Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: jay moley on February 11, 2025, 03:58:57 pm
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I've recently changed my hose from microbore to minibore.
Noticing it's harder work reeling in unless im justing getting old.
Is an electric reel worth it?
What's your experience of using one?
I work around a lot of parked cars and tight spaces. Would it not get caught a lot reducing the benefit of getting one?
Cheers
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I've recently changed my hose from microbore to minibore.
Noticing it's harder work reeling in unless im justing getting old.
Is an electric reel worth it?
What's your experience of using one?
I work around a lot of parked cars and tight spaces. Would it not get caught a lot reducing the benefit of getting one?
Cheers
Why would you make your work harder than it needs to be by using minibore hose?
Swap back to microbore and get a PF reelmaster.....
You can thank me later!
Don't take this the wrong way mate but you do seem to ask a lot of newbie type questions....have you not been going for many years now?
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I have had electric reels since I started 6 years ago. I got that big thermal hose with it and decided to dump it and run with 100 metres of PU pole hose on both reels. I know of nothing else and it seems to work fine, its a doodle pulling it on and off but hot water makes it very supple.
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I've recently changed my hose from microbore to minibore.
Noticing it's harder work reeling in unless im justing getting old.
Is an electric reel worth it?
What's your experience of using one?
I work around a lot of parked cars and tight spaces. Would it not get caught a lot reducing the benefit of getting one?
Cheers
Why would you make your work harder than it needs to be by using minibore hose?
Swap back to microbore and get a PF reelmaster.....
You can thank me later!
Don't take this the wrong way mate but you do seem to ask a lot of newbie type questions....have you not been going for many years now?
One of my mates recommended I switch over.
Not a newbie but haven't taken the business seriously until recently.
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That's what keeping me from upgrading to the "holy trilogy" electric reel, hot water and extreme poles 😅
I find that once a week or month at least I unhook my reel and move it round a parked car or after being fully reeled out I unhook hose reel and move it to pavement and reel in a straight manner to minimise
snags and it's so handy. Would like to see just how awkward it is reeling back in around snags and things that make me curse under my breath normally to see if it's worth the extra outlay. And surely with a curled up hose after 10 houses in a row it always gets a bit twisted how much quicker they are. Still need to untwist.
I also occasionally use the van for other things and take the hose reel out so wouldn't want to lose the flexibility of a large floor area on occasion.
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If you use an electric reel you are supposed to use 6mm hose (microbore)
If you want to reel in manually best to use either a Cox or Hannay van mounted reel (I use a Hannay with minibore hose and find it easy to reel in).
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If you use an electric reel you are supposed to use 6mm hose (microbore)
If you want to reel in manually best to use either a Cox or Hannay van mounted reel (I use a Hannay with minibore hose and find it easy to reel in).
Pure freedom reels are ok with 6 or 8 mm but totally agree no need for 8 mm it’s horrible stuff 6 mm is fine
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If you use an electric reel you are supposed to use 6mm hose (microbore)
If you want to reel in manually best to use either a Cox or Hannay van mounted reel (I use a Hannay with minibore hose and find it easy to reel in).
My mate uses 8mm with his electric reel.
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That's what keeping me from upgrading to the "holy trilogy" electric reel, hot water and extreme poles 😅
I find that once a week or month at least I unhook my reel and move it round a parked car or after being fully reeled out I unhook hose reel and move it to pavement and reel in a straight manner to minimise
snags and it's so handy. Would like to see just how awkward it is reeling back in around snags and things that make me curse under my breath normally to see if it's worth the extra outlay. And surely with a curled up hose after 10 houses in a row it always gets a bit twisted how much quicker they are. Still need to untwist.
I also occasionally use the van for other things and take the hose reel out so wouldn't want to lose the flexibility of a large floor area on occasion.
The holy trilogy just makes your working days easier and more comfortable....
Its your choice if you want to make things harder for yourself than they need to be....👍🙂
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I use 8mm with pure freedom reel. I use 10/8mm pole hose with Reach-it brushes, it's the only way to get a high flow of water permanently without flattening the battery. 6mm microbore hose is too little water for a decent flow through Reach-it brushes, it works but it's way too slow for my liking.
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If your hose is going to snag, its going to snag whether you use a manual or an electric reel. I was dead set against electric reels because of the cost but im at that stage of my window cleaning journey where my body needs an easier ride. Ive been using mine for a couple of months now and love it. Im not going to make any extravagant claims about earning more, it is a bit quicker with good hose management but not earth shatteringly. Ive bought it to hopefully keep me on the glass in later years longer than if id continued with a manual reel.
No real way of measuring that as obviously i wont know when i would have had to pack in with a manual but the theory makes sense. I would strongly advise anyone thinking of buying one to look into government business grants as there may still be some out there. I had half of mine paid for with a successful grants4growth application. I only just got mine in time by the skin of teeth as funding for my local council had run out but someone who had, had an application approved for something couldn't make their purchase in time from the mandate they were given so their allocation came up for grabs and i was next in line.
There may be other schemes out there. (they also paid half toward a Gardiners extreme and one spare end section, i was well chuffed). I didn,t share this earlier as it was coming to an end but its worth a phone call to your local council to see if theres any help out there, councils may vary.
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No wonder our country’s skint with poope
Schemes likes this ffs.
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Stand corrected, my understanding was to use 6mm with electric reel, but just looked on PF website and you can use 8mm hose with their electric reels.
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I have had electric reels since I started 6 years ago. I got that big thermal hose with it and decided to dump it and run with 100 metres of PU pole hose on both reels. I know of nothing else and it seems to work fine, its a doodle pulling it on and off but hot water makes it very supple.
I wouldn’t recommend using PU pole hose on a hose reel…….the more you pull out the more it doesn’t lie flat, causing a potential trip hazard. I wouldn’t feel comfortable lying it across roads either.
