Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: sparklebright on February 19, 2010, 07:39:48 am
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I am thinking of leasing when my present van dies.
I just wanted to ask those who do lease. How do you mount your tank in the van?
Does this have any ramifications when you return the van?
And of course who do you lease from?
Thanks
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Is that a no then?
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As long as you don't go driving bolts through the floor what difference does it make.
A few scratches on the floor where it's moved a bit, but that's it really...
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Cheers
So I guess you mean use straps instead then :)
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Here we go again
If you just use straps attached to the pre-installed luggage anchors and you then hit something at more than 20mph (or something hits you) you will be dead.
Any restraining system for your tank MUST be secured through or round the main chassis of the vehicle (NOT just through th floor)
Anything less than that is suicide
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Here we go again ::)
If you just use straps attached to the pre-installed luggage anchors and you then hit something at more than 20mph (or something hits you) you will be dead.
Any restraining system for your tank MUST be secured through or round the main chassis of the vehicle (NOT just through th floor)
Anything less than that is suicide
Don't roll your eyes at me ::)
That is the point of my post.
If you lease a van how do you fix the tank in situ and what are the problems when you return it as you have made holes in the floor.
Perhaps if you read the original post more carefully and noted the smily face next to the point about straps you would have realised this. ::)
I tend to try and help people on this forum when I comment and was looking for some advice in return.
Perhaps something a little more constructive would be helpful.
You are not alone in possessing common sense.
As you say luggage anchors wouldn't stand a chance.
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Here we go again ::)
If you just use straps attached to the pre-installed luggage anchors and you then hit something at more than 20mph (or something hits you) you will be dead.
Any restraining system for your tank MUST be secured through or round the main chassis of the vehicle (NOT just through th floor)
Anything less than that is suicide
Sparkle, don't take any notice of the moonlighting Heath and Safety officer with an agenda... ::)
It's going to take a massive collision to make a tank that's pressed up against a bulkhead and 2ft below you and strapped down...jump vertically, then change direction and start moving forward, burst through a steel bulkhead and squash you against the screen.
I think maybe if you hit something that hard in a van you'd be splatted by what you hit and it would be academic... ;D
It's laughable it really is!
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Here we go again ::)
If you just use straps attached to the pre-installed luggage anchors and you then hit something at more than 20mph (or something hits you) you will be dead.
Any restraining system for your tank MUST be secured through or round the main chassis of the vehicle (NOT just through th floor)
Anything less than that is suicide
Sparkle, don't take any notice of the moonlighting Heath and Safety officer with an agenda... ::)
It's going to take a massive collision to make a tank that's pressed up against a bulkhead and 2ft below you and strapped down...jump vertically, then change direction and start moving forward, burst through a steel bulkhead and squash you against the screen.
I think maybe if you hit something that hard in a van you'd be splatted by what you hit and it would be academic... ;D
It's laughable it really is!
;D ;D ;D
Agreed on all accounts. You don't need to bolt a tank to the chassis to be safe(er). ;)
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Here we go again ::)
If you just use straps attached to the pre-installed luggage anchors and you then hit something at more than 20mph (or something hits you) you will be dead.
Any restraining system for your tank MUST be secured through or round the main chassis of the vehicle (NOT just through th floor)
Anything less than that is suicide
Sparkle, don't take any notice of the moonlighting Heath and Safety officer with an agenda... ::)
It's going to take a massive collision to make a tank that's pressed up against a bulkhead and 2ft below you and strapped down...jump vertically, then change direction and start moving forward, burst through a steel bulkhead and squash you against the screen.
I think maybe if you hit something that hard in a van you'd be splatted by what you hit and it would be academic... ;D
It's laughable it really is!
Good point Squeaky, excellent, well said. Fully agree with you. I dont know where these guys get their opinions from. But theres no way an empty watertank would break loose from its mountings in a van if its held down by ratchet straps and fixed to the luggage anchors.
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Full of water, Id be interested to see the results, I wouldnt want to be the one driving it though.
I spent £1,000 on my van mount, for the tank and gubbins and fitting it. If it wasnt fixed to the vehicles chassis and I was in an accident what would be the point of me saving the £1,000 by fitting it myself if I was dead, I wouldnt be able to spend it then anyway.
Id rather be alive and £1,000 worse off than dead and flush.
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Now here's a Q. Serious too.
My van is rated at 736kg payload so if I put say 700kg in the back and strap it down to the luggage anchors then should they not be able to take the strain? Why does a tank of water (if under the payload limit) count differently to any other kind of load?
I mean; if I bought my van to transport live fish in a tank then why wouldn't I strap their tank to the luggage straps?
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Fact is Matt, if you hit something hard enough to create the unlikely chain of events I noted, then you'd be pizza anyway! Don't forget we're only sat about 2 or 3ft from the front of the van!
Last thing I'd be concerned about in a head-on is what's behind me. :o ;D
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Squeaky do you not think there would be a different end game scenario if you hit another vehicle head-on that pulled out in front of whilst you were doing 40mph with a 400 litre load on board compared to no load at all if the tank is strapped down on the luggage anchors?
Empty tank at 40 mph you'll probably survive, ambulance required probably, broken leg maybe, neck brace, but survivable particularly if you're wearing a seatbelt
Now put a total of something approaching half a ton in the back which is barely secured. You seriously dont think that might also affect your health?
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Now here's a Q. Serious too.
My van is rated at 736kg payload so if I put say 700kg in the back and strap it down to the luggage anchors then should they not be able to take the strain? Why does a tank of water (if under the payload limit) count differently to any other kind of load?
