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Flow rate advise

ECLM
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Apm window cleaning said:
Hi

i have just started out and have a new pure water system, can you advise the flow rate that you find works best please.

many thanks 
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Which flow rate? when cleaning, after you've produced the water, or from the tap to the Ro actually producing the pure? 

After you've produced the pure, I have my controller set to just over half of what it can go up to. It depends on how you want to work really. Experiment and see whats best for yourself. If you mean flow rate for producing the water, I have the outdoor tap open as far as it will open. seems to make sense to get the best output.

 
Apm window cleaning said:
Hi

i have just started out and have a new pure water system, can you advise the flow rate that you find works best please.

many thanks 
Click to expand...
I'm afraid any answers will be based on user opinion. It will also very much depend on the type of equipment you are using. As @ks789 says, you need to find the right flow for you and the equipment you are using. The only way to do this it to try various settings.

 
I use the Gardiner back pack. I've seem some say they use it on full and can do an entire street of houses on the one fill cos they're that fast. I don't believe a word of it personally - i pumped out a full BP back into a barrel the other day, took around 7 minutes - 10 tops. No way you could do an entire streets worth of houses in that time. It just isn't possible so we do have people on this forum who like to exaggerate wildly - always keep that in mind.

I personally have mine set to the lowest speed. Sometimes i'll turn it up half way for a rinse but generally i keep it on low for first time cleans as they'll be filthy and need more time to rinse. It lasts about 20 - 25 minutes like that. If it's a repeat custy and the windows are easy work (eg not on 2nd floor, at a weird angle etc) then i'll sometimes turn it up just cos it's gonna be quicker and i don't want to be lifting it all back into the car so prefer it to be near empty.

 
I use the pure freedom trolley.  I set the flow rate at 40 for regular cleans.  I was short on water last week and reduced it to 25, I found that it still ate a fair bit of water because it took longer to rinse.  

Basically when you rinse using pencil jets you can see two circles on the glass where the water splays out, it's these circles that are rinsing the glass.  When you reduce the flow rate the circles are a lot smaller, so if you follow the circles on the glass when rinsing then it's a bit like switching from a 3 inch circle to a 1 inch circle, the net effect is it takes 3 times longer to rinse.

If it's a first clean then sometimes I'll reduce it to 20 for the pvc areas as it helps to allow some dwell time to soften the dirt, you don't need a lot of water to get everything wet.  I come back to the windows after about 3 minutes dwell time and clean everything at 40.

Flow rate 40 on the trolley uses approximately 25 litres in 20 minutes, so 1.25 litres per minute.

 
When I was new I burned through water, lots of first cleans from a trolley, thought I’d need a huge tank! now I’m mainly maintenance cleans I’m going home each day after 5+ hours with excess water (400ltr tank) about 2lpm.

youll find your groove. 

 
BigFoot said:
When I was new I burned through water, lots of first cleans from a trolley, thought I’d need a huge tank! now I’m mainly maintenance cleans I’m going home each day after 5+ hours with excess water (400ltr tank) about 2lpm.

youll find your groove. 
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2lpm is approx what I use whether rinse bar or jets seems to be the perfect flow for me. 

 
Den said:
2lpm is approx what I use whether rinse bar or jets seems to be the perfect flow for me. 
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Im using 2 mm pencils so it seams to carry through across the most widely used methods I know @Iron Giant prefers 1mm pencils that may work on lower lpm, if I remember correctly he was running 400 ltr tank one man operator and finishing with water in tank at end of the day. The thought of opening the taps and running flat out like @Haz has mentioned is tempting but I’d need a bigger tank if I got accustomed to it!

 
BigFoot said:
Im using 2 mm pencils so it seams to carry through across the most widely used methods I know @Iron Giant prefers 1mm pencils that may work on lower lpm, if I remember correctly he was running 400 ltr tank one man operator and finishing with water in tank at end of the day. The thought of opening the taps and running flat out like @Haz has mentioned is tempting but I’d need a bigger tank if I got accustomed to it!
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I  use 1.4 jets x 4 on the 35cm brush and 2mm jets on the 26cm I did like to use the 100 degree fan jets but keeps breaking them glad I went back to the pencils TBH as I get a better rinse. 

My tank is  325l and when really busy I sometime go back home to refill but very rarely work later than 2.30 to 3.00

 
BigFoot said:
Im using 2 mm pencils so it seams to carry through across the most widely used methods I know @Iron Giant prefers 1mm pencils that may work on lower lpm, if I remember correctly he was running 400 ltr tank one man operator and finishing with water in tank at end of the day. The thought of opening the taps and running flat out like @Haz has mentioned is tempting but I’d need a bigger tank if I got accustomed to it!
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350ltr upright tank, I stood down as the president of the 1mm pencil jet club and for 2 weeks I have been using Gardiners 1.4mm pencil jets. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
[SIZE=10pt]My two penneth is as follows[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Experience has taught me that as far as rinsing is concerned, you should always use a good flow even when practicing. Yes you will use a lot of water at first but you can’t get a good rinse with low flow no matter what jets you use, and If you try to you will likely struggle to get the windows clean and never get up to a good working speed because you will always be slowed down by the low flow and poor rinse.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]A good flow is not measured by what your dial says on your controller as there are other things that need to be taken into consideration. Ie: size and capability of your pump, the size of hose you are using and the length of it, and even the type of jets you are using. The only way you can measure your flow is to run up your complete system and pump water through the brush into a bucket and measure it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Like Den, I find anything less than 2lpm from the brush to be inadequate for my work which is all residential. My preference is actually to have my flow a little higher[/SIZE]

 
High flow doesn’t always leave windows clean ,

While you’re rinsing water splashes harder   And you have chance of dirt splashing back up the window 

 
Wind o kleen said:
High flow doesn’t always leave windows clean ,

While you’re rinsing water splashes harder   And you have chance of dirt splashing back up the window 
Click to expand...
I agree, which is why after almost 11 years of using 1mm pencil jets which provide a powerful rinse, I have conceded to a using a larger jet, i think the heavier flow of water is more beneficial to rinsing and the 1.4mm jets are a good compromise, as with all things there is a balance to be found.

 

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