Unger Hydropower not functioning

[mrpearson]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Unger Hydropower 6L for $1,700 and live in Alberta, Canada. Before purchasing the unit, I knew that my water TDS was 187, which is quite hard. I know it would eat through resin fairly quickly, but the distributor employee said it should still last 60 hours. At the very first job, the windows did not look good and it left residue even though the reading was 2 PPM. I ended up working in the dark until midnight re-doing work.

This evening, I completed a second job and the PPM reading on the unit was all over the place. It went from 5 to 49 to 32 and jumped everywhere from 10 to 55. I'm worried that I just wasted $1,700 and that the supplier sold me a unit knowing that it will not be functional in a city like Edmonton with hard water. I didn't want to spend $5,500 on an RO/DI system because I couldn't afford it. This is the second time in a week that I've had to redo my work because the water didn't dry properly. Hopefully, they will accept the unit back because the employee told me it should last 60 hours, but I cannot believe they would sell such a product in a city with an average TDS of 187 if this is the case. I have been using the unit with full water flow and switching from a 2-pencil jet small brush to a full rinse bar brush.

Any advice on this would be GREATLY appreciated! Any suggestions on affordable RO/DI systems if they do accept this system as a return?

 

[spruce]

It sounds as though you are processing customer's water directly through your di vessel to your brush head @mrpearson .

Unfortunately, tap water with a tds of 190 using a 7 litre di vessel won't last long. If you do a Google search on how mixed bed resin works to purify water, you will be surprised that it actually does work despite the odds against it working.

How long will the resin last? How long is a piece of string, is the answer. When you clean windows, we need the water tds as close to zero as possible. I can't clean windows with a tds above 4ppm as our water will leave spots.

At one time, a couple of the local UK suppliers had resin calculators on their websites, but I can't find one now. They differed vastly from one another. Different grades of resin will also perform differently. The speed with which you want to purify the water also plays a part in its performance and longevity.
Where do you draw the line when you say the resin is spent? For example, purifying water to 1 ppm will deplete the resin quicker than setting the finishing line at 10ppm.

We can clean and rinse windows with a flow rate of 1.5lpm. Our 4040 with warmer summer water (22 degrees C) will produce around 2lpm of pure. At 140ppm, my r/o removes 97% of the dissolved solids from our tap water, leaving 3 or 4ppm to be polished off with resin. (Processing water with an r/o means that slightly more water is discarded as waste, as it must flush away the impurities the membrane removes to make pure. For us, at 140ppm, we produce just on 2lpm of pure and at the same time send fractional over 2lpm to waste.)

There are a couple of UK suppliers that have trolleys fitted with a 4040, one or 2 prefilters (sediment and carbon block to remove chlorine) and a di resin vessel. In some cases they fit a 230v (in the UK) booster pump.

PortaPower Trolley System - 240V Mains - Brodex

The new Brodex 12V Battery Operated water purification trolley is an ideal stand alone or add on system to your current business.

brodexbms.co.uk

PortaPower Trolley System - 12V Battery - Brodex

The new Brodex 12V Battery Operated water purification trolley is an ideal stand alone or add on system to your current business.

brodexbms.co.uk

But this equipment is expensive. In fact, branching out into window cleaning with purified water is an expensive investment. Sorry. I once calculated that the equipment we use to clean windows including the van is a higher outlay than most plumbers, electricians or carpenters have.

As regards to the Unger HydroPower, it's expensive to buy and the bags of replacement resin are also expensive.

Cleaning spot can't sell them or they wouldn't be offering a discount on them.

Unger hydroPower RO M filter for pure water fed pole window cleaning

Unger hydroPower RO M system for pure water fed pole window cleaning supplied to all UK from our warehouse in London

www.cleaningspot.co.uk

We mostly use a standard di vessel we fill ourselves with resin we buy in 25 litre bags.

