Dealing with no hinges on fans

[omoorea]

I have a very large client that just hired my company to handle exhaust cleaning for my region. There are multiple hoods in every restaurant, all requiring extra TLC due to the previous hood cleaner just putting up stickers. However, every one of their stores has at least one old 4-ft diameter upblast fan with no hinges and sometimes INTERNAL electric conduit. Sometimes these are bolted/screwed down to the stack. I have still been trying to clean the stack underneath these fans, but have had some really close calls with ripping out the electrical. Because of electrical work required, I really doubt this company will spring for hinge kits (also the volume of kits they would have to buy). Assuming I cannot get them to go for the hinge kit...Would you guys continue to risk ripping out the electrical, or just note "inaccessible area" in your service report? Doing shoddy work is not an option for me, and I am curious how you other guys have handled this before.

[REaster]

You will get mixed opinions on this one. Cleaning these systems and putting your sticker on them makes you liable if anything happens and you haven't been cleaning them completely. Very rarely have I cleaned a system that was installed correctly. If you can make the system accessible then you should do so, or talk with the customer to have them contract the correct contractors to do the additional work. This is my personal opinion. When marking the inaccessible areas on your hood sticker, be prepared to document, photograph, and explain these areas completely. If the worst happens you better hope that your documentation is going to hold up in court. If they truly appreciate the fact that you are servicing these systems to the standard they need, they should be willing to make the necessary changes, if not walk. Again, my personal opinion. Good Luck

[Douglas Hicks]

OOmarea, you might get a better response if you told us more about yourself.

[omoorea]

Ron: Thanks for your insight.

Douglas: Point taken. Here goes. I reside in west Georgia (close to Alabama), and have recently started up my own business, and things are going well so far. I actually have a bunch of friends in the industry, so I went the "labor for learning" route getting started. Another friend of mine heard I was in the KEC business, and hired me to work under his company for a while. Long story short, he decided to get out of hood cleaning, and he recommended to his customers that that use me. Some did, some didn't, but 1st Impression Commercial Services was born... Currently, I am at the stage where I do the work at night and then look for more business in the daytime. I found this site a few months back, and have used it as encouragement/insight in some of the more trialsome periods in getting my business running. Thought it was time that I registered with TGS. I look forward to chatting with everyone in the months and years to come.

[dodsonish]

Good luck with your new business. Hinges or walk. Call Driploc for the greatest hinges in the world.

[Douglas Hicks]

you might think about a name change. Commercial Services is a company that some think of a low-baller.

Don't believe every thing the Josh tells you. Personally, I would call Scott at Drip Loc for a hinge kit. I think I will call him today and order more hinge kits, and some expensive magnets and a filter kit for a chinaman. My chinaman is one of two I work for.

[envirocleanermann]

I have a very large client that just hired my company to handle exhaust cleaning for my region. There are multiple hoods in every restaurant, all requiring extra TLC due to the previous hood cleaner just putting up stickers. However, every one of their stores has at least one old 4-ft diameter upblast fan with no hinges and sometimes INTERNAL electric conduit. Sometimes these are bolted/screwed down to the stack. I have still been trying to clean the stack underneath these fans, but have had some really close calls with ripping out the electrical. Because of electrical work required, I really doubt this company will spring for hinge kits (also the volume of kits they would have to buy). Assuming I cannot get them to go for the hinge kit...Would you guys continue to risk ripping out the electrical, or just note "inaccessible area" in your service report? Doing shoddy work is not an option for me, and I am curious how you other guys have handled this before.

The bottom line here is they need to be educated on WHY there fans need hinges and then show then the problem and offer a solution.
Can you get an electrician to work with you on the really problematic ones?? I have some of these accounts like you do and i worked up a schedule and a price for each store to get them done- no they will not get them done all at once but a few here and there beats none at all......

[omoorea]

Thanks to all who replied. I took care of this a few weeks ago. I took a bunch of pictures of a fan that I had to take off and flip backwards on the roof to clean. The pictures were worth a thousand words... he told me to proceed with the hinges as needed from now on. He also gave me a few more stores!