[reflection]

As the title says I’m thinking of going back to the water fed pole system.
I used to use it years ago but for a lot of different reasons I got rid of it and just went traditional again.
But I think the time has come to get back into it I think the poles, systems etc seem to have came on a lot and a maybe are a lot more robust than they used to be.
I used to have a 1000lt tank and some days used 1200lts between two of us.

There’s so many different makes of systems and poles and controllers etc my head is being melted trying to look through everything and think what I need/want to get.

I’m looking a bit of advice or opinions on what to do?
If you were starting fresh and know everything you know now what makes would you go for, for your system, poles, connections, reels etc

What way would you set up your van or things you would do to your van that you didn’t know when you started that you know now?

Fixed reels or not?

Do you have holes in van floor etc for hose to go through so you can lock doors?

I’d rather just go for good makes first rather than end up replacing them after a while anyway.

I look forward to any advice and also maybe being shot down because there’s links to all this stuff somewhere that I’ve missed

[Stoots]

I would go the d.i.y route

Tanks size dependant on what you need to carry.  Probably best to cage it and get it bolted in but opinions vary!

If you are solo then I would go with extreme poles if you have a worker get him an slx.

Reels I would get the pure freedom reel master electric, I've not used one but they look the nuts. I made a d.i.y electric one which works fine but if you want off the shelf. Avoid the waterworks one I've used one and they tend to overspin and prone to hose jumping over the side.

If using two man then the pure freedom double stack is a great reel. I've worked with two reels alongside each other but having them stacked created so much more van space.

Pumps shurflo

Controllers - spring analogue are probably the simplest option. Or the digital whichever you prefer. There's loads of companies who sell controllers with their logos on but essentially they are all made by spring. Just get the cheapest.

For battery's numax are good, look at the cycles rating. Generally the more you pay the better with batteries.

Charger then the ctek are supposed to be great.

Backpacks any really they are all similar Chinese components inside.

Trolleys, make one or stick a back pack on a pair of wheels.

With the reels, I've had bolted in, lifted them out and had rollers through the floor.

Each has pros and cons. I prefer bolted in and work with back doors open.

[Spruce]

As the title says I’m thinking of going back to the water fed pole system.
I used to use it years ago but for a lot of different reasons I got rid of it and just went traditional again.
But I think the time has come to get back into it I think the poles, systems etc seem to have came on a lot and a maybe are a lot more robust than they used to be.
I used to have a 1000lt tank and some days used 1200lts between two of us.

There’s so many different makes of systems and poles and controllers etc my head is being melted trying to look through everything and think what I need/want to get.

I’m looking a bit of advice or opinions on what to do?
If you were starting fresh and know everything you know now what makes would you go for, for your system, poles, connections, reels etc

What way would you set up your van or things you would do to your van that you didn’t know when you started that you know now?

Fixed reels or not?

Do you have holes in van floor etc for hose to go through so you can lock doors?

I’d rather just go for good makes first rather than end up replacing them after a while anyway.

I look forward to any advice and also maybe being shot down because there’s links to all this stuff somewhere that I’ve missed

We had it hard to begin with as most did.
Unger aluminum Teleplus poles, Vikan 'brick' brushes with 3mm jets, no controllers and 2 x 1/2" garden hose on Hozelok hose reels joined together for extra length when needed.  450 liter tanks on the trailer and 100 liters in the van. A small r/o that just managed to replenish that by morning. But never once did I contemplate going back to trad.

No offense but I seem to get the feeling from your post that you aren't total convinced that going back to wfp is the way you want to go. If you gave it up and went back to trad I would suggest you dig a bit deeper into your inner soul and decide that you are 100% for this or not.  If you go the wfp route and you are not convinced your decision was right you are going to have conflict with yourself and each day is going to be a grind.

Using 1000 to 1200 litres of water a day requires a big van. You could get away with a 1000 liter tank in a 3500kg category van with a good payload placed right and loaded sparingly, but not 1200 liters.

I think most twin operatorse get by with 800 liters so again you would be better off with a MWB 3300 to 3500kg van.

Even on a heavy commercial day the 2 of us manage with a 650 liter tank. It might mean popping home for lunch and topping up but at most we use around 800 liters on one job a day for 3 days. Its a mile from the house and is a once a year school clean.
Being able to regulate the flow of water is a big water saver as is having a Univalve so you can stop the water whilst moving onto the next window. (Its nice to rinse the glass with a good water flow but we can waste water when washing and scrubbing the glass as we don't need such a high flow in this cleaning phase.)

If there are 2 of you then you need an IBC storage tank with a 4040 r/o on a float switch.