DI Resin Vessels

Quality DI vessels in various sizes from 4.6 to 15.4 litres. Sold with or without mixed bed resin. Buy our useful funnel for easy filling of your DI vessel!

www.daqua.co.uk

Mixed Bed Resin - Tulsion MB-115, Purolite MB-400, Purolite MB-400IND, Purolite NRW3240

Your source for Tulsion Mixed Bed DI Resin, Purolite, and water purification kits in the UK. Located in Perth, Scotland, we provide premium solutions for your water purification needs.

www.daqua.co.uk

We process water into a 1000 litre IBC tank in the garage at home and transfer the water into a 650 litre tank in the van.
To make the most of the resin, some windies double di. If you do a search on here this has been explained several times.

When you start to clean windows, you need time to learn the cleaning technique that works for you. In the early days of wfp, I cleaned each house twice and several times had to clean a third time before I was satisfied the job was right. It was very frustrating. But the second clean 4 weeks later was quicker, as was the third clean 4 weeks after that.

 

[ched999uk]

At one time, a couple of the local UK suppliers had resin calculators on their websites, but I can't find one now.

Resin Calculator | GrippaTank Ltd

GrippaTank offers industry-leading, crash-tested window cleaning systems, van mount pressure washer systems, water-fed pole (WFP) system packages, and vehicle solutions. Explore our innovative products and flexible financing options to enhance your business efficiency. Visit us today

www.grippatank.co.uk

 

[AW Services]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Unger Hydropower 6L for $1,700 and live in Alberta, Canada. Before purchasing the unit, I knew that my water TDS was 187, which is quite hard. I know it would eat through resin fairly quickly, but the distributor employee said it should still last 60 hours. At the very first job, the windows did not look good and it left residue even though the reading was 2 PPM. I ended up working in the dark until midnight re-doing work.

This evening, I completed a second job and the PPM reading on the unit was all over the place. It went from 5 to 49 to 32 and jumped everywhere from 10 to 55. I'm worried that I just wasted $1,700 and that the supplier sold me a unit knowing that it will not be functional in a city like Edmonton with hard water. I didn't want to spend $5,500 on an RO/DI system because I couldn't afford it. This is the second time in a week that I've had to redo my work because the water didn't dry properly. Hopefully, they will accept the unit back because the employee told me it should last 60 hours, but I cannot believe they would sell such a product in a city with an average TDS of 187 if this is the case. I have been using the unit with full water flow and switching from a 2-pencil jet small brush to a full rinse bar brush.

Any advice on this would be GREATLY appreciated! Any suggestions on affordable RO/DI systems if they do accept this system as a return?

An Unger hydropower DI on mains tap water with a tds of 80ppm will not last long at all and you'll deplete the resin life quickly which is in inefficient and non cost effective means of pure water window cleaning

Unfortunately you've spent alot of money on the incorrect equipment for the task in hand.

Many Americans and Canadians often use a RO mains water trolley

 

[Mattymarske]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Unger Hydropower 6L for $1,700 and live in Alberta, Canada. Before purchasing the unit, I knew that my water TDS was 187, which is quite hard. I know it would eat through resin fairly quickly, but the distributor employee said it should still last 60 hours. At the very first job, the windows did not look good and it left residue even though the reading was 2 PPM. I ended up working in the dark until midnight re-doing work.

This evening, I completed a second job and the PPM reading on the unit was all over the place. It went from 5 to 49 to 32 and jumped everywhere from 10 to 55. I'm worried that I just wasted $1,700 and that the supplier sold me a unit knowing that it will not be functional in a city like Edmonton with hard water. I didn't want to spend $5,500 on an RO/DI system because I couldn't afford it. This is the second time in a week that I've had to redo my work because the water didn't dry properly. Hopefully, they will accept the unit back because the employee told me it should last 60 hours, but I cannot believe they would sell such a product in a city with an average TDS of 187 if this is the case. I have been using the unit with full water flow and switching from a 2-pencil jet small brush to a full rinse bar brush.

Any advice on this would be GREATLY appreciated! Any suggestions on affordable RO/DI systems if they do accept this system as a return?

