I had the chance to work with hot water a few times in the cold last season and I can’t let myself do one cleaning this season in 30 degree temps. I know I’m a brat.
You could look into a Eco temp L10 tankless water heater
I like! Thanks Mike!!
Hey your from Ny I have to look after my peeps . Keep me informed if you get it an how it works out. I didn’t buy this yet
Lol! Will do
its funny you posted this today, haim. just today we did a wfp job where we hooked up to hot water and it was so awesome. the cleaning power is like 5X better. i was just saying to my guys “i’m seriously thinking about setting up a hotbox this winter”. keep us posted if you set something up.
I’ve looked into the EccoTemp L5 in the past- it looks like the best budget choice. Unfortunately it does have a lot of safeguards that may interfere with using it for WFP. It will shut itself off if the flow isn’t high enough, if its running continuously for too long, and a few other scenarios I don’t remember. I’ve read that the burner can have a tendency to blow out, as well, if subjected to direct wind. But if you can work out those issues, it really looks like a good option.
I’ll be ordering a submersion heater soon to keep my tank from freezing at night. I want to get the type that doesn’t shut off at 40°. That way I can put it on a thermostat and get that whole tank nice and toasty. Does anyone know what temperature is safe to use on glass in sub-freezing temps?
Now I just need to figure out how to get my pump on a timer so that the warm water can circulate through my hose periodically and keep the reel from freezing (like last winter, lol!). And I should probably insulate my tank, too.
Does anyone know about venting the L5 safely? I wouldn’t use it while I’m in the vehicle, obviously, but I would like to be able to keep the doors shut while its running…
I’m totally thinking about getting this ecotemp for different reasons then you guys it seems like. I don’t do any resi in the winter so no need for hot water. I was thinking more in line with what Caleb has mentioned more cleaning power. Does that make sense or would that be a stupid reason to get it ?.
How would one fuel the burner?
Pax
[MENTION=3025]pagliachi[/MENTION] propane
yeah, that’s what i want it for. it would be almost impossible to keep everything from freezing overnight during the winter, so it’s not practical to me to try to use wfp in the northern climates. i think today it was probably 20-30% faster with hot water because it took less agitation to break up the crap on the glass. the job was a home that was last done in late may of this year.
We have used a L5 mounted on door of trailer, so its vented when you swing door out. Works well. There is a thread somewhere on here about it, including photos.
Steve how does it do with windows with screen burn or windows that havnt been cleaned in years
Shopping cart, metal bucket with a fire or sterno cans underneath. An old bucket bob trick. LOL
Definitely not stupid- it goes in line with the whole theory of cleaning (agitation, chemical, dwell time, [B]heat[/B]). Though it could come in handy on those colder fall days.
Anyone have input on safe temperatures?
Heat is a helper. Look at hot pressure washing. Goodness, I have PW’d so many muddy, oil/greasy soaked tracks, tank engines & hulls, motor pool pavement. If the steam PWs were broke, life sucked for us. When cleaning move outs hot water makes life easier and gets a lot of goop off that cold won’t even touch. Used steam once to remove and loosen paint off glass before. Get a Rinnai tank-less type, naa too expensive. Ecotemp L7 looks affordable.
I also wonder what our hoses are rated for when it comes to temp of water. Even a nice hot tap will make my 5/16 soft. I heat the tips to fit on barb tips so wonder if go hot guess I will need new hose.
Anyone that makes water ever hook up to a HW tap and make hot or warm water thru DI tank or RO?
Just remembered the old KP days in Korea or when we needed hot water for shaving etc…
Put this in a can
Works great. It gets water hot
[MENTION=30474]Jackllfixit[/MENTION]
you don’t really need it that hot to make a big difference. i would sat 100F-110F would be a good temp to shoot for. not too hot to burn your hands or blow your hoses, but definitely hot enough to dissolve the nasties quickly. did some more research last night and it looks like the L5 would be good, but i would consider the L10 too, and try to run two or three poles off it.
from the setups i found, it looks like the best setup is to plumb in between your di and the wfp hose reel. hot water is hard on ro membranes and pumps, so i would plumb it after those components, so it would go like this:
source water>pre-filter>booster pump>ro membrane>di cartridge>heater>wfp hose>pole
i would plumb in a bypass to go around the heater so that if you didn’t need heat, or ran out of propane or whatever, you wouldn’t have the heater restricting flow unnecessarily.
That’s exactly how ours is plumbed. We added a quick connect between reel and di, click in heater when we need it. Also, this makes it easier to drain heater when not in use.
[MENTION=7230]c_wininger[/MENTION]
Warmer water helps on paint and stickers. Use to leave spray bottles out in the sun to heat up or bring a jug hot water with me this summer. Shoot, if I need a little hot water I could get one of those coffee heaters coil things. When had horses we had a bucket heater coil, not too expensive, that was long but only tip got hot and we used plastic buckets. Maybe one of those dipped into spray tank for a bit could help. Ressys usually have power. New const may not have water or power plummed or wired but usually a box or tap outside to access. Just an idea.
i would plumb in a bypass to go around the heater so that if you didn’t need heat, or ran out of propane or whatever, you wouldn’t have the heater restricting flow unnecessarily. Caleb, can you explain this a little more what do I need to plumb a bypass. I cant vision it, an Im buying the L5 soon trying to think in my head how im going to set it up .
