[Gargaax]

The last time i said that I was a teenager!!!

I am just starting up as a window cleaner and have invested in a Ionics PRO5 reach n wash system. Filled up the tank yesterday and went out and cleaned my house and a neighbours today.
My neighbour isnt home so i cant go inside his house to inspect but my house was absoluately terrible!! All of my windows were covered in spots!
I washed the windows, starting at the top of the frame (new pvc windows on both houses) sweeping to left to right, did the rest of the frames and then up and down over the glass - from top to bottom. I then rinsed the glass. Correct me if I am wrong but I think that is the correct way of doing it!
I checked my 'output' TDS when I was wf-poling and it was reading 0ppm which I would have thought that is very unlikely!

I should mention (and you wfp gurus will probably kick I disagree for this) that when I was filling up my tank yesterday, I fed my drain into the gutter over my garage door.  After a while I checked that i was still getting waste from the pipe and noticed none was coming out. I think this is because there was not enough pressure to push the waste water up the hose. I am now worried that my waste water was going into my tank of RO water!!???

Is that the reason for my spots??

[Paul Coleman]

The last time i said that I was a teenager!!!

I am just starting up as a window cleaner and have invested in a Ionics PRO5 reach n wash system. Filled up the tank yesterday and went out and cleaned my house and a neighbours today.
My neighbour isnt home so i cant go inside his house to inspect but my house was absoluately terrible!! All of my windows were covered in spots!
I washed the windows, starting at the top of the frame (new pvc windows on both houses) sweeping to left to right, did the rest of the frames and then up and down over the glass - from top to bottom. I then rinsed the glass. Correct me if I am wrong but I think that is the correct way of doing it!
I checked my 'output' TDS when I was wf-poling and it was reading 0ppm which I would have thought that is very unlikely!

I should mention (and you wfp gurus will probably kick I disagree for this) that when I was filling up my tank yesterday, I fed my drain into the gutter over my garage door.  After a while I checked that i was still getting waste from the pipe and noticed none was coming out. I think this is because there was not enough pressure to push the waste water up the hose. I am now worried that my waste water was going into my tank of RO water!!???

Is that the reason for my spots??

I've no idea if your waste water contaminated your pure water but maybe try squirting some from the brush head into a small container and check the TDS?  Certainly a too high TDS could cause spots but there are other possible causes too.  I suggest checking the TDS at the brush head first and, if that is OK, maybe say so and then try the next possibility.

[steve k]

the waste water is not coming out of your RO so it is back in there and contaminating your pure water output.
BUT...the TDS would be very high at the brush head if this was the case and you say the TDS is reading 000...

[Gargaax]

cheers guys.
Shiner - I would check the TDS from a sample as suggested but my tds meter is built into the tank and I cant access it. What other things can cause spots?


Steve k- yes, my TDS is reading 000 but I am not thrusting that reading as I think it is too low! I am not sure if I am using the TDS meter poroperly. I will have to contact the manufacturers tomorrow to ask them.

[Moderator David@stives]

Gaargax

My guess is you spent at least 4k for you set up from Ionics .

If you are having problems i think they have a responsibility to show you how to use your equipment correctly.

I am sure if you phone Craig or Reuben they will offer you a free place on their BWCA course.

They are good people down there and i am sure they would not want you to be having problems or be dissapointed with your equipment.

The BWCA course will give you a good start with WFP and will help you overcome many of the problems you may encounter.

follow this link for the dates for the next wfp2 course

http://www.ionicsystems.com/pop/popinfo.html#booking

Dave

[Ian_Giles]

0.000 ppm is exactly what it should be reading.
As to why you are not getting any waste water I really don't know
But if you are getting no waste then you should be getting no pure either.
Unless you are set up in such a way that the waste outlet is totally blocked and everything is being forced through the membranes, which will ruin your membranes in very short order of course.

You are obviously producing water, so I can only assume you are plumbed in incorrectly
If you have the pressure to produce water, you will most certaily have sufficient pressure to produce waste.

If we assume the water at the business end is A-ok, there are pleanty of reasons why the windows are covered in spots.

First time clean for one, your inexperience for another.

It really isn't that easy to use WFP, there is a skill to it.

Have several attempts to clean your windows, experiment!

Wash your frames thoroughly first, and then the glass.
Move all around the upstairs first.
Then go back over the windows cleaning just the glass, always finishing  drawing down from top...to bottom.

Buy yourself a hand held TDS meter, you can then do checks on your water purity at any point in the process.
You can then check your purity before and after your R/O membranes, ditto your DI and then of course at the brush end.

Make sure any container you use to check the water purity is thoroughly washed and rinsed with pure water too.


But don't expect to get it right straight away! Take your time and put in several hours of serious practice first!
Your own house, your neighbours, some family members and so on, if they are getting freebies they can't complain if you leave a few spots here and there!!!

And as David has said, make contact with either Craig or Reuben, Ionics are very pro and shouldn't let you down, they'll give you all the advise you need.

Going on the BWCA course is a very good suggestion too, it'll fast track you through an awful lot of the problems you'll encounter


best of luck

Ian

[Paul Coleman]

cheers guys.
Shiner - I would check the TDS from a sample as suggested but my tds meter is built into the tank and I cant access it. What other things can cause spots?

The things that spring to mind about other things that can cause spots are a dirty brush (it may not be possible to see it), not using enough water (particularly on the first clean or two) or trying to do the top frame and glass in one pass on a first clean.  You can sometimes get away with the last one but it can be a bit risky.  It's usually good policy to err on the side of caution and use loads of water on a first clean - really crank the flow rate up and see how it looks then.

[Gargaax]

Thanks Guys for all the advise.
I am booked on a wfp with the BWCA (got 2 free courses from Ionics) but its not until April as it is booked up until then.
I will keep plugging along but will also try what Ian suggested and go over the windows again.

I will also crank up the flow of water as I have been trying to use as little water as possible to make it last as long as possible.


Cheers for the help

[Jeff Brimble]

Gargax you need to prove to yourself that the system you have invested in works. Clean a section of glass trad with a squeegee but no soap. Then spray RO/DI water on the clean glass without touching the brush on the glass and let it totally dry. This should show that there are no spots, if there are get back to us.