XERO Pure Plus | Purification Systems | WCR

Set up with a chloramine and sediment filter, the XERO Pure Plus' RO membranes will last for a long time. Take your window cleaning game to a whole new level with WCR!

windowcleaner.com

I'd bite the bullet unfortunately and invest in RO/DI. Perhaps one of these xero ones it's about $2,200 plus room to attach a DI vessel.


Are you targeting mainly residential yearly/6 monthly cleans or route work commercial?

Reason I ask is if you're working out of a pick-up/SUV or thinking long term and would go van mounted?

Look up Steve-O on YouTube he documented his transition from squeegee slinger to WFP warrior quite earnestly after putting it off for years. As he's North American based it's interesting to see different work methods and all the screen washing equipment etc and how long the frequency between cleans is on the big $500 accounts.

Let us know how you get on and decide the route to take as always interesting to hear from across the pond.

 

[Scrubsy]

@mrpearson you aren't the only one who's done this. I have a tds or about 250 and when I very first started I was advised that an unger hydropower would be ok as I didn't do alot of water fed work. It absolutely ate through the resin unfortunately. If you can buy one or two larger, standard DI vessels and fill them with resin and then connect them to your hydropower it will last alot longer. If you are travelling to customers and using their water obviously this isn't feasible for you. The hydropowers are well built and very good quality, but with even moderate TDS levels the resin won't last.

 

[Clean Pro]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Unger Hydropower 6L for $1,700 and live in Alberta, Canada. Before purchasing the unit, I knew that my water TDS was 187, which is quite hard. I know it would eat through resin fairly quickly, but the distributor employee said it should still last 60 hours. At the very first job, the windows did not look good and it left residue even though the reading was 2 PPM. I ended up working in the dark until midnight re-doing work.

This evening, I completed a second job and the PPM reading on the unit was all over the place. It went from 5 to 49 to 32 and jumped everywhere from 10 to 55. I'm worried that I just wasted $1,700 and that the supplier sold me a unit knowing that it will not be functional in a city like Edmonton with hard water. I didn't want to spend $5,500 on an RO/DI system because I couldn't afford it. This is the second time in a week that I've had to redo my work because the water didn't dry properly. Hopefully, they will accept the unit back because the employee told me it should last 60 hours, but I cannot believe they would sell such a product in a city with an average TDS of 187 if this is the case. I have been using the unit with full water flow and switching from a 2-pencil jet small brush to a full rinse bar brush.

Any advice on this would be GREATLY appreciated! Any suggestions on affordable RO/DI systems if they do accept this system as a return?

Also, barter with local water stores if possible. I clean his house and 2 locations for unlimited RO fills. 60 gallon eith 12 V. Make’s storefronts super easy

 

[Clean Pro]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Unger Hydropower 6L for $1,700 and live in Alberta, Canada. Before purchasing the unit, I knew that my water TDS was 187, which is quite hard. I know it would eat through resin fairly quickly, but the distributor employee said it should still last 60 hours. At the very first job, the windows did not look good and it left residue even though the reading was 2 PPM. I ended up working in the dark until midnight re-doing work.

This evening, I completed a second job and the PPM reading on the unit was all over the place. It went from 5 to 49 to 32 and jumped everywhere from 10 to 55. I'm worried that I just wasted $1,700 and that the supplier sold me a unit knowing that it will not be functional in a city like Edmonton with hard water. I didn't want to spend $5,500 on an RO/DI system because I couldn't afford it. This is the second time in a week that I've had to redo my work because the water didn't dry properly. Hopefully, they will accept the unit back because the employee told me it should last 60 hours, but I cannot believe they would sell such a product in a city with an average TDS of 187 if this is the case. I have been using the unit with full water flow and switching from a 2-pencil jet small brush to a full rinse bar brush.

Any advice on this would be GREATLY appreciated! Any suggestions on affordable RO/DI systems if they do accept this system as a return?

