john@AEC
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Posts posted by john@AEC
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G'day Folks
Technically the power-box was under cover so it would have been legal, just the other side of the wall was exposed.... and there was a space in the vertical tile edging that appeared to let water into the wall cavity... then crackle, crackle, burn....
The electrician spent 10 hours the next day installing a new powerbox well away from external walls - where it should have gone first time.
Sure was scary - certainly my worst experience with electricity and water. It's been 2 months now and their insurance company haven't come knocking on my door.... so should be good, the owners new it was their problem and said as much several times.
Still haven't bought any lottery tickets!
John
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Looks like a nightmare to me. :/ that could have been a lot worse, good thing it wasn't!Hi Grahams, it sure could, if I was at the other end of the main house I wouldn't have seen, smelt, heard anything, and if the elderly couple weren't home... I was on the roof over the deck, next to the pool and heard the faint chirping of the fire alarm (which I assumed was an alarm that was set off by the dog, as it didn't sound like the alarms I have at home), on getting off the roof I then saw smoke coming out from the garage (underground) and heard the sparking/shorting. On opening the garage door we were greeted with a cloud of black smoke and sparks in the distance. These sparks then became flames, but there wasn't enough light to see what it was....
I didn't bother with lottery tickets as my luck was all used that day!
John
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G'day Mick
I'm still going with "only" $5 million, but my broker is keen for me to go to $10 (for an extra $500+).
Cheers
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Wow. Hope they have good homeowners coverage.Thanks Adrian, they have insurance and didn't even argue the point.
The son showed me the loose tile suspected of letting the water in. I wouldn't have given it a second look as I thought it was on the ground, but the tiles were actually over the storage area at the back of the in-ground pool (so the pool wasn't actually "in-ground"). They were all quite thankful that I was there to get the parents (in their late 70's/early 80's) out and put the fire out (2 small powder fire extinguishers plus garden hose). The fire brigade were called, plus the police and ambulance arrived, then the electricity supplier sent a couple of technicians as the fuse at the mains also blew. The electrician arrived soon after to get power back to the parents part of the house, then spent 10 hours the next day replacing (and moving) the power box. Eventually the wall will have to be re-built.
I came back the day after to complete the job, plus they forced a new fire extinguisher on me. Great people.
Is there a lesson?
A disclaimer? Switch the power off? Get a bigger fire extinguisher?.....
:crushed:
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Remember that small tile at the base of the red wall? the one starting to fall off the wall... above the storage area behind the pool...
OOPS
There's a power box in that wall, well there WAS a power box.
And from behind
:nightmare:
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This is the place
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While washing a house & granny flat today....
Granny flat on left, pool in middle & house at rear and on right
If you look closely at the dark red wall...
you can see an exterior power point (good) and a small sandstone tile vertical against the wall...
Sandstone paving and timber deck, with small tile mounted vertically
Do you see the gap at the top of the small vertical tile?
What is under the tiled area?
This is what is under the deck
Pool on left, rainwater tanks at rear
What is under the tiled area? Storage at the rear of the garage.
Storage under paved area, pool on right
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Lol Ron you bet I did.Did a quick test on my 10:1 and found out its more like 20:1 over 75ft, I filled up a 1 gallon jug with water, figured it would run empty once i filled up 2 5er's that should be 10:1 correct ? didn't turn out to that and i gave up after the 3rd 5ver.
Ended up fitting my 25gallon sprayer with airline hose and quick connects, made a airline male to power washer female hose/gun adapter. When need be I can now use my 20ft extension wand fitted with 4gpm tips to spray chem up to 30-40 ft with hardly no over-spray.
I needed a decent way for a drivit beach house with nowhere to put a lift. Turned out great. I would post some pic's but the only ones I have are imbedded in flash over on my website
2 gallons 10% sh, 20 gallons Dihydrogen monoxide, 3 gallons of whatever works for that situation.
