Univalve versions

[Skxawng]

I can't see there being a legal issue but morally not sure. Might be worth asking Exceed if they can supply them with stainless springs or if they sell repair kits and see what response you get. If they won't supply a stainless version or a repair kit then I would be inclined to field test your univalve for a few months then if all well sell refurb kits (pointing out they are not original parts).

Environmentally it makes so much sense to fix things as opposed to throwing them away. In fact didn't the EU pass a law about manufacturers of domestic stuff have to supply parts for a certain number of years, 6 maybe. Mind you they never legislated how much the replacements would cost ? !!! 

To be honest I hate wastage and throwing repairable things away. It actually really annoys my wife as whenever anything breaks I just fix it so she doesn't get to buy a new one! Fixed her steam generator iron last night after she said we need a new one. Still have one of the early Samsung flat screens and have replaced the power supply, the x main board, y main board, a bad capacitor and the switch! 

I think the ability to repair products is a really important aspect for manufacturers to bear in mind. I like how IKEA is now selling used furniture and spare parts. 

 

[Skxawng]

Awesome update mate, will you be selling service kits 

I'm kinda surprised that nobody has yet. I'm not surprised that exceed aren't selling spares though as there's a lot to go wrong with encouraging customers to open it up and they probably wouldn't want the hassle.

I don't know if there would be much profit in it as they'd have to be cheap to be worthwhile buying. Plus there's no guarantee that the issue with yours is actually fixable.

But it'd be much better to try than throwing it out and spending £40 on a new one. 

 

[Skxawng]

Basically it seems that if it's sticking and hard to turn off its the spring corroded. If it's leaking out the brush head, it's the little o ring at the front. If it's leaking from the valve then it's the large o ring. 

The injection moulded parts are pretty robust. I've been using mine for around 3 years and couldn't find any wear on the latching mechanism. 

 

[Jango]

Yes been doing it that way for over 15 years ,obviously you do waist water when extending or lowering the pole but it’s minimal , I find it works well evan when I had the univalve I wasn’t that keen on it sometimes it took several pulls to turn water on or off sort of defeated the object of having it , also Steve did say it shouldn’t be used on pole longer than 30 feet . 

Ok. I might give it a try. See how I get on. 

 

[CHWS]

Basically it seems that if it's sticking and hard to turn off its the spring corroded. If it's leaking out the brush head, it's the little o ring at the front. If it's leaking from the valve then it's the large o ring. 

The injection moulded parts are pretty robust. I've been using mine for around 3 years and couldn't find any wear on the latching mechanism. 

View attachment 25752

You selling the kits or not mate?  Mine is really ******* me off at the minute 

 

[Skxawng]

You selling the kits or not mate?  Mine is really ******* me off at the minute 

No not yet. I've been testing my replacements and found occasionally it doesn't turn off on the first pull. I've found the problem is with the spring and although the free length is the same, the compressed length of the replacement spring is a tiny bit too long by about 0.3mm. It's just enough to prevent the latching ring from fully rotating. The reason is that the replacement spring has one too many active coils giving it a smaller pitch than is needed. 

I'm just getting quotes for the correct spring custom made but I'm in Scotland with barely any signal all week! 

 

[spruce]

I can't see there being a legal issue but morally not sure. Might be worth asking Exceed if they can supply them with stainless springs or if they sell repair kits and see what response you get. If they won't supply a stainless version or a repair kit then I would be inclined to field test your univalve for a few months then if all well sell refurb kits (pointing out they are not original parts).

Environmentally it makes so much sense to fix things as opposed to throwing them away. In fact didn't the EU pass a law about manufacturers of domestic stuff have to supply parts for a certain number of years, 6 maybe. Mind you they never legislated how much the replacements would cost ? !!! 

Yes they did and Electrolux tried to use that as a marketing tool. Some 25 years ago Bosch Germany decided that the best way of selling new items rather than spares was to make the price of key parts prohibitively expensive. So the price of a replacement armature was around 65% of the retail German price of the whole tool. Once you add labour and transport to the cost of the repair it was uneconomical to repair that tool. (The Germans are the only people in the world who will pay full retail price for everything. So for us in South Africa the cost of that armature could be very close to the price we were selling the whole tool for.)

We had a front motor bearing fail in our 3 year old Bosch washing machine a few years back. I couldn't find anyone locally who had a press to remove the drive pulley off the armature shaft so I could replace just the bearing. A new motor was £260 + VAT where a complete new, latest model, Bosch washing machine was £365 including VAT from Curry's. A local repairer charges £80 to take the washing machine away a fit a new motor. Granted he loans you a washing machine while he quotes/repairs yours. (Bosch still advertises one of the best after sales service repair facilities, but the main repairs are now specialized machines such as rotary hammers and paving breakers.)

Bosch are also very crafty. They put soft carbon brushes in the washing machine motor that wear quickly. Replacing worn carbon brushes is not a warranty issue. It's classed as fair wear and tear. Again, our local repairer charges £80 + VAT plus replacement parts to do that job.

