[Oliver James]

Have been experimenting with high flow.

I've averaged the change in timings (to do the work) over 6 properties (3 largeish 3 bed semi's, the front of a victorian detached, a 4 bed detached and a five bed detached) and this is what I've found.

The average time for these properties was 34.5 mins on high flow (about 45-50) and 37.5 mins on low flow (about 30). Pls note that my service includes the doors, the white of the upvc of the connie guttering and any ground floor fascias and guttering at the front of the house.

Here are some pro's and cons of high flow:

Pro's
Is faster. Increased speed of 8.5% translates to about £14 extra a day.

Is less stressfull. You don't have to re-check the glass so much because you know the sheet of water that is going down the glass has done the job right.

Less tiring for the operator


Con's
Uses more water - but not as much as you would expect. Am getting through half a 650L tank instead of one third.

You can sometimes get very high flow when you turn the tap on due to the back pressure building up. This carries with it an associated risk of the overspray loosening dirt from the bricks and mortar of the window reveal.

One way around this is to open the tap with the brush in the middle of the window and then work towards the edges of the window as the flow gets back to its usual volume.

Another way to deal with overspray is to hold the brush very close to the glass when rinsing.

Would be interested to hear from any high flow users on here.

How do you find it and what techniques do you use to maximise efficiency?

[Ian101]

Yup Ive increased my flow last few months ... not done it scientifically like you but used to work on approx 30 flow now use 50 to 55 ... defo quicker and prob uses an extra 100 litres a day but my earnings have prob increased by about 20%.

Water costs me just under £6 ish per 1000 litres to produce inc waste so 100 litres a day extra costs 60p.

If say 2 jobs to go and enough water then whack em up to 75  

Do a HUGE mansion near me every 3 months which would take 5 to 6 man hours to do on low flow did it last week on the higher flow and job was done in under 4 man hours .... had to keep running it thru my head in case we had missed a whole section out 

[jonboywalton75]

I started out with a backpack,  so I habitiually was trying to save water.
I then moved up to a van system (350LTR)  with  a controller. I thought I could speed up with a higher  flow so I disconnected the controller.
This  caused  a problem with  running  out of water mid afternoon.
I now use an Aquadapter,  a double Di in the van and top up if need be from customers taps.
I reckon I am cleaning  an extra two 4 bed detached per day.
Soon to get a 500 Ltr tank.
High flow all the way for me.
My tds  is 35ish so water is cheap

[Marc Stock]

I dont understand some wfp operators who use a small flow, and spend ages rinsing. Just use the correct flow for the job. So if you need higher flow and can get through the work faster, you can make more money.

[Jim Waugh(Albright & Shiny)]

Pencil jet s at 65 or 70 on the controller. Flushes down hydrophobic like niagra.. Was very careful on the water use front when I started and was rinse rinse rinse. Always leaving spots..
Now its frames, vertical rub, horizontal rub quick zig zag rinse on the glass.

on first cleans I ramp it up to full flow..

Im using about 300L a day. and Im happy as I have a 600L tank..

[Clever Forum Name]

You shouldn't have a build up of pressure at all. If you do you haven't got your DE setup correctly.

[JSMC]

what controllers are you using? i have varistream

[windowswashed]

high-ish flow for a really thorough scrub. Turn the flow up, cover the top with a good slow rinse along, then away you go follow the cascade of water

[SeanK]

High flow has nothing to do with speed.
I reduced my flow by half and doubled my speed by just having faith in the method.
Hold your brush in one spot and watch how the water bounces off the glass with a high flow
most of it never even hits the glass.
Stop wasting water and have faith in the method, the scrub removes most of the dirt and a quick rinse
removes the rest.
If anything the fact that the water was no longer splashing over everything helped me speed up.

[jonboywalton75]

DOUBLED UR SPEED BY REDUCING YOUR FLOW!!!!
Seems like a slight exaggeration 

[Jim Waugh(Albright & Shiny)]

High flow has nothing to do with speed.
I reduced my flow by half and doubled my speed by just having faith in the method.
Hold your brush in one spot and watch how the water bounces off the glass with a high flow
most of it never even hits the glass.
Stop wasting water and have faith in the method, the scrub removes most of the dirt and a quick rinse
removes the rest.
If anything the fact that the water was no longer splashing over everything helped me speed up.

I suppose its whatever works for you! If it works use it. if it doesn't look for an alternative..

[Mike #1]

1mm pencil jets aka clarkes 1mm welding tips fit perfectly into gardiners brushes and enable me to work with a flow rate of 30 . Mike

[mufcglen]

As a newbie I started with 60 and now find 50 is about right for me but I've still not done an auto calibration of the system yet and I too get that instant push when I turn the tap back on after having it closed and making the system go into de!

