Holding my hands up!

[kalimon]

I don't understand this at all running the hose across estate roads where people are doing under 15mph there shouldn't be an issue,

unless you are running your hose across main roads, this isn't something I'd take a risk with at all as it only takes one idiot to go too fast and for the hose to jump and wrap around a car wheel

I do exactly this several times a day without issue.
It gets driven over at speeds of 30mph and more, probably.
As long as the hose is lay completely flat, it's fine.
Not had it 'jump up' and wrap around a wheel in 12 years.

 

[kalimon]

I've just ordered a role of 6mm from Daqua.
I really hope I'm not going to be disappointed

 

[Pjj]

I've just ordered a role of 6mm from Daqua.
I really hope I'm not going to be disappointed

Trust me you won’t

 

[Iron Giant]

I do exactly this several times a day without issue.
It gets driven over at speeds of 30mph and more, probably.
As long as the hose is lay completely flat, it's fine.
Not had it 'jump up' and wrap around a wheel in 12 years.

That's good going, my thought is if it does happen my hose is attached to £600 reel that would get wrecked and it would be me footing the bill

 

[kalimon]

That's good going, my thought is if it does happen my hose is attached to £600 reel that would get wrecked and it would be me footing the bill

That's a fair point. I use manual reels, but I suppose my outlet manifold could get ripped out of the side of my van.
Hopefully my streak of good luck will continue.

 

[Pjj]

That's good going, my thought is if it does happen my hose is attached to £600 reel that would get wrecked and it would be me footing the bill

I think that the hose would rip and hopefully not damage the reel ??

 

[sleepyfolk]

I can also confirm 6mm daqua is very happy to be run over by tractors and lorries for many years without complaint

 

[Iron Giant]

I think that the hose would rip and hopefully not damage the reel ??

I would hope so, but seeing as you have multiple reels and vans why don't you test the theory and report back

 

[Pjj]

I would hope so, but seeing as you have multiple reels and vans why don't you test the theory and report back

We have had hoses going across roads since 2003. Ime not going to tempt fate but so far never had an issue with traffic driving over it

 

[steve garwood]

That's good going, my thought is if it does happen my hose is attached to £600 reel that would get wrecked and it would be me footing the bill

This is why I keep a trolley system in the back.
My son can do the houses opposite and no constantly moving the van

 

[Iron Giant]

We have had hoses going across roads since 2003. Ime not going to tempt fate but so far never had an issue with traffic driving over it

This is why I keep a trolley system in the back.
My son can do the houses opposite and no constantly moving the van

I don't have an issue with running a hose across estate roads, but any main roads through a town or village I avoid, I have done it in the past not too far from some traffic lights as parking was only practical on one side of the road, I sold these jobs of years ago, I'd rather err on the side of caution

 

[spruce]

I don't have an issue with running a hose across estate roads, but any main roads through a town or village I avoid, I have done it in the past not too far from some traffic lights as parking was only practical on one side of the road, I sold these jobs of years ago, I'd rather err on the side of caution

I think where and when you run your hoses across a road is down to your common sense.

We will run a hose over an estate road, but not a main road. If we are cleaning on dustbin day, for example, I won't run a hose across the road unless they have already been.

We were doing a cul-de-sac once with a rather small turning circle at the end. A Virgin Media van driver caught me off guard. He decided to turn around in the circle, parked on my hose and turned his wheels to full opposite lock, while stationary on my hose. The hose hasn't leaked since, although I consider it a weak spot. The damage marks to the outer sheath have since worn away due to use. This has taught us to be more aware of where and how we do run our hoses, especially if it's across an intersection.

We have cleans on main roads, and we usually do one side of the road and then come back the other way and do the other side. It's no big deal doing this. We do have a single front to do across the main road of a run of houses on the other side. As per @steve garwood the lad usually uses the backpack to do that job. No way will I run a hose across a busy road which is also a bus route.

 

[Part Timer]

Well we ran a hose across a road that went past the old Roker Park, where all sorts of lorries, buses, speeding idiots etc ran over, it was 8mm though. Never had a problem

 

[Iron Giant]

I think where and when you run your hoses across a road is down to your common sense.

We will run a hose over an estate road, but not a main road. If we are cleaning on dustbin day, for example, I won't run a hose across the road unless they have already been.

We were doing a cul-de-sac once with a rather small turning circle at the end. A Virgin Media van driver caught me off guard. He decided to turn around in the circle, parked on my hose and turned his wheels to full opposite lock, while stationary on my hose. The hose hasn't leaked since, although I consider it a weak spot. The damage marks to the outer sheath have since worn away due to use. This has taught us to be more aware of where and how we do run our hoses, especially if it's across an intersection.

