I got this unique push fit connector called a change valve. It allows me to have a switch at the brush head for on/off and then to choose between fan jets or pencil jets when on. It’s a 3 way valve made in Japan.
A video.
Some photos.
Interesting. Nice find! Make sure you change the ziptie to a black one if you want to use that style of mounting as they should be more UV resistant. But thats a neat way to change flow instead of manually.
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Nice tool but why use fan or pencil jets when there are rinse bars? I don’t really see any need for fan jets or pencil jets anymore.
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I buy them from Japan for about ten dollars each. They are expensive to buy in the US or Europe. I’m open to more suggestions about changing the connector harness - how it’s bundled and tied up, there could be a tidier way.
The flow valve is awkward in its T connector shape, the reason I used the two Y connectors tied on top of one another is because I needed the hose to be bending at a low angle for a good fit on the flow valve T. This photo shows what I mean. I started out using T connectors but the angles were too sharp so the pole hose kinked.
I feel comfortable with the positioning of the flow valve so I tied to the right of the pole tip - it seems to hang there without problem and shouldn’t get bashed in what I’m calling the elbow of the pole tip.
On the ties themselves - I tried using hairpins for when the connectors rest on top of each other for a neater fit, I thought briefly about metal ties but I’m not comfortable with exposed metal at the brush top where it could contact wooden frames or glass. There might be a better plastic tie as you were saying - maybe a heavy duty black one, this round beaded shape is probably less likely to snap accidentally.
I plan to have eight jets - 4 pencil, 4 fan on the larger Tucker brush size so experiments are the order of the day. My guess is the harness will have a lot of T connectors bundled neater with ties but it is also often true that the first idea you have isn’t the best one and there is a simple way you only discover after doing something complicated.
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There are a few good reasons.
Pencil jets are very good at creating a rinse action on most glass except where the air is polluted and the glass becomes hydrophobic so fan jets become the rec. Fan jets I would not typically use on glass - I mostly use them on construction clean up jobs to flush the entire area - glass, frames, sills and then for cleaning gutters, fascias and soffits from algae because it is fast - I haven’t used a chemical for that kind of job yet but I’d be surprised if it were faster on the smaller jobs.
I have rinse bars too but I’ll only use them on large commercial in the modern style. I think a rinse bar is a fantastic tool for high work above 2, 3 stories too because there is more stress from lifting the brush to rinse the glass - far better to allow the brush to rest on the glass and allow the rinse bar to do the rinse work.
The problems with rinse bars - which is why I don’t attach them to my brush heads is they are expensive and they are either made from metal - they risk scratching the glass or they are from plastic - so they will break if the sill depth is too deep because you are going to smash them into the sides of the wall. This may be less of a problem in hot countries where I think sill depth is lower and the glass is more flush to the building. In my country it rains a lot so the distance between the frame and the wall is too tight to keep using a plastic rinse bar.
If they could be formed into the brush head itself my objections stop but it could be technically tricky with the bristles and jets at the top of the glass.
On my flow controller - from the video you might notice I’m getting a bit of pencil flow action from the fan jets. This was not intentional. It’s like having 2 strong pencil jets on the outside and 2 weaker pencil jets in the middle which I like a lot.
The first proposal was different.
I went in search of a electronic flow controller for changing between jets and couldn’t find an obvious electronic way to make the switch at the bottom of the pole - the solenoids were too big at brush top. I’m sure it is possible but I don’t have the knowledge for it and the Pisco change valve gets me most of the way there.