I still have a Bosch 9" 2200 watt angle grinder I bought back in 1988. I mainly use it in a cut-off stand to cut steel. I don't use it much these days. Out of moz I went to Bosch UK online and priced up a replacement armature for that grinder. £660 + VAT and they had one in stock in Denham. ? Who is mad enough to buy that when they could get 5 new Grinders for the same price?

Rant over! ?

 

[ched999uk]

Yes they did and Electrolux tried to use that as a marketing tool. Some 25 years ago Bosch Germany decided that the best way of selling new items rather than spares was to make the price of key parts prohibitively expensive. So the price of a replacement armature was around 65% of the retail German price of the whole tool. Once you add labour and transport to the cost of the repair it was uneconomical to repair that tool. (The Germans are the only people in the world who will pay full retail price for everything. So for us in South Africa the cost of that armature could be very close to the price we were selling the whole tool for.)

We had a front motor bearing fail in our 3 year old Bosch washing machine a few years back. I couldn't find anyone locally who had a press to remove the drive pulley off the armature shaft so I could replace just the bearing. A new motor was £260 + VAT where a complete new, latest model, Bosch washing machine was £365 including VAT from Curry's. A local repairer charges £80 to take the washing machine away a fit a new motor. Granted he loans you a washing machine while he quotes/repairs yours. (Bosch still advertises one of the best after sales service repair facilities, but the main repairs are now specialized machines such as rotary hammers and paving breakers.)

Bosch are also very crafty. They put soft carbon brushes in the washing machine motor that wear quickly. Replacing worn carbon brushes is not a warranty issue. It's classed as fair wear and tear. Again, our local repairer charges £80 + VAT plus replacement parts to do that job.

I still have a Bosch 9" 2200 watt angle grinder I bought back in 1988. I mainly use it in a cut-off stand to cut steel. I don't use it much these days. Out of moz I went to Bosch UK online and priced up a replacement armature for that grinder. £660 + VAT and they had one in stock in Denham. ? Who is mad enough to buy that when they could get 5 new Grinders for the same price?

Rant over! ?

That was the point I was trying to make. While the EU legislated to ensure there were spare parts available then didn't say what the cost of the parts should be. So the companies did what Bosch do and charge excessively so they sell more new items and not many spares.

 

[CHWS]

No not yet. I've been testing my replacements and found occasionally it doesn't turn off on the first pull. I've found the problem is with the spring and although the free length is the same, the compressed length of the replacement spring is a tiny bit too long by about 0.3mm. It's just enough to prevent the latching ring from fully rotating. The reason is that the replacement spring has one too many active coils giving it a smaller pitch than is needed. 

I'm just getting quotes for the correct spring custom made but I'm in Scotland with barely any signal all week! 

Ok mate , keep us posted ?

 

[Adman]

No not yet. I've been testing my replacements and found occasionally it doesn't turn off on the first pull. I've found the problem is with the spring and although the free length is the same, the compressed length of the replacement spring is a tiny bit too long by about 0.3mm. It's just enough to prevent the latching ring from fully rotating. The reason is that the replacement spring has one too many active coils giving it a smaller pitch than is needed. 

I'm just getting quotes for the correct spring custom made but I'm in Scotland with barely any signal all week! 

If you get them working I'd buy off you

 

[spruce]

That was the point I was trying to make. While the EU legislated to ensure there were spare parts available then didn't say what the cost of the parts should be. So the companies did what Bosch do and charge excessively so they sell more new items and not many spares.

2 of our biggest sellers in South Africa 25 to 30 years ago were industrial 9" angle grinders and 1/2" 2 speed (gearbox) industrial impact drilling machines. 

I found that it was cheaper for me to employ someone full time to strip 200 new angle grinders a month for spares and destroy the parts we didn't use 200 of country wide, than it was to buy those individual parts from Germany.

It all went crazy after that. But years later they succeeded in destroying the after sales service network in South Africa I spent years building up. We had the biggest service network in the world back then. We sold twice the number of spares that the USA did and they were second. Back then South Africa's population was 93 in the world where America was in the top 10 population wise.

I spoke to our old MD a couple of years ago. He told me the tail and said that even he was blind sided by Bosch Germany motives to discourage the repair industry in favour of selling more new units. So I'm effect, they were encouraging the throw away society but would never admit that publicly. 

It appears to me looking back that there was a lot of collusion among the power tool manufacturers. Black and Decker and a few others started and followed the same spare part pricing policy at around the same time. 

Bosch's after sales service centre in Denham is nothing more than a refurbished tool sales outlet where most of their stock comes from customer returns. It's the same with Black and Decker's after sales service centre in Spennymore, co Durham.

I found I could buy a new DeWalt cordless drilling machine cheaper at Screwfix on my doorstep than I could buying a nearly new refurbished unit from Spennymore.

 

[Skxawng]

That was the point I was trying to make. While the EU legislated to ensure there were spare parts available then didn't say what the cost of the parts should be. So the companies did what Bosch do and charge excessively so they sell more new items and not many spares.

If you're planning on keeping something long term, it's often much cheaper to buy an extra to keep for spares. 