Personally, having a Purefreedom 650 or 800 liter system fitted by them isn't going to cost you much more than doing it yourself. It pretty basic so it won't have too much to go wrong.

[harleyman]

It's a bit like starting over again what  I would do is get a system that is not over complicated and easy to maintain I e a pure freedom system very easy to maintain. Do a list of gear  see what you need
For budget .Practise on your  pals houses till you get back in to the swing of it again good luck

[dazmond]

As the title says I’m thinking of going back to the water fed pole system.
I used to use it years ago but for a lot of different reasons I got rid of it and just went traditional again.
But I think the time has come to get back into it I think the poles, systems etc seem to have came on a lot and a maybe are a lot more robust than they used to be.
I used to have a 1000lt tank and some days used 1200lts between two of us.

There’s so many different makes of systems and poles and controllers etc my head is being melted trying to look through everything and think what I need/want to get.

I’m looking a bit of advice or opinions on what to do?
If you were starting fresh and know everything you know now what makes would you go for, for your system, poles, connections, reels etc

What way would you set up your van or things you would do to your van that you didn’t know when you started that you know now?

Fixed reels or not?

Do you have holes in van floor etc for hose to go through so you can lock doors?

I’d rather just go for good makes first rather than end up replacing them after a while anyway.

I look forward to any advice and also maybe being shot down because there’s links to all this stuff somewhere that I’ve missed

ive been wfp for nearly 10 years now and ive got the perfect system for my needs now(sole trader),everyones different though.......

ford connect L2 240 limited van(936kg payload)
500L wydale tank with PF crash tested frame bolted through the eyelets with angle iron(fitted lengthways)
grippatank 9kw hydroheat diesel heater with frost stat and smart split charge relay/numax commercial charger
fixed Pure Freedom REELMASTER electric reel with 100m PF red braided microbore
Xtreme 25ft/47ft poles with PU pole hose and univalve/gardiner gooseneck valve
various brushes(ultimate/xtreme) and carbon goosenecks

[dazmond]

Love my set up now.....👍

[reflection]

The thing is I wasn’t completely convinced by the system back then but I am now.
Poles etc were not very good back then I was constantly repairing and replacing them and connections etc.
Iv a few different poles now I use for fascia cleans etc and they are far far better than they used to be.
So I would imagine I would invest in better poles again for the wfp and they would be even better.
I had a large transit and two of us used 1000lt every single day I had barrels at home I had filled up with pure water so when needed I could nip home and top up or bring with me if I was outta town.

I was thinking I don’t see to many 1000lt tanks so maybe improvements they have made over the years have made an 800lt tank enough for two men.

I have 6 men working for me traditional my plan is to get one van set up for two men with the poles that will hopefully cover maybe 3 1/2 to 4 men’s work then keep the other small van traditional

The plan is with doing more work I can pay them more and in turn they should be more reliable and work better.
Then I can concentrate on getting bigger and get another van.
At the minute I turn a lot of work away because decent workers are so hard to come by so by paying more hopefully I can find better

[Slacky]

I wouldn’t ask on here. You’ll get 95 different opinions and combinations. It’ll be like treacle.

[reflection]

I did worry about that but I just thought maybe a certain make or brand might keep popping up for me to look more into.

I hate that a lot of sites don’t give you prices you have to ring I want to get everything priced up first

[nathankaye]

Ive not looked at all the above responses but...
What are the reasons you binned off wfp and went back to wfp??
Your answer to the above might give better answers and help you need. For instance, why recommend a full van mount etc as you might sack off the idea yet again and its a waste on investment

[capn sparkle]

As the title says I’m thinking of going back to the water fed pole system.
I used to use it years ago but for a lot of different reasons I got rid of it and just went traditional again.
But I think the time has come to get back into it I think the poles, systems etc seem to have came on a lot and a maybe are a lot more robust than they used to be.
I used to have a 1000lt tank and some days used 1200lts between two of us.

There’s so many different makes of systems and poles and controllers etc my head is being melted trying to look through everything and think what I need/want to get.

I’m looking a bit of advice or opinions on what to do?
If you were starting fresh and know everything you know now what makes would you go for, for your system, poles, connections, reels etc

What way would you set up your van or things you would do to your van that you didn’t know when you started that you know now?

Fixed reels or not?

Do you have holes in van floor etc for hose to go through so you can lock doors?

I’d rather just go for good makes first rather than end up replacing them after a while anyway.

I look forward to any advice and also maybe being shot down because there’s links to all this stuff somewhere that I’ve missed

We had it hard to begin with as most did.
Unger aluminum Teleplus poles, Vikan 'brick' brushes with 3mm jets, no controllers and 2 x 1/2" garden hose on Hozelok hose reels joined together for extra length when needed.  450 liter tanks on the trailer and 100 liters in the van. A small r/o that just managed to replenish that by morning. But never once did I contemplate going back to trad.

