[dazmond]

so....im still getting used to using the diesel heater.

i must admit im loving the hot water again but im still getting a few little niggles/worries....

WATER TEMPERATURE....i turned the temp dial down today yet i was still getting 50c(coiled hose)and 35c at brush head with 50-60m of hose out.is this ok for cold weather?(on full im getting 62c coiled hose and 40c-45c at brush end with 50-60m out).im paranoid about cracking glass now(the water is warm to the touch but not hot or lukewarm)

BRUSHES........ive destroyed my xtreme and ultimate brushes with the hot water.ill have to dig out my more robust stiff brushes methinks ...what brushes do you guys use?

HOSES.........my standard yellow microbore from gardiners is not really up to the job as the outer layer has started to split!(luckily its not burst it but its only a matter of time).the 6mm red thermobore from grippatank is out of stock so ive ordered the pure freedom red braided stuff.hopefully itll be able to withstand the hot water better.what do you guys use?

thanks fellow window cleaners.

[mufcglen]

I’m running at 25-30 degrees max which feels like warm, I had to change my pole hose to the green stuff from Gardiner, microbore has been ok though.
Brush I only use the supremes myself and although the soft flocked feels a tad soft at times with hot I mainly use the medium mixed, curls a tiny bit but still good enough to use but suppose you could try a stiff brush but I’ve never got on with them personally!

[dazmond]

ive been using the medium mixed natural bristle version of the xtreme and the hot water has destroyed it!

also ive been using a medium mixed ultimate that was curling up a bit with cold water,now its almost got a perm!

these diesel heaters are way more powerful and produce consistent heat much better than the 2 gas heaters ive used in the past.(L5,L10)

[P @ F]

I have been running the L5 at the lowest setting and this gives me about 35/40 at the brush head , i am using Gardiner microbore and stiff extreme and ultimate brushes with no problems whatsoever .
With using hot the stiff version brushes perform just like medium mixed do .

[dazmond]

I have been running the L5 at the lowest setting and this gives me about 35/40 at the brush head , i am using Gardiner microbore and stiff extreme and ultimate brushes with no problems whatsoever .
With using hot the stiff version brushes perform just like medium mixed do .

how old is your microbore richy?mines about 2 years old( i think) but the yellow "skin" has split in quite a few places down the seam.the hose underneath is still intact though(its braided underneath).its rated up to 60c but my coiled hose reading when the heaters on full is 62-63c!in summer i reckon itll be 70c!

[P @ F]

I reckon my Gardiner microbore is about 5 year old , out of those 5 years it has had hot use to the tune of 20 months or so .
I did replace it with the more expensive micro of the 2 that Streamline do in the middle of summer just gone , but then i swapped over to Gardiner green after a month or so to try it out .
I now have the old Gardiner micro on again as it holds the heat better than the green !
One day i will get to use my new Streamline hose , not sure when though !

[P @ F]

Daz , IME you can only split a hose along its length through over pressuring it , or it being faulty from the outset which i dont think is the case with Gardiner micro ,  if you split it across its width then its down to being  old and brittle or just cheap !

Do you set your controller up properly to DE or just let it run to PS ?
I think running up to PS with the added heat thrown in could be a factor of early hose failure ?

[P @ F]

Or you could just knock that dial back a bit and stop showing off ya posh git 

I reckon 40/45 is the tops you need for glass end of , sure bang it up on poly , clad and plastics , that wont hurt !

[dazmond]

Daz , IME you can only split a hose along its length through over pressuring it , or it being faulty from the outset which i dont think is the case with Gardiner micro ,  if you split it across its width then its down to being  old and brittle or just cheap !

Do you set your controller up properly to DE or just let it run to PS ?
I think running up to PS with the added heat thrown in could be a factor of early hose failure ?

normally its DE mate but i was working with a high flow today and lowered the CAL as the pump was shutting off late which could have over pressurised it.throw in the heat and end up with split hose!

do you remember me blowing up the orange hose from gardiners they used to sell a few years ago with hot water?it turned into pasta twists then split spewing hot water everywhere!(i never learn!)

[NWH]

Best brush-brushes are the medium Gardiner black and white or medium yellow,if your cleaning PVC go all out hot you won’t have any trouble with them unless they are already cracked. You need to watch out for the paper thin glass on old houses or Windows that give no flex to the glass in the frame,the Windows give you a chance if you listen when cleaning them they creak before they pop don’t hold the brush on the glass for any length of time if you are a slow WFPoler you’ll be more likely to pop the odd pane.