Still never tried 10-12% for a housewash mix other than drivit or understand how you can clean gutters/trim by softwashing without scrubbing. Have yet to find a Canadian distributor for simple cherry or gutter grenade to test it out.
G'day Nick, When you say "Dihyrogen Monoxide" - some thing I've never heard of - do you mean this stuff Facts About Dihydrogen Monoxide ?
John
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G'day
I've been watching the progress of waste water capture & filtration systems for a while, plus experimenting with a few things, so, as it's raining today and I've had to postpone todays work, I thought I'd go through my designs & plans and maybe save some-one some hassle and angst.
What I wanted from a system was -
- Simple to operate for one person
- Able to handle very large amounts of sediment without stopping frequently
- No consumables (eg cartridge filters) that needed to be carried
- Waste water cleaned to "trade waste" or "re-use" quality
While I don't claim to have met these criteria... I'll share what I have found out
Stage 1. The pre-filter.
Conical base with tangent inlet to spin out the heavy sediment. The outlet is in the centre of the vortex and about 100mm below the inlet height. The waste outlet is a 50mm pipe fitting and ball valve at the base - this is too small as it it clogs with the huge amount of sediment that is collected, I would like to try a 75mm and a 100mm. I would also consider including a second pre-filter to catch as much sediment as possible before the vacuum.
On one large job (10 hours) I collected over 20 litres of solids just from this basic pre-filter (stopping every hour or so), I then collected about 10 litres of solids in the base of the vacuum drum. In the fine print of one system I read where it recommended stopping and cleaning the filters every 10 minutes under these conditions. This would drive me crazy!
Vacuum drum.
I have changed to a horizontal inlet with a 90 degree bend inside to give a spinning action for more filtration. This drum currently has a flat bottom which 1. clogs the pump-out & 2. requires the top to be removed and the sediment to be manually scooped out. I would like to rebuild this with a small conical base to allow easier removal of sediment (after just 1 day I have found 50+mm of fine sediment in the base).
The vacuum is a basic 3 x 1100w @240v wet vac which is barely adequate. Lamb make some much larger & more powerful motors which can give up to 170cfm from 8 amps (at 240v) and my generator can easily run three of these.
Stage 3. Further conical filtration & cooling.
The pump-out in the vac drum sends the still hot water full of oil and fine sediment to another conical based drum. It enters on the side (top right) with a 90 degree bend to make it spin around the outside with sediment collecting in the conical base. The out-let is in the centre and is up-turned so the water and lighter sediment & oil falls into it and then down the outside. The lower outlet with the white tap is for draining the drum of water after the waste has settled.
This drum is also to allow the water/oil to cool, thus allowing the oil to coalesce.
From here the water falls into a collection drum.
Collection drum with inlet at top right and pump-out.
Stage 4. More sediment filtration.
This thing is a cyclone separator (http://www.heattransfer.com.au/pdf/separator brochure.pdf), the water enters on a tangent (top left) and spins down with sediment collecting at the bottom and clean water exiting at the top centre. These are used in many places for water treatment & filtration and are a simple, low maintenance method of removing very fine sediment. This combination of separator and drum has two problems, 1. sealing around the lid, as it must be air-tight to stop pressure loss. Some type of flat face that mates with the lid would be better, and 2. a flat bottom on the collection drum which requires dis-assembly and scooping sediment out. A conical base with drain would make this simpler and more efficient. I would also suggest using the s/steel version.
Stage 5. Oil water separation.
http://www.everythingwater.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Domino-VGS-NG-New-Generation-Separator.pdf
Waste water needs to be collected in a 1000 litre IBC for more settling before being pumped into the Vertical Gravity Separator by a double diaphragm pump (creates less turbulence than a pump with an impeller). These separators have approval for use in trade waste systems and are used by mobile fleet washing contractors. Water is collected in another 1000 litre IBC.
Stage 6. More fine sediment filtration.
20 micron bag filtration and maybe even finer cartridge filters. This probably isn't needed for "trade waste" disposal, but certainly is for "re-use".
