So I hit the bullet and upgraded my hannay reels to stainless steel internals and swivels. I’ve only installed one so far, and that’s for my 12v pump roof system.
My usual method has been to swap proportioner back to roof cleaning numbers, hook pump up to battery, and then run the pump pushing out fresh water in hose that was stored from previous end of day rinse. The hose would push out a bunch of rusty water right before the fresh roof mix went through so I always had a visual indicator that were back in business with the hot mix.
The stainless seems to be doing its job too well forcing me to sit around guess when it’s done it’s thing as there’s no longer rusty water.
Has made me have to actually sniff around. #firstworldproblems I know
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Haha, that’s actually pretty funny. It’s one of those little things you never think about until it’s gone. What used to be an annoyance ended up becoming part of your routine. I guess that’s a good problem to have, though. If the stainless internals are keeping everything clean, they’re doing exactly what you paid for. Now it’s just a matter of getting used to a new way of knowing when the mix is flowing.
You will develop an internal clock and know how long you have on water before your mix reaches the gun. Its useful to hone this because you can spend time watering plants or windows or whatever while your mix is on the way down the hose then when you know its coming switch to the roof and start cleaning. Same principle applies with downstreaming and switching your remote (either way to mix from rinse or from rinse to mix) but the time is just shorter (roughly 8-9 seconds on 200’ of 3/8" pressure hose vs 30 seconds for 200’ of 1/2" soft wash hose).
You can also get a remote setup very easily on your SH/soap lines (controlled via one control board) and be able to remote toggle it on/off while on the roof or ladder. The PSI is low enough that US Solid remote valves work fine (get PVC). Then you pre-empt needing only 30 seconds more mix and toggle it so you’re in rinse so you can hit those areas that got overspray. Very useful for solo operator.
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That’s way too fancy for me. I am a barbarian that still uses a drop tube
it works for me and less stuff to break. The simpler I keep things, the better it is especially up here with the whole not having any dang parts available for anything locally and taking multiple weeks for mail to get here.
yeah, I mean if it works for you, then it works for you. I’ve read a lot on this forum and I’ve enjoyed reading a lot of your posts. You’ve been on a journey, brother 
One thing that stood out to me as I’ve read through old posts and new posts is that you seem to have a good sense of humor about yourself and somewhat self deprecating (in a good way) but that maybe you’re holding yourself back a little because growing/expanding is a little intimidating. Don’t be too nervous to expand out and tech out a little on your rig. The tech works pretty well and as long as you overlap redundancy on your system then you can always revert at the drop of a dime to the old barbarian ways because you didn’t phase them out completely. It would be stupid to just swap out a bunch of ■■■■ on your rig and commit 100% to untested tech, but as long as you keep those old systems in place and alive, what is the harm in pushing it a little to be better, faster, etc.
Just rambling…hope you’re having a good week!
I went out and got WILD this past few days. I have been working on splicing/electrical (not my thing at all) and discovered wago connectors. I had a 7gpm pump that’s been sitting because it showed up to me with just regular wires and I was too intimidated to splice them.
Anyways after an everflow lasted half a job before dying I said screw this and hooked the 7gpm up using the wagos. HOLY COW. The jump from 5 to 7 was pretty big I’m not going to lie.
It was enough to convince me to buy two 7gpm remcos for when this one breaks. It’s definitely sped me up.
I slowly branch out depending on comfortability/capability. I also keep the drop stick for personal reasons though. It helps me get more steps during my day and burn more calories. That’s literally the only reason why I haven’t upgraded anything
I try and keep some things more difficult so I’m always burning a little more throughout the day. Gotta keep that cute dad bod haha
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yeah definitely keep the dropsticks. How else would you make chemical transfer between drums to your chem tanks? or between different chem tanks like roof → house wash or whatever you need to transfer.