Water Fed Poles

joshuabcrutcher

joshuabcrutcher

Member
Have a couple hotels coming up, and Thad convinced me to offer window washing. I think it was a big difference in whether we got the jobs.

A couple questions. I was considering getting a water fed pole. We have soft water available. How does it work? Do I just need a dedicated pump?
 
I could be wrong but for the best results I think you would need a D.I. system, not soft water because the soft water can still leave spots where D.I. will not.
 
Your first purchase should be a TDS meter. I got mine from WCR.
Check the TDS at a few different places in your area and then get back to me. Those numbers will determine whether you need an RO/DI system or if you can get by with DI tanks.
 
joshuabcrutcher said:
Now we are getting it from a system that runs water through a "beaded" vessel. It pulls the minerals out of the water. Then the vessel is flushed with salt water. What kind of system is that?
Click to expand...

That is a water softener.

The salt flush removes the Calcium and Magnesium ions and replaces them with Sodium ions because the attraction of Sodium ions is stronger to the resin than the Calcium and Magnesium.

When the system is flushed of the salt water then the Calcium and Magnesium ions replace the Sodium ions as water is passed through them.
Once the resin is full of Calcium and Magnesium ions then the cycle is repeated, they call it regeneration. It is automatic in most water softeners but you can usually manually bypass it if needed.
 
Chris Francis said:
Can I ask stupid question what is tds meter and were do you find one. Also how do they work.
Click to expand...

TDS is Total Dissolved Solids.

You can get them at a lot of window cleaning supply places and other industrial supply houses.

It checks the water and gives you a reading of the TDS which will give you an idea of how many gallons of DI water you might get out of the DI tank before it is spent. You usually take TDS readings every so often to see if the TDS changes.
 
joshuabcrutcher said:
Is soft water not effective for windows? I was getting excited!
Click to expand...

I could be wrong but I think that it just softens the water, not takes out the stuff that leaves the water spots like the DI systems do.

DI takes out all the minerals and junk that leaves spots, that is your best bet for clean and spot free windows with the water fed pole.
 
a tucker pole is the best bang for your buck for a water fed pole.
We have a $2300 carbon fiber pole and a $580 tucker pole.
Both can reach 45' high.
The tucker is heavier but most poles are rarely used at full height.

The tucker is inexpensive to replace parts, cheap to change brushes, you can beat it up and it is like the energizer bunny.

Basically it rocks and I wish I never bought that fancy carbon fiber pole cause it sits in the van and we use the tucker pole more often.

It's great for awnings too and other speciality sign cleaning jobs and stuff.

Today we used it to scrub down all the scoreboards at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

Check out my Youtube page for some demonstrations of our recent jobs with the tucker pole.
youtube.com/kcpowerclean
http://www.youtube.com/kcpowerclean#p/u/3/t2i422KfEiU

We just use a DI tank and rent it from a local water company. Our tds is average of 450 around town and that level we get about 500 gallons of spot-free water. They charge 50 to regenerate the tank so that's about $.10 per gallon.
 
Kris I'm really interested in the DI and the water fed poles. In a strip mall type property, if you sprayed all the windows clean with the pressure washer, would that put you ahead with the DI as far as not having to use much or only rinsing or something else?
 
joshuabcrutcher said:
Is soft water not effective for windows? I was getting excited!
Click to expand...

No, you need pure water. Deionized is a strong cleaning agent. If you have high TDS in your area you need to run your water through RO (Reverse Osmosis) to get the TDS way down before you run it through your DI.

joshuabcrutcher said:
What is high/low on the TDS meter? Where do I need to be for quality windows?
Click to expand...

You need to be under 10 TDS. Some guys go as high as 14 before they change out, you just need to experiment with the water in your area.

Get one of these:
<a href="http://shopwindowcleaningresource.com/hm-digital-tds-meter-3.html?a_aid=chris&a_bid=4f71dafd" target="_top"><img src="http://www.shopwindowcleaningresource.com/affiliate/accounts/default1/banners/hm digital tds meter3.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><img style="border:0" src="http://www.shopwindowcleaningresource.com/affiliate/scripts/imp.php?a_aid=chris&a_bid=4f71dafd" width="1" height="1" alt="" />

joshuabcrutcher said:
and... are Tucker WFPs any good?
Click to expand...

Tucker's are excellent, just a little outdated. They are made out of aluminum so they're pretty heavy and they scratch easily. The biggest pain in the rear is the Tucker clamp system. You have to have a Tucker Tool to adjust the height and it gets old fast. I really REALLY prefer poles with flip-lock clamps.

This is a great pole that kicks a Tucker pole's rear as far as weight and ease of use:

<a href="http://shopwindowcleaningresource.com/xtel-fiberglass-pole-28.html?a_aid=chris&a_bid=80dbc06c" target="_top"><img src="http://www.shopwindowcleaningresource.com/affiliate/accounts/default1/banners/xtel wfp-6.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><img style="border:0" src="http://www.shopwindowcleaningresource.com/affiliate/scripts/imp.php?a_aid=chris&a_bid=80dbc06c" width="1" height="1" alt="" />

I love mine.

I'm going to get one of these this year:

<a href="http://shopwindowcleaningresource.com/gardiner-super-lite-56-pole-assembly.html?a_aid=chris&a_bid=2f0921ec" target="_top"><img src="http://www.shopwindowcleaningresource.com/affiliate/accounts/default1/banners/gardiner-super-lite.jpg" alt="" title="" width="220" height="220" /></a><img style="border:0" src="http://www.shopwindowcleaningresource.com/affiliate/scripts/imp.php?a_aid=chris&a_bid=2f0921ec" width="1" height="1" alt="" />

The Gardiner is a sectional pole, so you could use it for everything from ground floor to 5 stories. The Extel poles are sturdier, in my opinion. I don't mind letting my guys drag them around.

You don't have to go carbon fiber if you don't need to reach 50 or 60 feet.

I get ALL of my stuff from WCR.
<a href="http://www.shopwindowcleaningresource.com/?a_aid=chris&a_bid=c1f3f617" target="_top"><img src="http://www.shopwindowcleaningresource.com/affiliate/accounts/default1/banners/wc-needs3.jpg" alt="" title="" width="196" height="86" /></a><img style="border:0" src="http://www.shopwindowcleaningresource.com/affiliate/scripts/imp.php?a_aid=chris&a_bid=c1f3f617" width="1" height="1" alt="" />
 
I don't have any problems just using DI water. I am not using it totally for building windows, though we do use it for vehicle windows. I do not have any problem at all with it.
 
We have a cart with 5 filters on it for our water fed poles. It works great. We got it from Reach Higher Ground. Window Cleaning Resources have some also. The Tucker carbon pole is good for tall 3 story and 4 story and up. We werw breaking the first sectionand found out whan we are cleaning lower heights we are further away from thw building and putting more pressure on the pole. We had to get another stronger pole for 2nd and 3rd story.
 
Does anyone use the poles for ground floor retail windows? As an add on to powerwashing?
 
Thad maybe you could tell me something about it, I'm just a flatworker and I'm not interested in doing windows only or any other windows. I'm thinking that I could spray all the windows first with the powerwasher and then it would only need a little DI?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top