Michael

Hey Beth and Rod, Just stopped in to help a friend. His name is Chris and he is one of the best service techs I know, anywhere. He is getting into the soap business and so far is buying complete as opposed to kits. Can you help him???? He can be reached off the board at watertech@tcc.on.ca He will prolly be joing the board to learn about the chemical side and offer advice on the service side.... he was the source of a lot of my "wisdom" in years past. Cheers, Michael

Aww you are all too kind. My legend status is merely good PR and listening to what you guys said. Sure hope you can help out Chris. Cheers, Michael

An Open Letter: To all of you who have let me prattle on about what little I may know, I thank you. As with anything in life the end comes to us all. In this case I am leaving Epps Products to pursue another opportunity that has presented itself. I will no longer be posting to any BBS nor reviewing them effective December 31, 2003. I continue to believe in the pressure washers I have sold through my dealers and will always feel a fondness for them all as well as you. Even Mr. Allison. My best wishes to success for all in the future and health and happiness for you and your families. Thank you again for your kindness and support. Hope I have helped? Cheers, Michael Stilwell

An Open Letter: To all of you who have let me prattle on about what little I may know, I thank you. As with anything in life the end comes to us all. In this case I am leaving Epps Products to pursue another opportunity that has presented itself. I will no longer be posting to any BBS nor reviewing them effective December 31, 2003. I continue to believe in the pressure washers I have sold through my dealers and will always feel a fondness for them all as well as you. Even Mr. Allison. My best wishes to success for all in the future and health and happiness for you and your families. Thank you again for your kindness and support. Hope I have helped? Cheers, Michael Stilwell

Even though it is a forced draft burner system it still requires proper flow of air in and out in order to burn efficiently. By restricting the exhaust stack you have effetively impinged the flame causing incomplete combustion and the sooting problem you are seeing. Always use a vent no smaller than the opening of the machine, larger is OK or even better. This applies to any fuel fired system be it a fireplace or furnace et al. Hope this helps? Cheers.

ALL pumps are positive displacement....this means they move the same amount of water every stroke at a set RPM. ALL pumps are rated at maximum RPM for the weakest component. Overspeeding the pump will give you more GPM but WILL void the warranty. Direct-drive pumps run at 3450-3600 RPM, going any faster is not possible because of the limits put on the engines. Horsepower is directly related to flow, to get more of the latter you need more of the former. Using a formula for Electric Brake Horsepower (an international standard of measure) you arrive at the following... (Flow X Pressure) / 1,460 = EBHP (6 X 3000) / 1,460 = 12.33 ELECTRIC horsepower. In order to get to a "real world" comparison you must multiply that number by 1.5 to arrive at gasoline engine horsepower required or 18.5 hp; which you do not have. Some people will try and convince you to use a slightly different version of that formula (Flow X Pressure) / 1,100 to allow for the diffences in relative efficiency. DO NOT USE IT. This formula is based on theoretical performance figures with every component working to theoretical perfection in standard conditions. There are no international standards regarding gasoline engine performance; just look at the difference in SAE, DIN and JAS horsepower figures for automobile engines. Hope this helps? Cheers.

