[stuart@skypole]

AND I SAY

YES YES YES

 

whats the merlin producing now then?

[M4RK]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I think what I was trying to ask is more along the lines of:

In your experience, what are the most important factors to consider before buying a system?

eg. pole weight?  capacity of the water tank? access? water usage etc. etc.
Does hot water make any difference? How much water do you go through in a solid day's work? 
Maybe these are individual topics in their own right..
Maybe I'm just lazy and should plough through all the archives, I'm sure its covered ground. 

Cheers
Mark

[neil100]

My van system was installed by facelift, It looks impresive and I get a lot of new work by leaving the van doors open, If someone looks at my system they become a customer. I have picked up £1,350.00 of new work since I went wfp all domestic.

I hit the brakes hard last week doing 55mph and my 800ltr tank was full to the brim. No problem. the tank was fitted by an enginer and designed by an enginer and it gives me total confidence.

Below are two photos one is my van and the other is my mates diy system. I am not knocking his but I prefer mine for many reasons even though it cost more.

[Alistair@AWC]

Hi Mark,

Ive just finished building my own DIY system and I decided to build a system that I can grow into so I bought a Merlin RO set up at home feeding into a 1000L IBC which currently could produce around 2000L per 24 hours (more if I fitted a booster pump) although at the moment I need no more than 600L per day and thats with a lot of intial cleans so I'll see that drop below 400L when Im onto maintenance cleans, if you could tell me more about what your trying to achieve I might be of more help!

Although if I was building a system now:-

Id make sure the first IBC tank I bought had an 8" top opening rather than 5.5" because you cant get a sub pump into the 5.5" without cutting it open.

I bought an 18' pole from Gardiners (3 x 6' sections) because my work is generally 2 storey domestic but now I'd buy a 20' pole (but 5 x 4' sections) because that 18' pole is a pain on ground floor work and the extra 2' would be helpful for windows over large conservatories.

Although I have done this, I would recommend buying 100m hose instead of 60m - although ive got 40m of hose on the reel that will probably never get used I like to know its there.

If you are producing water at home and then transfering it to your van buy the largest delivery hose you can because I insisted on using 1/2" hose and it takes almost 1 hour to fill a 400L tank.

I wouldn't worry about DIY vs Bought because the pictures of the DIY above are shambolic and to be truthful my DIY system looks neater than the facelift system, its just down to time, a little skill and how much you care

Regards

Alistair

[paul mather]

Neil

I think your 2 pictures are  very misleading. I have a DIY set up & mine doesn't look anything like the 1st picture.

Infact my set up looks just as neat as your's but probably cost half the price.

You say you have picked up loads of work, fair play to you, but do you think they are now your customers cos you have a posh van interior or because you are good at what you do?

[matt]

the neatness of the van comes down to the user

as some know, im a carpenter, and any1 i have worked with or for would tell you a top notch carpenter at that

i used to do some work for the council in the early 90's (the recession)

the council had a fair few carpenters, some who were "council trained", some who had just joined them for the "recession times" i was the latter

you could allways tell a council trained guy, his van would be neatly racked out, EVERYTHING had a place, i would sometimes team up with this guy called "sol" he was a nice enough guy, but had issues with tidyness, everything in his van had a home, fair enough i guess

BUT sol was a crap chippy, but if you looked in his van you would say "oh very professional, must do a great job", you would soon find different

where as my van would be a right mess, but i did a good job

so just because a van is tidy and clean, doesnt mean you do a better job

[steve m]

at the end of the day it doesnt matter if you buy from a supplier or go down the self-build route. MAKE SURE YOU BUY WHAT YOU WANT AND NOT WHAT THEY WANT TO SELL YOU

[matt]

at the end of the day it doesnt matter if you buy from a supplier or go down the self-build route. MAKE SURE YOU BUY WHAT YOU WANT AND NOT WHAT THEY WANT TO SELL YOU

very good point

something that not every1 seems to follow

[Paul Coleman]

the neatness of the van comes down to the user

as some know, im a carpenter, and any1 i have worked with or for would tell you a top notch carpenter at that

i used to do some work for the council in the early 90's (the recession)

the council had a fair few carpenters, some who were "council trained", some who had just joined them for the "recession times" i was the latter

you could allways tell a council trained guy, his van would be neatly racked out, EVERYTHING had a place, i would sometimes team up with this guy called "sol" he was a nice enough guy, but had issues with tidyness, everything in his van had a home, fair enough i guess

BUT sol was a crap chippy, but if you looked in his van you would say "oh very professional, must do a great job", you would soon find different

where as my van would be a right mess, but i did a good job

so just because a van is tidy and clean, doesnt mean you do a better job

I'm so relieved to hear that.  You should see the mess in my van right now.  I had some engine oil in there and the top came off.