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Bergman Roof Cleaning

Proportioners - Do They Work Reliably?

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We have 2 sealed tanks the top tank is SH and its a 80 Gallon tank. Below that we have 120 gallon tank. For us we have a ball valve and its gravity fed so we open 1 ball valve count to 10 and boom out house mix is ready. When we want to do a roof mix count to 30 then close ball valve and your done. For our system the system above would not help us because all we do is turn 1 valve. I know not every system is designed like ours and I can see a ton of value in this product if you are using your pump and switching suction hoses ext it would seem like a huge time saver. We made our system to streamline every process with little to no effort. 

Same with us, except we have 2 big 300 gal tanks on our flatbed, one for tile roofs, and one for shingle roofs. We are primarily roof cleaners, but we can clean houses and screen rooms with shingle strength mixtures, we simply wet down the surface to be cleaned, protect the plants, and spray. The wet surface diluted the cleaning mix down, and we know what we are doing.

I did the initial research into a system called my Apple Vari Flow system. I gave up on it because back then, no one seemed very interested in it besides me. Plus, my employees resented it when I tampered with their cleaning trucks :(  I don't blame them, because they are on commission, and they felt it slowed them down.  My Vari Flow System was far from finished, and my friend Tim Aselton perfected his proportioner, which is sort of like my Vari Flow system, only better. He added check valves, and a special manifold. My system was tweaky, easy for me to use, but not my employees.

Me and my employees feel out 2 tank system is the best for what we do. But remember, 80% of what we do is clean roofs only. 

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Same with us, except we have 2 big 300 gal tanks on our flatbed, one for tile roofs, and one for shingle roofs. We are primarily roof cleaners, but we can clean houses and screen rooms with shingle strength mixtures, we simply wet down the surface to be cleaned, protect the plants, and spray. The wet surface diluted the cleaning mix down, and we know what we are doing.

I did the initial research into a system called my Apple Vari Flow system. I gave up on it because back then, no one seemed very interested in it besides me. Plus, my employees resented it when I tampered with their cleaning trucks :(  I don't blame them, because they are on commission, and they felt it slowed them down.  My Vari Flow System was far from finished, and my friend Tim Aselton perfected his proportioner, which is sort of like my Vari Flow system, only better. He added check valves, and a special manifold. My system was tweaky, easy for me to use, but not my employees.

Me and my employees feel out 2 tank system is the best for what we do. But remember, 80% of what we do is clean roofs only. 

Yeah we do roofs and a TON of house washes but lets say we do 1 roof at 30% mix and we have 120 gallon tank.. All we do is add water to whats left and do the house wash its great for us.. I think the proportioner is GREAT for some systems but not a must have for all type of item IMO.. BTW 2 300G tanks thats a lot of roofs lol

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Yeah we do roofs and a TON of house washes but lets say we do 1 roof at 30% mix and we have 120 gallon tank.. All we do is add water to whats left and do the house wash its great for us.. I think the proportioner is GREAT for some systems but not a must have for all type of item IMO.. BTW 2 300G tanks thats a lot of roofs lol

Yes, and we do that too sometimes, If we have a housewash and a roof cleaning, we try and schedule it as the last job of the day, so we can dilute our chemical, w/o screwing up the mix for shingle roofs. Of course, if we had a proportioner or my old Apple Vari Flow system, all we would have to do is twist a knob. Our employees, and my Son feel our two tank system is superior, for us. Everything is pre mixed in the tanks, and no matter what type of roof we encounter, we are always ready.  Traffic is horrible here in the Tampa area, and waiting for water to fill up a tank might mean the difference in being able to get to the next job, or get trapped in traffic :( Pre mixed tanks ROCK! 

