Mike Cappa

In my opinion, MI T M is an incredible machine, I think probably one of the best.

bullet, cold can not do the job hot can do, especially on grease and oil stains

Rob, how do you know what will fail and what won't? You say it is your experience to know when something fails, yet you haven't been in business a full year, so where does this experience fit in? In my exp., (more than a year) I have seen paint and stains that are warrantied to last more than a year, fail in less than a year. Bad quality? mistake in production? hard to tell sometimes, however, it can and usually will happen every once in a while. Now, you only stand behind your work for a year? Why not the 10 years you say it will last, or what is it that you stand behind? I have to say, I liked your posts in the past and like that you are here to learn, but after seeing how you pay your help, not pay taxes, and in a sense, snub your nose up at legal operating businesses, I must say I am dissapointed. I do hope you learn and do things correctly and legally, but from reading your previous posts up until recently, it seems you contradict yourself alot (in my opinion) and you seem to talk to some people like you are a know it all in some aspects. Rob, one thing I have learned in biz, as well as life, when you think you know it all, get out, because it is all downhill from there. You are making certain changes to your setup which you say will help you, I am not going to make any suggestions, but I would like to talk to you next year, if you are still in business, to see what mistakes you did or didn't do or think you did or didn't do with the setup you are getting. I may also be in your area do to a large contract signing to do some work and if you are as good as you say you are, maybe I will hire you as a sub. But, I will check your work out first. Oh, and I pay by check.

are they legal citizens??

I won't put my prices but I think you are high, but that depends on the supply and demand. I never leave the ground when I clean gutters, I have a modifed gutter cleaning attachment for and size wand I use. It works so good, I may start selling them.

have you thought about using a cheapo used cold water machine as a chem pump?

with out a doubt, no. There are times when I get ahead of myself and start cleaning with the surfacer before the water gets too hot and you can see the difference from cold, to hot water on my cleaning path.

I am looking for somewhere to purchase different size fittings to connect hose to a fire hydrant. Seems the ones I have don't fit all the hydrants in this state. Anyone know any places to get these?

lol, me either

Rob, just under 1000 hours isn't very low. Sure, most of us probably have a lot more, but very low hours I think most of us would consider to be 1-200. As for heat, remember that the water doesn't stay hot for a long distance out of the tip. If you are projecting a stream 10-20-30 feet, the water isn't hot when it hits the surface, and if you are right up on the surface, too much heat can damage the home you are cleaning. Heat does however help with gutters and definitly helps with concrete.

Dale, in all the area's I have been cleaning up until this point, they have all been the same also. I had blinders on too. I think it is very easy to assume that they all would be the same, but you know what happens when you assume...

rofl, I had that conversation with someone today. It would be a fiasco if each department only carried their own type of fittings and had to respond to a large fire in a different area and couldn't hook up.

as you see, not as easy as everyone thinks. If you only clean in a specific area, then no problem. But I clean in soooo many different areas and states now, there are so many different types of hydrants by different mfgr's, that it is impossible to know what I am getting into until I get there.

Not where I have been, the sizes vary, and for thread types... I am going to try to post a pic of a table someone sent me, you will see there are many different types out there. MIKE, STOP AT THE AREA FIRE DEPARTMENTS THAT YOU USE THEIR HYDRANTS & ASK THEM WHAT (FIRE HOSE THREAD) THEY HAVE IE: NST, CLEVELAND, PITTSBURGH....BECAUSE SOME AREAS USE DIFFERENT THREADS. HERE'S A CHART TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA, THEY DON'T MAKE A KIT WITH ALL OF THE SIZES BUT, YOU CAN MAKE ONE WITH THE SIZES YOU NEED. THIS CHART SHOULD HELP COMMONLY USED THREADS National Standard NH Straight Iron Pipe NPSH New York Corp NYC New York City FD NYCFD Eastern Hose New York Corp NYC Pacific Coast PCT Chicago Hose Chicago Fire Dept CFD British Standard Pipe Thread BSP Size ODM TPI ODM TPI ODM TPI ODM TPI ODM TPI ODM TPI ODM TPI ODM TPI ODM TPI ODM TPI ¼" 1.375 8 1.035 14 1.062 11.5 1.078 11 1.062 11 1.081 11.5 1" 1.375 8 1.295 11.5 1.660 8 1.422 11 1.312 11.5 1.295 11.5 1.309 11 1½" 1.990 9 1.878 11.5 2.093 11 2.100 8 2.125 11 2.100 11 1.946 11.5 1.933 11.5 2" 2.515 8 2.352 11.5 2.547 11 2.530 8 2.672 7.5 2.550 10 2.522 8 1.882 11 2½" 3.068 7.5 2.841 8 3 8 3.030 8 3.000 8 3.035 7.5 3.043 7 2.990 7.5 3" 3.623 6 3.470 8 3.630 8 2.960 11 3½" 4.243 6 3.970 8 4.070 8 4.052 8 4.125 3 4" 5.010 4 4.470 8 4.610 8 4.828 6 5.011 4 4.625 3 4½" 5.760 4 4.970 8 5.800 4 5.750 4 5.125 3 5" 6.260 4 6.057 4 5.625 3 6" 7.025 4 6.625 3 DOWN THE LEFT ARE THE SIZES 2 1/2" AND UP ARE HYDRANTS & YOU WOULD NEED TO KNOW THE (FIRE TREAD) OF THAT SIDE & THEN WHAT SIZE YOU WANT TO HOOK IT TO & WHAT THREAD THAT IS. GOOD LUCK