We have cleans on main roads, and we usually do one side of the road and then come back the other way and do the other side. It's no big deal doing this. We do have a single front to do across the main road of a run of houses on the other side. As per @steve garwood the lad usually uses the backpack to do that job. No way will I run a hose across a busy road which is also a bus route.

I have got some but not too much.

I do think about where I park for access and to hopefully avoid someone parking over my hose, the bin men I don't have an issue with they might park on the hose for 20 seconds as they work but other than that no issues at all,

Tradespeople delivery drivers etc are all decent enough, it's usually just car drivers who have no consideration or common sense, the worst one to date was some months ago,

I was at the back of a house and my water stopped so I went to see what the issue was a woman had parked both drivers side wheels right on top of my hose I watched her look left and right then go to turn on her heel to walk off, I had to call out to her and ask her to move she completely blanked me got back in her car and moved a few metre's down the road,

I'll do the same as you do my houses on one side of the road then move the van across to the other side as needed, I do have a backpack but I won't use it under any circumstances, those days are long gone

 

[spruce]

I have got some but not too much.

I do think about where I park for access and to hopefully avoid someone parking over my hose, the bin men I don't have an issue with they might park on the hose for 20 seconds as they work but other than that no issues at all,

Tradespeople delivery drivers etc are all decent enough, it's usually just car drivers who have no consideration or common sense, the worst one to date was some months ago,

I was at the back of a house and my water stopped so I went to see what the issue was a woman had parked both drivers side wheels right on top of my hose I watched her look left and right then go to turn on her heel to walk off, I had to call out to her and ask her to move she completely blanked me got back in her car and moved a few metre's down the road,

I'll do the same as you do my houses on one side of the road then move the van across to the other side as needed, I do have a backpack but I won't use it under any circumstances, those days are long gone

Once we had someone, a visitor, park their car on my hose. It was a house we didn't clean. I knocked on the door and was told he would move his car when he was ready to go, not before. So I would just have to wait until he decided to go. I had no idea what his story was.

Anyway, I took matters into my own hands and slunk under the front of his car with my jack and released my hose without them seeing me from the lounge window.
He must have seen the very end of me putting my hose reel back into my van and closing the rear doors. He came running out, but I was already in my van and driving down the road.

Never happened again as most people are very considerate. We do another cul-de-sac where street parking is on the pavement right up against the houses' front walls. So we have to run our hose down the road. The other day a neighbour arrived and kindly moved our hose out the way so she could park without trapping it, which was extremely considerate and appreciated.

We often run our hose just off the curb on the road so if anyone wants to park, they will straddle the hose. It's easy for us to disconnect our pole and pull the hose out from under the car. No problem.

 

[Iron Giant]

Once we had someone, a visitor, park their car on my hose. It was a house we didn't clean. I knocked on the door and was told he would move his car when he was ready to go, not before. So I would just have to wait until he decided to go. I had no idea what his story was.

Anyway, I took matters into my own hands and slunk under the front of his car with my jack and released my hose without them seeing me from the lounge window.
He must have seen the very end of me putting my hose reel back into my van and closing the rear doors. He came running out, but I was already in my van and driving down the road.

Never happened again as most people are very considerate. We do another cul-de-sac where street parking is on the pavement right up against the houses' front walls. So we have to run our hose down the road. The other day a neighbour arrived and kindly moved our hose out the way so she could park without trapping it, which was extremely considerate and appreciated.

We often run our hose just off the curb on the road so if anyone wants to park, they will straddle the hose. It's easy for us to disconnect our pole and pull the hose out from under the car. No problem.

love this jacking a car up, I think some people are just so obsessed with parking exactly where they want and as close to the house they are visiting it, I was working in a street one day an old 1970's estate with quite a bit of grass beyond the boundaries at the front of some homes my hose was going across the grass,

a young lass turned up and pulled onto the grass and parked over my hose, there was on the street parking and an empty visitor parking area all for the taking just not directly outside her mates' house

 

[spruce]

We have had hoses going across roads since 2003. Ime not going to tempt fate but so far never had an issue with traffic driving over it

There is no written rule by H&S regarding hoses. It's up to each of one of us to access the risks of our actions and act accordingly. Mostly that risk assessment is down to our own on-the-job experience, mostly done sub-consciously or automatically without too much thought.

I would always suggest a newbie window cleaner be very aware of what he does with regard to positioning his hose. Always better to err on the side of caution. My advice to a newbie is to not run a hose across a road unless it can't be avoided.

A couple of years back, someone was working our estate. His van was parked a few houses down from his first house. He pulled lots of hose from his fixed hose reel into the street, and then used that 'pile' to draw from as he went to the back of his first house. He left the pile of hose in the road for us to run over, as we couldn't avoid it.