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There is no one size fits all but it doesn't take much imagination in my opinion to see how only needing to carry full strength SH and mixing as you go at whatever strength you want is a real advantage for some especially those of us who can't carry 1000's of pounds of mix around and that do lots of house washes AND roof cleanings at the same locations. That being said, starting from completely empty I can make a 55 gallon batch in less than 5 minutes and can cut down a roof mix to a house mix or bump up a house mix to a roof mix in much less than that so its not a huge deal either way for me and regardless of the system you still have to go to the rig to change it. Now if the Proportioner were on a remote control.....now you're talking!

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What are you guys with the proportioners doing if the water at the house is bad. Are you filtering the water before you fill your tank, or just using it the way it is.

We have some areas of terrible water around me. If it isn't full of iron, it's full of lime.  Either way, using this water in a mix will weaken it quickly, and leave spots on a house

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We have 2 sealed tanks the top tank is SH and its a 80 Gallon tank. Below that we have 120 gallon tank. For us we have a ball valve and its gravity fed so we open 1 ball valve count to 10 and boom out house mix is ready. When we want to do a roof mix count to 30 then close ball valve and your done. For our system the system above would not help us because all we do is turn 1 valve. I know not every system is designed like ours and I can see a ton of value in this product if you are using your pump and switching suction hoses ext it would seem like a huge time saver. We made our system to streamline every process with little to no effort. 

I'd like to see a picture of that-sounds interesting!

Never saw an 80 gallon tank either?

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 The 7 gallons of surfactant, is it just Gain Ultra?

Where did you read anyone using 7 gallons of surfactant?

That would be for about a 1400 gallon total mix?

 

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Where did you read anyone using 7 gallons of surfactant?

That would be for about a 1400 gallon total mix?

 

I must have missed the Gallons, I thought he meant 7 large bottles of Gain Dish Soap, and I have added that much to our 300 gallon tanks before, once when we were doing these tiny little shingle roofs for old retired people. I added 7 of the big 32 or 48 ounce extra large bottles of Gain Dish Soap because the old folks liked to see all the good smelling little bubbles come off their roofs, when it rained. 

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The Proportioner allows you to carry 3 different liquids, and mix them as you wish. Theoretically, if you had the room, you could carry 100 gallons of each liquid, SH, water, and soap. But, since you use way less soap in relation to the water and the SH, 7 gallons seems to work for someone. The viscosity of Gain is very close to water, and while it is true it will not draw quite as well as a thinner lighter liquid, you simply turn the valve to compensate for the slightly thicker viscosity/

 

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The Proportioner uses check valves, and some air pump makers warn against their use in plumbing systems. They can effect the pumps ability to prime, is what it says here, if you scroll all the way down this page https://www.kleen-ritecorp.com/p-1480-flojet-g57-air-pump-7-gpm-12-santoprene.aspx?gclid=CjwKEAjwgo6_BRC32q6_5s2R-R8SJAB7hTG-HkM4Evg65b4s_qlif2FIK_trTtmaHL-6iEUzkAdMdhoC4ovw_wcB

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 The 7 gallons of surfactant, is it just Gain Ultra?

I don't use gain ultra, although I have tried it.  It smells nice and works great, but it tends to separate if you leave it in the storage tank.  It's my soap storage tank that is 7 gallons. 5 gallons lasts about two weeks with the proportioner. 

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Because of increased plant damage possibilities, I have cut back on my use of surfactants, which now is just Gain.

I use anywhere from 0 to 88 ounces in my 100 gallon mixtures.Most often about 22 ounces- 1/2 bottle Gain.

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Because of increased plant damage possibilities, I have cut back on my use of surfactants, which now is just Gain.

I use anywhere from 0 to 88 ounces in my 100 gallon mixtures.Most often about 22 ounces- 1/2 bottle Gain.

Yes, any time we have a tile roof w/o gutters, and lots of plants, we use very little to NO surfactant. 

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Yes, any time we have a tile roof w/o gutters, and lots of plants, we use very little to NO surfactant. 

Yes, I should have specified that I meant 0 on roofs without gutters and touchy plants below.

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