Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: swanson on September 19, 2016, 02:59:05 pm
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Hi Guys
been reading all your posts on here for a long time now very interesting,
im a window cleaner/carpet cleaner.
But do a lot more windows now i have about 150 customers.
My question is how do you prepare for the winter months.
I use wfp cold water so when its really cold like icy mornings what do you all do.
How do you keep your tank from not freezing.
As you have all proberly realised it will be my first winter of window cleaning.
Any tips will be much appreciated
Many thanks
/
thanks
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Pack up in November, start again in March
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I think about 4 or 5 winters ago there was about 3 to 4 weeks of really low minus temps, think it even got to minus 19 at one stage but Iv lost more work due to storms and flooding over the years than freezing temps.
Basically I do what most do who work outdoors which is make up for any lost work in the better months, customers don't tend
to be as fussy in the shorter darker days so the majority of them will understand and wont mind.
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Cover the tank at night with old sleeping bags or similar and the same with your pump, get yourself a gas or electric heater
depending on your circumstances and put it in the van for a few hours before heading out.
Below minus 1 or 2 and your going to need hot to stop the water and pole freezing up as you work.
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Cover the tank at night with old sleeping bags or similar and the same with your pump, get yourself a gas or electric heater
depending on your circumstances and put it in the van for a few hours before heading out.
Below minus 1 or 2 and your going to need hot to stop the water and pole freezing up as you work.
Not true. Moving water doesn't freeze. The secret is to keep the water flowing at all times when out of the van. Just keep it trickling as you reel out and in so it doesn't freeze,
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This will be my 2nd winter. I suppose it depends where you live really. Here weve not had a bad winter since 2010 and 2012.
Also as said above, moving water wont freeze so it also depends how u work, if youve laid out 50m of hose on freezing cold tarmac n cold water in pipe not being used, then u might struggle. But tgen can start a little later in day.
My van is fibre glassed inside, i have a buble silver insulation wrapped around my tank. Last winter i kept checking my water temp in van and it didnt falls seriously low. But as precautions, i stuck a radiator in van in drive that came on for a couple of hrs in early morning and that seem to work for me last yr.
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We wuz WFPing the winter months of 62/63, River Thames froze over that year and the clock on the mighty Big Ben froze still for 13 long days, without end. We dint know if were day nor night-time, even the sun stopped shinin' that winter, in fact some zay twere the sun's fault.
Ol' Bill, be never came 'ome that winter, zum zay he froze to death WFPing the local home for the bewildered, zum zay he never made it back from ol' Mrs Langtree. Mrs Langtree had a soft spot for Bill, Bills wife have been a widow since the winter of 62/63. Most years she have a new lad to help her out, most years it our apprentice, though none have made it back from Mrs Langtrees the year snow lies on the ground.
Best beware, if tis a rare winter months you be afeared of, don't be going winder cleaning, that's for sure. Ask the ghost of Ol Bill, he knows; they found his knackers, they were hangin', froze to the hedgerow outside the lunatic asylum,
Zum may zay Mrs Langtree knows what happened to Ol Bill, some of us knows better.
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This will be my 2nd winter. I suppose it depends where you live really. Here weve not had a bad winter since 2010 and 2012.
Also as said above, moving water wont freeze so it also depends how u work, if youve laid out 50m of hose on freezing cold tarmac n cold water in pipe not being used, then u might struggle. But tgen can start a little later in day.
My van is fibre glassed inside, i have a buble silver insulation wrapped around my tank. Last winter i kept checking my water temp in van and it didnt falls seriously low. But as precautions, i stuck a radiator in van in drive that came on for a couple of hrs in early morning and that seem to work for me last yr.
Nathan you need to stop listening to 8 weekly I'm starting to doubt he's ever cleaned a window using wfp, I'm sure most cold water users on here will have experienced the water turn to slush at the brush head in minus temps and it certainly wont keep
flowing at minus 5, then you have the problem of the pole freezing in the extended position.
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This will be my 2nd winter. I suppose it depends where you live really. Here weve not had a bad winter since 2010 and 2012.
Also as said above, moving water wont freeze so it also depends how u work, if youve laid out 50m of hose on freezing cold tarmac n cold water in pipe not being used, then u might struggle. But tgen can start a little later in day.
My van is fibre glassed inside, i have a buble silver insulation wrapped around my tank. Last winter i kept checking my water temp in van and it didnt falls seriously low. But as precautions, i stuck a radiator in van in drive that came on for a couple of hrs in early morning and that seem to work for me last yr.
Nathan you need to stop listening to 8 weekly I'm starting to doubt he's ever cleaned a window using wfp, I'm sure most cold water users on here will have experienced the water turn to slush at the brush head in minus temps and it certainly wont keep
flowing at minus 5, then you have the problem of the pole freezing in the extended position.
You said -1, not -5. You look for problems, but most of us look for solutions.
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Simply put, in minus temperatures, im staying in supping a coffee n thawing out myself.......forget working in minus 5, im not that desperate to be working ;D
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This will be my 2nd winter. I suppose it depends where you live really. Here weve not had a bad winter since 2010 and 2012.
Also as said above, moving water wont freeze so it also depends how u work, if youve laid out 50m of hose on freezing cold tarmac n cold water in pipe not being used, then u might struggle. But tgen can start a little later in day.
My van is fibre glassed inside, i have a buble silver insulation wrapped around my tank. Last winter i kept checking my water temp in van and it didnt falls seriously low. But as precautions, i stuck a radiator in van in drive that came on for a couple of hrs in early morning and that seem to work for me last yr.