that is the route I am going to take.

I clean in three different states now, so I have a feeling that I will have a plethora of different sized adapters pretty soon.

I know you weren't Jon. I do know you better than that. It is just every state has different laws. Then in goes down to city and county levels. In some areas here, they just say go ahead and use it, others say give us 10 for a permit, use all you want, then there are the ones who tell you to go to the filling station and they will give you all you want for 8 dollars. As for the sizes, I didn't think there were different sizes either, but, I have found out after this contract I got that encompases the entire state of Ohio, there are different sizes, most are 2 inch, but some have been 2 1/2. I also need to find the larger ones, but have noticed different sizes there also. I called a company today and they need to know the exact sizes and also the type of thread. For the life of me, I can't remember what the thread is called on the hydrant, or the fire hose.

I know all the laws and such, I use hydrants all the time. They do not rent meters here, you pay a flat fee. They want you to have backflow preventers in some counties, but don't enforce it, they don't even enforce the permits. I have never been asked to see one. Anyway, I have the smaller 2 inch fitting, but, yes, there seems to be odball sizes here. I have found where my 2 inch is just slightly to small, I think those are 2 1/2 inch fitting sizes. Then there are the ones with no small ones at all, just the large 4 or 5 inch opening. So, this has been fun trying to find places that sell this. As for California, it is illegal to sell the 4 inch adapter. At least, that is what I was told.

I know, but I don't buy from them anymore. I didn't like recieving the wrong equipment because their call takers where just that, call takers. I also like the satisfaction when it comes to doing it myself, if something I made breaks, I know exactly how to fix it...fast. And time is money. Everyone is different, some like to build, some like to buy, nothing wrong with either. I like having the simplest setups so if something does go wrong, it is easier to fix. Also with the t's and valves, if one goes bad, a quick replacement will do, I don't have to replace the whole thing. It mainly comes down to what works for you. Get up Sunday morn. grab a beer, or a smoke, open the van (all the doors) grab a pen and notebook and just keep jotting down your thoughts. You will be amazed with what you come up with, don't get mad at me because you lose sleep because your mind won't stop thinking about it. Then you get to start on how you will set up your cab. Laptop mount, speakers, printer stand, files, ha, you gotta love it.

there are many acronyms or what ever you call it, but one thing holds true, it takes big ones to start your own biz, even bigger to keep it going. But, if you have them, you will reep the benefits.

Rob, I do this for houses. I use the same injector (adams) and have the line from the injector going to a "T", then one end of the t goes to the soap tank, the other end to a bleach tank, soap, 15 gallons, bleach 5 gallons. On each t there is a plastic ball valve which helps meter the chems more precisly. It also helps when you wash something you don't need bleach for. You can just use soap. I may add another line for acid, I may start doing truck fleets also. I am going to have custom rectangular tanks made, so the width is small but the height is high, It will take up less room. Or I may have a long single tank made with dividers and three inlets, and three outlets. I am still pondering.

I stand corrected

guess that answered it.

I have a van set up, alkota 5 at 3000, 275 gallon tan, and have enough room for everything else, no extra trailer. You just have to take your time and set up everything correctly, with no wasted space. Have your reels come out the side of your van. Make your own deckster with 5 gallon jugs, some ball valves, some tees and a specialized hand truck, that you can make yourself, or have someone make you that can weld. You can also have 300 feet of hose from the sureflo and keep it in the van. You would really save space that way. What ever you plan on doing, you can fit it all in the van, I have, and you will have a smaller tank. I can't have a smaller tank because of my commercial work. It was really fun setting up my van. It gets you thinking, and you keep thinking about how to do it better. Don't worry, you will get it.

oooops, I was thinking about stripping, not just a quick cleaning. Paul, bleach doesn't furr the wood, it destroys the wood from the inside out.