Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: chrismroberts on January 10, 2010, 12:42:35 pm
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Afternoon all :)
Just ordered an L5 shower heater, probably a bit late for this cold snap, but ready for next winter. Was only £100, so seemed worth a punt. Was reading a thread from 2008 about it, sounds like a few people bought one, did they help or were they not much use?
Chris
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I've done the same! Mine is sitting in customs at the moment. Hopefully the jedi mind trick I've been using ("this is not the heater you are looking for") will work!
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Are you adding a flow switch, have you ordered a new gas regulator
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I've done the same! Mine is sitting in customs at the moment. Hopefully the jedi mind trick I've been using ("this is not the heater you are looking for") will work!
Uh oh, do Customs not like them? Spent a while looking for UK distributors, to no avail. They told you why they're holding it?
Are you adding a flow switch, have you ordered a new gas regulator
Don't know about a flow switch? Have a gas regulator sat on a gas fire in the garage I might steal. Should work, if not I've seen them for about £3 on fleaBay :)
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Don't know about a flow switch?
Some people who have them have added the flow swith so you can work at a lower water flow.
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Saves gas? How low a flow? I read that the heater cuts out after 17 minutes too, can it be restarted easily?
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I've done the same! Mine is sitting in customs at the moment. Hopefully the jedi mind trick I've been using ("this is not the heater you are looking for") will work!
Uh oh, do Customs not like them? Spent a while looking for UK distributors, to no avail. They told you why they're holding it?
I think it may be partly to do with the weekend, and also the bad weather. If they do charge it will be about £20. I'll let you know
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any one got a pic of a L5 keep hearing about them but dont no what it looks like thanks....
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www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=63565.0
Rather huge thread ;)
Incidentally, how much gas DO they use? Read one post saying theyll heat about 250 liters, another bloke said it heated 600 liters a day for about a million years, it'll depend on the heat I assume? I only want it hot enough to stop water freezing in the hose and brush jets, not bothered once its on the window :P
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this is it fitted, to give you an idea of the size
http://www.acsforums.com/forum/public_html/yabbfiles/Attachments/gas_001_001.JPG
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I've done the same! Mine is sitting in customs at the moment. Hopefully the jedi mind trick I've been using ("this is not the heater you are looking for") will work!
Uh oh, do Customs not like them? Spent a while looking for UK distributors, to no avail. They told you why they're holding it?
I think it may be partly to do with the weekend, and also the bad weather. If they do charge it will be about £20. I'll let you know
Cheers, let me know how you get on :) Do they bill you through the post or what, or send the baliffs? :P
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with the hot water L5 how do you connect it up do you need eletric is it a pipe strait from tank and then it heats it does it then go in the pump or does it bypass strait into the main tanks then come out warm has any one got any pics of how this works thanks carl....
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with the hot water L5 how do you connect it up do you need eletric is it a pipe strait from tank and then it heats it does it then go in the pump or does it bypass strait into the main tanks then come out warm has any one got any pics of how this works thanks carl....
Theres quite a lot of information on here, www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=63565.0
But the basic gist I got from it was this:
The L5 is essentially a mini shower heater/boiler run from a gas bottle. It takes a couple of Duracell batteries for the ignition and thats it. It goes after your pump + DI, but before your hose reels, so its essentially an on demand heater that takes the cold water from your tank and heats it to 30 or 40 degrees.
Its an American product, so it needs a british gas fitting to connect to our gas bottles, and possibly a couple of adapters to fit hoselocks?
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You need a pump, I just use a Hudson Backpack as the water source.
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I use an 11kg bottle of gas every 4 to 6 weeks depending on my schedule. Once, when I was extreemly busy I used a bottle in just shy of 3 weeks,.. but even at that its only about £1 per day to run it.
The thread on the inlet & outlet port will fit hozelock fittings,.. I'd recommend a brass one and a better grade of hose on the outlet side though.
The flow switch is easy to fit, but don't worry about it straight away as some ppl find they can work fine without them.
To reset the heater at the 17 minutes, simply stop the flow through the heater (Depending on your pump, hose length and flow rate you might have to stop flow at the brush for up to 20 seconds) and it will reset. Start the flow again and you start a whole new 17 minutes.
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I found it a royal pain in the harse. Blows out, times out, to hot cut out - it was always bleeding out! I didn't bother to set it up again this year. Besides, it just wouldn't be reliable enough in the snow, if it cut out you would have a frozen hose - you don't realise it has cut out straight away and the pipes would freeze.
On the other hand, it taught me how good hot water was and that you need a proper one. Or, even if you diy, you need a better solution than the l5.
Mines one is up for grabs with a british gas attachment if anyones interested, its had about three weeks use. Comes with an empty gas cylinder. Oh, and the hoses are standard too. (that was one of the biggest hassles, finding hoses that fitted it).
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so you dont need a special pump then i can buy one of the ones you got and let the water run as normal when it comes out of my pump i got of alex into hot box out of hot box in to hose reels then in to poles and whats the flow rate iv got a 650 ltr tank i could buy a 250 and then byepass the hot water in to a smaller tanks and then use it from that....
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To reset the heater at the 17 minutes, simply stop the flow through the heater (Depending on your pump, hose length and flow rate you might have to stop flow at the brush for up to 20 seconds) and it will reset. Start the flow again and you start a whole new 17 minutes.