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Employ the correct method, use the right tools & you don't have to rely on recreating the Niagara falls to do a spotless job in record time!!

If you are relying on a high flow to do a good job then you aint doing the job right to begin with IMO.

Optimal flow is what you should be working with.

[SeanK]

DOUBLED UR SPEED BY REDUCING YOUR FLOW!!!!
Seems like a slight exaggeration 

Never said I doubled my speed by reducing my flow.
I doubled my speed by cleaning quicker and at the same time reduced my flow by half.
This made no difference to the quality of the clean.

[tom20001]

DOUBLED UR SPEED BY REDUCING YOUR FLOW!!!!
Seems like a slight exaggeration 

Never said I doubled my speed by reducing my flow.
I doubled my speed by cleaning quicker and at the same time reduced my flow by half.
This made no difference to the quality of the clean.

i would certainly have to agree with trust the method

im finally doing this and reaping the rewards!

[Jim Waugh(Albright & Shiny)]

does it matter what the flow is, what the method is .. as long as the glass dries clean who really cares.. 

[Spruce]

I personally don't think its that simple.

I like a high flow when rinsing as it saves water and time. Where I find I waste water is on the scrubbing and washing phase of the clean, especially if there is some stubborn dirt or dried bird poo.

I also think that there is a rinsing time difference between rinsing on the glass and off the glass. If you are confident of rinsing well without lifting then rinsing will be quicker. I also think that a blendy pole with more flex won't help toward a faster clean and rinse as will a heavy brush on the end of it.

On the other hand a heavy brush will clean a window quicker but will slow you down later as you expend more energy and get tired quicker.

In the early days we used Unger ali poles with heavy Vikan brushes, 1/2" garden hose, 3mm jets and no flow controller. By 2.30 in the afternoon I had used 375 litres in the trailer and an extra 100 litres of water on the van.

When we changed to minibore and a Varistream controller, the same Vikan brush but with 2mm jets, we worked slower due to a restricted rinsing flow, but at 3.00 on the same round we still had water on the trailer even although cleaning the same houses took a little longer. We did save time with easier hose management. Also, having 100 meters of hose meant that we could do more houses without moving the trailer.

I was able to work until 5.30 and still have water to spare. At the end of the day I had done more houses so earnt more even although each house took slightly longer.

What I would like is a 2 phase system that reduces water on the washing and scrubbing phase and increases it on the rinsing phase.

I also believe working smarter is a good way to work quicker, its more than just washing and rinsing a window. My son uses a backpack. His brush has 1.4mm jets. I hate them as rinsing is so slow, but he saves a lot of setup time. Doing houses he is quicker than I am as managing the hoses take a large portion of my cleaning time. However, that doesn't apply if he has a long run of windows on say a commercial clean. What took him 4 hours with his backpack takes me 1 1/2 hours with a hose and good flow.

[James Bulton]

I don`t try to save water and never have spotting at all. I have a 100psi 7 liter a min pump and there is only one speed full bore. I have the belief that you float dirt of the glass and to do this is having rate to achieve this. So no to saving water.

[Peter Fogwill]

Have been experimenting with high flow.

I've averaged the change in timings (to do the work) over 6 properties (3 largeish 3 bed semi's, the front of a victorian detached, a 4 bed detached and a five bed detached) and this is what I've found.

The average time for these properties was 34.5 mins on high flow (about 45-50) and 37.5 mins on low flow (about 30). Pls note that my service includes the doors, the white of the upvc of the connie guttering and any ground floor fascias and guttering at the front of the house.

Here are some pro's and cons of high flow:

Pro's
Is faster. Increased speed of 8.5% translates to about £14 extra a day.

Is less stressfull. You don't have to re-check the glass so much because you know the sheet of water that is going down the glass has done the job right.

Less tiring for the operator

Increase the flow more for further benefits, but firstly you need to get rid of the cons that go with that.

Con's
Uses more water - but not as much as you would expect. Am getting through half a 650L tank instead of one third.

This is only because you are using more water than needed to clean the window. There is no reason whatsoever that you should be using more water. You need to have the confidence to stop when the window has had enough.

You can sometimes get very high flow when you turn the tap on due to the back pressure building up. This carries with it an associated risk of the overspray loosening dirt from the bricks and mortar of the window reveal.

Like someone says earlier something needed adjusted, extra pressure built up in the system is not good for the hoses etc. When you first turn on it should be the same pressure as when your using it.

Another way to deal with overspray is to hold the brush very close to the glass when rinsing.

You want to make sure when the brush is on the glass that all the water is contained within the brush and you only have a steady stream coming from the bottom of the brush.