Just to get going on this again......
I have bought a sky vac gutter sucker 3600 (3 motors).
If anyone has one of these or has used a similar one can they answer any of the questions below, as the instructions I got with it are pretty limited to say the least.
1) will it run off a 4 kva generator? (hiring one on Monday - this was the bets one they had at short notice 6kva looks a bit of a lump to say the least.
2) I haven't got it out of the box yet, can you run the motors individually if required (less suction, but less power needed) especially on lower guttering ie bungalows etc.
3) It has a bag inside (to catch the dust on a dry day) I'm assuming this doesn't need to be in there for wet stuff, like it will be on Monday after all this rain.
If anyone know where i can get more info, from please jet me know.
Finally, I'm assuming it is a decent machine that will do most jobs, seems powerful enough for what I will mostly use it for, which is domestic work (possibly up to 3 storey height sometimes) I have 6 poles so should reach!!!
Many thanks in advance guys
Steve
1. If running say in your case a 3600 watt wet vac from a portable generator before you buy or hire one then you need to check the constant power rating which will find on the plate/spec sheet or get advice on the size you need so it's not going to play up on you with the 3 motors running. It's always better to get a larger kva generator than you need so can handle the watts power draw so you don't put it under too much load. In your case ideally you want a min spec of a 5kva portable generator to run your guttervac.
2. You will find it’s quicker to suck up gutter crud using all 3 motors no matter what height the roofline is.
3. Best keep the drum filter in or the crap can be sucked through the motors a knackers them (I've knackered a few prematurely leaving the drum filter out). The only time you should take the drum filter out is to empty the drum, clean the drum filter or when you want to suck up large volumes of water so the float valve cuts in to prevent water being sucked up through the motors.
4. So say guttervacs do have limitations to what they can actually do so always best to do a gutter camera survey first to see what you are up against. Then you can decide what best methods to use as sometimes easier/quicker using ladders than struggling with a guttervac.
The example job in the pics below I used both methods including using a pro gutter tool on a stripped down wfp to clear the blocked roof valley. Whilst I had the ladders set up there above the roofline after clearing the roof valley and corner out by hand I also used what I call a combo method which is using both the ladder and lightweight smaller gutter vac hose with a crevice tool attached. Those type aluminium internal bracket gutters were also fitted with downspout gutter balloons (downspout filters) so needed clearing too.
If that had been a 3 storey job then I would have considered using a picker as would be a safer option instead of using ladders.
As with anything you will need to gain experience using a guttervac as you will find no jobs are the same
Hope this helps?
