Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: alboy on January 04, 2010, 11:45:09 am
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would you still risk using the poles in - conditions if your poles, microbore tank has not frozen,ie concerns of freezing water on paths/windows
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For me and the conditions we have here...no...but it may be dfferent where you are.
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Ive been out today, did two jobs, Windows iced and hoses stuck to ground, pole iced up. :(
Back home now in the warm and frost stat heater back on in the van.
Try again tomorow :)
Steve
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I've just found out that if you go out in freezing temperatures like it is at the moment and you fall or slip on ice and brake any bones your not actually covered by your personal accident cover if you have any.
Anyway do you think it is worth the risk? It really is down to personal opinions really.
Personally I would wait until weather warms up.
Kind regards.
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cheers for the advice just a downer because its forecast all week and we are very busy
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personally im going to give it a whirl regardless, i know if my pipes in the van are up to scratch and not frozen up and if i keep the stream up to a high enough setting i can carry on regardless, i have targets to meet and i also have to get new customers aswell this month regardless of the weather, windows still get dirty imo. If i cant get out from wed on this week ill write it off and try again from next monday, but we have to at least try i feel, customers look at you better if you try and get out in all weathers i feel.
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I've just found out that if you go out in freezing temperatures like it is at the moment and you fall or slip on ice and brake any bones your not actually covered by your personal accident cover if you have any.
Anyway do you think it is worth the risk? It really is down to personal opinions really.
Personally I would wait until weather warms up.
Kind regards.
Man, they do try to get out of paying people don't they. ::) ::) ::)
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at 10am this morning it was -8 it is now -3 i will leave it for now and try tomorrow it is supposed to warm up thourgh this week
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Just checked the temp out side, here in Taunton, Somerset.
Air temp -1 but ground temp which is where your hoses are going to be is -8 :(
Its ok working in these temps but what happens when custy falls on the ice from the water you have just cleaned there windows with?? :o
I rest my case :)
Steve.
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I am wondering if hot WFP in this weather is the way forward?
This weather will certainly test us window cleaners out.
Matt
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I am wondering if hot WFP in this weather is the way forward?
This weather will certainly test us window cleaners out.
Matt
I was out at 8am cleaning a supermarket. The heating was on inside and I still had problems with the water freezing on the glass. My heater was turned down very low because I was worried about cracking glass,.. but I did find myself cleaning the top of the window, defrosting the bottom half, cleaning the bottom half and then rinsing/defrosting the whole (Big) pane again. It took twice as long as normal, but at least I was earning today.
I used a load of salt too on the footpaths as the water was freezing within seconds otherwise.
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Tried on the the first house water froze on glass hard work trying to scrub ice off it was freezing as fast as i was scrubbing lol gave up got some new tyres put on my van instead now home on here - cold tomorrow morning but 1 above freezing tomorrow afternoon see how it goes aye!
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Well i,m still at home at 1.15pm with minus 3 outside. Being rather bored i thought i'd conduct a wee experiment on my own house to see if it was possible to work.
The water in my van tank is 34 degrees thanks to a couple of pond heaters, thats quite a pleasant warm temperature and the van is nice and toasty.
I connected a pole directly to the van outlet and cleaned the rear of my house. Firstly i had to de-ice the outlet tap on the van which was completely full of ice despite the hoses being drained down.
Once that was done i got water flowing to the brush head no problem, the water was ice cold at the jets so it had completely lost all of its warmth in the space of 25' of hose.
Then the fun began..... iceicles were hanging off all of the sills almost immediatley,
The water that was on the ground turned to one big sheet of ice in seconds,
The patio door wasn't to keen to open due to water in the tracks freezing and the water that had splashed back onto the pole from the brush head iced imediately and i couldn't close the pole down.
So i'm now going to go back out there and throw rock salt at the ground and spray de-icer over the pole to try and collapse it down.
I know its really hard for us guys to admit defeat and stay home after a long Christmas holiday but these are the facts.
I'm pretty sure customers wouldn't thank us much if a member of their family slipped and injured themselves as a result of us trying to " Do a bit ".
Sure the weather is hurting my pocket too but i guess i'll just have to grin and bear it.
Dennis
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I agree with you mate the saftey side of things is a problem with people slipping on ice even if you put salt down!
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well i had planned to go out on wed thur and fri of this week to see how it goes, i may still do this though but access each house when i get there, theres no telling of how each property is freezing up on the ground so i will just see how i go, i have a few that i know people wont be in at when im due so they will be the first ill go to.
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Will hot be the way? other than the ability to keep the system warm...the water will still freeze once it exits the jets...that where the problem is.
Brush head I imagine will freeze also...any hot users hre that could give us some of their experiances in these very sub 0 temps?
....I see a lack of iso related threads....
Cheers
Dave.
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Dave,
as i see it its not just the ability to get water to the brush head that matters, its what happens after that.
The water in my van has been kept warm using pond heaters, it was 34 degrees when i checked it which is pleasantly warm on the hands..... however after about 25' from van to brush head it was stone cold and froze to the sills immediately with 3-4 inch icicles hanging off them in seconds.
Where water hit the ground that too froze immediatelty, the poles stuck together at the joints due to ice building up and the tracks of the patio door where solid in seconds making it difficult to open.
These are all problems that wouldn't reflect very well in court if a customer decided to sue for neglegence having recieved an injury due to slipping on ice that we had possibly left behind.
Rock salt would no doubt help but i don't think it would get you outta the brown stuff in court.