Well this weekend Canada will play the 91st Grey Cup emblematic of professional football superiority. Yes, 91 years of Grey Cup, what is the Super Bowl at now? 38 or so? Got some catching up to do. Real men only need three chances to make 10 yards. Real men play on a field 5 yards wider, 10 yards longer and with 20 yard deep end-zones so that passing is still very much a weapon inside the 5. Real men do not force Referees to do the 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Faeries' because we do not have a touch-back rule. If the ball is kicked into the end-zone on anything other than a kick-off the receiving team must get the ball out of the end-zone or they will lose 1 point. In polite society that is called a rouge. Real men do not have the opportunity to wave their hand up in the air effectively saying, "Please don't hit me, I just want to catch the ball." In the CFL you must give the receiver 5 yards to catch the ball and he must catch it. As soon as he touches the ball it is live. Real men play with 12 players and the offense can have up to 4 men in motion prior to the snap. Real men play defense 1 yard off the ball so they have to work harder to keep the goal line safe. Real men play outdoors in Regina in Novemberrrrr. Latitiude is 50 26'N, Green Bay's 'frozen tundra' is only 44 29'N or about 6 degrees S or ~415 miles SOUTH of Regina, this year's Grey Cup city. Regina is expected to be -2C at game time which is unseasonably warm because last week it was a more seasonable -20C (-4F). Regina is 200,000 people but an additional 20,000 have arrived from around the world. People are having to stay 2 hours away so many Reginans have opened their doors to allow for 'Home Stay'. Let's see that happen in any Super Bowl city? Oh, yeah our balls are bigger too. Just ask Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia, Warren Moon, Joe Theisman to name a few with Grey Cup rings or Bud Grant, you might have heard of him too. If you can find ESPN 2 (I think they are carrying it, if not find the CBC if you live near the 'longest undefended border in the world') on Sunday and watch the 91st Annual Grey Cup game from Regina. 18 of the last twenty years the game has not been decided until the last play of the game, the way a football championship should be decided. The above definitely does not reflect the position of the owners of this BBS, they are merely the rantings of a deranged Canadian football fan. Cheers. Pre-game preparations---> http://www.cfl.ca/CFLGallery03/1114_17.html

Delco is an old domestic name that was bought up by the Advantage Group from Denmark whose brands include KEW, WAP, Simpson, MSW and Delco, the cleaning division is called Alto. They were solidly built if lacking in some features and had a loyal following for many years. Unfortunately Alto did not support the Delco name and let it fall fallow for the last few years. A large KEW distributor on Long Island, NY bought the Delco name from Advantage. As I understand it the General Manager is located in Virginia and production is in Arkansas. There are not many dealers and those that there were appeared to be less than happy with the Vortex style coils (so I have heard). IMHO there seems to be potential for danger with the flow chart above and I have heard that deliveries are in the 6 week range. I wish nothing but success for their endeavour but for the last 2 years every manufacturer has seen their sales decrease with the reduction in economic activity. The above information is factual to the best of my knowledge but if you wish you can PM me and I can put you in touch with the owner of Delco. Hope this helps? Cheers.

The PSI rating of any pump is based on the ability of the weakest component of the pump to withstand the pressure over a given time without failing. In other words it is the ability of the pump to resist the forces of the pressure. Where does the pressure come from? I will get to that in a moment. Every piston or wobble plate pump is a positive displacment system. Every stroke of the piston will displace the same amount of water. RPM will determne how many of these units of volume will be pumped. Engineers determine the safe effective working parameters for all of the moving components based on longevity of the components and their ability to withstand the stresses imposed by moving an incompressible fluid. Essentially what you have is a hydraulic pump. All pumps are rated at a set RPM to provide rated GPM/Litres. They also allow for a +/- of 10% minimum and still considered within specification. They are also rated without a nozzle in place. Now where does the pressure come from? Have you ever put your thumb over the end of your garden hose to get more power? Well, the tip provided by the manufacturer is nothing more than a piece of hardened steel with a very precise hole in the end to provide resistance to flow, therefore increasing the pressure. Using a soap nozzle will demonstrate the pressure lowering available from a larger orifice. The nozzle chart will show you what your 'actual' GPM and pressure are for a given orifice. Refer to the excellent chart here http://www.arnorthamerica.com/spraynozzlechart.html to see what the different sizes will give. Over-speeding a pump will lower it's life expectancy and void all warranties. For future conversion reference please use the following formulae... 1 bar = 14.5038 PSI 1 litre = 0.264 US Liquid gallons 1 US Liquid gallon = 3.7854 litres Hope this helps? Cheers.

Well, it loads OK on my Mac but I am finding the buttons taking really wierd space on my Safari browser. The look is very Mac though so I am grooving on it. Look forward to the updates and improvements. Cheers

Kinda makes me wonder what was the greatest thing before sliced bread?