Cheers :) Sounds like its more economical than I thought. So, if you disconnect your pole and the Varistream stops the pump, does the heater switch off? I know from another heater I used, that you had to turn it off manually, or it would continue to heat the water in the hose and eventually boil... bursting the hose. I gather the L5 is different?
Count Phil, what is the problem with the hoses? Non standard bores or connections?
Thanks for all the replies :)
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Mines one is up for grabs with a british gas attachment if anyones interested, its had about three weeks use. Comes with an empty gas cylinder. Oh, and the hoses are standard too.
How much are you after for it? I only thought afterwards that ordering two would be a good idea, for backup/spares.
And where abouts are you? I am in Brighton
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I'm in bedfordshire.
I think I used a hot washing machine part in the end, i seem to remember they were screw attachments or something. Any ways, I guess I want 50ish. But you know, whatever.
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Sheepmeister,
yes, it turns off automatically when the flow stops, and back on again automatically when the flow re-starts. :)
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Sheepmeister,
yes, it turns off automatically when the flow stops, and back on again automatically when the flow re-starts. :)
Nice :) Can't wait now. LOL. I do like working with hot water anyway. If this works OK then I might go and spend £9000 on a thermopure :P
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From who are you guys buying you L5's from?
Cheers
Dave.
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From who are you guys buying you L5's from?
Cheers
Dave.
these seem to be the best price
http://www.goenergystead.com/URLrewrite.asp?404;http://www.goenergysystems.com:80/Eccotemp_L5_p/l5.htm&Redirected=Y
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hi phil
Is the L5 still for sale. Can pick up this week.
Call 07813616642 Dave
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like idea of L5 but concerned about its safety and if legal carry lpg in the van
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Got mine from overstock.com, the delivery charge from goenergysystems.com seemed a bit steep?
like idea of L5 but concerned about its safety and if legal carry lpg in the van
Not sure if its lpg, propane or butane? As regards legality I think its OK as long as its disconnected while driving. Might be worth checking though.
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Dave27. Will give you a ring in the week.
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I've done the same! Mine is sitting in customs at the moment. Hopefully the jedi mind trick I've been using ("this is not the heater you are looking for") will work!
Uh oh, do Customs not like them? Spent a while looking for UK distributors, to no avail. They told you why they're holding it?
I think it may be partly to do with the weekend, and also the bad weather. If they do charge it will be about £20. I'll let you know
Yeah they charged me :( £23.13 which included Parcelforce's £8 charge for them to hold me down while customs booted me in the wallet
But still, its not that much in total for the L5. I shall be fitting it tomorrow :-D
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I've done the same! Mine is sitting in customs at the moment. Hopefully the jedi mind trick I've been using ("this is not the heater you are looking for") will work!
Uh oh, do Customs not like them? Spent a while looking for UK distributors, to no avail. They told you why they're holding it?
I think it may be partly to do with the weekend, and also the bad weather. If they do charge it will be about £20. I'll let you know
Yeah they charged me :( £23.13 which included Parcelforce's £8 charge for them to hold me down while customs booted me in the wallet
But still, its not that much in total for the L5. I shall be fitting it tomorrow :-D
Let us know how you get on :) Just had an email to say mine is on its way to the UK.... will brace myself for customs charges :S
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if its still for sale i pick it up the weekend
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what did customs charge ???
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Phil where in bedfordshire are you, I will buy the heater off you if still available, I live in bedford area
07788 732 789
Ian
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this post seems 1 sided
should we have " ticking time bomb" replies aswell
oh and what a fireman once told me
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what did customs charge ???
Customs was £15.13 plus £8 for the nothing that parcelforce did! £23.13 in total
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should we have " ticking time bomb" replies aswell
oh and what a fireman once told me
That argument would surely apply to all caravan's too. I am sure more window cleaners die or get injured falling off ladders than do in hot wfp explosions. If you connect the heater up wrongly or do stupid things then you put yourself at risk, same as doing stupid things like overreaching when on a ladder
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should we have " ticking time bomb" replies aswell
oh and what a fireman once told me
That argument would surely apply to all caravan's too. I am sure more window cleaners die or get injured falling off ladders than do in hot wfp explosions. If you connect the heater up wrongly or do stupid things then you put yourself at risk, same as doing stupid things like overreaching when on a ladder
i am all for these heaters, they look like they do the job
why i mentioned ticking time bombs etc etc was this place was a fest of " my L5 is great " and " oh no its not, its a ticking time bomb " type posts last winter
it was really funny at the time
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Yeah I read that a couple of weeks ago! As the change was not in real time, it seemed so much more dramatic!
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last year i had mine freeze up and burst a pipe in the van even though i though i drained water from the plug i got a replacement and then removed the plug and left out overnight , it froze and burst another pipe, i then thru my toys out and dint bother with them until last week i got a plumber to make one good one from the two
sooo glad ive got it back i now leave tubalar heaters on in the van to prevent freezing and work with nice hot water no more waiting for things to warm up.
with out doubt the best bit of kit value wise to go hot,
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just orderd my L5 can wait add some pics when she is up and running ;D
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one thing I cannot work out is what are all these screws for?! There are 2 in one plastic pack, which I assume are to fix the heat shield with. But what are the 5 others for? And those 2 big things with an 'A' on the tip?