I mean; if I bought my van to transport live fish in a tank then why wouldn't I strap their tank to the luggage straps?
Malc the payload is the weight the vehicle can legally carry, including you, not the weight the luggage straps can retain in-situ. Remember theyre held in place with flimsy fixings, the payload might be made up from not only the driver but also kit on the roof-rack, the A/C unit isn't counted so also needs to be allowed for.
IMO water behaves entirely differently to a dry load, and thus we need to be all the more vigilant. It has momentum for starters, I feel it most with my system when the tank is half empty. That doesnt occur with bags of sand weighing the same.
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Sorry if I caused offence. We've been over this so many times. Whether the van is leased or not shouldn't be the point, as Matt Bateman said if you're sitting in front of half a ton of water and the van suddenly stops (as in head-on) you will probably survive reasonably intact from the crash - air bag, seat belt etc, but the half ton behind you will continue to travel forward at whatever speed you were doing before the crash.
Half a ton travelling at 40mph hitting you in the back - I don't like to think of it.
As to 'health and safety officer with an agenda' anyone who's read some of my other posts will know I am no fan of the H&S
Again apologies - I retract the 'roll eyes' :-[
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If an unsecured human sitting in the back of a car at 30-40 mph can fly through the front windscreen only weighing kg's then what is half a ton going to be like? ??? .. some people are stupid.
that half a ton of water is going to be like more like 5-10 ton under the sudden force of stopping and sloshing water.
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The point is, the tank doesn't have to be held in with a cage bolted through the chassis to be safe. A solid butt stop at the front & a solid timber brace with upright between tank & van roof will stop it moving forwards or upwards just as good. If done correctly of course. ;)
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Half a ton travelling at 40mph hitting you in the back - I don't like to think of it.
How can it hit you in the back when in my van like most, it's about two feet below me? ???
It wouldn't have the power to break through something it's already against.
If it was away from the bulkhead it would HIT it, and yes, could go through...but already touching it and "push" through? No chance. You'd be squashed from the front LONG before.
I refuse to get any further into this, because I know I'm right. I understand physics.
Hold a hammer against a wooden door and press as hard as you can, use 3 people to push it if you want.
Nothing happens...
Now hold it a few inches away and hit it..
Ooh...a smashed door...
Think about it. ::)
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Rog
put your head between between the door and frame and get 3 people to push against the door, infact apply 500k of pressure and see what happens.
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Rog
put your head between between the door and frame and get 3 people to push against the door, infact apply 500k of pressure and see what happens.
Your head is a squashy thing, steel is not.
Different reaction entirely.
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Rog
put your head between between the door and frame and get 3 people to push against the door, infact apply 500k of pressure and see what happens.
::) ::) ::) ::)
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;D ;D
excellent Dave st I
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Win
I just wanted Squeeky to do it, not to prove anything, I just wanted him to do it ;D
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;D
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But a door (with squeaky's head between it and the frame) has no resistance (other than squeaky's head).
So now put squeaky behind a closed door and get three men to push against it if it has a lock and a couple of frame bolts - it won't move. But if they shoulder charge it it probably will.
And this is where baffles come in useful in the tank - they make a difference too. Just think of a tanker lorry with 25,000 litres of fuel in it - why doesn't the front end of the tank (bulkhead) come off when it brakes or hits something? Baffles.
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I have a 350 ltr tank in my van. It sits dead in between 9mm ply wheel arch covers which are made of a side and a top and thats it, pressed up against a steel bulkhead with a steel bar behind. Held very tight in place. When I go round a corner with the 350 ltr full there is no movement what so ever. I have had to emergency brake too. When I went around the corner with the battery (15kg) not pressed against the wheel arch box it slid and smashed it.
I honestly feel safe with this. I think if anyone does go down the ratchet root the tank sould be firmly against the bulkhead. Reducing inertia massively.
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We lease vans from Arval. You can bolt down your tank if you want to, just fit rubber grommets in the holes when you return the van.
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We lease vans from Arval. You can bolt down your tank if you want to, just fit rubber grommets in the holes when you return the van.
Thanks for that.
That the sort of reply I was after.
Though the debate was interesting.
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Again apologies - I retract the 'roll eyes' :-[
No problem. When I re-read my post my meaning isn't clear enough.
Thanks
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Another thing to consider.
The floor in the back of your van is not very thick.
When disposing of a van I had finished with one of the bolts had rusted so I prised the metal frame with a claw hammer and the floor bent out of shape and the bolt came out. It (the floor) wasn't rusty and though I'm reasonably healthy I am not Arnold Schwarzenegger. My point is if you just bolt thru with a washer on the bottom the tank will not stay put in a crash.
If you notice the flooring in your van will have folds and ridges to make the floor stronger, because it is only thin steel.
In my van I had a 100mm square 10mm thick mild steel plate on the other side of the bolt along several washers.
I don't agree that you cannot provide the protection you need yourself. But I do think that thought should go into it
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Thing is . you may not want to give it back. May be the system has changed but at the end of the lease period you used to get the option to buy really cheap. And when you do relinquish its usually sold off as is to another party.
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I was at Purefreedom picking some bits up the other day and while there I was talking to a chap that was having a system fitted to his lease van. The tank and RO etc was just added to the van lease deal so he had it all on one lease, as that was the case I dont think there is a problem with fitting tanks into lease vans. He had sold all his old stuff on and was having everything brand new for what sounded like an affordable monthly fee.