F.A.O. Adam Davies - Where are they?

[spruce]

I've just placed an order on Exceed website £29.99 + delivery.

 

[kevinc250]

am i missing out on something?,it still doesn't appeal to me this uni valve

think i'll wait until the mist settles down and the comments come in after six or so months to make a decision.

sounds harsh i know but after ten years of buying willy nilly the newest bestest thing on the market you learn to wait a while and see if it is something you really really need for your business

 

[adam davies]

That's correct it is cheaper direct as you can imagine were not happy with that we have to charge VAT if we sold it at the same price we would be making a loss, when we set the uni valve up we used it with standard Yellow 5mm PVC hose ,no problems whatsoever

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Will you continue to stock a product the manufacturer sells cheaper than you?

 

[spruce]

am i missing out on something?,it still doesn't appeal to me this uni valvethink i'll wait until the mist settles down and the comments come in after six or so months to make a decision.

sounds harsh i know but after ten years of buying willy nilly the newest bestest thing on the market you learn to wait a while and see if it is something you really really need for your business

You are right. There are lots of things that have been hyped as the next best thing since sliced bread and I have ignored most of them. I liked the concept of Peter Fogwill's Aqua Brush but I just couldn't relate to its use in practice.

When I first saw the Aquadapter I immediately recognised this as the answer to my flow control issues. I ordered 2 straight away. To me it was the best 'impulse' buy I have made with regard to WFP and I believe the Aquadapter to be the best accessory ever for the WFP industry. The major downside was the weight, but we were conditioned to weight as we used Vikan oval brushes. Others tried the Aquatap, preferring it as it was lighter. They also noted it was easier to operate, but many bought them and couldn't get on with them. They also had maintenance issues with them which were more than replacing a broken spring on the Aquadapter.

The Uni-valve answers the weight issue, so I see this as another winner. Steve has already designed the 360 degree connector Protector which I have been extremely happy with. I honestly believe he is a one in a million designer. Unfortunately, he doesn't always provide a prompt after sales service which is also a part of a business's reputation. Saying that, I have never had an issue with delivery or the supply of any parts I've needed for my Aquadapters.

Personally, I'm happy to 'impulse' buy a Uni-valve. I have a good mechanical feeling for it. If it isn't a success and doesn't work for me then I haven't spent an absolute fortune on buying a useless gadget.

In 6 months time people will have a variety of pros and cons, all different opinions, so you will still be none the wiser. I believe @adam davies alluded to this earlier in the thread.

There aren't many skeptics out there with regard to this valve. There is going to be a lot of us who are either very happy or very unhappy with the valve. If we are all happy, then you lost out; if we are all unhappy with the valve, then you scored by not buying it. /emoticons/biggrin.png

 

[adam davies]

In my eyes it's a great product (so far, I can't see much going wrong but we've all seen failed products go out there) we want to be able to offer every product in one place and it's not always possible to be the cheapest although we always try our best, at the minute there's nothing close to the uni valve so he has the market in his hands.

 

[kevinc250]

i'd love to quote your post spruce but i'td fill the page up,i use a one shot and find for my work is perfect-i'm not at all against the uni valve i just don't think it would work for me as i'm now used to the one shot,now peters brush,imagine the bar and place two jets and two fans in the stock and utilise the bar imagine what that would do!:thumbsup:,something on my list to play with when i get a moment although i think its only us old guys who remember that brush

 

[spruce]

i'd love to quote your post spruce but i'td fill the page up,i use a one shot and find for my work is perfect-i'm not at all against the uni valve i just don't think it would work for me as i'm now used to the one shot,now peters brush,imagine the bar and place two jets and two fans in the stock and utilise the bar imagine what that would do!:thumbsup:,something on my list to play with when i get a moment although i think its only us old guys who remember that brush

The 'one shot' isn't for me tbh, but at least it's a professional way to operate your system. You see, I have already prejudged it without ever seeing one in action. I see the same thing happening when I turn the pump off at the controller; the water flow appears to take ages before it finally stops. I also see an issue when I'm out of range behind a building and I can't switch the pump off. But maybe these are 2 perceived issues and are totally unfounded.

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

So anyone getting it through a distributor is paying 20% more?
So @Green Pro Clean Ltd going direct is the cheaper option as The Cleaning Warehouse is adding 20% VAT to the bill.

I know Aquadapter is VAT registered, but it sounds as though Exceed aren't.

Possibly NOT.

I say this as Steve likes to charge £9 for something that dont cost £3 to post.

I know Adam does not profit from postage so all in all it will possibly work out about the same.

 

[doug atkinson]

You are right. There are lots of things that have been hyped as the next best thing since sliced bread and I have ignored most of them. I liked the concept of Peter Fogwill's Aqua Brush but I just couldn't relate to its use in practice.
When I first saw the Aquadapter I immediately recognised this as the answer to my flow control issues. I ordered 2 straight away. To me it was the best 'impulse' buy I have made with regard to WFP and I believe the Aquadapter to be the best accessory ever for the WFP industry. The major downside was the weight, but we were conditioned to weight as we used Vikan oval brushes. Others tried the Aquatap, preferring it as it was lighter. They also noted it was easier to operate, but many bought them and couldn't get on with them. They also had maintenance issues with them which were more than replacing a broken spring on the Aquadapter.

The Uni-valve answers the weight issue, so I see this as another winner. Steve has already designed the 360 degree connector Protector which I have been extremely happy with. I honestly believe he is a one in a million designer. Unfortunately, he doesn't always provide a prompt after sales service which is also a part of a business's reputation. Saying that, I have never had an issue with delivery or the supply of any parts I've needed for my Aquadapters.