He has done this on several occasions. It's certainly not something I would recommend anyone does.

 

[Pjj]

There is no written rule by H&S regarding hoses. It's up to each of one of us to access the risks of our actions and act accordingly. Mostly that risk assessment is down to our own on-the-job experience, mostly done sub-consciously or automatically without too much thought.

I would always suggest a newbie window cleaner be very aware of what he does with regard to positioning his hose. Always better to err on the side of caution. My advice to a newbie is to not run a hose across a road unless it can't be avoided.

A couple of years back, someone was working our estate. His van was parked a few houses down from his first house. He pulled lots of hose from his fixed hose reel into the street, and then used that 'pile' to draw from as he went to the back of his first house. He left the pile of hose in the road for us to run over, as we couldn't avoid it.

He has done this on several occasions. It's certainly not something I would recommend anyone does.

What you are describing is irresponsible and asking for problems and an accident waiting to happen but putting a hose across a road in a straight line with no kinks or loops sticking up is as safe as you can make it ,I wouldn’t put a hose across a main road with high speed limits but around town in a 20 or 30 zone it should be fine

 

[kevinc250]

Another poster on this forum couldn't understand why a difference in 2mm hose size (8mm minibore to 6mm microbore) should make a difference in flow. Doug Atkinson from Daqua posted this in reply

It does -------, makes at least 30% reduction in flow


This web page (that no longer exists), made some interesting points regarding a comparison in flow rates of water through a straight steel pipe between 8mm and 6mm ID pipes.

http://www.flourmilling.co.uk/water.html

I realize it's steel pipe, but the flow rate difference between 6mm and 8mm bore steel pipe is considerable. At 4 bar, the flow through 6mm pipe is 0.022 litres per second. The 8mm pipe is 0.056 litres per sec at the same pressure. A 6mm tube will only allow fractionally less than 1/2 the volume of water at 4 bar. Our hose coiled up around a hose reel will probably reduce those figures a bit more.

Hot water will have a higher (or is it lower) viscosity (less dense) so will flow better through a smaller diamt hose. So most hot water users happily use microbore hose.

Water flowing through a hose can either be Laminar flow or Turbulent flow. Once fluid in a tube reaches a certain speed, it becomes turbulent. Once it becomes turbulent, it requires 4 times the amount of pressure to double the flow rate. Fluid through hose coiled on hose reels won't be laminar in flow but turbulent. If you look at a running stream, the water is the centre is smooth running or laminar. But if you look at the water at the edge, it swirls around, turning back on itself. They are called Eddies. That's turbulence flow.

To calculate the area of a circle, the formula is

A = π r2

A 6mm id hose is fractionally more than half the size of an 8mm hose.

I have 2 hose reels on the van. One is microbore and the other is minibore. The flow through the minibore on the same controller setting with the same jets in the brush head was definitely better than using microbore. The pump also drew more amps pushing water through the microbore hose. (I wish I could find those figures I posted.) But, as others have said, the microbore is much easier to manage than minibore is.

There was a good reason for us sticking with minibore hose for over 14 years. Initially, Shurflo wouldn't guarantee pumps used on hose smaller than 1/2". So my reasoning was that as 1/2" hose was so difficult to manage, and I was going to have to take the warranty risk myself, I saw minibore as less of a risk of damaging the pump than using microbore. Of course, at the end of the day, Shurflo up rated their pumps from 65 to 100psi, and the risk of using microbore disappeared.

hi bruce, a couple of years ago i did make a laminar flow device for the pole, it did improve the laminar flow but sadly the jets just create turbulance again and you are back to square one as they say, its something i may re-visit in the future as i think that theres a bit of mileage on this one topic.

 

[Scrubsy]

Once we had someone, a visitor, park their car on my hose. It was a house we didn't clean. I knocked on the door and was told he would move his car when he was ready to go, not before. So I would just have to wait until he decided to go. I had no idea what his story was.

Anyway, I took matters into my own hands and slunk under the front of his car with my jack and released my hose without them seeing me from the lounge window.
He must have seen the very end of me putting my hose reel back into my van and closing the rear doors. He came running out, but I was already in my van and driving down the road.

I only use a backpack so don't have this issue, but a window cleaner I'm friends with has these problems. He's good and tries to keep the hose tidy and visible but I'm sure people park on it deliberately some times. They have no regard that people are trying to earn a living.

Serves them right you jacked the car up. No need for him to be like that with you.

 

[spruce]

hi bruce, a couple of years ago i did make a laminar flow device for the pole, it did improve the laminar flow but sadly the jets just create turbulance again and you are back to square one as they say, its something i may re-visit in the future as i think that theres a bit of mileage on this one topic.

I remember you telling me about it. Got to be more than a couple of years ago, though.