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Electric reels recommendations

MikeM

New member
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13
Location
Barnet
I am in the process of kitting out my new van, Anyway I am going to get a couple of electric reels, my brother who also is in the business has a GrippaTank electric reel and swears by it,  he had problems with it to start with, over a year ago when Oliver has just brought it out, now the new and improved version is much better, my brother was upgraded fee of charge and he can not fault GrippaTank, but it comes with a price tag of £900+

I know Mr Green pro swears by the water works HD but then it is in his interest to, which by the way I am not knocking, fair play to you? and respect to you sir ?

so for any independent window cleaners out there that have had a new electric reel within the last year who have nothing to gain by recommending a product, I would love to hear your opinions, recommendations, pro’s and cons of your new electric reels please?

your time is very much appreciated and I thank you for it  as I am looking to buy 3 so do not want to come unstuck and I want to be able to make the best, informed decision  from all the information I have. 

Big thanks

Michael 

 
I am in the process of kitting out my new van, Anyway I am going to get a couple of electric reels, my brother who also is in the business has a GrippaTank electric reel and swears by it,  he had problems with it to start with, over a year ago when Oliver has just brought it out, now the new and improved version is much better, my brother was upgraded fee of charge and he can not fault GrippaTank, but it comes with a price tag of £900+

I know Mr Green pro swears by the water works HD but then it is in his interest to, which by the way I am not knocking, fair play to you? and respect to you sir ?

so for any independent window cleaners out there that have had a new electric reel within the last year who have nothing to gain by recommending a product, I would love to hear your opinions, recommendations, pro’s and cons of your new electric reels please?

your time is very much appreciated and I thank you for it  as I am looking to buy 3 so do not want to come unstuck and I want to be able to make the best, informed decision  from all the information I have. 

Big thanks

Michael 


A few have bought the Pure Freedom electric reel and have been happy with it.

I have noted that some of the swivel joints connecting the hose to the reel don't run true. I ask myself if its poor machining of the swivel or is it a bent center shaft. None of the users seem to worry though.

With the PF one you need an upgraded unit for hot water use, so this needs to be considered in with the purchase.

 
Thank you Spruce, that is very handy info, much appreciated... 

I intend to stay cold! not ever bothered with hot!. 

 
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pure freedom reelmaster.........varied speed control,soft start,digital battery display,snag protection......its wider than the waterworks reels and has a bar across the front of the reel to stop hose coming off the sides,very sturdy bit of kit and its super fast to wind in on full setting(99)

 
Thanks Dazmond, how long have you had yours for, any problems with anything so far? Have you had other electric reels brands in the past mate? and if so how does it compare?. Any cons to it? Thank you for taking the time to answer me mate, it is very much appreciated. 

 
dazmond did you go for the complete stainless steel option with the extension guide bar? With all those extras it comes in at nearly £1100. 

 
Power up HD have had mine three years and bought another last month for my son, never had a problem works perfect, super fast uses less battery power than the others, and just like any hose electric or manual they do snag and stop the same as any other reel, so must have snag protection lol.  Also quite narrow so takes up LESS SPACE 100m of 6mm and a further 25m of pole hose as I'm tubeless. Would recommend ?

 
I’ve currently got 3 HD reels. Had one in my previous van too which was still 100% after 3 years. I like the simplicity of them and - like others have said - they are narrow so take up a small footprint. The only issues I’ve had with it is basically user error - if the hose isn’t guided on correctly (I.e you aren’t paying attention) it’s a complete PITA to to get the hose back on the reel if it’s trapped on the motor/chain side. I also had an issue with the wiring in the junction box on one of mine, had a similar problem with one in someone else’s van that I worked on - whoever had assembled it hadn’t quite tightened up the terminals in the junction box which led to some confusion when it stopped working randomly. I spray my reels with rust preventative spray which seems to help prolong the life of the bolts/fixtures/fittings/chain. None of the reels have a patch of rust or corrosion to this day - and one reel is permanently outside on a trolley system. I don’t think you can beat a HD reel for value - especially if you can hang on until the Black Friday sales at WCW

