Littlefield

Sorry, Jim but I think I already have the title of master window cleaner sewed up tight. Maybe too much organ music going to head? To be a master you have to do res, comm and high rise, right?

In the interests of human safety and business sense, I would discourage mixing your own chems, Sci. Many ready made chems can be had for less than $1.50 a gal. At that price, even if you are very busy, your not saving much even if its given to you for free, and time ain't free!! Not being a chemical engineer like my cousin, I still know that the active ingredients in a formula many times don't show the real picture of what the product will work like. There are many other ingredients that perform specific tasks, such as surfectants for example. I know its fun to play with making the prefect knockout formula, but I have to agree with Ron P. spend the time and few cents you save on learning marketing for winter. :)

Just so you know, of you coat spots, you will get nasty overlap lines around each spot. This will not cover up as you apply additional coats. Use this opportunity to strip the Sikkens, and apply a more maintenence friendly coating, if possible. If not possible, inform owner of exactly will happen, and get them to sign a release on appearance and durability. Better yet, call Sikkens, and ask them what to do. 1-866-SIKKENS

Below is a quote copied and pasted by me, and not a repost by Russell. We've been playing again! OK, here you go. . . I found a way for the average contractor to increase the strength of the HD-80 past my original formulation. Before I go any further put your goggles on! I don't even want you to read this post without eye protection. I discovered that through a super high speed blending process You can introduce up to one full pound of HD-80 per gallon for what I call Super HD-80 or Liquid Death. The really neat thing is after I did it in the lab we went out in the field and tried to mix it without the high speed mixer. This is what you have to do for a 5 gallon batch. Protect yourself like you mean it! Respirator, Gloves, Goggles, Rubber Rain Suit. Start with a small amount of water (1/2 Gallon) Add 10 LB HD-80. Use your pressure washer at about 2000 PSI to mix the powder into solution. Obviously you want to do this without blowing the liquid all over. We did it in a 5 gallon tote with a 3" opening. This formula is not very stable but it is STRONG! You will notice it begin to settle out. While it is in solution it is the strongest stripper any of us has ever seen. You can expect it to hold it's integrity for about one hour. We were able to completely remove about 10 layers of paint in under 30 min. As a final word of caution, do not even attempt this if you are not completely protected. Do not mix in this manner if you are alone and do not try this unless you have a good amount of experience using caustics. This is not for newbies, you can be severely injured if you get this mixture on you in any way. It will kill any kind of plant life you get it on and it will dissolve aluminum VERY quickly. If anyone is interested in trying this mixture please call me direct first for more specific instructions. 1-800-336-7924 Best of Luck Russell Cissell PS. We are working on a way to stablize this formulation so we can blend it here and ship it ready to apply. __________________ Russell Cissell Extreme Solutions, Inc R. W. Anderson, Inc 1-800-336-7924

In response to whether or not HD-80 CAN be mixed stronger than 8 oz to the gallon, I believe it can. Russell posted the instructions a while back on another board, and I believe took it back down because of liability issues, but in general Morgans post is the way he said to do it. Put powder in closed 5, insert wand, and use hot water, and the extra heat and agitation would allow th HD-80 to remain stable for a couple of hours, after which I got the idea that it would begin to "fall out" of the solution.

Check out windowcleaningsupplies.com. they have an adjustable standoff that goes from almost 6 feet wide, to standard 30 some inches, and from1 ft standoff, to 2.5 feet. Doesn't come on and off a ladder easy though, sheesh some guys want all the toys, huh?

Cale, I think we're all just impressed with how together you seem to have it already. The big thing it seems you're asking about is winter work, and I'm in GA, so..... An enclosed trailer seems to be the norm for northern work, along with realistic expectations of working at or near the freezing point. With hot water units, it can be done, but perhaps someone with more info can help.

Thanks for the welcome, more pics on the way

Spray on the stain to saturation, brush stain into wood with brush. Fixes drips, puddling, sags, etc.

Paul, is team building drinking beer with the crew?? ;) Really, what do you have in mind when doing this??