Well it is that time again and we are looking at products for new production. Long question short I am looking to find out what you want in a skid mount or portable pressure washer. Volume Flow Power source Burner Features Options Etcetera Thanks in advance for your posts. There is no guarantee we will do any of it but I am looking for your input. Cheers.

Any flexible coupling is less efficient than a direct drive or a well set up belt drive. The main advantage of a belt drive is to separate the two components to reduce thermal transfer and extend the life of each component by allowing them to rotate at their optimal RPM. Hope this helps? Cheers

Kohler did have a series of engines that were built for them by a Japanese supplier but they turned out to be more expensive than the domestic production. Briggs will admit that the Vanguard is a superior engine to their domestic production Intek/IC et al. Honda does have the deck stacked in their favour when it comes to warranty so follow the rules religiously regarding oil changes and maintenance. Hope this helps? Cheers.

He is kind of correct...Honda does not make the same extreme high quality engine they used to do. They still make a quality product though. They are a mature manufacturer in a mature market so it is possible they are making component decisions that they would not have made years ago. Kohler is usually a torque monster by comparison and a North American built brand. The Vanguard is built under license for Briggs in Japan not far from the old Honda engine plant. Either of them have had their problems with oil seals, lifters, pistons et al. Honda has just moved a lot if not all of their engine production to Taiwan. Robin builds highly durable engines and I believe they are also one of the very few with full OHC engines. Kawasaki makes arguably the best small industrial engine on the market. In all, Honda has a well deserved reputation and other manufacturers are building quality products now as well. The decision really gets down to parts and service availability which for some areas may not be as good as others. Hope this helps? Cheers.

Selling is done by every person every day in every contact. It starts in infancy witha cry for a bottle and ends with choosing our final disposition. The difference between what everyone does and what a salesman does is the ultimate direction of the result. The world's best negotiators are children but at some point we choose to ignore the ability and become doctors. lawyers, firemen et al. Selling runs the world, NOTHING begins without someone selling it. Water is sold to the municpality who sells it to you who sells it to your customer who sells it to the cheque signer. In other words selling, consciously entered into is nothing more than a process result of what we do with every contact every day. If you have identified a need for your service, listened for and accepted the information garnered from your questions and objections then the end result is a natural sale. Natural selling is doing nothing different from any other situation. It is merely a recognition that what you are doing is actively providing solutions to problems. Uncover the problem, even if the customer is unaware of it, provide a solution and the result is an agreement to continue. For years the top ten reasons why people buy have been split; the top five relate directly to the salesman, the bottom five to the product. Know that what you sell is you, your knowledge and expertise. ABC has never worked (Always Be Closing). COnsultative selling is the latest soft word for hammering the heck out of your customer with contrived pitches. You sell your spouse on the idea of where to go tonight. You sell your dog on how to respond to commands, et al. I was taught a lesson years ago I will never forget... The technical purchaser for a large company bought a new CNC machine this morning, after lunch they bought some wrenches and on the way home purchased a dress. Three distinctly different purchases, the same person. People buy to satisfy them. When they use price as a stumbling point then you have not uncovered their true needs yet. Price is the last component of the sales process and usually the least negotiated. Remember selling is a natural process of what we do every day with every contact. Actively listen, question to get clarification and information, understand and over deliver. Be yourself, just be aware that you have a goal of determining the worth of your next contact to the quality of life you wish to have. I sugest you go to web sites like other professional salesmen do...http://www.salesmgmt-ezine.com/default.htm or http://www.justsell.com/content/articles/brodow001.htm or http://www.sellingpower.com/homepage/index.html?1058883795740 or http://www.briantracy.com/ There are literally hundreds of sites, these are one's I use every day. Just like being a professional contract cleaner a professional sale requires study, planning, work, knowledge and curiosity. Hoipe this helps? Cheers.

:o Thanks folks just wanna help. I keep hoping that someone will buy what we build but helping the industry (hope I do that?) pays for everyone. :p Besides I have a reputation to uphold :)