This question is for all the WFP experts. How much work could I get out of a 4 gallon back pack. These backpacks are normally for fertilizer or weed control. Would this work if I put pure water in the tank? The product is made by Chapin.
Brand new backpack spray tank could be used, just need to convert the hose to work with a wfp hose. Mark the window cleaner has a video posted here of how to convert a battery powered backpack on WCR. One seasoned window cleaner on here has posted that he could do up to 10 double hung windows with his manual back pack 4-5 gallons before refill.
Just did a test the other day. With the Surflo backpack on the lowest of the four settings, which is all the pressure you`ll need I timed just over 15 minutes of non-stop flow with four pencil jets. Rarely will you ever use it non-stop. The UK boys have tons of videos on backpack and water conservation.
That’s my plan.
I have done 20 windows with a Hudson. This was a maintenance clean on route work. You can prescrub with Ecover and that will allow you to spend less time on each window
All I use are backpacks. I have 4 in constant use & fill from barrels.
Do I go to my nearest Culligan for my water source?
Whats your tds levels? Im over in Montreal and ours is around 125-130 ppm.
Not to sure. I am new at this. What issues will I run into regarding TDS
You could go that route, but in the long run it’s much
cheaper to buy your own RO / DI set up.
Matthew
Your best bet is purchase a tds meter ($25.00) and test your levels in your area. Im guessing youll need a RO/DI system. Itd be worth it in the long run anyway. I completely love my IPC Hydrotube. But then theres also the Ettore Aquaclean route.
Your right…it is cheaper in the long run to by a system. Its hard to come up with that kind of money all at once, not to mention shipping costs to Canada. I think if I go this route for one season I can then take the next step
I asked the same question you did when researching pure water methods.
All advice given so far in this thread have been positive and I will add to it by saying the backpack setup is
very mobile and has a place for itself in our industry.
I use it all the time on residential, when the job allows, the pure water method cuts time in half. As you use it yourself you will see various applications that it is perfect for and some that you thought would be good for wfp but you end up doing it traditional.
there are ways to get creative with this backpack, for example I had a commercial job with 40 big panes of class at the 3rd and 4th story height that got hit with construction dust, this is way to big of a job for the backpack and I estimated that it would take me about 10-20 five gallon jugs to reload into my backpack, I cant afford a rodi system yet or else that would have been great on this job.
what I did was hook up the city water hose to my pole and do the initial scrubbing with regular water to get all the dirt and dust off, then I followed with my pure water. I used about 3 five gallon jugs and the windows looked great.
Its great that you are doing your due diligence but I would have to say to just get one of your own and start using it. thats the only way you will learn and the sooner the better. I have saved so much time, headache and stress by investing in all the various tools that are being sold here in wcr.
Total Dissolved Solids, that is what makes up your hard water. The higher amount in your tap water the more it needs to be purified. Test it and download the pure water manual here on WCR, that can help you make a good decision in regards to a pure water system. Even if you use a back pack, which we also use but not daily, you will need a pure water source. Buying it by the gallon at the store, even at refill prices will get expensive.
If your TDS is low, perhaps a DI only system will work. If its high, like ours (400-500 parts per million) you’ll burn through a DI tank super fast. We have to have at least a 4 stage system.
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Dont buy the water pick up a DI tank from them, or get a shipping quote from us… We can probably come close…
Agreed with Chris’ above post.
I usually run tap > DI > Pole, but i keep a 2 gallon bug sprayer in the truck for smaller jobs and hard-to-reach windows. I can usually squeeze 5-10 windows out of the sprayer before I have to refill.
The thing you have to keep in mind is that if youre only bringing water with you instead of having the means to produce it on the spot, once youre out, youre OUT.
Get a tank from WCR, TRUST ME.
I’ve dealt with Culligan, and went back to WCR tanks a month later, if thats any indication.
I agree : Start with a DI Tank - you only spend money on DI when you are making money. In the first instance, dedicate your savings to your pole/brush combination. The pole/brush makes the money. The purpose of a pure water system is only to get a spot-free finish - so you can safely start with a low-capital outlay there, and upgrade with the profits of water fed poling.
To understand more about Water Fed Pole technique go to /how-to-clean-with-a-water-fed-pole.html
To understand more about bristles and jets ( to get the agitation and rinse efficient) , go to /water-fed-brushes.html
If you order through WCR, we are usually able to save you some freight and duty costs by delivering factory direct !
I also want to support the dhwc post that promotes using tap/spigot water for agitation and your limited pure water for rinse. This is a little left field for the industry and less efficient , but it is sound advice for a new window cleaner with DI system in higher TDS areas. If you use full strokes top to bottom in your agitation cycle, you can pull most of the dirt off the glass with the downward stroke, and a generous volume of water. The rinse function now is to mostly remove the tap water left on the glass … So fine pencil jets and low volume of water is all that is necessary. Great advice !
If you could invent some sort of quick bypass DI>Tap water doohickey I would totally buy one 
I always wanted a doohicky of my own.
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