 
I’ve currently got 3 HD reels. Had one in my previous van too which was still 100% after 3 years. I like the simplicity of them and - like others have said - they are narrow so take up a small footprint. The only issues I’ve had with it is basically user error - if the hose isn’t guided on correctly (I.e you aren’t paying attention) it’s a complete PITA to to get the hose back on the reel if it’s trapped on the motor/chain side. I also had an issue with the wiring in the junction box on one of mine, had a similar problem with one in someone else’s van that I worked on - whoever had assembled it hadn’t quite tightened up the terminals in the junction box which led to some confusion when it stopped working randomly. I spray my reels with rust preventative spray which seems to help prolong the life of the bolts/fixtures/fittings/chain. None of the reels have a patch of rust or corrosion to this day - and one reel is permanently outside on a trolley system. I don’t think you can beat a HD reel for value - especially if you can hang on until the Black Friday sales at WCW
Last year they didn’t do it on Black Friday. I asked them and they said no.

 
Rwcleaning - I heard the same but managed to buy two with 24% off. Did the same the year before. Brought one directly from Jordan at the window Cleaning show but didn’t get a great deal off the rrp 

 
Someone was saying I think it was on hear that the swivel connection leaked badly we use hot water , and that will find the slightest leak , every reel I have looked at seams to have issues , I have got the red ash 460 hand wind reels now nearly 5 years old never had so much as a drip from them still working faultlessly and only cost £150 each  , I want to go electric but want to make sure that I buy the right reels the top end ones are around 1k each that’s a lot of money to then find you have made a mistake ????

 
Someone was saying I think it was on hear that the swivel connection leaked badly
I use the Proloc reel which is the same thing without the power (I'm not as posh as @RWCleaning) Touch wood I've never had an issue, it's all connected up with Pro 26 (Rectus 26 connections) both sides of the reel. I think the guy who was having an issue actually uploaded a video and it was a fault with a massive leak opposed to an ongoing small leak.

 
dazmond did you go for the complete stainless steel option with the extension guide bar? With all those extras it comes in at nearly £1100. 
mine cost me £600 (including the metal discs fitted for hot water use),its powder coated not stainless steel......had it for 8 months now.....

 
Thanks Dazmond, how long have you had yours for, any problems with anything so far? Have you had other electric reels brands in the past mate? and if so how does it compare?. Any cons to it? Thank you for taking the time to answer me mate, it is very much appreciated. 
i had a nightmare with the pf reel when i first got it...chain kept coming off,in the end i drove to them and they changed all the bearing etc and its worked like dream since.......

i know 2 WCs with the waterworks reels,never had one myself,they seem like decent reels too but too narrow for me.......

 
Thanks a million guys, all this info is certainly helping me, I’m swaying towards the waterworks reels at the moment, I actually like the slim line look of them, not to mention the space saving aspect of things, the fact that several of you guys have had them for a number of years with no problems certainly gets my pulse racing!, also seems like a fair price at around the £470.00 mark all inclusive. 

There must be more of you guys on here that have electric reels? Again I would love to hear your opinions, views? Big thanks, MM

 
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i know 2 WCs with the waterworks reels,never had one myself,they seem like decent reels too but too narrow for me.......
Do they hold extra hose ? As I have only seen a couple of the PF reels, just out of curiosity why are the hd power up to narrow for you? 

 
11 hours ago, Green Pro Clean Ltd said:




Mr Green pro! If for instance the electric reels break for one reason or another is it possible to reel your hose in manually, and if so is it just as easy to do as a Manual reel,  the reason I ask is because my brother has the GrippaTank electric reel and when that broke down it is very hard and frustrating to reel back in, and in no ways as easy as a manual to reel back in. 

What I don’t want is to have to take days off work because I can’t work in case my  reel breaks, I want to be able to carry on working in the event of a breakdown, hence why I would like an electric reel that can work just as well as a manual if ever that should happen, hopefully it never would but I like to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

thank you for you time ??

 
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