Other observations -
I can't find a practical (ie. quick and simple) method for removing cleaning chemicals. Some are called "quick break" and may separate in the settling tanks or VGS, so "re-use" is hot water only.
I have seen mouldy concrete car-parks, driveways and footpaths cleaned with a "re-use" system where the result was "stripes" because no chlorine was used - this would drive me crazy - a more expensive way of giving the customer an inferior (but EPA compliant) result.
Well, I've run out of money and there isn't a lot of work around, so I've stopped at Stage 4. As much as I've enjoyed the technical exercise of researching and designing it's time to sell off my commercial grade equipment and stick with simple, low capital, closer to home, domestic work.
Cheers
John
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Hi Nigel
I had my local welder who has done a lot of work for me (from rebuilding trailers to a bash late/sump guard for the KLR) make the drum - it's great! It catches heaps of solids and is relatively easy to empty.
As for cleanliness without degreaser... I still used Sodium Hydroxide and hot water at 5000psi with the vacuum connected directly to the surface cleaner, so the results are still good. The worst job was a truck maintenance workshop with a layer of slime on the floor - it was slippery to walk on! and it turned out great.
John
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Well, where did all those months go???????
After experimenting with a better pump I "think" the problem is FOAMING from the degreasers caused by having the vacuum air inlet pointing downwards in to the drum, plus air locks in the rolled up discharge hose.
Original inlet on top of drum (on right) in front of vacuum
I reduced the amount of degreaser and increased the amount of straight Sodium Hydroxide, eventually using only SH. This stopped most of the overflowing/not pumping out.
The next change was to make a horizontal inlet (with 90 degree bend inside for circular motion/filtration), but I haven't had a chance to test it yet.
Cheers
John
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Hey Jerry, John is in Australia. I think he's more afraid of the freight bill than yours. :-)Thanks Russ, Freight generally isn't too bad for small items, and from the local support Jerry has I'd love to be able to purchase from him, but in this case (electric pump-out) we use 240v which makes supply from your end difficult.
Thanks Jerry, while I haven't spent much time here recently, I, like every-one else, appreciates your honesty and willingness to give of your time simply because you're that type of decent person.
I'll try and get some time this week to collect & test the higher quality pump-out.
Cheers
John
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Thanks Chris & NJ, Jerry certainly has THE gear. I'm just feel awkward taking up a suppliers time when I can't actually purchase from there. I've just bought a higher quality pump "vortex" and will test that next week.
Cheers
John
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G'day
I've finally been trying to get my vacuum/filtration system going but keep having problems with the pump-out pump.
The problem is that the pump-out will not always pump out when the vacuum is on, particularly when first started.
I'm thinking that this may be caused by 1; air bubbles in the pump and/or 2; the pump not being powerful enough to overcome the vacuum (but other times it works fine).
Has any-one had this problem before? and found a solution?
Cheers
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Hi Everyone,I know this seems like a strange question to ask as there are so many posts relating to different types of accessories.
I e-mailed Bob from Pressure Tek but he doesn't send international.
It's easy to find pressure washing supplies on the net, but I don't really know if they are reputable and actually exist.
Can anyone recommend a reputable supplier of accessories that I view their website and can e-mail to see if they will send O/S? I want to try the x-jet and also get hold of a couple of nozzles for d/streaming that we don't have here.
Thanks for all of your help!
N.B - below are pictures of a hose barb nozzle that I made from stainless fittings. They are 2 slightly different size nozzles. I found out about this method from reading the forums..... all up AU$20. I must get at least 10 - 12 metres high (30 - 40 ft) and get heaps of chemical draw..... Absolutely awsome!
G'day
I've tried a couple of places but have found great prices, postage and service from Dultmeier.com | Car Wash Supplies, Ag Sprayer Parts, Equipment, Pumps they have EVERYTHING!
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Hey,we are bidding on our first HOA. The housing is a townhouse type of setting. 67 units contained within 4 separate buildings, if you will. If using their water was an option, their is no communal building where we could get the water. We have a 250 gallon tank. We would have to, I guess hook/unhook from each residence. Is that how that would normally be done?