Look on fb marketplace, kijiji for RO/DI carts, I did. Do you have Water Depots, etc near you Alberta? Ontario

 

[dazmond]

I'm moving in with the missus soon.her tap tds is 127....mine is 024 so I'm gonna be changing my resin every 4 weeks or so.itll cost me an extra grand a year I think.not ideal but I just don't want an RO at all.no room for an IBC tank in the garage as missus has workbench,tools etc for curtains tracks,DIY(she's an interior designer)

DI only is just so quick and convenient.i think I'll bump up my prices a bit next year to cover the extra cost.shes not on a meter so I won't be able to claim a portion of the water bill.oh well I'll be putting all the resin through instead!

 

[mrpearson]

I appreciate all of the replies so quickly. This is a great forum! In response to several replies:

- I have been in consistent communication with Steve O from YouTube and he has been very helpful. At the end of the day, I was misled by the local supplier despite the research because I was trying to transition cost-effectively. I was promised "60 hours" of resin use even though the water in Edmonton, Canada is 187. I couldn't even get five hours out of it. After providing photo and video evidence, I am currently dealing with Unger, trying to get my money back.

- I am considering the Xero RO system, as it seems highly reputable and is not crazy expensive. I'm assuming I can keep the 20' carbon fibre Unger pole and 83' water-fed hose that came with the Hydropower since those are fairly universal?

- My client base is 90% residential and I was just going to use this on commercial jobs. With that said, I have had to turn down some jobs because I can't reach a window effectively and using a water-fed pole would help me accept these jobs with a clean window even in tough-to-reach places.

- I just have a small Ford pickup truck, so my only option is to use clients' water. I do have access to water at home if I need to fill up an RO tank the night before. If I do purchase an RO tank and allow the process to unfold overnight, am I limited to the water that gets purified throughout the night? Or will I still be able to achieve pure water through a client's tap as long as the RO has been working the night before and is now hooked up to a client's tap?

- I'm still not sure why the PPM was spiking...does this mean the resin is completely ineffective?

 

[spruce]

You can use that r/o as a portable unit as well as producing water overnight at home. However you use it, you need to protect the r/o from freezing weather.

Our 4040 is a static unit mounted permanently in the garage. We purify water into a 1000 litre IBC tank and transfer the amount of water we expect to use that day into a tank in the van.
Our tank in the van is 650 litres. We hardly ever use 650 litres of water these days, so generally just fill the tank by 450 litres.

A 4040 should produce 2lpm of pure water with summer tap water temperatures. It's mounted in a heated cabinet. If you have a 400 litre tank, it will take 2 hours to completely fill it. You can't let that water stand overnight in the tank in your van as it will freeze solid.

I led to believe that most homeowners in America have their window cleaned twice a year, in spring and autumn. I've heard that most migrate down the Florida to work. A friend of ours who used to live in Canada said his window cleaner offered other services, such as snow clearing his customer's driveways.

The water pressure at your customer's tap is a factor in how much water your r/o will produce on the go. A tds of 190 with require the water to be polished off with resin after the r/o and before the brush head imho. So you will still need a di vessel if that's the case.

The amount of water you produce overnight will be governed by the size of your storage tank and the weight of water you can carry in your small Ford pickup truck.

Yes, a lot of the stuff you already have can be transferred across to your new equipment.

 

[AW Services]

I'm moving in with the missus soon.her tap tds is 127....mine is 024 so I'm gonna be changing my resin every 4 weeks or so.itll cost me an extra grand a year I think.not ideal but I just don't want an RO at all.no room for an IBC tank in the garage as missus has workbench,tools etc for curtains tracks,DIY(she's an interior designer)

DI only is just so quick and convenient.i think I'll bump up my prices a bit next year to cover the extra cost.shes not on a meter so I won't be able to claim a portion of the water bill.oh well I'll be putting all the resin through instead!

Double di it and use one to take the big hit and the second to polish off the process 2x11ltrs would be ideal