Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: dan hughes on May 09, 2010, 08:30:38 am
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:) hi all, been using tap on hip for 2 years now quite happily, but lately it's been kinking and catching on everything in first 20 metres. Heard a few people have taps on the actual pole, so the hose isn't physically stuck to the person. How well does this work? Doesn't the pole hose get caught in everything and then disconnect???
That's the main benefit of hip-tap IMO coz operator has end of hose at all times.
What do yaknow then? Especially those who have actually tried both !????
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I got a tap on my head last week.
(My drain jetter reared up and smacked me).
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I find that a tap on my hose with a rectus 21 fitting is the best way. You just have the hose looped around the back of your neck.
The tap is always to hand and it's not actually attached to you, meaning you can easily put it down in no time at all. Gardiners sell them.
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Do you put th pole hose round your neck or th actual micro hose round yer neck ?
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The tap on the hip just results in wet trousers in my experience. Clear pole hose has to be replaced fairly often or it goes brittle and starts to kink.
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Tap on holster = wet leg :(
Tap on pole = loop of hose that catches on everything :( :(
No tap= waste loads of water :( :( :(
Whatever way is a pain in the doo dahs ;D
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Throw away your taps, they are pointless and get in the way!! Just use a slim line spring loaded coupling on your pole hose, when you want to stop the water then just disconnect it!!! ;)
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trigger ;) all day long ;D
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Better to waste a bit of water than to keep burning out pumps.
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Better to waste a bit of water than to keep burning out pumps.
What do you mean by that Vince?
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Pure Freedom do one to put on pole, I have been using it for about 3 months now and its ok. Have a look on their site.
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tap on hose and thow on flore when u turned on ,and just wash one side of house pole up and down with water on ,if you have to stop for sum resun pinch pole hose ,and same when finedsed and i then turn ta off with my foot ,iv dun them all ,off at every window off up and down but farting a rownd = moor water moor time ,wet leg .draging hose is harder than pole hose .tap on pole loop as a buth ;D ;D ;D 2years like this is best till sume one invents better
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tap on hose and thow on flore when u turned on ,and just wash one side of house pole up and down with water on ,if you have to stop for sum resun pinch pole hose ,and same when finedsed and i then turn ta off with my foot ,iv dun them all ,off at every window off up and down but farting a rownd = moor water moor time ,wet leg .draging hose is harder than pole hose .tap on pole loop as a buth ;D ;D ;D 2years like this is best till sume one invents better
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Tap on holster = wet leg :(
Tap on pole = loop of hose that catches on everything :( :(
No tap= waste loads of water :( :( :(
Whatever way is a pain in the doo dahs ;D
You missed a way with none of the above disadvantages.
I am surprised that with all these replies a method with none of the disadvantages of any the methods above, has not even had a mention. Time saving, water saving, safer as well. Costs a bit more but saving one journey home to refill the tank, will pay for it.
Peter
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what happened to the autobrush set up, no tap needed
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It is still on the go, and the best way to stop and start the water. I think most people are put off with the price, but it has to cost what it does, as these small valves are very expensive to buy,
Like I said earlier though, one trip home to refill could cost you more than the price of the brush. At around 15p a day it is not much, for one of the most important parts of your water fed pole system.
Peter
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are you on a bute the brush tap , cosif you are its not price its weight thats the prob for me ,iv had bricks on my pole ,im not slaging it of as its a good conseped . 8) ,i remeber its the ortow brush
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you know where you are with a nice trigger on the pole!
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Throw away your taps, they are pointless and get in the way!! Just use a slim line spring loaded coupling on your pole hose, when you want to stop the water then just disconnect it!!! ;)
have used autobrush, tap , and trigger , liked the trigger best, but now use a ez snap no tap, if i want to stop flow can just fold pole hose over and pinch, or dissconnect at ez snap, best way ;)
daz
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have used autobrush, tap , and trigger , liked the trigger best, but now use a ez snap no tap, if i want to stop flow can just fold pole hose over and pinch, or dissconnect at ez snap, best way ;)
daz
daz, can I ask you the reason the trigger was better than the Autobrush? I am always looking for ways of making improvements and your feedback would be appreciated. Was the Autobush you used the up and down, turn on and off? And I take it you use different sizes of poles for different heights of windows, rather than adding and taking away sections??
