Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: jeff1 on June 26, 2007, 07:46:36 pm
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I have been looking for alternative ways to switch my backpack on/off and through its four speeds.
I tried one idea and it was nonviable, so I went back to the drawing board.
and came up with this.
I use my backpack on a trolley and was a little fed up with having to tilt it to get access to the switch to either switch on/off or change speeds.
I have now cured the problem with an extension switch, that can be mounted anywhere on the backpack, or even on my belt if I feel strong enough to carry the backpack.
it can also be mounted on the trolley, now the switch operates in exactly the same way as the normal one, but now I can also see the if the LED light is on or off.
No cutting of any wires was the bit I liked best, So if it needs to go back to the suppliers for any reason, it can all be put back the way it was.
I put the switch extension thought its paces tonight and I must admit I impressed myself and gave myself a pat on the back. (I know you lot won't Lol)
I haven't worked the price of it out yet, but if enough interest was shown? I may build some more and put them on sale. 8)
I was so keen to take pictures you can still see the wet glue on the switch membrain ::)
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now i like that.... how did you do that without cutting wires....
come on tell us all, never mind making money jeff selling them, just share it with all your screen mates ;D :D
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If I told you, I would have to kill you afterwards ;D
Do you know anything about electronics??
Give me time and I'll think about it, putting it on a special forum, with photo instructions ;D ;D
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That is easy to do! I could do that with my eyes closed and I know very little about electronics. 8) ;)
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Quite Matt ;D ;D
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You Know......................it's simple...........................
PUT IT ON YOUR BACK ::) ::)
If it was ment to be a trolly IT WOULD HAVE WHEELS ;D ;D
David
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Dave we are not all built like brick out houses :'( ;D ;D
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absolutely brilliant Jeff, book me in for 1, this will save a lot of bending,
and no need to buy trolleys with holes in them to get access to the switch, well done :cool: :cool:
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dave, are we the only ones who actually use them on our backs? i fill mine and always carry on my back
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sussed it lol
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the switch is not just for trolleys jeff said, the switch can be placed anywhere on the backpack,
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absolutely brilliant Jeff, book me in for 1, this will save a lot of bending,
and no need to buy trolleys with holes in them to get access to the switch, well done :cool: :cool:
I'll build you one at the weekend Joe ;) and post it to you.
I took step by step photo's, so I'll email them to you over the next couple of days
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thanks jeff, this great idea will be a good benefit for the backpack, well done
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dave, are we the only ones who actually use them on our backs? i fill mine and always carry on my back
No.... I do!!!! ;D
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Jeff,
Sorry I was a bit grumpy in my reply.
Having thought about it I think you have come up with a good idea.
But my thinking is:
If you want a trolly you may as well go for 25ltr - more water.
If you want lightness and versatility then Backpack - ON YOUR BACK - automatically follows you ::)
However, as Jouk says the switch could be usefull even for us Carryers ;)
David
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Jeff,
Sorry I was a bit grumpy in my reply.
Having thought about it I think you have come up with a good idea.
But my thinking is:
If you want a trolly you may as well go for 25ltr - more water.
If you want lightness and versatility then Backpack - ON YOUR BACK - automatically follows you ::)
However, as Jouk says the switch could be usefull even for us Carryers ;)
David
Hey dave ;)
Its water off a ducks back to me. no problem.
I use a backpack only on a certain houses or parts of a house and also as a backup.
if I used it all of the time I would get myself bigger containers or a trolley system, but I,m more than happy working from my trailer for the bulk of my work.
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very nice, it should save a lot of time, but please tell me what they call them switches please, do they call it a pressure switch/pannel switch???? it driving me mad ??? ??? ??? ???
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I'll buy one if it's a sensible price! A very useful item IMO.
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very nice, it should save a lot of time, but please tell me what they call them switches please, do they call it a pressure switch/pannel switch???? it driving me mad ??? ??? ??? ???
Its just an exstension switch I built.
But if you mean the switch on the printed circuit board then its called a tactile switch, same type in your tv remote etc.
If I do sell them they will no way be expensive under a tenner I would have thought.
But if I don't make them, I have already written an instruction sheet with photo's that I can stick on the Academy, and the reason for this, is it can be made a sticky or put into the A-Z files so folk can find it easy all the time. if I post it here it will be gone by next week.
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More like tomorrow :)
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More like tomorrow :)
Like my money then, here today gone tomorrow ;D ;D
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Hi Jeff, did you ever get round to making these up and selling them. I've just bought a BP and i'd like one
Arthur
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if price is right ill have one as well .thanks .
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::) I don't have any trouble locating the switch (well a little)
But you only have to find it once! :D
The trouble I find is getting hold of the hose when its on my back! :D
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;) Sorry forgot to mention
It looks good very professional finish! 8)
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Come on Jeff don't be shy :D
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i just pm him, so should be with you shortly ;D
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Sorry Guy's I never got this far down the forum, I was side tracked by another member ;D ;D Joe told me on the other forum.
I never intended to build and sell them, I don't like making money out of people who are more than capable of building there own.
I did however do an Instuction manual with photo's for anyone who wanted to build there own, you can have the manual for £50 ;D ;D ;D ;D
Only Joking if anyone wants the Instruction manual then give me your email address and I'll forward it to you.
Thank you for giving me a kick Joe ;)
I forgot to mention that I have noticed a certain supplier has now taken my idea and built an easy accessible switch into a new backpack, Just going to do a search and check it out
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Hi Jeff,
I got to eat my words when you first posted this .....................................
I done my BP with one........................well a bit of a bodge job ;D But it works ;)
So can you E-Mail me a manual?
admin@dsalkeldltd.co.uk
Thanks
David
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Hi Jeff,
I got to eat my words when you first posted this .....................................
