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jakeman

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Posts posted by jakeman


  1. I have had quite a few people ask me to wash one side of their house. I used to just say no but now I will quote the one wall at 75% of the whole house wash and give them the price for the whole house. Most people get the whole house done. I would not drive too far out of my way to do a quote like this since the homeowners in cases like this are usually trying to get it done as cheap as possible.


  2. Most commercial jobs around here won't hire you without workmans comp. Even alot of homeowners want to know you have it. I have found it to be very helpful in getting jobs and also getting a better price for those jobs. Since most part-timers around don't bother with insurance I make sure I educate all potential clients on the hazards of using an uninsured contractor. Also if you get seriously hurt on the job you will be glad you have workers comp. I only have to pay about $100 a month for it .


  3. I bought a 5.6 gpm a few months ago after having smaller machines for the last 4 years. The difference is amazing. I would never go back to anything less than 5.6. I would love to move up to 8 gpm but then water supply would be a problem. Even doing house washes with my 5.6 I am glad I have a 500 gal. water tank because some house taps don't keep up.


  4. When I quote a house wash I will include the siding, windows, vinyl decks and the outside of the gutters. If the customer wants other things like the inside of the gutters or concrete done I will charge extra. Lots of people try to get freebies by saying , oh while you're here could you throw in the driveway. If it is something that will only take a few minutes I will do it for good p.r. Otherwise I will explain that because what they are asking will take extra time there will be an additional charge. Hope this helps.


  5. I just set up my new rig. I have a 5.6gpm, 3500psi hot water Alkota with a 525 gal. water tank. My problem is that when drawing water from my tank and upstreaming soap is not getting drawn from my chem tank. When I bypass my tank and hook the water up to my machine it does draw up soap. I put a small 12 volt diaphram pump with auto shut off on my chem line and was able to draw soap but it also filled my tank with soap when I released my gun trigger. I then installed a check valve right after my tank but for some reason the water will not flow through my check valve. (no it's not on backwards.) I'm at my wits end and any suggestions would appreciated. Thank You.


  6. The SC30008KAF is not set up to draw chems before the pump, but could be modified to do so. You would have to route your bypass back to the pump and install a chem valve on the suction side of the pump.

    Thanks Russ, I am going to call Hydrotek and ask them about this to make sure it can be done without harming or overheating the pump. Sounds like the Hydrotek is a pretty good unit and would be good for what I will be doing.


  7. Most folk don't want to risk strong chems going through their pumps via upstreaming as they believe it hurts the packings.. I would tend to agree, better be safe then sorry.

    Design and sales of equipment for to upstream weaker chems is common though.. i.e- Hotsey

    P.S.- I think maybe the bypass is reverted to either a float tank or after the float tank in a small simple loop.

    I'll check that out. Thanks for the tips.


  8. Hi everyone. This is my first time posting anything so I hope I am doing it right. I've been browsing this site for a couple months and have learned alot . Thanks everyone. Ihave been doing mostly residential cold water washing for about 5yrs full time and I am upgrading from my cold water machines to a hot water unit and have recieved alot of conflicting information from different salasmen trying to sell their product. Right now I am leaning toward an Alkota 5.3 gpm, 3500psi, 600,000 btu machine with a 20 hp Kohler engine. It is a gas engine with a deisel fired burner.

    I will be putting it in a 14ft cube van with a 650 gallon water tank. I am planning to use it to wash heavy equipment and trucks etc... Any advice or tips would sure appreciated. Thanks.

    P.S. What do you guys think of a 2 gun system running off 1 machine?

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