[cleaniac]

So then, back in the spring Lee had a few gas boilers available for sale and I bought one.

I fitted it this afternoon, plumbed it in and got it running on propane. It works fantastically well, and the water comes out piping hot.

I have set it for around 20 degrees c. Hopefully when it starts getting too cold for the water to flow, like it did last year for a couple of weeks it won't slow me down..

What sort of temps do.u guys set

[dazmond]

So then, back in the spring Lee had a few c****y gas boilers available for sale and I bought one.

I fitted it this afternoon, plumbed it in and got it running on propane. It works fantastically well, and the water comes out piping hot.

I have set it for around 20 degrees c. Hopefully when it starts getting too cold for the water to flow, like it did last year for a couple of weeks it won't slow me down..

What sort of temps do.u guys set

my advice would be to take it out and bin it marc.......no need to go into details why...im sure you know....

[dazmond]

their not safe.......after my little explosion i can safely say i wouldnt put one in a van again.....lots of other window cleaners on here have had scares too......theyve either gone back to cold,fitted an immersion or invested in a professionally fitted diesel heater.....

if you still plan on using it then dont forget to unscrew the little drain screw on the bottom of the heater on cold nights or youll wake up to a broken heater......

[cleaniac]

Ok daz will do.

For now though its going to enable me to work during the freezing temperatures whilst i make plans for my next van and system next year.

[dazmond]

Ok daz will do.

For now though its going to enable me to work during the freezing temperatures whilst i make plans for my next van and system next year.

have you worked with warm/hot water before marc?you cant beat it for the cold winter months.......

[Lee Pryor]

We used them on about 50degrees to get better cleaning results in the summer. 30 to 40 in winter. Make sure you use plenty of water flow.

Daz is right about the freezing. if it freezes with water in it over night it will be dead. I have to say in years of having them in all my vans we never had a scare or problem. We have got rid of them all now and use virosol on the really dirty stuff which my guys recon is better than hot water and the cost was getting very high to run them. Good for a single operator. Remember the 20 min timer which can be a pain.

I do like the diesel units but I dont like the 40-50k I would have to spend to fit out our vans and lets face it diesel isnt getting any cheaper. My lads would use them all day long and my diesel bill is already £3500 a month. plus more to go wrong. Again if I were on my own I would defo have one.

[jonny thompson]

Their safe if put in correctly

[jonny thompson]

Daz I know you don’t and would not use one anymore, I have never drained mine in the winter, I’ve evidently been lucky, do you unscrew the screw completely and leave it like that overnight

[P @ F]

I have just put mine in again , must be about 8 years old now and never had any mishap or issue in that time , perhaps its another of those user errors you hear about , ventilation , siting , awareness is all you need .
Never drained mine from day one , 2 old quilts wrapped tight do the job , but then I dont get it as harsh as some of you guys .

[cleaniac]

There doesn't appear to be a drain hole in mine, but i just unplug the inlet and outlet hoses and it drains out. Its mounted on the inside of one of the barn doors so no need for flue or anything like that as its outside when the door is open, might need to make up a galvanised steel plate to shelter the top bit from weather.  I also have an electric fan heater that comes on at 2 degrees c which is kept in the van.

I tired it out today on my own house windows, its nicer to work with, im.not sure if its really any faster or better than cold, but my main reason for using it is simply being able to use the hoses in the cold weather or even snow without them going stiff, kinking, or freezing in the hose whilst on the job. It happened a couple of times last year where the water flow just kept stopping and freezing and i had to abandon the day a few times, not something i can afford to do this time with my push to move forward.

[P @ F]

Just be mindfull to keep an eye on the gas supply hose as its going to be pivoting a lot , and although ouside would seem a safe option wind and rain and slamming the door would be things to think about , mine has always been out of the elements with no flue but well ventilated and always had gas valves shut even if only going 20 yards down the road , gas and careless dont mix mate ! 

[cleaniac]

Just be mindfull to keep an eye on the gas supply hose as its going to be pivoting a lot , and although ouside would seem a safe option wind and rain and slamming the door would be things to think about , mine has always been out of the elements with no flue but well ventilated and always had gas valves shut even if only going 20 yards down the road , gas and careless dont mix mate !

Yeah was looking at that earlier, im going to fix it with pipe clamps to the inside of the ply and run it across the hinge, and fixed again the other side.

Not worried about it being outside. It says on the instructions that you shouldnt use it  in any contained space and that the whole unit needs to be in free flowing external air. I will though make up a weather plate just to protect it a bit.

[P @ F]

See , fixing it to the hinge is only going to concentrate the flex on gas supply pipe to a small area , if you are going to run it on the back door then you would be better off by having a bigger length of gas pipe to take the movement more equally , thus not straining one area constantly which will lead to breakdown and perishing of the gas pipe .

[P @ F]

Dont be a Daz , it may well look tidier but beauty goes bang !

[cleaniac]

See , fixing it to the hinge is only going to concentrate the flex on gas supply pipe to a small area , if you are going to run it on the back door then you would be better off by having a bigger length of gas pipe to take the movement more equally , thus not straining one area constantly which will lead to breakdown and perishing of the gas pipe .

Yeah thats right.

I don't mean tight against the hinge. I mean pulled tight from the boiler to a bracket on the door, and then a nice long slack loop of hose between the hinges and then to another bracket tight against the ply..

[cleaniac]

Dont be a Daz , it may well look tidier but beauty goes bang !

Trust me mate, its been mentioned on here before. The inside of my van is FAR from beauty. Lol 

[P @ F]

 
Yeah , if i was going off a hinge that travelled 90 degree I would be looking at 18 inch of hose on a slack loop . 

[dazmond]

if you have your heater mounted on the back door marc the flame will go out on windy days.....very annoying....mine used to be mounted just inside the back door and it would still go out sometimes turning the hose to wire....

also i always seemed to run out of gas just when i was half way through a filthy add on job!!

there should be a little drain screw on the bottom of the heater......i used to unscrew it right out and refit in the morning on below freezing nights.......

[dazmond]

We used them on about 50degrees to get better cleaning results in the summer. 30 to 40 in winter. Make sure you use plenty of water flow.

Daz is right about the freezing. if it freezes with water in it over night it will be dead. I have to say in years of having them in all my vans we never had a scare or problem. We have got rid of them all now and use virosol on the really dirty stuff which my guys recon is better than hot water and the cost was getting very high to run them. Good for a single operator. Remember the 20 min timer which can be a pain.

I do like the diesel units but I dont like the 40-50k I would have to spend to fit out our vans and lets face it diesel isnt getting any cheaper. My lads would use them all day long and my diesel bill is already £3500 a month. plus more to go wrong. Again if I were on my own I would defo have one.

what do you do for frost protection on freezing cold nights lee?oil filled radiators,fan heaters?

[mufcglen]

ive been using thr cheap chinese heaters 5-6 years now and only problem i had was freezing and bursting pipes inside due to my incompetence not draining it night before.
one i will say and could be a reason people have issues with them is when you mount them in the van make sure theyre mounted up straight as ive seen some bolted to the van wall thats curved so the heater is not totally straight upwards and i imagine the flame is then shooting off and not straight up.
other than that theyre really simple cheap piece of kit that does the job, i kept mine running through the summer this year as for £30 for a 19kg bottle of gas every 3-4 weeks is peanuts for the comfort and deeper clean it gives over cold water.