Pure Freedom Nano or Xline trolley?

[Jay the window man]

Quite often people cleaning windows with a trolley are working from a limited water supply so being able to switch the flow off and on remotely saves water.

Do you use univalves? If you do then I would say a remote isn't as important. If you don't then a remote is handy as you can stop the flow between windows to save a little water. At the price they are charging I would spend the money on univalves as then you can save water on each pole.

If it's just for occasional use I would get a gardiner backpack and a Handy sac truck.
I believe the nano trolleys have a lithium ion battery - so light weight and easy to take the pack off to recharge.

That was my theory on it. Yes I use uni valves. Genius I must say. I didn’t see why I would need both but you have answered my question. The remote seemed to be very expensive and just not necessary when a £45 uni valve seems to do the trick. Very helpful information. Thank you

 

[Jay the window man]

A second hose reel isn't going to take up as much space as a trolley and however many containers you need to carry unless you are planning on filling a single container directly from your tank which is just going to see you lose quite a bit of time throughout the day and you'd probably just faster on your own.

Yes that’s a very good point. I was going to fill up straight from the tank.. I’m not sure how long it would take to fill a 25l container using the compact 425 system pump on 100psi. That would be interesting.

Thank you for your contribution

 

[ched999uk]

Yes that’s a very good point. I was going to fill up straight from the tank.. I’m not sure how long it would take to fill a 25l container using the compact 425 system pump on 100psi. That would be interesting.

Thank you for your contribution

The 'standard' pumps will do a max of about 5 litres per min, so 5 mins for a 25 litre barrel!
I have a tee from my tank outlet - 1 side to pump other to hozeloc. The hozeloc has reasonable flow especially when the tank is full (400lts vertical tank) I would say much quicker than the pump.

You can get submersible bilge pumps for about £15 that do about 75 litres per min! You might be able to get one of those in your tank to speed up filling.

 

[THL4KEL]

I have remote control. When I walk between windows sometimes I just bend the hose, I got a big tank so dont really need to worry about water. When I walk back to the van I use the remote to switch off. Dont see the point of uni valve.

 

[Chris34]

The measurements of mine is width = 15 inches , length = 18 inches, height is adjustable handle but mine is 39 inches.

I use a univalve on mine without any issues whatsoever, have done for about 3 years.

Airlocks happen but usually it's between jobs not when switch barrels. PJJ has said they suffer with airlocks on theirs, however for some reason on mine any airlocks are very quickly gone just by lowering the brush to the ground. I do have it on 100 percent all the time though so it probably helps get rid of airlocks quicker than say having it at 20 percent.

I wouldn't get the remote, in my opinion it's overkill, the univalve is probably faster.

 

[Iron Giant]

The 'standard' pumps will do a max of about 5 litres per min, so 5 mins for a 25 litre barrel!
I have a tee from my tank outlet - 1 side to pump other to hozeloc. The hozeloc has reasonable flow especially when the tank is full (400lts vertical tank) I would say much quicker than the pump.

You can get submersible bilge pumps for about £15 that do about 75 litres per min! You might be able to get one of those in your tank to speed up filling.

Also need to factor in walking back to the van and back to the house where you've run out of water, very easy to do a compact run up to a 100m away from the van with a van mount not so easy with a trolley so the van would have to be moved more to accommodate for the use of the trolley this will all add up over the course of a day.

I used a trolley for around 3 years before switching to a truck mount set up a lot of time is lost within a working day walking back and forth to swap containers never mind filling up a single container.

I'd have thought with a bit of planning that one man system could be very easily turned into a 2 man system and be far more cost effective and efficient in the long run

 

[Jay the window man]

Bloodyell now I’m not sure. But what we do know is:
1)The nano seems great
2) Van mounted is obviously piece of cake.

Pros and cons of both. Neither set up would be cheap that’s for sure. Obviously from what I gather the water goes from the tank to the DI vessel and to the powered reel sat on the top of the tank..
but in order to get a second user I’m not sure what the order of new components would be. I’m guessing I would need and additional di vessel..

So to put simply… hose into tank.. attached to pump.. pump sucks up water and put it through DI vessel number 2 and the hose is connected to di vessel 2 exit .. pure water. Or am I missing something?

Jay

 

[Jay the window man]

The measurements of mine is width = 15 inches , length = 18 inches, height is adjustable handle but mine is 39 inches.

I use a univalve on mine without any issues whatsoever, have done for about 3 years.

Airlocks happen but usually it's between jobs not when switch barrels. PJJ has said they suffer with airlocks on theirs, however for some reason on mine any airlocks are very quickly gone just by lowering the brush to the ground. I do have it on 100 percent all the time though so it probably helps get rid of airlocks quicker than say having it at 20 percent.

I wouldn't get the remote, in my opinion it's overkill, the univalve is probably faster.

