[Mr. S]

Hi, can anybody recommend a good vac?
Domestic only at the moment, most are just your average 2/3/4 bed houses but some I get asked to clean are large town houses and houses with dorma windows with side guttering over a full width of house lean-to of 10 ft. Obviously  best for money's worth! Cheap is not always best if I want to expand so I don't mind investing! 
So do I need a 3000 watt?
Should I buy a 240v and use customers power supply and/ or buy a generator 240v, or just a 110 set up?
Plus an inspection cam to fit on an old wfp pole and a display screen.
Your advices welcomed. One thing since buying gardiner carbon poles for wfp I believe I need carbon vac poles too😉

[keyser soze]

skyvac is good i got one about 6 months ago and its been brill , 240.v carbon poles and camera , i decided to get a genny as well so i wasn't restricted . and totally independent when working . I've got my money back but that does take time ,

[Mr. S]

skyvac is good i got one about 6 months ago and its been brill , 240.v carbon poles and camera , i decided to get a genny as well so i wasn't restricted . and totally independent when working . I've got my money back but that does take time ,

Thanks keyser soze, my thoughts are with skyvac too, which model did you buy?

[keyser soze]

skyvac is good i got one about 6 months ago and its been brill , 240.v carbon poles and camera , i decided to get a genny as well so i wasn't restricted . and totally independent when working . I've got my money back but that does take time ,

Thanks keyser soze, my thoughts are with skyvac too, which model did you buy?

skyvac 75 commercial is the one i got .

[SB Cleaning]

I have a grippa vac and it's been a brilliant bit of kit

[Smurf]

Something to consider is to ask yourself will you have enough room in your van as most gutter vacs are not small bits of kit to carry about in a back of a van if say you have wfp setup in there as well. They also can mess up the inside of the van with gutter sludge and crap too...

The reason why I ask is there is a lad on ebay listing at the mo selling his van including his van mount just because his van is too small as he wants to buy a guttervac and it will not fit in the back. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WINDOW-CLEANING-VAN-FIAT-SCUDO-1-6D-WFP-VGC-SWAP-/161854811548?hash=item25af4c6d9c:g:N4wAAOSwo0JWGmaW

[Mr. S]

Thanks keyser, sb and crapinon!
I have a 54 plate transit normal wheel Base and during summer can fit my pressure washing setup in there so plenty of room.
Is a 3000 watt machine essential, as I have been looking across the ranges,  been looking at the skyvac industrial with camera, but feel maybe this might be too large to manoeuvre around some jobs, so a comparison with the commercial might be good. Any views. The Atom sounds good but would be worried not powerful enough for 3 storey jobs and the diameter of hose and inlet is smaller?

[SB Cleaning]

Thanks keyser, sb and crapinon!
I have a 54 plate transit normal wheel Base and during summer can fit my pressure washing setup in there so plenty of room.
Is a 3000 watt machine essential, as I have been looking across the ranges,  been looking at the skyvac industrial with camera, but feel maybe this might be too large to manoeuvre around some jobs, so a comparison with the commercial might be good. Any views. The Atom sounds good but would be worried not powerful enough for 3 storey jobs and the diameter of hose and inlet is smaller?

Pretty sure the grippa vac is 2400 watt and it's got plenty of suction

[Smurf]

Thanks keyser, sb and crapinon!
I have a 54 plate transit normal wheel Base and during summer can fit my pressure washing setup in there so plenty of room.
Is a 3000 watt machine essential, as I have been looking across the ranges,  been looking at the skyvac industrial with camera, but feel maybe this might be too large to manoeuvre around some jobs, so a comparison with the commercial might be good. Any views. The Atom sounds good but would be worried not powerful enough for 3 storey jobs and the diameter of hose and inlet is smaller?

I would say If money is not any issue then better to go for the skyvac industrial setup but don't expect using a guttervac to be easy work.

[Dave Willis]

Got rid of my 3000w vac. I didn't find actually sucking the crap out was hard work but setting up and lugging everything about is a ball ache and the generator soooo heavy! I pass most of my work on these days but do use an 1800w Nilfisk if I get talked into it.