However, upon talking to the new guy taking over the HOA, he indicated that we could not use their water, which will increase his price, as we will have to unhook equip, leave, go get more water, come back. How do others handle this type of set up, either from an available watersource, or not.
I can't get my head around the "can't use our water" idea - it's not as if it will reduce the water use and the actual cost of "town water" is quite insignificant compared to the total cost of the job.
Do the unit blocks have water meters? I have had to read the meter and advise the manager so that the HOA can pay for the water.
How are the communal gardens watered? is there a swimming pool? it's rare for there to be no communal water source (at least in my part of the world).
Good luck with it.
J
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My question to home owner why didn't the other guy come back?And my next question is "Why did they pay before the job was complete?"
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G'day B
A "good" business name should;
- describe what you do
- tell potential customers where you work
- start with "A", to be listed at the start of any alphabetical listing
Don't use terms such as
- budget
- affordable
as they may give the wrong impression about your business.
Keep the name short and to the point as you will be saying it every time you answer the phone, and your customers will be typing it to find your web site and email you.
Only include your name if it adds something to the business name, eg Aaron... - to get you at the start of the listings or Clarry's External Cleaning - because is catchy.
Cheers
J
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Try a few different nozzles, they're cheap.
I often rinse with (at 5.5 gpm) a 1515 or 2520, or for very high gutters the 0040. If the surface can take the pressure I might use a 4010. Insect screens usually get the 2540.
Cheers
J
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from G/E
sorry, I couldn't get it to embed or attach.
The perimeter is approx 145 m or 470 feet.
The area is approx 500 m2 or 5,400 ft2
G'day Scott - that's right, cost is not comparable, but I'd be interested to know how long people think it might take.
G'day Mountain View - I put this one up as it's difficult to apply a formula to, but I'd be interested to know how yours works out.
I priced this one using "GGF" - General Gut Feeling, by dividing it into sections and estimating how long each section would take and adding extra for removing the insect screens and dragging hoses though the trees and around all the paths etc.
John
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first verandah pic taken from second verandah
all the windows are wooden frames with wooden framed insect screens
the walls are all painted timber - all in very good condition
last pic is extension of second verandah around the back of the house
Every market is different, but I'd still be interested to know what you would do and how long it might take.
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pics continue in anti-clockwise direction
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:)
I love checking out every-ones job/quotes, so have taken some pics of an "interesting" house...
The owner wants the roof & walls etc cleaned. The roof is too high & steep for me (so am getting some-one with younger knees and their own safety gear to quote that).
What would you charge for cleaning gutter to ground?
These pics show the western end and north facing walls.
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#1 is Me/Philip DooLittle, #2 is Dan/John
:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
"... hundreds of sites..." Ken, you really need to get out more...
Mechanic makes more work for me
in Residential Pressure Washing
Posted · Report reply
One of the mechanics I know got in trouble recently by not putting the dip-stick in properley. By the time the owner got home and parked the car the sump was empty and the underside of the car was covered in oil that fell onto the concrete floor.
This is the before I clean it, but still 3 weeks after the incident and the owner soaking up the surface oil and degreasing the remainder... plus all the old oil stains.
And this is after.
Of course this is inside the garage/storage area which is full of cardboard boxes and stuff.... so after moving some stuff I had enough room to walk around the stain without tripping over, but certainly not enough room to get the pressure washer out (even if I did bring the vacuum). My initial information was, of course, that the stain was on the "driveway". At least I didn't have to clean the whole driveway.
This was simply cleaned with ReKrete CAAPS - mix up a strong batch and scrub into the stain, keeping it wet for 10 minutes, then squeegee off the mess and repeat several times. For lasting effect I left it damp with the CAAPS. Probably spent no more than an hour on site including explaining the process to the owner and chatting about bikes & mud, paintless dent repair, vehicle reliability...
Another happy customer.