I recently bought a cordless vacuum cleaner from lidl. They advertise that spares are available. I had a look online and for just a replacement battery and brush bar, including delivery it's more than the full purchase price!

 

[spruce]

No not yet. I've been testing my replacements and found occasionally it doesn't turn off on the first pull. I've found the problem is with the spring and although the free length is the same, the compressed length of the replacement spring is a tiny bit too long by about 0.3mm. It's just enough to prevent the latching ring from fully rotating. The reason is that the replacement spring has one too many active coils giving it a smaller pitch than is needed. 

I'm just getting quotes for the correct spring custom made but I'm in Scotland with barely any signal all week! 

My son complained as I did that these Univalves are too difficult to turn on and off as the pole hose digs into your fingers. I replaced his spring with one we found on Ebay. He then found the tension on that spring wasn't good enough and had to push the pole hose to switch the valve off. I put the old spring back and he hasn't complained since then.

I still have an old Aquadaptor on another pole on the van. The on and off operation of that is so much nicer. I would go back to them but the new angle adaptor from Gardiners has put paid to that.

https://gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/quick-loq-angle-adapter-type-1.html

 

[spruce]

If you're planning on keeping something long term, it's often much cheaper to buy an extra to keep for spares. 

I bought a cordless vacuum cleaner from lidl. They advertise that spares are available. I had a look online and for just a replacement battery and brush bar, including delivery it's more than the full purchase price. 

The heater coil replacement part for a Bosch hot air gun costs much more than a new hot air gun.

 

[AW Services]

The heater coil replacement part for a Bosch hot air gun costs much more than a new hot air gun.

Rewind your own and get a large spool of nicrome wire haha 

 

[mac74]

I still have an old Aquadaptor on another pole on the van. The on and off operation of that is so much nicer. I would go back to them but the new angle adaptor from Gardiners has put paid to that.

https://gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/quick-loq-angle-adapter-type-1.html

I still use the older Aqaudaptor to this day, because like the above, they are a lot better/easier to use than the univalve due to the longer on/off pull on them. Im down to my last one though, as i snapped my other last week. Probably due to pushing stiff windows shut. I have to use the below adaptor on it, along with a old type plastic angle neck.

https://gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/alloy-quick-release-top-adapter-to-euro-screw.html

 

[Skxawng]

As an update to my previous post: I've finally had the springs manufactured in 316 marine grade stainless steel and they are a perfect match for the originals except they shouldn't corrode. 

I've used my 2 old Univalves that were unusable as a test bed and replaced the worn out o rings and springs in and they've been thoroughly tested and working like new ever since. 

I've put together a little kit with all the correct parts to repair your Univalves yourselves. It's actually a bit of an upgrade as they are all chemical resistant so would be good for use with a sprayer. 

Available on Rootek-designs.co.uk with a 20% discount for all forum members using code WCF20.

 

[AW Services]

As an update to my previous post: I've finally had the springs manufactured in 316 marine grade stainless steel and they are a perfect match for the originals except they shouldn't corrode. 

I've used my 2 old Univalves that were unusable as a test bed and replaced the worn out o rings and springs in and they've been thoroughly tested and working like new ever since. 

I've put together a little kit with all the correct parts to repair your Univalves yourselves. It's actually a bit of an upgrade as they are all chemical resistant so would be good for use with a sprayer. 

Available on Rootek-designs.co.uk with a 20% discount for all forum members using code WCF20.

View attachment 26299

What a man. Innovation, improvement and supporting the trade. Thanks 

Ordered ?

 

[Davy G]

As an update to my previous post: I've finally had the springs manufactured in 316 marine grade stainless steel and they are a perfect match for the originals except they shouldn't corrode. 

I've used my 2 old Univalves that were unusable as a test bed and replaced the worn out o rings and springs in and they've been working like new ever since. 

I've put together a little kit with all the correct parts to repair your Univalves yourselves. It's actually a bit of an upgrade as they are all chemical resistant so would be good for use with a sprayer. 

Available on Rootek-Designs.co.uk

View attachment 26299

Well done, and thanks. I'll be placing a small order. Will you please put a few instructions in with the kit. I'm sure it's straight forward enough once we know the procedure and have done it once.

Thanks again. ??

 

[Pjj]

As an update to my previous post: I've finally had the springs manufactured in 316 marine grade stainless steel and they are a perfect match for the originals except they shouldn't corrode. 

I've used my 2 old Univalves that were unusable as a test bed and replaced the worn out o rings and springs in and they've been thoroughly tested and working like new ever since. 

I've put together a little kit with all the correct parts to repair your Univalves yourselves. It's actually a bit of an upgrade as they are all chemical resistant so would be good for use with a sprayer. 

Available on Rootek-designs.co.uk with a 20% discount for all forum members using code WCF20.

View attachment 26299

Well done you would have thought exceed would have done this themselves as a standard fitment 

 

[AW Services]

Well done you would have thought exceed would have done this themselves as a standard fitment 

They just want more money for new replacements. If they did these kits it would reduce revenue