Quote from: Scottish Cleaning Service on March 07, 2026, 09:08:16 am

Quote from: Plankton on March 04, 2026, 07:43:53 pm

Hi,
I've got 3 univalves which are sticking. I've tried lubing one up erm... Anyway it's still sticking so must be springs, do the replacement kits on ebay actually work?
I've a brand new one fitted but just for recycling the old ones instead of buying another new one.

Never had any problem with them. Did service one with SS spring and good silicon grease and working great again. Don't even use hose clips on them because once on they don't come off even if you try to pull them off. What I will tell you, if you fit the hose right up to the top of the part that moves then you will have problems from the off. I had to trim a few millimetres off right around with a stanley knife and remove so it would seat back up again, after that its fine. Another thing, don't need to use it that much when cleaning a house, I just bend the hose when moving from front to back, after I'm finished I'll use the univalve.

Scottish, even by your standards, this has to be right up there😆

I thought everyone did this when moving round the house. I only disengage the valve when at my first window and engage when I finish the last window or door because of the time it saves. Maybe that's the reason my valves last so long and don't stick. It works for me, I'm like Ernie the milkman but in window cleaning, the fastest window cleaner in town. Maybe that's the reason I have all the best equipment and the dosh keeps flowing. 😉Might need to stop giving out all my secrets or everyone will be copying me.

You’ve got a Univalve & you bend the hose?! Fml 🤦‍♂️ 🤣

Youve just reminded me I've got a univalve that's sticking so I think ill take it apart and give it a clean and a smear of silicone grease this weekend. This usually does the job.

I have just bought an electric hose reel, it is soo quick since I used a manual hose holder. I would like to know what amperage is better to use to power the hose rewinder as the one I have which is charged by the alternator , use a quite bit of power of the battery that also works the pump .

There is no right or wrong answer to your question as everyone's route is different.

Lead acid leisure batteries don't recharge very quickly. As most of our work is within 5 miles of home, a split charge relay only put 2 or 3 amps back into our battery on the way home. So we needed to plug a 230v smart charger in virtually every night, especially when using our diesel heater, to fully recharge the battery overnight.

 I changed to a battery 2 battery charger believing the hype this would recharge the battery faster. It didn't.

There are some window cleaners who claim that they never have to bench charge their leisure batteries. If they spend a lot of their working day stuck in traffic and/or travelling distances, then it just means the alternator has longer to recharge their leisure batteries.

The suppliers fitting a hose reel will usually go down the route of a lead acid leisure battery with a CCA (cold cranking amps) rating. (Its design comes from the caravan leisure centre where a motor mover is required.) This is a leisure battery 'halfway' between a normal leisure battery and a starter battery. It's however, a compromise. We always had good service from Numax batteries.
There are other good quality batteries in the marketplace to choose from.

Daz on the forum has a diesel heater and an electric reel. He charges his 2 Numax 105amp batteries every night when he gets home. He also has a b2b battery charger in his van.

An electric reel will draw around 25 amps when reeling the hose in. In 15 or so seconds, that doesn't equate to much power used from the battery. 10 winds would take around 1.5 amps a day. However, your battery needs for cough out a large power output for just a few brief seconds, which a standard leisure battery isn't designed to do.

We now have gone to a Fogstar Lithium 105 amp battery. My battery 2 battery charger just needed the settings changed as a split charge relay in no longer suitable to use with lithium.
Even in winter with the diesel heater going most days, the b2b charger keeps the battery almost fully charged.

I've gone and picked a great week to get back in to it    bloody (rain) typical 

Bonus is at least the customers next week will be glad to see clean glass at last.... hopefully