Personally, I'm happy to 'impulse' buy a Uni-valve. I have a good mechanical feeling for it. If it isn't a success and doesn't work for me then I haven't spent an absolute fortune on buying a useless gadget.

In 6 months time people will have a variety of pros and cons, all different opinions, so you will still be none the wiser. I believe @adam davies alluded to this earlier in the thread.

There aren't many skeptics out there with regard to this valve. There is going to be a lot of us who are either very happy or very unhappy with the valve. If we are all happy, then you lost out; if we are all unhappy with the valve, then you scored by not buying it. /emoticons/biggrin.png

Spruce as you know I thing outside the box, the what if scenario!

This looks a fantastic idea but the first thing that struck me is it will put a strain on the brush head connectors etc.. over a period of time. How these will cope time will tell.

 

[doug atkinson]

On another note I got informed of a design that switches off the flow electronically on the brush. I hope to go and see this design hopefully next week.

 

[SPCleaning]

I will watch the reviews from those of you buying with interest. In my experience every super new gizmo for controlling water flow that I have bought have been a let down and I have returned to my trusted 'tap on a belt'

I'm not against new products and ideas but for me simple is often best.

 

[spruce]

Spruce as you know I thing outside the box, the what if scenario!
This looks a fantastic idea but the first thing that struck me is it will put a strain on the brush head connectors etc.. over a period of time. How these will cope time will tell.

In my head Doug I see that as an issue as well.

I haven't seen this Uni-valve in the 'flesh' yet, but I would suggest that a solution is to fit an O clamp/ring on the hose just as the hose exits the angle adapter. So this will keep the valve in place and stop the strain on the brush connectors. But another issue then arises of how to remove the pole hose should you want to (maintenance of pole sections, ie lacquering) , so the pole hose will have to be cut just before the Uni-valve and a equal JG connector fitted, exactly as Gardiners do. This is so the angle adapter and Uni-valve can be removed at a future time.

I also see another issue that would bug me. If the Uni-valve is a smaller diamt that the first pole section it sits in, then this valve is going to 'rattle' around inside the pole as I'm cleaning.

I said on a post somewhere that no one has yet come up with a perfect solution. This valve will address a major issue with the Aquadapter, that being weight, but it will loose some of the advantages the A/D has, eg., the tap wheel so I can manually restrict the flow at the brush head for short periods of time. (We cleaned a pub this morning with old sash windows and flaking paint. I turn the flow to a trickle on a couple of the windows as I go due to leaks. As I was doing it I thought of what I would miss. So maybe I need to leave an A/D on one pole and put a Uni-Vlave on another.)

Then there was a very carefully worded comment from Alex regarding a valve that could be in the Gardiner program in a few months time. Intriguing. But then you may or may not know more than any of us.

 

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

I can't see it putting strain on the brush tube connectors, there is either a clip that comes with it that stops this or you would just have to secure a plastic cable tie to the hose at the point that it goes into the goosneck/angle adaptor. This is what I do with a swivel, it allows some "free play" for the swivel at the top so it's not pulling on the whole hose.

 

[spruce]

On another note I got informed of a design that switches off the flow electronically on the brush. I hope to go and see this design hopefully next week.

[media]

[/media]
I can see charging this and operating it would be a problem for me. Also I can see a weight disadvantage.

 

[spruce]

I can't see it putting strain on the brush tube connectors, there is either a clip that comes with it that stops this or you would just have to secure a plastic cable tie to the hose at the point that it goes into the goosneck/angle adaptor. This is what I do with a swivel, it allows some "free play" for the swivel at the top so it's not pulling on the whole hose.

Cable tie is a good idea. /emoticons/smile.png Much easier to cut off if you want to remove it.

 

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

Providing this Uni-valve isn't a total dog and there doesn't seem any viable reason to suggest that at this point, I can't really see any negatives- it is after all only £30- a very fair price IMO for a product with such a limited market.

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

I dont think it is a product price dispute Winpro I think it is the fact that he has sold them to distributors that he tells to retail at £29.99 and they have to add the VAT and then he sell direct for £29.99 with no VAT. Bit bloody cheeky if you ask me, automatically make your distribution network pointless as they can't offer the product at the same price.

No biggie for those here that are VAT registered but most that will try this are not.

 

[♠Winp®oClean♠]

As a consumer I don't care about the suppliers issues, neither the manufacturer/distributor, ALL should have known this from the outset. It's a 30 quid product that will most probably last years and as you pointed out- once you consider the shipping charges there's probably nowt in it! I suppose what I'm getting at is that I'm a wee bit perplexed by the caution displayed around this product?

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

I'm a wee bit perplexed by the caution displayed around this product?

I agree but I understand that perhaps (in some peoples eyes) he has not provided the best support product in the past, hence the caution.

Me? I bought one, if I can't break it in a week and it's as useful as I hope it is I will fit one to each of my poles. /emoticons/smile.png

 

[Beccy]

Well, I've just fitted mine and done a DIY tubeless conversion at the same time.

It seems to all work great...

It's really light and doesn't rattle about noticeably inside the pole.

There is no pressure going on the brush fittings at the instructions tell you to put one of the supplied o-rings where the pole hose pops out of the pole to stop that from happening. I've used a cable tie instead, so I can snip it off and put it in a new pole when I can afford one in a couple of months time.

I'm using standard yellow pole hose and the on/off mechanism works well. I haven't tried it at full pole extension yet (that'll be tomorrow) which is when any hose stretch issues will be more noticeable.

Happy so far /emoticons/smile.png