Rarely do I post equipment questions on here… but here goes. This is for the sake of efficiency for our employees and for their sanity as well.
I would appreciate opinions and input on hose management for WFP systems. We currently have 3x IPC Eagle Hydrocart (electric). Purchased with @Alex assistance. Our guys constantly mumble things about the hoses; none of those things are positive. We run 2 poles per system usually. Mostly 2-3 story, a few jobs 4 story.
Our current setup is fairly crude for each system. We have 200 Ft. of Garden Hose on a Reel. Then we have 30 ft. (I think) of whatever pole hose came with the Poles with no reel, just coiled up.
I was thinking we should move to a setup where we have just a short garden hose (6 ft.) that we hookup to spigot and then 300+ ft. of pole hose (on a reel) to go from Hydrocart to Pole.
Is this a good idea? Recommendations on other setups?
Recommendations on hose reels?
Recommendations on hose?
Any issues with pressure?
Any issues with pole hose damage, snagging, kinking, etc.?
Is there pole hose we could get that is different colors so each Hydrocart has it’s own designated color?
My main concern is that whatever setup we change to is efficient, safe, and easy to manage for employees.
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We use 3/8" air hose. It’s tough enough to get run over (it will), snagged on things, yanked by guys, but much lighter than garden hose. Holds up long term. We don’t color code, but if we did it would length (yellow is 100’, orange 50’, etc)
Guys are 50/50 on reels, vs. just wrap up with a hose strap. We do have two trucks with Cox reels, the others don’t have mounted reels.
I understand your point about “employees”.
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Thanks for the quick reply Steve. Cox reels is what I was looking at as far as reels. Sorry if my questions are super basic… but the 3/8" air hose is going from Filter System to the Pole?
Do you try to keep the Filter System right near the water source and not move it if at all possible? Or are all your systems Van Mounted?
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i have ipc rodi mounted in van now just received my flexzilla hose 150’ and will probably get 100’ more i have a few jobs where we get stuck outside fences and dont have close vehicle access.
just ordered 200’ of xero 5/16" wfp hose
currently have 150’
have 100’ of 3/8 hose coming from cart. way easier too move smaller hose then garden. all hoses will have reels mount on van if i get lazy ill convert them too electrir reels.
should have new reel setups installed by end next week.
got tired of hoses just hanging on pegs
moving the system is a pain imo
thats why i went with more wfp hose
ive had no issue with pressure since i have a pump. ive been working from one setup hate moving van even. hose is lightweight and fast. im doing this on bldgs up too 5 stories
What are they grumbling about?
Hoses being unmanageable. Reels being too heavy.
20 ft garden hose connects spigot to reel. Reel has 50 ft of 3/8 first, then 200 ft of 8mm xero hose which connects to pole… pressure is great with our RO/DI
I modded a 1/4”100ft air hose reel from Costco.ca, real nice hose, and after the 100ft I adapted it to more pole hose, right now it’s 170ft, I’m adding more to it when my new pole shows up. I keep all my filters and what not at the truck so I’m not dragging it around. I use on board tank but when I do need to use spigot, I just real out 1/2” from truck to house. When your all done pop your pole/ brush off the end of the hose, put it away and just roll it all back up. No fuss.
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you dont have your tank secured?
We don’t use van mount anymore, though we have one truck we could still use it from. Previously, we used up to 200’ of supply back to the RO/DI cart, then 300-600’ back out from a trailer or van back to the WFPs (see pic)
. When we stopped using heavier IPC carts, we found it was no hassle taking lighter systems fairly close to the water source.
Please remember, we don’t do residential, so we can have up to 750’ of hose run on a job, usually from one roof level to another, or around a campus. So one hose line could run across a lane of traffic, over some parapets, around some rooftop snags, etc. So we found it best to focus on durability.
As we may have up to 4 WFP in use at the same time, we steered away from tanks, though I’d definitely go that route for residential or lighter commercial. Now, each pole just uses a lightweight system.
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Not usually, it only moves when it’s empty. Even the. It doesn’t move much. Your probably right tho, i’ll Throw a ratchet strap on it in the mornin. 
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Just recorded this today, funny coincidence.
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I’m out of town for weekend but will post picks of my stacked dual hose reel that may be helpful. It is a different color.
I think more color options would be good. I like to separate my systems and their hoses. Also helpful when working 2, 3 or 4 guys on same site to avoid tangling/crossing.
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dp you go through a lot of resin?
we dont open water supply fully and we still get excellent flow. whats avg tds in your area?
Yes, now that I’m using resin I do go thru alot.
Although, I use wfp quite often and I prefer higher flow to speed up the time per window.
I figure 1 cube of resin is like $200 and fills my cartridge 20 times. That’s a season, my RO filters cost $250 and use 1 a season. With 2 systems I probably spend $1000 a season for filters and resin.
Just today I did a 6 story wfp job alone $2500. Higher flow speeds the time spent per window and increased resin and filters is just cost of it.
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that makes sense. pretty much all we do is wfp. seems if my flows is too high it splashes everything pretty good though
Technically, that’s a pressure problem, not a flow problem. If you want more flow without splashing, you need larger jets to bring the pressure down. Often they can just be bored out carefully with the appropriate size drill bit.
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ahh thanks. whats a good size? i generally use the pencil jets
You are likely using only 2 jets, could try 4. Gives less power at each jet and just distributes throughout brush head.
I use a 18" brushes, all with pencils in middle and fans on ends.
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