No offense but I seem to get the feeling from your post that you aren't total convinced that going back to wfp is the way you want to go. If you gave it up and went back to trad I would suggest you dig a bit deeper into your inner soul and decide that you are 100% for this or not.  If you go the wfp route and you are not convinced your decision was right you are going to have conflict with yourself and each day is going to be a grind.

Using 1000 to 1200 litres of water a day requires a big van. You could get away with a 1000 liter tank in a 3500kg category van with a good payload placed right and loaded sparingly, but not 1200 liters.

I think most twin operatorse get by with 800 liters so again you would be better off with a MWB 3300 to 3500kg van.

Even on a heavy commercial day the 2 of us manage with a 650 liter tank. It might mean popping home for lunch and topping up but at most we use around 800 liters on one job a day for 3 days. Its a mile from the house and is a once a year school clean.
Being able to regulate the flow of water is a big water saver as is having a Univalve so you can stop the water whilst moving onto the next window. (Its nice to rinse the glass with a good water flow but we can waste water when washing and scrubbing the glass as we don't need such a high flow in this cleaning phase.)

If there are 2 of you then you need an IBC storage tank with a 4040 r/o on a float switch.

Personally, having a Purefreedom 650 or 800 liter system fitted by them isn't going to cost you much more than doing it yourself. It pretty basic so it won't have too much to go wrong.

Agree - Pure Freedom systems are simple to maintain and IMHO bulletproof. My 800ltr two man system is still going strong after 6yrs. One of the pumps looks like it's giving up now but after 6yrs I'll take that.

[capn sparkle]

Oh and Gardiner SLX's for staff

[reflection]

How much you talking do you think for the two man set up for pure freedom?

And do you have your poles set up as tubeless?

Would you have a couple of different size poles in your van and different brush heads for certain things?

I was expecting to see some recommendations for the Grippa tanks and Gardiner poles.

[NWH]

Get a Hot 1

[capn sparkle]

How much you talking do you think for the two man set up for pure freedom?

And do you have your poles set up as tubeless?

Would you have a couple of different size poles in your van and different brush heads for certain things?

I was expecting to see some recommendations for the Grippa tanks and Gardiner poles.

System was about £3,250 from memory (6yrs ago) but obviously a pure delivery only set up would be cheaper i'd imagine. When I bought it I didn't have anywhere to produce pure water with a static system.

Poles - 18ft SLX for 95% then a 30ft SLX for the rest. Univalve in the 18ft is a must, but use a Gardiners tap for the 30. I use a universal sill brush for all my domestics but I'm sure others will give you more accurate info.

[Dry Clean]

Things to avoid.
Any brush heavier than an extreme as not needed.
Unless you work on the coast or in other extreme conditions hot water.
Snake oils and similar nonsense.
Brodex poles infect most poles that don't have a Gardiner sticker on them.
PPB water producing systems.
Any advice you get from NWH.
Dragonfly indoor kits and similar.
All WFP equipment made and sold by Unger.

[NWH]

If you have any doubt about this way of cleaning windows get a hot system,they are not idiot proof but they do a more thorough job and make the job easier.

[reflection]

I do believe hot must be better than cold I mean you wouldn’t wash your dishes with cold water.
You can but it’s just not as good or quick.

So what hot water system would you recommend are they really worth the thousands that I’ve seen just to have hot water

I wouldn’t imagine doing a hot water diy is a straight forward job

[NWH]

You can spend 4-5k you can spend a 1000 I would just use hot water,you can’t judge how good a job it will do with cold water lots of people when WFP first came out went in about spotting and an overall average job,hot does a better job not always perfect but as good as you’ll get using this method to clean windows.

[Dry Clean]

I do believe hot must be better than cold I mean you wouldn’t wash your dishes with cold water.
You can but it’s just not as good or quick.

So what hot water system would you recommend are they really worth the thousands that I’ve seen just to have hot water

I wouldn’t imagine doing a hot water diy is a straight forward job

I wouldn't wash my dishes with either warm or cold water on its own simply because water and grease/oil don't tend to mix so I would also need a detergent to get the job done, that said I wouldn't use detergent or other chemicals on a repeat window clean,  its not about what's better its about what's needed, set yourself up with a cold water system and if you find that you are getting problems with the clean then look for a solution, like I have said before there will be people who work on the coast and so on who will have better knowledge of hard to remove crud than I do so I wouldn't rule hot out for everybody.