With more than 30 years of experience and almost 1000 installations worldwide, they know how and what to do at Besseling Techniek. The machines are used year-round, to clean for more light output or to coat for additional protection. Machines always need their maintenance, but with a cold winter on the way, the deck cleaner builder wants to pay a little extra attention to winter preparations.
Circled The most important part of the Roofmaster deck cleaner that needs to be drained.
Getting through the winter without any damage
The forecasts for next week in the Netherlands are unanimous: there is a cold front approaching and that means that the roof washers need to get through the winter without any damage. The law of nature is clear: water freezes at temperatures below zero. And ignoring this law is asking for trouble.
With several tips and short actions, you can avoid damage to the machine, and therefore extra costs. These are included in the Roofmaster user manual, but also below, to remind you.
First of all, safety first. The ladder can be slippery, so take sufficient precautions (good shoes, personal protective equipment) before you go on the platform.
Action: Drain!
That means removing water from metal and plastic parts.
- Open the 4 taps at the bottom of the machine’s main brushes. This will prevent the brush frame from freezing and breaking. Opening the taps is not always enough because they can be clogged. Therefore, check if any water comes out and puncture if necessary.
- Some older models have a water filter on top of the platform that is fitted with a drain trap. Don’t forget this.
- With most Roofmaster models, the pump is frost-free inside the greenhouse. When the pump is mounted on the platform’s lower beam, it can be easily reached and drained. Just to be safe, these can be disconnected and kept indoors. When the pump is on the platform, this is a little more difficult, which is why people choose to only drain it.
- If there is also a shading kit mounted, for spraying coatings and cleaning agents, you can easily disassemble this set and store it indoors.
- If there is a Dosatron on the machine, we recommend that you also disassemble it and store it indoors.
- Furthermore, it is not an unnecessary luxury to check the pressure regulators.
When the frost comes and the machine is well prepared for winter, the grower can put his skates on and not worry about anything. Time for “koek-en-zopie”! (a Dutch term for the food and drinks sold during ice skating).
For questions, growers can always call the Besseling experts, who can be reached at: + 31 (0) 72 5719712
For more information:
Besseling Techniek
www.besselingtechniek.nl info@besselingtechniek.nl