Peter
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hi peter
it was the side to side version, basically i do a lot of windows , where the casement wall was close to frame , had problems when cleaning frames , as i would accidently hit bar, and stop flow.
daz
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Thanks for that daz.
That must have been a long time ago. The Autobrush has come a long way since that version. The valves themselves are more or less trouble free, and because it is up and down to control the water accidental turn off is nearly impossible. Worse case scenario is lack of window sills, in which case you would just use it as a normal brush leaving the water on.
Peter
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it ocers to me that it neads to be dubel clike on botom of brush ,and liter
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Hi Tomy,
The Autobrush is one of the lightest brushes on the market.
Where better to have the brush turn on than up in the left corner of the window where most people will start the clean? If it started at the bottom of the window then it would need to then travel to the top to start the clean.
Peter
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il have to have a look in your shop .i use sl dt the new est
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Have a look here if you want to see how it works....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1V7uQd-mDY&feature=channel
Peter
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have used autobrush, tap , and trigger , liked the trigger best, but now use a ez snap no tap, if i want to stop flow can just fold pole hose over and pinch, or dissconnect at ez snap, best way ;)
daz
daz, can I ask you the reason the trigger was better than the Autobrush? I am always looking for ways of making improvements and your feedback would be appreciated. Was the Autobush you used the up and down, turn on and off? And I take it you use different sizes of poles for different heights of windows, rather than adding and taking away sections??
Peter
The reason why a trigger on the pole will in my opinion always be better then the autobrush is that you have complete control over the water flow within a fraction of a second, switching panes very quickly without losing a drop of water. If you are doing bigger panes, going to the outer wall to tap it off is cumbersome and takes more time, especially on high level cleans. If you are skilled with a trigger you can even regulate the flow for whichever purpose you would need to do so. Also, if you have tricky cleans where you need absolute control over where the water goes, you don't want to mess about with knocking it against the wall and water going up against the framework. You want instant control over the water.
This is especially true of the up/down version. Going up to the top of the frame and then soaking the frame is a no go unless you don't mind doing the whole frame on every clean, which will in turn take a lot longer then regular maintenance cleans where you don't need to focus on the top frame unless they are visually dirty enough to warrant a clean. Also, if you have just cleaned the entire frame and glass you don't want to go back up the frame again to shut off the flow of water, splashing water against the top frame again.
I have found no benefit whatsoever of an autobrush over a trigger setup plus it makes the brush heavier, and downgrades the precision of the water fed pole due to the afore mentioned problems.
This is just my opinion Peter, but since you asked a member what their opinions are about it, and if it can be improved, I didn't think you would mind me chipping in with my opinion.
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Looks like a good idea to me Peter, I normally do the tops of the frames these days unless they have a vent as it dosn't really take any longer if you do it each clean!! But if you really don't want to clean them Tim, then I would have thought that you could simply tap the autobrush underneath the sill!! It's got to be better than using a clumsy trigger!!
I might well invest in one of those Peter, and might even try one of your clampless poles!! :)
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Looks like a good idea to me Peter, I normally do the tops of the frames these days unless they have a vent as it dosn't really take any longer if you do it each clean!! But if you really don't want to clean them Tim, the I would have thought that you could simply tap the autobrush underneath the sill!! It's go to be better than using a clumsy trigger!!
I might well invest in one of those Peter, and might even try one of your clampless poles!! :)
Clumsy trigger? What makes you say that? It makes life a lot easier.