[Avo]

The numatic 2400w don't really have anymore suction power than the nilfisk 1800w I've got both..
3000w vacs quite clearly have more suction but they are a bit bulky and blocky so gaining access to rear of property might cause you problems..


The sky vac is really designed to be used all day everyday for housing associations if you're just going to use it for domestic houses it might be over kill it's certainly overpriced I might take you awhile to make your money back.. it is clearly the daddy of all vacuum cleaners on the market thou.

[SeanK]

Got rid of my 3000w vac. I didn't find actually sucking the crap out was hard work but setting up and lugging everything about is a ball ache and the generator soooo heavy! I pass most of my work on these days but do use an 1800w Nilfisk if I get talked into it.

Same here Dave, you need to get very good money and I mean very good to make gutter cleaning with a vac worthwhile
I have a 4800w vac but only use it when the moneys right which isn't that often thankfully, haven't said that I did think it
was the business when I first bought It and before the novelty wore off.
Like you have said they can be a real pain to use for many reasons.

[Dave Willis]

To be honest, I actually felt embarrassed using it on domestic work - massive generator in a trailer, great big vac, miles of hose, bag full of carbon poles, gopro. Customers just couldn't believe it especially when next door got his ladders out, donned his boiler suit and cleaned his out with a bucket. 

The last straw for me was latching on to a lump of mortar at fifty feet and realising I couldn't risk pulling it over the edge plus the fact that S bends can't be cleared (even though people claim they do) it's physically impossible.

[Smurf]

To be honest, I actually felt embarrassed using it on domestic work - massive generator in a trailer, great big vac, miles of hose, bag full of carbon poles, gopro. Customers just couldn't believe it especially when next door got his ladders out, donned his boiler suit and cleaned his out with a bucket. 

Can seem a bit of an overkill for sure but I bet that chap would struggle with just trying to use ladders on this one as an example. 

Then try cleaning the outside of the guttering, fascias and soffits. Also remove the moss from the conservatory roof and clear the conservatory guttering to boot.

As they say tools for the job and all that especially on awkward jobs where ladder method is not really the best option.
Nothing worse than turning up at a quote then say sorry I can't do it is there? 

Price wise as an example to do that pair of small semis front and rear aspects not including deep cleaning  the outside of the conservatory roof & sides the total cost was less discount for doing the pair £340 so it pays to have the right kit for the job.

[Smurf]

Like I said it can be hard work  but the pay is not bad at all if you price well

Regarding roofline work using ladders then for safety and ease of accessing guttering, downspouts etc then I found this ladder setup works well especially on slippery surfaces.

[Nick Day]

We use this to check and clear all swan necks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryH1qgKYvYE&feature=youtu.be

[Smurf]

We use this to check and clear all swan necks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryH1qgKYvYE&feature=youtu.be

If doing by hand it’s easy to check if nothing is obvious if the swan necks are blocked or not buy simply dropping a pebble down the downspouts and listening or stick a hose down them. Any blockage can be removed whilst up there by taking the joints apart

If using a guttervac and camera and nothing is obvious then you can simple place the gutter vac nozzle into the downspout and listen to the downpipe to hear if a good volume of air is going through the pipe or not. Or do a water test using a cone nozzle and hose attached to the pole. On some blocked swan necks then the water test method will work at unblocking the swan necks too. If all fails get yer ladders out or us a jetter and jet the fook out of it. 

The one in the pick with the ladder setup I posted happened to be fitted with a metal gutter balloon so your gadget would have been useless.

May I add some downpipe bends that are blocked are nowhere near the top by the downspout opening so again your gizmo would be useless to try and use.

[Dave Willis]

Which is why I pass my work on to a gutter cleaning company who work off ladders - I just can't be bothered with the faff when cleaning windows is so easy.

[Smurf]

Which is why I pass my work on to a gutter cleaning company who work off ladders - I just can't be bothered with the faff when cleaning windows is so easy.

Like so may window cleaners do as they give it a go and think fook that 

[Dave Willis]

Precisely.