Oh by the way, i tried ISO last year and it didn't really help much at all.
Just my thoughts on the matter
Dennis
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I find when it's really cold, it helps me to relax.
Due to the fact that I go home and have a cuppa, which is relaxing.
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I got to the first job and it was -5. Took my books into the accountant and had another look at the conditions. I may of got away with doing the sunny sides, but no chance in the shadows.
The old bank account is taking a bit of a caning, what with Christmas, not being able to earn, and the accountant and tax bill to pay.
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It's not all bad lads. I just looked at metcheck and down south, today is the "hottest" day of the week at -3. It's gonna be -4 to -6 daytime for the rest of the week. We're all gonna be soo f*ck*d it aint gonna be worth thinking about ::)
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what a waste of a day with only 3 houses done. i tried all day to work. windows freezing, hose freezing,pole freezing and not collapsing, this is not good. there must be a way around this, i cant afford to be off from work like this.
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time to get your slush funds out ;D
i managed to get a good day in today, bit of a struggle this morning ::)
worked 8.30 till 4 , had a few tips as well :) sweet
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Slush funds? I'm gonna need a slush remortgage,lol. The key has to be heater in van overnight,followed by keeping the flow going through hoses and poles during the day. That aint the problem. My problem is the lawsuit that's bound to follow after some ole gal cracks her skull open slipping on the ice that "I" made. :-\
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So i'm now going to go back out there and throw rock salt at the ground and spray de-icer over the pole to try and collapse it down.
Dennis
Classic --
I managed to get out at 10am in wrexham after putting all the gear back in van and filling tank with water - all done by 3 as it was getting colder , ill try again in morning - dont hold much luck for wednesday onwards , -5 forcast
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Hot (warm) water is deffo no an option as believe it or not hot water freezes faster than cold water.
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The word "hot" is a misnoma you actually use luke warm, using "steaming" water will crack glass in these sub zero temps.
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snow here since 17th dec and prior to that some very very cold days. God we ge tbad weather all the time in scotland yet as soon of it hits down south it's all over the news which is a joke TBH.
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Hot (warm) water is deffo no an option as believe it or not hot water freezes faster than cold water.
Only under very specific conditions (In a tall narrow tube I'm told),.. it doesn't work that way for WFP.
I was cleaning at 8am and it was -6 at the time. My system didn't need defrosting, the pipes didn't freeze on the floor,.. I salted all the footpaths etc.
That said the water was freezing on the glass but the hot water melted it, I gave it a scrub, and let it freeze again. 2 hours later the ice had melted & the windows had come up perfect. :)
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The word "hot" is a misnoma you actually use luke warm, using "steaming" water will crack glass in these sub zero temps.
i agree jeff, i have not lost one day due to using luke warm water....its the ONLY way to do it in minus temps...i was working in minus 3 today....no breakages, no cracking and no pumps/hoses freezing. ;)
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The word "hot" is a misnoma you actually use luke warm, using "steaming" water will crack glass in these sub zero temps.
i agree jeff, i have not lost one day due to using luke warm water....its the ONLY way to do it in minus temps...i was working in minus 3 today....no breakages, no cracking and no pumps/hoses freezing. ;)
Scrimmy,what about when the water actually hits the glass?That was my problem today,the water froze almost immediately on contact with the glass.Surely even if the water is warmed up it's not going to stay 'unfrozen' long enough to evaporate leaving clear results?
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The word "hot" is a misnoma you actually use luke warm, using "steaming" water will crack glass in these sub zero temps.
i agree jeff, i have not lost one day due to using luke warm water....its the ONLY way to do it in minus temps...i was working in minus 3 today....no breakages, no cracking and no pumps/hoses freezing. ;)
Scrimmy,what about when the water actually hits the glass?That was my problem today,the water froze almost immediately on contact with the glass.Surely even if the water is warmed up it's not going to stay 'unfrozen' long enough to evaporate leaving clear results?
the temp gauge was showing minus 3 in my van......and it felt every minus of that....but no breakages or freezing of the equip happened...but that due to me using LUKE WARM water....i know exactly what would have happened if i used HOT or COLD.....instant excess on the insurance for the broken windows 8)
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and just to add, i took EVERY piece of kit i was using today indoors last night as the temp got down to minus 9......i have done the same tonight, the temp up here is forecast to be down to minus 11. :'(
it took me 10 minutes to unload the van....but i know that every piece of kit is now toasty and snug inside the hall cupboard. 8)
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Sorry,the point I was making is when the windows are rinsed the water freezes immediately leaving them covered in ice.Surely customers aren't happy with windows that are far icier than before they were cleaned?Using warm water leaves the windows clear in these conditions?
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also got a full day in using warm water , made sure i kept the temp setting at just over min but now weve got snow coming which makes i hard for me as i live top of steep hill
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In practice the heat from the building does help the water evaporate, even when frozen.
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snap!!.
freezing conditions this morning had to cancell a job i started, ice straight away within minutes but now the interesting bit, went to buy some salt /grit everywhere is out of stock, if you throw down some fine gravel or stuff like that it causes a traction in the area you spilled the water, i was able at obtain a fine gravel and just put it on the paths and under windows where i splashed the water.
now because we are not leaving 2 inches of water on the ground the chances are the gravel sits proud of the water when it freezes and prevents sliping i have tryed it at many custys homes and it worked a treat and they didnt mind the mess coz i told em i was doing it for saftey ;D ;D ;D