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The reason why a trigger on the pole will in my opinion always be better then the autobrush is that you have complete control over the water flow within a fraction of a second, switching panes very quickly without losing a drop of water. If you are doing bigger panes, going to the outer wall to tap it off is cumbersome and takes more time, especially on high level cleans. If you are skilled with a trigger you can even regulate the flow for whichever purpose you would need to do so. Also, if you have tricky cleans where you need absolute control over where the water goes, you don't want to mess about with knocking it against the wall and water going up against the framework. You want instant control over the water.
This is especially true of the up/down version. Going up to the top of the frame and then soaking the frame is a no go unless you don't mind doing the whole frame on every clean, which will in turn take a lot longer then regular maintenance cleans where you don't need to focus on the top frame unless they are visually dirty enough to warrant a clean. Also, if you have just cleaned the entire frame and glass you don't want to go back up the frame again to shut off the flow of water, splashing water against the top frame again.
I have found no benefit whatsoever of an autobrush over a trigger setup plus it makes the brush heavier, and downgrades the precision of the water fed pole due to the afore mentioned problems.
This is just my opinion Peter, but since you asked a member what their opinions are about it, and if it can be improved, I didn't think you would mind me chipping in with my opinion.
No Tim I don't mind you chipping in at all, I appreciate it. Although you have never used the new up and down style, I see you have used the old style. I will address each of the issues you have brought up.
The reason why a trigger on the pole will in my opinion always be better then the autobrush is that you have complete control over the water flow within a fraction of a second, switching panes very quickly without losing a drop of water. If you are doing bigger panes, going to the outer wall to tap it off is cumbersome and takes more time, especially on high level cleans. If you are skilled with a trigger you can even regulate the flow for whichever purpose you would need to do so. Also, if you have tricky cleans where you need absolute control over where the water goes, you don't want to mess about with knocking it against the wall and water going up against the framework. You want instant control over the water.
It takes the same amount of time to turn the water on and off with an Autobrush as it does with a trigger, With the Autobrush you are turning the water on where you start the window, and turning the water off where you are finishing the window, and once you get into the swing of it a simple change of the pole angle and the water is off.
I personally don't want to regulate the flow of water apart from on or off. I want the water at full flow when it is flowing, I would never want something in between, I can't see any reason for it. And all this without the disadvantages of the trigger which I am sure you will agree there is disadvantages?
This is especially true of the up/down version. Going up to the top of the frame and then soaking the frame is a no go unless you don't mind doing the whole frame on every clean, which will in turn take a lot longer then regular maintenance cleans where you don't need to focus on the top frame unless they are visually dirty enough to warrant a clean. Also, if you have just cleaned the entire frame and glass you don't want to go back up the frame again to shut off the flow of water, splashing water against the top frame again.
As you have never used the newer version I will explain a bit about it. Yes you will be wetting a bit of the frame where you turn the brush on, but only the width of the brush. If you are cleaning the frames then you would run the brush along the top of the frame. If like you said you don't want to clean the frame, then still no problem you instantly go to the top of the glass avoiding the frame. Yes you have wet a brush width of the frame, but you have done that the last time, and the time before that as well, so it is clean, and water running down from there will be clean. You don't go back up the glass to turn the water off, you are turning if off at the bottom, usually the right hand side at the bottom where you are finishing off the window.
I have found no benefit whatsoever of an autobrush over a trigger setup plus it makes the brush heavier, and downgrades the precision of the water fed pole due to the afore mentioned problems.
You have used the old style Autobrush and there is a good chance it would have been with the old 15" brush I used to use. This brush was much heavier than the brush I use now, and even with the attachments needed this is one of the lightest brushes on the market. Very easy to add and take away sections, no weight issues, and no big loop of hose catching on everything.
Peter
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Looks like a good idea to me Peter, I normally do the tops of the frames these days unless they have a vent as it dosn't really take any longer if you do it each clean!! But if you really don't want to clean them Tim, the I would have thought that you could simply tap the autobrush underneath the sill!! It's go to be better than using a clumsy trigger!!