Nathan you need to stop listening to 8 weekly I'm starting to doubt he's ever cleaned a window using wfp, I'm sure most cold water users on here will have experienced the water turn to slush at the brush head in minus temps and it certainly wont keep
flowing at minus 5, then you have the problem of the pole freezing in the extended position.
You said -1, not -5. You look for problems, but most of us look for solutions.
I said below minus 1 or 2 which is where most if not all cold users will find problems, as per usual your adding nothing but
rubbish to the discussion.
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This will be my 2nd winter. I suppose it depends where you live really. Here weve not had a bad winter since 2010 and 2012.
Also as said above, moving water wont freeze so it also depends how u work, if youve laid out 50m of hose on freezing cold tarmac n cold water in pipe not being used, then u might struggle. But tgen can start a little later in day.
My van is fibre glassed inside, i have a buble silver insulation wrapped around my tank. Last winter i kept checking my water temp in van and it didnt falls seriously low. But as precautions, i stuck a radiator in van in drive that came on for a couple of hrs in early morning and that seem to work for me last yr.
Nathan you need to stop listening to 8 weekly I'm starting to doubt he's ever cleaned a window using wfp, I'm sure most cold water users on here will have experienced the water turn to slush at the brush head in minus temps and it certainly wont keep
flowing at minus 5, then you have the problem of the pole freezing in the extended position.
You said -1, not -5. You look for problems, but most of us look for solutions.
I said below minus 1 or 2 which is where most if not all cold users will find problems, as per usual your adding nothing but
rubbish to the discussion.
Apologies, I misread your post. Perhaps you'll apologise for your rubbish in this thread:
http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=204437.0
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We wuz WFPing the winter months of 62/63, River Thames froze over that year and the clock on the mighty Big Ben froze still for 13 long days, without end. We dint know if were day nor night-time, even the sun stopped shinin' that winter, in fact some zay twere the sun's fault.
Ol' Bill, be never came 'ome that winter, zum zay he froze to death WFPing the local home for the bewildered, zum zay he never made it back from ol' Mrs Langtree. Mrs Langtree had a soft spot for Bill, Bills wife have been a widow since the winter of 62/63. Most years she have a new lad to help her out, most years it our apprentice, though none have made it back from Mrs Langtrees the year snow lies on the ground.
Best beware, if tis a rare winter months you be afeared of, don't be going winder cleaning, that's for sure. Ask the ghost of Ol Bill, he knows; they found his knackers, they were hangin', froze to the hedgerow outside the lunatic asylum,
Zum may zay Mrs Langtree knows what happened to Ol Bill, some of us knows better.
;D ;D ;D
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Thanks for all your replys
Some good advise
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Thanks for all your replys
Some good advise
You're welcome.
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As SeanK has already said, I cover pumps etc with old sleeping bags and also disconnect any hosing and fittings to drain any water which builds up so as to not have any split hosing if it freezes.
We haven't really had a bad winter during the past fives years and the amount of unworkable days due to snow/freezing temperatures could be counted on one hand.
Although i intend to buy a heater for this year as we're surely due a bad one again soon!
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Soon be time for the Daily Express to bring out its annual front page declaring we're about to get the worst winter in history etc. I guess if you print it every year then one year they might actually get it right. The daily express is the only paper i know that makes the "sun" look like an intellectual read.
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Soon be time for the Daily Express to bring out its annual front page declaring we're about to get the worst winter in history etc. I guess if you print it every year then one year they might actually get it right. The daily express is the only paper i know that makes the "sun" look like an intellectual read.
Indeed! The Daily Excess loves the "sky is falling" weather report.
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oil filled radiator in the back of van if below freezing overnight.
ice melt grit and a sweeping brush in the van for standing water left behind on freezing days
separate flask of hot water to unfreeze jets if needed
hot water system
various gloves,hats,ski pants etc
thats it..........and just crack on. :)
if its really too bad then take the time off and enjoy yourself(always have an emergency fund built up to cover bills etc for at least a month or two) ;)
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Soon be time for the Daily Express to bring out its annual front page declaring we're about to get the worst winter in history etc. I guess if you print it every year then one year they might actually get it right. The daily express is the only paper i know that makes the "sun" look like an intellectual read.
I love the 3 MONTHS OF FREEZING TEMPERATURES headlines, like we've never heard of winter before.
Last year they told us it'd be the coldest winter for 50 years, despite the fact that it was the coldest winter for 100 years 5 years ago. Every year though it's shared on Facebook like it's Gospel.
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Even in Scotland the past few years i probably could have used cold water all winter except for a few days.
Winters are milder now days.
The main thing is to keep the inside of your van frost free over night. Put a little oil filled radiator in the back and that will stop any damage to your equipment.
If you really don't want Any time off at all then you have to think of a warm water system. Either immersion or diesel, or lpg.
Otherwise just take a few days off. If the snow gets heavy then we can't really work anyway unless we've got 4wheel drive.
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The problem I had last year , wasn't the van freezing up , it was when the water from the brush hit the glass , the whole window froze up!
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The problem I had last year , wasn't the van freezing up , it was when the water from the brush hit the glass , the whole window froze up!
time to go home mate ;D
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For me it the stormy weather that seems to be getting worse, last winter was a total nightmare.
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Or for residential early morning starts probably when at its coldest, break out the trolley!
When trad cleaning, loved cold conservatories that used to freeze as soon as applied mop..
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The thing is Soupy is right ;D
Summer is the time to put in extra effort and put a few pennys into the bank for rainy, wet, shorter winter days.