Install idears

[ultraclean]

Merry christmas to all

have just ordered a new truck mount and are hoping for delivery 2nd week of jan i am hoping that some of you would maybe share some of the ideas you have used with your installs.
the machine: prochem Apex
the van: Ford Transit mid roof.LWB
currently have a Prochem Legend installed in the rear with hose reel next to it with waste tank behind across the van.this means basically that the only spare space i have is the area inside the side door. i am wondering if mounting the machine in the side door with tank behind and reels in the backdoor would be any better. the other thing i am wondering is has anybody installed a machine of this weight on a false floor with storage underneath.(500kgs~) also carry polivac scrubber cimex and boa potrie.

thanks all
Andrew

 

[Duane Oxley]

If possible, hang your vacuum reel from the ceiling. That will give you more floor space, and will allow you to move it over a bit more. (The reel's frame, closest to the wall is actually positioned over the wheel well. That allows the reel to be positioned about 3 inches closer to the wall than otherwise possible. And, with the frame upside down, you effectively gain 3 more inches of floor space, for a net of 6 inches more width available.)

Also, hang your solution and water supply reels close to the wall, not on the vacuum reel. If you do the reels out the back of the van, you can put these two smaller ones "behind" the wheel well, so that they in effect, take up little or no floor space.

The picture this link is to, was done in a mini van I did a couple of years ago.
http://acceleratedcleaning.com/images/DSCN0418.jpg

 

[Ron Werner]

Slick! that's thinking!!

Just thinking as well, what if the mount can be installed on top of a fresh water tank and the recovery along the wall behind. That would still leave all the centre of the box.
Floor wand can stand on mountings close alongside the hose reel, or it and the stair tool can be hung from the roof as well. a lot of things can be hung from the roof, upholstery tool, groomers, even pump up sprayers.

 

[Mikey P]

Is that Duane???

 

[Greenie]

That ain't DooDaddy, one of his custys.
Is some pretty cool outside the box thinking, just need to have a solid framework to stabilize everything, the weakness is the van's sheet metal.

 

[Duane Oxley]

Jeff...

The two reels on the wall are welded to an upright piece of 1.5" x 1.5" angle iron, 3/16" thick. At the bottom is a "T" made by welding a crosspiece of the same angle, about 10" long. At the top are 2 holes, drilled to accept a 5/16" bolt and spaced so that they can line up well with the "rim" around the top wall of the van.

The "T" gives a stable base for the bracket, and allows you to twist the whole assembly into the best orientation and then lock it in place. (The bottom has a hole drilled at each end, to allow for a bolt to go through the floor.)


The vacuum reel mount is done by cutting 2 lengths of the same angle, drilling two holes in each end, and mounting it on the van "rim" at the top of the wall. That rim is hollow, so you can drill upwards into it, in order to mount the brackets. Always put fender washers and lock nuts behind the sheet metal to add reinforcement.


If you look, you can see some chemical shelves I designed and welded up for that van. They take up zero floor space and sit on the wheel well for added stability, as well as being bolted to the uprights in the wall in two locations.


The "model" in the van is Shameel, a customer of mine since the 1990's. He had the first PowerPak and later, the first Predator "CP" system (shown in the picture). I'm discussing with him at this time, for him to have the first entry level heat exchanger and install it in his Astro van. (It's the same width as a Predator, and about 15 inches shorter.)

 

[Greenie]

Very nice Duane, a testament to the little guy working smarter.

I assume the vac reel is stable enough as is, but I was thinking, how about a side bracket between the reel and van wall in that little space that isn't going o be used for much, something to tie it in to the wall for added stability?

Also, I'm not a reel guy, so are those standard solution reels, I was wondering if they are avail. in a narrower profile and maybe a taller arbor, as I can see you have some room to play with in the pic.

Look forward to hearing the update on the First HX install.

 

[Duane Oxley]

Hey, Jeff...

The vac reel is super- stable. I also did one for Brian Eglund in Florida (among others, but he frequents the board here...), so maybe he'll chime in on this.

The brackets on the ceiling have 2 bolts at each end, as does the wall bracket for smaller reels.

I've done several of these, with no problems out of any of them. And the only problem I know of is when someone decided to do the same thing with an electric reel and hang the smaller reels off of it. The weight of the motor, and the reels, was in the center of the bracket, which bowed downward from day 1. (I warned him, but he wouldn't listen.) Eventually, the reel frame itself broke. I took it , re-welded the frame and reinforced it at the welds (just in case), separated the smaller reels off of it, turned the electric reel around (to shift the weight of the motor toward the wall- side), and reinstalled them in a way that's, similar to the picture posted above. No further problems from that installation.

There's no need to reinforce beyond what you see.

The vac reels are as tall and slender as I've found. The one shown holds 200 ft. of 2" vac hose. To get the vacuum reel into an Astro van, you often have to remove it from the frame, cut about 1.5" off of the frame height, weld it back together at the cut and then reassemble the reel and frame in the van.

The solution reels come in a taller version, but not narrower. The taller version handles 300 ft. of 1/4" solution hose.