So I have another gripe to add to my love/hate relationship with the liquidator. It seems to drip a lot and technique-wise it’s more challenging because the ends don’t dry well. So while fanning it’s harder to not leave a rainbow and staight pulls its harder not to leave a line. I was perplexed at this and have come to the theory that the problem is the end clips just hold water somehow. Perhaps the clips aren’t the best way to achieve the dogear effect. Maybe a factory dogear on the channel would be better?
What do you guys think? Have you noticed the same thing? Have you found an effective way to modify your techniques to deal with the issue?
I have the same problem. I solved it by not trying to make too sharp of a turn when fanning. Similar to how you would use the excelertor on a pole if that makes sense.
I haven’t observed the end clips to hold more water than any other type of squeegee, but then again, I haven’t really looked.
My problems with drag lines and rainbows seemed to stem from two causes: 1.) Turning too sharp/moving too much water too quickly 2.) Frayed rubber corners
Problem 1 is easily solved by keeping turns shallow and deliberate. Problem 2 keeps creeping up cause my rubbers just do not last more than a couple hours unless I’m doing storefront work where all the panes have rubber gaskets.
Yes! Youre onto something here. I think Bobs original modifications were the best. . He took his idea to Moerman and they over enginered it in my opinion. Somebody in research and development got all excited with to many great ideas and ruined Bob’s idea. I saw the original PolznBladz videos on YouTube and made my own replicas. I’m not dealing with any of these problems I read about on the forums. Best squeegees I’ve ever tried in 35 years. You’re correct another manufacturer should just make the simple original idea.
Something like the Unger s plus with a 30* angle added to the design.
For me I question the dog ear. I think it’s not necessary. Just the angle itself would be sufficient. I haven’t tried it to test my theory but I tried dogear in before and never liked it. With the angle and no dog ear you can still use the squeegee as usual just make adjustments for the corners grabbing the edges more. The main benefit is the angle that allows you to keep the corner of the rubber all the way against the edge. Just my opinion.
The idea of the plastic clip is a stroke of genius. Each clip is manufactured identically left and right. The same clip can be used on any size channel with no modification to the channel at all. A manufactured channel has to be cut and then the angles pressed and then all sharp edges buffed out. Another step is added to the process if angles are to be cut. Even allowing for the channels being molded as opposed to extruded, a mold would have to be created for each length of channel.
With many hours of pedantic modding I got a 14" and a 16" Wagtail channel ‘almost’ identical on each end. Originally I had 30 degree cuts and then discovered that 40-45 was better for a wider variety of frames. They perform almost identically to the Liquidator but the peace of mind using the plastic clips can’t be underrated. The time saved ‘phaffing’ around in my shed is a god send and puts a ‘dog-earing’ solution in the hands of any window cleaner who wishes to try it, even if he lacks DIY skills.
I’ve never had any complaints with the Liquidator, ever. In fact when all the hooha was going around about straightening out the clips, I tried it…hated it, dumped them back in the boiling water and reset to the original angle. Perfect out of the box? Nope. Had to do at least three straight test pulls In all honesty, didn’t rate it with my Unger Ergotech handle but really liked it with the blue bi-component from Moerman and my go to of course was the Wagtail handle and disc.
I reiterate, hard rubber is the answer… Unger, Black Diamond or Moerman Hard. Ettore is great but being a medium rubber tends to wear at the ends quickly and the bulb is a really tight fit in the channel so care has to be taken that there is not uneven stretch along the length of it…
I’ve actually been wondering myself lately if a less drastic angle than 45° wouldn’t be better. I think the sharper the angle, the more flimsy the rubber becomes and the more prone to snagging, dragging, doubling over, and stretching.
Not sure why I didn’t like it. It just didn’t feel right and it was more difficult to work with. I was streaking more and even leaving wet patches on the glass. The distance of my hand from the glass also was wrong and had to be changed. So I went back to 30* and I love it.
I tried Henry’s hammer the ends idea and it also made things odd. Perhaps I did a crappy hammer job.
The 45* channel and the hammered squeegee both got into the corners better but over all I prefer 30*.
