Keeping a track of your rounds

So once you've got either your backpack/trolley or van system up and running you'll be out on jobs putting the new equipment into practice. Of course you never know how good your kit is really until you take it for a few test drives. You may find yourself having to tweak certain parts. Perhaps the trailing hose gets caught up, snagged and tangled, disrupting your work. Or maybe you're system is leaking around the connectors. There's always adjustments and improvements you can make.

However, another important part of the business is keeping a track of the work you're doing, who's due for a clean next, and the amounts owing on your rounds. Of course there are several ways you can do this. One is to keep a diary and note down all the houses/premises/offices on your round and when they're due to be cleaned. Another way is to keep a spreadsheet with all the necessary data for you round. Or you can buy software which does this all for you, such as Round tracker. You may prefer to use a combination of these methods. Also, if you're doing canvassing it's a good idea to note down which houses you've canvassed and keep these perhaps on a database with the contact information. Make sure you update your spreadsheet weekly or fortnightly so you can put it to good use.

Van mounted systems

There are several ways you can go about installing a van mount system. You may like to hire someone who has fitted many van mounts before and knows what they're doing. Of course with a van mount it all depends on the van and what bearing load it can take. This largely will be determined by your van size and how much weight it can hold. However, before you select your tank container size you need to take into consideration not only the van's maximum gross weight, but also other factors: like weight of the equipment you'll have in there, the combined weight of the people in the van etc.

The first step as already mentioned on an earlier post is to waterproof your van floor.

The next stage is to work out how you will secure the van to the floor. Here safety is the most important issue, the last thing you want is a tank full of 500L of pure water coming undone and heading straight for the front of the van if you have a collision. So don't use any unsafe straps, like baggage straps. You need 4 straps to secure the tank and they should be bolted on to the floor and through the chassis. You should use high strength tensil steel nuts and bolts.

Then once the tank is secure you need to work out how you will transfer water from the van to outside. Microbore is becoming the most popular way of connceting up to a hose pipe, so it's recommended you use microbore. From your main tank outlet there will be a fitting which allows you to connect a hose pipe to it. From this fitting you need to connect it up to an inline filtrer that will usually come with your pump. From the filter you add another bit of hosing from the oulet to the inlet side of your 12V pump. From the outlet side of the pump you will then connect it up to your hosepipe with a coupling.

However, you will go through water like nobody's business if you don't fit some sort of controller to the pump. The varistream controller is a great little control box that allows your to adjust the flow of the water output. It's dead easy to connect to the pump. Simply unplug the two wires going to the pressure switch at the back of your 12V pump. Then connect the two wires marked to pump + (red) and to pump -(black) and join the wires using suitable connectors. Make sure you connect them up right, as it could do irreparable damage to your varistream controller. If in doubt ask a qualified electrician to check it.

The last thing is to power your pump. I'd recommend getting a heavy duty battery from your local supplier at least 100amph. It depends on how many hours you're going to be working for. You can get various leisure batteries from places like halfords, SC motors etc or caravan catalogue order magazines. If you're working with a backpack, it's best to have a spare battery as well. You can wire the battery up to the vehicle electrics so that it recharges whilst you're driving. However I wouldn't do this unless you know what you're doing. Otherwise just recharge it overnight for the next day. To get your pump working, simply connect the wires up with crocodile clips and attach each wire to the appropriate terminal.

The last thing is to make sure your pole and hose reel are connected and all the taps are switched on to allow water flow. Once you're ready try out your system. The varistream's green light should come on, and in a few moments you'll hear the pump start ticking away. If the varistreams green light doesn't come on, switch the button off and try again. Check all your connections beforehand for being water tight. Use PTFE tape on all connectors and fitting. The last thing you want is a soaked van floor. Here's are the colour codes for the Varistream:

GREEN = Pump Running

GREEN Flashing = Battery Voltage Low
RED= Power is on but Pump has Stopped (for example when user disconnects hose)
OFF= Varistream Switched Off.