart

Darran

But the fact is he hasn’t so it can be taken apart and be fixed so that argument is irrelevant!

You could use the argument that laptops, PlayStations, Xbox’s are not designed to be taken apart and have components replaced on the circuitry, but if the HDMI socket breaks, the power sockets breaks, people will be out there buying a new socket for a couple of £ rather than replace the whole board or even the whole item, just be aside it costs hundreds of £ more doesn’t mean something cheaper shouldn’t be fixed if it can be.

I just feels wrong to throw something away regardless of the cost and how much money we earn and can afford to buy a new one when it can be fixed.

I suppose different people have different outlooks, I’m like Spruce, I’ve always tried to fix something rather than replaced.

[Spruce]

I think the point is a brush cannot be repaired, whereas if the spring breaks in a univalve it is a replaceable part, so throwing something away that can essentially be repaired for a part that would only cost a few pence goes against common sense. Just because a new univalve only costs a small amount of money doesn’t negate the fact that it can be repaired. If your car, washing machine, oven, boiler, etc break, you replace the broken part, you do not buy a new one, so throwing away a £30 item that I know can be fixed goes against the grain.

only because you can unclip it - if Steve had bonded it together then you wouldn't get it apart

Darran

But the fact is he hasn’t so it can be taken apart and be fixed so that argument is irrelevant!

You could use the argument that laptops, PlayStations, Xbox’s are not designed to be taken apart and have components replaced on the circuitry, but if the HDMI socket breaks, the power sockets breaks, people will be out there buying a new socket for a couple of £ rather than replace the whole board or even the whole item, just be aside it costs hundreds of £ more doesn’t mean something cheaper shouldn’t be fixed if it can be.

I just feels wrong to throw something away regardless of the cost and how much money we earn and can afford to buy a new one when it can be fixed.

I suppose different people have different outlooks, I’m like Spruce, I’ve always tried to fix something rather than replaced.

When I took mine apart the only issue was the tiny plunger o ring that needed replacing. The spring and the larger O ring were totally fine. (I did replace all 3 items in the service kit though.) However, if the teeth of the rotary Parker Jotter copy mechanism were worn, then that makes a good case to replace with a new Univalve rather than to repair it.

From what I understood, the patent that Steve has on the Univalve design is on the pull operation. This is why Peter Fogwill had to go for a twist operation on his Aquatap. I can't see how he could have a patent on the mechanism as it's application is Parker Jotter pen (and possibly others) copy which has been in the public domain for decades.

[Spruce]

I ordered a Univalve replacement kit from Steven the other day along with another item.

The order came today while I was out working.
If anyone is interested, I have included a photo of the repair kit.



The asking price for the kit is £15.00 plus VAT and postage. TBH I think that's pretty good valve for money. Exceed Innovations also linked to this repair video in the confirmation video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeAtoUl_-Sk

[Lee GLS]

Has he gone back to a stainless spring?

[Smudger]

that's nearly a full uni valve !

I took one apart today - it was a bit sticky - on opening all was fine, gave it a clean and greased the spring and o-rings now perfect

Spruce - yet again you delivered a wonderful post !

Darran

[Spruce]

that's nearly a full uni valve !

I took one apart today - it was a bit sticky - on opening all was fine, gave it a clean and greased the spring and o-rings now perfect

Spruce - yet again you delivered a wonderful post !

Darran

And that basically what I have been doing. The only issues I have had are the tiny O Ring on the plunger. It came off on one of the valves and the other that tiny plunger O Ring deteriorated and wasn't sealing properly. The Univalve with the deteriorated O ring was purchased 5 years ago (16/3/2107).  There is no way I can complain about that. We have 4 Univalves and not one of them has had a corroded or even rusty spring.

And yes, I agree, it's nearly a full Univalve.

[Spruce]

Has he gone back to a stainless spring?

How would one tell the difference?

[P @ F]

Stainless isn’t magnetic, but I’m not sure it will help as I think that the new spring material could be non magnetic too , can’t remember what it was though !

[P @ F]

New spring is tempered galvanised, which I think is just a coating so could well be magnetic  .
But hey I’m just a window cleaner so what do I know !