I done my BP with one........................well a bit of a bodge job ;D But it works ;)
So can you E-Mail me a manual?
admin@dsalkeldltd.co.uk
Thanks
David
Dave you should know me by now ;)
Its on its way
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The Manual is in Microsoft Word, so if anyone hasn't got ms word, I don't know how else to open it.
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please could i have a look jeff :)
matt@ladderless-window-cleaner.co.uk
thanks in advance
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Hi Jeff,
Could i have copy too.
Thanks in advance.
matthewspeirs@aol.com
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On its way Guy's
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you shouldve charged!
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you shouldve charged!
Why should I make money, its nice to give something back to the lads for a change. ;)
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Jeff, i'd prefer to pay you for building one for me and i'm more than happy to pay you properly for your time.
Your probably going to say it's easy to build, but believe me i'm not very good with things like that. So if you could please you'd make a grown man very happy :D
My email is arthur@scsf.co.uk just let me know how much and how you want paying.
Thanks in advance Arthur
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Jeff,
You mention "Extension Wire" What is this and where did you get one from.
I just used 2 x 2 core 12v wires. Snipped of the battery plug from the switch connected it to one wire end connected the other wire to the pump. It worked............
Untill.............................................It shorted and..................................stopped..................Re-wired it then...........................pump ran constant..........................oops wires wrong way round!! sorted it now and it works.
Usefull having the switch dangling in front of me so I can SEE the red LED!!
David
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Jeff, i'd prefer to pay you for building one for me and i'm more than happy to pay you properly for your time.
Your probably going to say it's easy to build, but believe me i'm not very good with things like that. So if you could please you'd make a grown man very happy :D
My email is arthur@scsf.co.uk just let me know how much and how you want paying.
Thanks in advance Arthur
I can only build the box with the correct plugs and holes drilled, the main conponent is in your backpack and I don't have your backpack Lol
This is what I said in the first post, I did it in such a way that it wouldn't void any manufacturers warranties and it is easy restored so that the manufacturer wouldn't know you added the new switch.
I hope that makes sense Art?
If you read my manual and decide you want one, I will make you the box with the correct plugs etc but you will have to complete it and all I want in return is what the parts cost and the postage no extra for my time.
This is a one off for Art so please don't ask me to build them or I will have to start charging and I really hate charging for something that is so simple, it makes me feel like I'm ripping people off and I'm not into that, we get charged far to much for our gear as it is.
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Jeff,
You mention "Extension Wire" What is this and where did you get one from.
I just used 2 x 2 core 12v wires. Snipped of the battery plug from the switch connected it to one wire end connected the other wire to the pump. It worked............
Untill.............................................It shorted and..................................stopped..................Re-wired it then...........................pump ran constant..........................oops wires wrong way round!! sorted it now and it works.
Usefull having the switch dangling in front of me so I can SEE the red LED!!
David
The cable you mentioned Dave is good enough, by extension I mean the lenght of cable you need, this is governed by where you want to fit the switch, I had mine fixed to the trolley, but it became a pain to keep detaching from the trolley so I re-fitted it to the strap. Hope this makes sense.
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Thanks Jeff, i've not even looked at the manual yet. I want one so just let me know how much for the parts and as i said i don't mind paying for your time, but that's very kind of you to do it for me.
As far as the warranty goes i'm not so sure if it would be honoured anyway because there not getting used for what there built for. Got mine from the states cheap enough so no worries
Arthur
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Your right about the warranty Art, I have just sent you an email with a few instructions so let me know what you think?
Art is your backpack a sureflo one???
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Yes mate it's the sureflo.
I've replied to your email
Arthur
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Jeff, how or where did you get the on/off switch-pad from? or did you cut it off the base of the BP and cut hole in plastic box.
Cheers
Wayne
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Jeff, how or where did you get the on/off switch-pad from? or did you cut it off the base of the BP and cut hole in plastic box.
Cheers
Wayne
The whole switch is from the backpack including the membrane you see glued to the box, the 2 little screws used to fix the PCB to the box is the screws used to hold it into the backpack, you see I used everything available from the BP with the thought, if it ever had to be put back together all the parts were there at hand.
This is why its called an extention switch, we use what we have and just extend it to a more comfortable place.
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Jeff are you saying the switch/pad/led window will peel off the steel plate on the base of BP.
I dont have any probs with removing the PCB and all the other stuff it was the switch I got confused about
Thanks
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Jeff are you saying the switch/pad/led window will peel off the steel plate on the base of BP.
I dont have any probs with removing the PCB and all the other stuff it was the switch I got confused about
Thanks
The plastic cover is infact a tactile membrane, just like your remote controls.
Just peel it of gently and it will come off like mind did, if you get any problems gently play some heat over the plastic just enough to soften the glue.
Any other problems just sing out. ;)
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Cheers Jeff all makes sense now. Play time tomorrow.
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Cheers Jeff all makes sense now. Play time tomorrow.
Any problems Just give us a shout ;)
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Jeff, i'm getting worried now. Tactile membrane :o :-\ :)
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Jeff, i'm getting worried now. Tactile membrane :o :-\ :)
Stop getting worried and enjoy your golf Tomorrow ;D
If anyone has a problem with taking of the plastic cover then leave it on there BP, you can just have a little hole in the box with the little black switch from the PCB poking out and the switch can be operated like that.
A Tactile membrane is only a bit of springy plastic and makes the switch easier to press, you can leave it on and buy a new one from Maplins, but it really isn't a problem if you don't use it.
Enjoy that Golf Art ;)