Thanks Chris.. clearly you was a fan of the trolley and using it for 3 years is a testament in itself. Surely that would mean you was emptying a 25l barrel every 5 mins? How many barrels would you need to mess about with on a house? Must have took some time?

 

[ched999uk]

Bloodyell now I’m not sure. But what we do know is:
1)The nano seems great
2) Van mounted is obviously piece of cake.

Pros and cons of both. Neither set up would be cheap that’s for sure. Obviously from what I gather the water goes from the tank to the DI vessel and to the powered reel sat on the top of the tank..
but in order to get a second user I’m not sure what the order of new components would be. I’m guessing I would need and additional di vessel..

So to put simply… hose into tank.. attached to pump.. pump sucks up water and put it through DI vessel number 2 and the hose is connected to di vessel 2 exit .. pure water. Or am I missing something?

Jay

OK so I have no idea what you know and what you don't so sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs.

I assume your tds is below about 70 to just be doing DI?
There are 2 ways you can do DI.
1. Tap water going through the DI to fill the tank. Then you have a tank full of pure so can then split the tank outlet (Tee piece) to feed 2 pumps (each with own controller) to then feed 2 reels.
2. Tap water straight to tank then out of tank through pump, through DI then reel. To make this 2 man you really need to tee off the tank outlet and then have 2 pumps (with controllers), then 2 DI vessels, then to reels.

I started by using my car and barrels, Gardiner backpack, Handy sac truck. It worked and on some houses I need to go back to car to refill the backpack. After I had proved that I was happy to do the work and I could gain customers I bought a van with a system (only bought van with system as it was same cost as empty van! I was lucky). Using a van mount I find so much easier and quicker. The nano will allow you to rinse at same speed as a van mount but you are limited to 25 litres before filling up.

 

[Jay the window man]

OK so I have no idea what you know and what you don't so sorry if I am teaching you to suck eggs.

I assume your tds is below about 70 to just be doing DI?
There are 2 ways you can do DI.
1. Tap water going through the DI to fill the tank. Then you have a tank full of pure so can then split the tank outlet (Tee piece) to feed 2 pumps (each with own controller) to then feed 2 reels.
2. Tap water straight to tank then out of tank through pump, through DI then reel. To make this 2 man you really need to tee off the tank outlet and then have 2 pumps (with controllers), then 2 DI vessels, then to reels.

I started by using my car and barrels, Gardiner backpack, Handy sac truck. It worked and on some houses I need to go back to car to refill the backpack. After I had proved that I was happy to do the work and I could gain customers I bought a van with a system (only bought van with system as it was same cost as empty van! I was lucky). Using a van mount I find so much easier and quicker. The nano will allow you to rinse at same speed as a van mount but you are limited to 25 litres before filling up.

Well currently I have the RO/DI system. Although it is under 70 with tds anyway. I probably didn’t need.. but I have it now. So the water in my 425 isn’t pure.. it’s only gone through the RO part. Then it goes through the DI vessel.

Yes so behind a cover on the front with the controller there obviously the pump and outlet.. so I would need to break into the outlet and connect to the new pump to take the water.. ?.. so replicating the system again.. I see .. it makes sense!

Always great to hear a success story. Well done my good man.

 

[Chris34]

Thanks Chris.. clearly you was a fan of the trolley and using it for 3 years is a testament in itself. Surely that would mean you was emptying a 25l barrel every 5 mins? How many barrels would you need to mess about with on a house? Must have took some time?

A barrel will generally last me about 17 minutes. To do a small new build semi or a terraced house will be just over half a barrel. To do a 3 bed semi with bay windows and several side windows is usually touch and go whether I can do it with one barrel, it normally is just about right but I can't waste any. For a 4 bed semi with velux's, extended back and bi-folds it's 1.5 barrels. So I use half a barrel for the front, then switch to a full barrel to do the rest of it.

The good thing with a trolley is that you are more mobile. Your wife could take the trolley up the road and do a house while you're in a different spot doing a house. Obviously it depends on your work, but for me a van mount wouldn't be that much more beneficial. If I wanted to I could leave the trolley in the van and just get say a 100 litre tank and use it like a van mount when beneficial. I might consider doing that actually

Just depends on how you do your work and what it's like. It's not about whether the trolley is up to the job though, I've well and truly proved it's possible with my own efforts.

 

[Chris34]

A barrel will generally last me about 17 minutes. To do a small new build semi or a terraced house will be just over half a barrel. To do a 3 bed semi with bay windows and several side windows is usually touch and go whether I can do it with one barrel, it normally is just about right but I can't waste any. For a 4 bed semi with velux's, extended back and bi-folds it's 1.5 barrels. So I use half a barrel for the front, then switch to a full barrel to do the rest of it.

The good thing with a trolley is that you are more mobile. Your wife could take the trolley up the road and do a house while you're in a different spot doing a house. Obviously it depends on your work, but for me a van mount wouldn't be that much more beneficial. If I wanted to I could leave the trolley in the van and just get say a 100 litre tank and use it like a van mount when beneficial. I might consider doing that actually

Just depends on how you do your work and what it's like. It's not about whether the trolley is up to the job though, I've well and truly proved it's possible with my own efforts.