Paul, lots of good advice above. I have used both methods, prewetting/ taping. In this situation, I would probably prewet, spray stripper, and while letting stripper dwell, soak down siding. Had a good experience of how much the stripper can be diluted, just by having water on the siding ahead of time. Stripper didn't touch it, had to wait for it to dry. This is why stripping twice in a row doesnt do much. The second application is so diluted, you're just cleaning the second time around. Just a thought, if you prewet with an acidic solution, it would neutralize as the stripper hit it.....

Joel, I'm laughing so hard as I read this to my wife that I'm crying all over my laptop. Shame on you!!

Keep in mind you can over "neutralize" too. You are neutralizing the first time, then you are just making the surface more and more acidic. You can have acid crystals form a white film, too. Just a thought, be gentle with wood, its not like plastic, it reacts with each step.... Hope this helps

Well, over time, it will lighten the stain. I recommend going over it next time with golden pine, if its not really faded, to avoid over darkening. Otherwise, you've got yourself a great repeat customer. By the way, this is not a characteristic of Wolmans, basically any stain will lighten up with constant bleaching action...

Johny, you can only mix HD-80 so strong. I think my bucket says 8oz by weight to 1 gal of water. If you mix too strong, youj will get lots of surfectants, and not the right ratio of other ingredients. In other words, you made it a lot weaker by mixing too much powder in it. Weird, I know. Try mixing the rate it says on the bucket, and let it dwell for 15 minutes for each layer. that would be 45 minutes to an hour of keeping it wet with stripper only, without using the PW at all. Then, try it.... Hope this helps,

My wife answers the phone 90% of the time, filling out a "call sheet" as she goes. Info like directions, mailing address, email, etc. You'd be surprised at the info folks WILL give if you act like its a matter of fact, (and it is). If I notice something that we seem to be missing that wuld be helpful, I tell her, and she updates the new call sheets. One thing I am interested in is "firewalling" ie making sure jobs don't enter the business that will not be right for us. Usually that simply means discarding the wrong customers more than the wrong job, thats easier to spot. More on this in another thread.....

Tony, Gutter Zap???

half... and let the chems do the work....;)

Just as an aside, you may not be able to run your pump in bypass mode. I wanted to do so, but the cheaper unloaders dont have a jumper hose, its all self contained. I will be upgrading to flow actuated unloaders that will allow bypass into tank soon.

sorry, www.window-cleaning-net.com

www.windowcleaningsupplies.com Racenstein is the best. They have always gotten my orders right, and on time. go with a swivel handle on strip washer and squeegee. get a 12" and 18" squeegee to start. A 18" washer should be fine. Dawn dishsoap is fine to start, just a squirt in 3 gals of water. When you get to be a real WW geek, you can come back and discuss foaming characteristics, squeegee glide, etc...;) check out also i think... www.window-cleaning-network.com

obvious, i know, but the site above has kegs. They have a section under real deals, they sell 15 gal kegs for 15-20 bucks.... Now, I need to know how to configure them...Attach a air hose inlet to pressurize, or is that already there? Then, is the aperture threaded for a valve I can get a Home Depot, or am I going to have to trek to tibet to find one??? My idea is to have my air compressor on the truck, plug it in, dial up to 100psi, and set the pressure guage at 70 or so. Will this push thru 200 feet of line???

Rick, could you give me a call, if you find it convenient? If not, I understand. Really though, thats sounds like what I'm trying to accomplish on my trailer, without getting into a shurflo. Where would I get the used soda kegs? A bottling plant?? thanks, Rich

Ron P. and OTP, The other day I was talking to my local PW dealer about setting up a shurflo. He mentioned that one of his bigger customers set up several 20- 30- gals tanks that were airtight. He charges them all with one aircompressor. Is this what you are trying to accomplish. ONe of the advantages is that the pump never goes bad. I will check with him about the hardware required, and report back when I get the chance.

check out this link. I think this is the bees knees.... http://www.professionalequipment.com/xq/ASP/qx/default.htm?searchSTR=ItemName&keyword=PH100+w450+w520+850086+w9200