I might well invest in one of those Peter, and might even try one of your clampless poles!! :)
You can tap it underneath the sill but you are wasting all the water in the time that it would take you to get the brush from the sill to the top of the glass. You can also use the wall near the top of the window to turn the water on, but like I have just explained above there is no disadvantage using the top of the frame, even if you don't want to clean the frame.
I have the Autobrush available, but not the clampless pole.
I will have a new website out shortly where all the things like brushes connectors etc can all be bough online.
Peter
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i do like the sound of the autobrush peter!i for one one will be ordering one when i get my full wfp set up to try for myself!the thought of messing about with a trigger or a tap on pole dont appeal to me!
to be able to turn water on and off with ease at the brush sounds great and i bet it saves on water too(as i will be using a trolley)
regards
dazmond
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I have the Autobrush available, but not the clampless pole.
I will have a new website out shortly where all the things like brushes connectors etc can all be bough online.
Peter
Are you not making the clampless poles anymore then Peter? ???
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Tap on pole is better than on holster with a wet leg. Or fold the pole hose so it pinches (easiest method on modular pole work).
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Are you not making the clampless poles anymore then Peter? ???
One of these days groundhog. It is just so hard relying on someone else making what you need made.
Peter
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i do like the sound of the autobrush peter!i for one one will be ordering one when i get my full wfp set up to try for myself!the thought of messing about with a trigger or a tap on pole dont appeal to me!
to be able to turn water on and off with ease at the brush sounds great and i bet it saves on water too(as i will be using a trolley)
regards
dazmond
I am sure you will like the Autobrush especially if you try a different method first.
What I have been thinking of was to give a full money back guarantee, with no questions asked, well unless you wanted to give feedback. Return it within say a week for a full refund.
I am sure I won't get many back. Would this help persuade anyone to give it a try?
Peter
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can you supply them with pencil jets , i bought one before and the water just dribbled out regards alan
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Yes I can Alan. Do you use a back pack?
Peter
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the fan jets look great in the video!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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tap at the brush head
rectus fitting 10 inches from bottom of pole
use the microbore as pole hose instead of having 30 ft spare flapping around, just remove end cap replace with hose to protect pole. rectus fitting will go up inside pole no problem
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Tap on pole is better than on holster with a wet leg. Or fold the pole hose so it pinches (easiest method on modular pole work).
this is the method i now use on telescopics, no leaking taps,or weight added to hose or brush head. ;)
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tap at the brush head
rectus fitting 10 inches from bottom of pole
use the microbore as pole hose instead of having 30 ft spare flapping around, just remove end cap replace with hose to protect pole. rectus fitting will go up inside pole no problem
bet that adds a load of weight to brush head .
daz
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not enough to worry me, and balanced against dragging pole hose everwhere its a no brainer.
try and see
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Jeff do you have the two angle joints on because of the length of the valve?
Why bother with the valve on the brush if you are disconnecting to stop the water?
And if it is because the fitting is inside the pole when the pole is extended, then why have the fitting inside the pole, and not just control the water with the one on the brush??
Peter
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Hi Jeff..when youve got the pole fully extended and youre moving from window to window , how do you stop the flow?
Cheers
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tap on the brush?i dont understand? ??? ???
how do you stop the flow from window to window?surely trigger or autobrush would save water and be much better? ??? ???
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tap tap tap tap ;D ;D ;D
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What I have been thinking of was to give a full money back guarantee, with no questions asked, well unless you wanted to give feedback. Return it within say a week for a full refund.
I am sure I won't get many back. Would this help persuade anyone to give it a try?
