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Phil, I'm guilty too. I made a spare but have not tested it yet.

Roof Cleaning Severna Park MD wrote:

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Anyone ever had this happen before? I was up on a roof yesterday spraying to my hearts content and the wand snapped right where the pvc threads into the trigger gun. DOH! I was really wishing I had a back up at that point, but I didn't expect that part to fail. I had to finish with a pump up sprayer, but I was almost done anyway.I do like that wand, but I think I am going to make a few of my own to see how I like them. If I don't like them, I will order a few from Bob.

Lesson: ALWAYS HAVE BACK UPS!

Okay, I learned my lesson.

Hope everyone is doing well this year, and has as few equipment break downs as possible.

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 That's why we use ball valves only

 

Ours broke almost 8 months ago. We finished that job up using just a ball valve. My roof guy liked it better. Needless to say, we never got another one. Me personally, I like using the wand better but I'm not the one spraying.

When it happen to me I put the tip from the top of the wand into the handle. You lose a little reach but better than a pump spayer

zjim wrote:

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When it happen to me I put the tip from the top of the wand into the handle. You lose a little reach but better than a pump spayer

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 Jim, good idea! Glad to see that I'd not alone on this one.

The roof was nearly finished and I already had the pump up spray on the roof with me (I was trying something new).

Ted, I was very thankful that the solution wasn't spraying all over after it broke, definitely saved my tail. I wasn't questing the product at all, I like the wand, but I wanted to see if it was common because my other one from Bob was about to do the same thing, but I broke it when I got mad at my pump while working on it at my house, whoops. I was aggressively moving items in my truck and snapped it in the exact same place.

Roof Cleaning Northern Virginia (571) 250 9650 wrote:

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My wand snapped as well.  Luckily it snapped while I was replacing the riser in my garage, and not on a job. SH is hard on it.  It simply gets brittle over time.  I too have switched to ball valves (and I keep lots of back ups/parts on hand.)

One very nice thing about that wand from Bob, is IF someone were to drop it from a ladder, it shuts itself off right away, unlike a ball valve that will do a number on the lawn and landscape by the time you got to it.

Even ball valves and risers will get brittle.  I remember a post of Chris T's stating to proactively replace those types of things BEFORE they break.  I do just that now.

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 LOL Ted, I have had countless people come down to Tampa, and see brass hose barbs, and cheap ball valves on my roof cleaning trucks. We use what was handy to Lowe's or Home Depot when we broke, realize it will break again, and simply try to replace it before it does. Nothing is 'forever' when you are dealing with the SH.

 

I use the wand all the time, and They break all the time. But I have learned how to make them last. 1} Never pull the line from the wand, grab a foot or so of slack hose to the wand then begin to pull...never pull the wand to pull the hose. 2} When the sprayer is moving around the ' Grounds " he grabs a foot of slack AND THE GROUND MAN PULLS THE HOSE BEHIND HIM, so there is no stress on the wand. 3} Never drop the wand, when placing down on the ground always make sure it is away from any activity like foot traffic...the wand does snap easily. 4} I find the wand always breaks at the point going into the trigger gun...a reversable needle nose or a " O " ring plyer works great at removing the broken pipe. You can get threaded sprinkler " pipes,wands " at lowes. I have two functioning trigger gun wands on my rig,as well as three wands with ball vavles. I have broken two trigger wands on one job and finished the day with the ball vavle wand. I always go back to the trigger wand.. I just like it better. Treat the wand as I advise and it will last a lot longer.

Suttner ST2700 is what I ordered thanks to Marcus Raif. It's a little pricey but I know Marcus has been using his for I think 9 months now with no problems at all.

-- Edited by Chowell77 on Tuesday 26th of April 2011 08:51:33 PM