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An electric reel won't speed you up. They're not magical so it won't tangle and catch any more or less than manual.
But...
At the end of 15 clean you'll be significantly less tired than you would otherwise be. You can either use that to add a 16th clean or to go home less tired. If you have the cash, get one. You won't ever wish you hadn't bought it.
Vin
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Sorry Jay - I can't fathom why anyone would go to minibore.
As you know I'm an old geezer who likes an easy life.
So ... Immersion heater - cheap as chips - used for 12 years now - lovely supple hoses this time of the year.
50m reinforced pole hose + 50m microbore on a claber reel. Sat in a tray, light as a feather take it out and point in any direction - if it wears out I might go 100m reinforced pole hose.
And of course my bespoke Xtreme 20 for everyday use.
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An electric reel won't speed you up. They're not magical so it won't tangle and catch any more or less than manual.
But...
At the end of 15 clean you'll be significantly less tired than you would otherwise be. You can either use that to add a 16th clean or to go home less tired. If you have the cash, get one. You won't ever wish you hadn't bought it.
Vin
I've tried them and wished I hadn't. The lads asked for them to be replaced almost immediately.
I replaced them as they broke. They all broke.
I've not had a single manual cox reel that needed replacing.
I should probably have compared like for like and bought an electric cox reel, not the plastic crap I ended up with. They are over a grand though.
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No wonder our country’s skint with poope
Schemes likes this ffs.
Have to say, I can't speak highly enough about this specific one"grants4growth". It was policed thoroughly with background checks, proof of 3 years trading, business bank account etc, a personal mentor, full access to all types of business advice, ongoing support if needed etc.. Your given a questionnaire in which you have to pursuade a panel not just one individual that the equipment will help grow the business financially. With wc that's easy, having sustained rsi type injuries through the job, something we're all suseptalble to then it's just a case of targeting to be able to do just one extra job a day by using the lightest pole on the market and an electric reel. Even at a small £10 extra job a day, 5 days a week 48 weeks of the year, that's £2400 extra turnover of which the government will recoup approx 29% in tax and ni = £696. If the new equipment keeps me working for another 10 years thats nearly £7000 return for the government for a one off outlay of approx £750. (and they pretty much get their dosh back after just over one year) A quite brilliant piece of business for them and me, a real win win scenario. (and whilst they will follow up in a few months time there's no payback if figures targeted aren't met.) It came to fruition under the conservative government, I hope labour will offer something similar, its a great scheme. I totally acknowledge there's been a lot of wicked waste with other grants over the years but this wasn't one of them.
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An electric reel won't speed you up. They're not magical so it won't tangle and catch any more or less than manual.
But...
At the end of 15 clean you'll be significantly less tired than you would otherwise be. You can either use that to add a 16th clean or to go home less tired. If you have the cash, get one. You won't ever wish you hadn't bought it.
Vin
I've tried them and wished I hadn't. The lads asked for them to be replaced almost immediately.
I replaced them as they broke. They all broke.
I've not had a single manual cox reel that needed replacing.
I should probably have compared like for like and bought an electric cox reel, not the plastic crap I ended up with. They are over a grand though.
I think most who recommend electric reels have not used a good quality manual reel. Not against electric reels, but hard to see them improving on the ease of use and simplicity of my 19 year old Hannay.
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I have had electric reels since I started 6 years ago. I got that big thermal hose with it and decided to dump it and run with 100 metres of PU pole hose on both reels. I know of nothing else and it seems to work fine, its a doodle pulling it on and off but hot water makes it very supple.
I wouldn’t recommend using PU pole hose on a hose reel…….the more you pull out the more it doesn’t lie flat, causing a potential trip hazard. I wouldn’t feel comfortable lying it across roads either.
Its okay with hot water but I see what you mean.
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I got an upgrade from Grippa when I bought 2 electric reels because they only had stainless steel reels left. That was 6 years ago and they are still going strong. I have wireless buttons if I want to use when I'm away from the van but never use them just go with the cable buttons. Not sure how long the motors last but doesn't take long to replace them when I watched Oliver fit them.
Hot water, electric reels and light poles with 35cm brushes have worked wonders this month due to the storm. Getting lots of calls but not sure if its just one offs but I now charge for 3 months and tell the new customer you will get next month cleaned for free to make it worth my while.
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I got an upgrade from Grippa when I bought 2 electric reels because they only had stainless steel reels left. That was 6 years ago and they are still going strong. I have wireless buttons if I want to use when I'm away from the van but never use them just go with the cable buttons. Not sure how long the motors last but doesn't take long to replace them when I watched Oliver fit them.
Hot water, electric reels and light poles with 35cm brushes have worked wonders this month due to the storm. Getting lots of calls but not sure if its just one offs but I now charge for 3 months and tell the new customer you will get next month cleaned for free to make it worth my while.
You are a funny old haggis, Scottish.
But I like you.
:D
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I got an upgrade from Grippa when I bought 2 electric reels because they only had stainless steel reels left. That was 6 years ago and they are still going strong. I have wireless buttons if I want to use when I'm away from the van but never use them just go with the cable buttons. Not sure how long the motors last but doesn't take long to replace them when I watched Oliver fit them.
Hot water, electric reels and light poles with 35cm brushes have worked wonders this month due to the storm. Getting lots of calls but not sure if its just one offs but I now charge for 3 months and tell the new customer you will get next month cleaned for free to make it worth my while.
You are a funny old haggis, Scottish.
But I like you.
:D
Done it wrong again dad. You have got to watch new customers. Once I did a deep clean and after the second clean I got dropped like a hot haggis, they sold up and moved. My deep clean on their front door clinched the deal but it was good experience for me.