A New WFP Controller From Flowtek

Quick Over View: Nathanael Jones from Ireland makes advanced pump controllers for forward thinking window cleaners. Well known through his window cleaning forum, & the creator of The Master Guild Of Window Cleaners - Nat' has been an innovator of mobile DIY hot water window cleaning & is well known in the UK window cleaning scene. Please support him in his latest endeavor to produce wfp flow controllers to the window cleaning masses.

The Story: The recent harsh winters had quite an effect on my window cleaning business. Even though I was lucky and none of my equipment got frost damaged, I found that clearing frozen hoses every morning wasn't just an annoyance - it cost me valuable time, and in business time is always money. I found the situation very frustrating especially when my hoses still froze despite placing electric heaters in my van so I wanted a better solution, I wanted a system that would keep my van & equipment safe from frost damage and ready for work at a moments notice, whatever the outside temperature - and so the idea for the new range of Flowtek controllers was born.

I originally thought an "add on" box to sit beside an existing flow controller and give frost protection functions would be the perfect solution, but because of the many different makes/models of flow controller currently in use, and the possibility of compatibility issues, I decided a single standalone unit would be sleeker, easier to install, easier to use & more reliable, so the design soon evolved into something completely new. Once I'd figured out the frost protection functions I got a bit carried away & ended up making a remote control version too! Since then, this project has gone through many revisions and prototypes, but after 2 years of hard work, I'm excited to say that it's finally ready for release with three versions of the new controller now available:

1) The basic flow controller unit
2) The flow control + frost protection unit
3) The flow control + remote control unit

Analogue Flow Control: The new Flowtek units feature quickly adjustable flow control to help you maximise the work you can do between re-fills. The flow control is suitable for all 12v pumps with a pressure switch (60psi or 100psi) with a maximum continuous draw of 7.5 amps (All standard WFP pumps). These flow controllers do NOT use the "dead end detection" that you might be familiar with. This is simply because I believe the tried & tested pump pressure switch is much more reliable, and doesn't require constant re-adjustment as ambient temperatures and battery charges vary during your working day.

Remote Control: The remote control feature works exactly as you would expect - no more running all the way back to the van/truck when you want to switch of your pump, simply press the button on your remote keyfob for instant pump control. Remote control units include a heavy duty magnet mount external aerial to maximise the control range of the remote. The remote control function can be disabled by flicking a switch on the main unit, handy if you're ever working near high voltage equipment or transmitters that may cause interference.

Frost Protection Functions: The frost protection system is simple: When active, it switches on your system pump when the ambient temperature drops below 3C, and switches it off again when the temperature rises above 4C again. Frost protection can be used on any system with a competently installed flow-activated heater  (with the hot water re-circulating back to the tank), or even on unheated systems that are filled with warm water the evening before - by circulating the warm water around the pump & hoses etc to keep everything frost free.

The frost protection function can be switched off when working in cold weather so it doesn't interfere with  normal working functions. Since most gas water heaters have an output of 9 -12kw, and an average 2kw electric heater is normally enough to keep a van frost free, I'd expect that even in the worst of conditions, the frost protection will only actively run your system for about 10 -12 minutes in every hour.

Installation: Installation of the Flowtek units is simple. There are 2 wires to your pump, 2 wires to your battery and 1 cord to the antennae (Remote control version only). Because of the extra electronics required, the controller is a little bigger than the size of the standard flowmaster/varistream units, but not too bulky:

118mm x 78mm x 55mm for the Standard Edition (SE) unit
158mm x 82mm x 55mm for the frost protect & remote control units