Oh and just to add, my barrels are already all full. If I had to fill them I think I'd find that too disruptive in my work flow.

 

[Iron Giant]

Well currently I have the RO/DI system. Although it is under 70 with tds anyway

Your R/O should be producing 000ppm the DI vessel should be null and void, I have a tap tds of around 75ppm and my R/O produces 000ppm

 

[ched999uk]

Well currently I have the RO/DI system. Although it is under 70 with tds anyway. I probably didn’t need.. but I have it now. So the water in my 425 isn’t pure.. it’s only gone through the RO part. Then it goes through the DI vessel.

Yes so behind a cover on the front with the controller there obviously the pump and outlet.. so I would need to break into the outlet and connect to the new pump to take the water.. ?.. so replicating the system again.. I see .. it makes sense!

Always great to hear a success story. Well done my good man.

If your tap water is less than 70 tds then I would guess the water coming out of the RO is virtually zero. Test the water in your tank and see what the tds reading is. You might be able to get away without an extra DI.
You might be luck in that behind the panel there might be an extra tank outlet, then you just need a pump, controller and fittings. If not see if you can tee off the outlet before your existing pump.
As @Chris34 said, having a nano trolley could be handy to do 2 houses at once but then again if you have 2 x 100m hose reels you can do 2 houses quite a way from each other although I don't like putting hoses across roads.
I still use my backpack mainly for conny roof or gutter/facia/soffit cleans with a bit of chemical in. Plus they are a backup if van was off road or something else went wrong ( I have 2 man system so always a spare as only me cleaning).

There are advantages of having a trolley but a nano isn't cheap - then again pump & controller + extra reel is probably going to be around £300 so not exactly cheap.

It's a tricky decision but have a think about how you would operate, i.e. if your wife is using the trolley will it be her or you lifting it in and out and filling, (I'm noyt trying to be sexist just make you think how you will work) it as that's time neither of you are cleaning! Depending on how you have 2 reels setup when you stop she could be out opening door and reeling out hose by the time you get to the back. So maybe less time lost? Some 2 people teams do different houses if you have a compact round others one starts at rear other at front.

It's not just what equipment you have it's also how you use it.

 

[THL4KEL]

You have an option with a Nano which you dont really with a pump box. Pump box has to stay in van, Nano can be used as trolley or as a pump box permanently staying in van. Wheels can come off it along and handle which keeps foot print very small.

 

[Jay the window man]

A barrel will generally last me about 17 minutes. To do a small new build semi or a terraced house will be just over half a barrel. To do a 3 bed semi with bay windows and several side windows is usually touch and go whether I can do it with one barrel, it normally is just about right but I can't waste any. For a 4 bed semi with velux's, extended back and bi-folds it's 1.5 barrels. So I use half a barrel for the front, then switch to a full barrel to do the rest of it.

The good thing with a trolley is that you are more mobile. Your wife could take the trolley up the road and do a house while you're in a different spot doing a house. Obviously it depends on your work, but for me a van mount wouldn't be that much more beneficial. If I wanted to I could leave the trolley in the van and just get say a 100 litre tank and use it like a van mount when beneficial. I might consider doing that actually

Just depends on how you do your work and what it's like. It's not about whether the trolley is up to the job though, I've well and truly proved it's possible with my own efforts.

Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone. You’ve certainly convinced me of the capability of the nano. I don’t think it’s a bad option to throw in the car if the van wouldn’t start for example. It’s a good plan b also.

Yes that’s right the RO is producing water at zero.. well saying that.. It takes ages and I didn’t have time to wait for it to fill up so I put about 200 litres of water straight in the tank bypassing the RO and leaving it up to the DI vessel to sort it out. Our plan was to complete a house together because people around here love to act like they’ve nearly tripped and fell over.. if you give them a pipe they will love the opportunity. Tick a house of together and move on.

?‍ tough decision. As iron giant said the RO sorts the water out to zero so it would be a case of just tee’ing off stick the pump on and away we go. ?. Nano is pretty easy though. I should have got a bigger van with a two man system in hindsight haha

Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[AndyD]

Hi all,

I'm about to order one of the above trolleys.

They seem pretty similar on spec, the Xline has a bigger battery. Also looks like it might stay looking decent for longer with the anodised finish.

Nano looks smaller, which is quite important so me, space is at a premium on the van.

Anyone owned both and would recommend one over the other?

Also they both have the option of a remote - is that worth getting? I'll be using a uni- valve to start and stop the flow anyway.

Thanks in advance

I’ve got the Nano and it’s a great bit of kit, you won’t hear many bad things said about it. Without a barrel on it it’s really light (lift with one arm easily) and also pretty narrow too so not too bulky. Not heard much about the Xline one so can’t comment.