[Splash & dash]

We use supream stiff brushes that’s what Gardiners recomend with hot water , I never bother to cheak the temperature but it’s hot to the touch you would t want to keep your hand under it ,
Hose wise we have 2 fixed reels one has Grippatank red hot hose on it exelent hose but heavy , on the other one we have normal Grippatank yellow microbore , far more user friendly we generally find that it needs replacing after 2 years the red hose is 3 years old and no sign of it needing replacement, yellow is fine with hot water but don’t over stretch in and rip the inner matrix or it will balloon up and pop we drag ours around loads of pebbledashed walls and it still survives for 2 years

[dazmond]

cheers guys.the pure freedom red hose will hopefully be as good as the red grippahose!

if you cant keep your hand under the hot water from your brush then it must be 50c + reflections?do you always run your heater on full whack?as i know you have the same heater as me.(hydroheat).cheers mate.

[Splash & dash]

cheers guys.the pure freedom red hose will hopefully be as good as the red grippahose!

if you cant keep your hand under the hot water from your brush then it must be 50c + reflections?do you always run your heater on full whack?as i know you have the same heater as me.(hydroheat).cheers mate.

Yes we run it on maximum heat 8 hours a day I do sumtimes turn it down to minimum in the summer or occasionally turn it off at lunch time , but winter time flat out all the time I did crack a small pain a few weeks ago but cleaning thousands of pains of glass per year I think that’s inevitable at some point , Ime in Cornwall so we don’t get it as cold as you do but regularly have steam coming of the glass first thing in the mornings , I think if you crack a pain there is something wrong with it anyway already small crack or chip or pain incorrectly packed , I spoke to a friend who is a glazier and he said many window fitters pack the glass to tight to the frames and that in the summer months glass will crack as it cannot expand with the heat from the sun as it’s packed to tight so there’s no room for expansion , so the same must be true if we put hot water on it the one I cracked Ime sure that was why it happened as they had only had new windows fitted a few weeks before and I didn’t have any problems with any of the other windows all cleaned with the same temperature water

[Jonny 87]

Daz what is the lowest setting you could have it set at?

For me 50degrees is way too hot if that’s yours on low and with A coiled up hose.

I’m sure I’ve heard it said that to prevent thermal shock you need to clean with water no more than 30 degrees higher than the ambient temperature.

We have it hovver around zero for weeks on end, so id be risking most windows.

Id want the option of about 30 degrees out the brush head (warm to the touch) on a low setting.

[dazmond]

Daz what is the lowest setting you could have it set at?

For me 50degrees is way too hot if that’s yours on low and with A coiled up hose.

I’m sure I’ve heard it said that to prevent thermal shock you need to clean with water no more than 30 degrees higher than the ambient temperature.

We have it hovver around zero for weeks on end, so id be risking most windows.

Id want the option of about 30 degrees out the brush head (warm to the touch) on a low setting.

my temperature dial is virtually turned all the way up to the min setting and im still getting 50c with coiled up hose but when i start unreeling it goes down to around 35c with 50-60m out.this will go down even further on freezing ground so i reckon your looking at 30c at brush end on a very cold morning.

[P @ F]

I think Daz its just going to be a learning curve for you mate , you will get to know where to set the dial after a while just by taking note of the ambient temps and amount of hose out at any given time , for me its a case of 10 celsius or more ambient temp i set to minimum , if below 10 then i turn up the dial by 1cm .
This gives me water at brush of 35/40 which is ample as i am way down SW my luvver 

[P @ F]

With regard to hot hose , dont know about the PF stuff , but i had a reel of the Grippa red in 8mm i think it was , i found it heavy and sticky to the touch when in use with hot , maybe it has changed as it was a while ago on the last van

[P @ F]

Wow , i just relised that that pic was taken after my stroke 3 years ago today !
I had my liscence revoked and had to get the old man to help out , i had the system and fobbed him off with the backpack 

He soon got  so this was what i cobbled together from bits in the garage , then he was all  again !

[dazmond]

With regard to hot hose , dont know about the PF stuff , but i had a reel of the Grippa red in 8mm i think it was , i found it heavy and sticky to the touch when in use with hot , maybe it has changed as it was a while ago on the last van

ive had the red 8mm hose too mate.i binned it as it was too heavy.great tough hose though and perfect for hot water but now they do a 6mm version which will be easier to manage.i think the pure freedom stuff is the same sort of hose.

[P @ F]

Ah well thats a bonus being 6mm as it shouldnt be far off the standard weight , as you say , it was great quality but heavy in 8mm , maybe it was just my fingers that were sticky