Peter
defo would help persuade me to try one, was considering a trigger after all good comments on them
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the fitting that goes up the pole is so i can connect/disconnect from the main hose
i have a small hole that i feed hose thru in side of van so i only set up once a day and dont have to lift reels in and out, i just put pole on roofrack in between jobs.
having 2 angle adapters is instead of paying silly money for a gooseneck it also lets me interchange between brushs if im doing upvc cleans etc.
as for worrying about moving from window to window the amount of water used is not worth worrying about it takes 2 seconds to move to another window
i am faster than any other method.
i am often doing jobs twice as quick as other guys fannying around setting gear up and packing away again in between jobs
ie trailers, backpacks, trolleys etc
i pull up take pole off roof and am working inside 30 secs
when done i use a drill to wind in hose 20secs
then im off to the next one.
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any pics of inside the van. I like the look/sound of that
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no, sorry but all it is inside is the reel facing the hole.
by the way ive tried the auto brush and it is good but i found i kept knocking it off when i didnt want to and it wound me up.
it usually happened when getting deep sash windows when i was having a go at frames.
however if you have a big run of normal houses and are just doing windows then id say its also an option instead of a tap at the brush if anything probably lighter for those of you that aren't my size.
either way no wet leg.
and no pole hose
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Is reeling hose in with a drill really much faster than doing it by hand?
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chopsie
i guareentee it.
all you need is a socket driver and a 22mm deep reach socket
you will find it will change your working practices as you wont be so economical trying to park closer to jobs etc.
it has seriously got rid of one of the tedious bits of the job for me, now i just have to come up with something to do the windows as well
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must admit i hate lugging that hose reel in and out, I recon if anything will give me a bad back its that!!
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Jeff it seems like you are quite efficient in your ways. Tell me do you have your pump on full power?
Peter
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yes always.
using a low flow takes more time to rinse, so many are worried about saving water at the expense of slowing them down.
usually because they have trolleys and barrells etc
im always looking to do the most work in the least time, i average 25/30 houses a day
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cracking resemblance of you on the van, i really like the van an company name, to me it makes it fun. i like the drill tip that's a handy one. i also like the hose guide nice an neat an compact.
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tap at the brush head
rectus fitting 10 inches from bottom of pole
use the microbore as pole hose instead of having 30 ft spare flapping around, just remove end cap replace with hose to protect pole. rectus fitting will go up inside pole no problem
hi there
Interested in your method here .
Am i right in thinking that your main hose microbore goes up th pole as you extend the pole?
Doesn't it disconnect inside if you get it caught whilst working? This would mean collapsing the hose again to reconnect ?
Might give it a try with a small everyday pole- do you use this method with high poles?
I use 8mm microbore as main hose is this what you use ?
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the fitting that goes up the pole is so i can connect/disconnect from the main hose
i have a small hole that i feed hose thru in side of van so i only set up once a day and dont have to lift reels in and out, i just put pole on roofrack in between jobs.
having 2 angle adapters is instead of paying silly money for a gooseneck it also lets me interchange between brushs if im doing upvc cleans etc.
as for worrying about moving from window to window the amount of water used is not worth worrying about it takes 2 seconds to move to another window
i am faster than any other method.
i am often doing jobs twice as quick as other guys fannying around setting gear up and packing away again in between jobs
ie trailers, backpacks, trolleys etc
i pull up take pole off roof and am working inside 30 secs
when done i use a drill to wind in hose 20secs
then im off to the next one.
It takes more than 2 seconds to walk from front to back of the house, wasting loads of water!
I can also pull up at a house and be working inside 30 seconds..( open back door...grab pole .....grab hose..unwind....connect to pole and go!
I like the idea of the drill to wind in the hosereel tho ;D
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walking from front to back of house if there are no side windows i turn water off
method
front up first then down
then turn off cos you can reach tap
walk to back and do the same
my point is even if you are working in 30 secs why lift a reel in and out at every job if you dont have to??
if your worried about
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Cheers for that Jeff ..I was having a blonde moment ::)
ps my hosereel stays in the back of the van :)
Cheers Dave
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the hose doesnt disconnect inside the pole as its always in the same place and cant catch on anything