Don Phelps

Hi Shane, A larger tip allows less stricted flow, reducing back pressure. The wrong orifice size is why some have problems with their 12v pump cycling back and forth. There can be other causes, but it's usually related to having a tip size that's too small. The easiest way to prove it is to simply hook a length of 3/8" hose to a 12v pump and turn it on. With an open end of hose, it'll usually run until the battery dies. Sometimes the pump will get too hot first, but that's usually due to a smaller pump size or bad wiring. Put a small tip on it and it'll usually start cycling. With the correct size tip, when the wand/gun is opened, the 'on-demand' pump comes on and when it's closed it simply shuts off. Again, larger hose will work, but it's not necessary if everything is set up correctly. If it were, we would all be dragging 5/8" or 3/4" pressure hose around too.

Interesting.....Why is it that 8-10 gpm flows through 3/8" hose just fine? I know what some will try to argue, but the answer isn't in the hose size, it's the tip size that ultimately matters. It's all about back-pressure and how it's handled. Overly aggressive chat about 5/8" hose has some fooled, but the reality is it's heavier, can cause more damage when being dragged over certain areas and is somewhat of a falsehood with regard to 12v pumps. Will it work? Absolutely. Is it necessary? No.

Between your skids and your truck, you should be very well versed in diesel issues and repair.....A pro in no time! Ps....Never mix calcium hypochlorite and diesel. :lgwave:

I just sold my APW skid too. It's no wonder they're now defunct.....Those things were crap! I feel like I'm selling 2 of them. Chappy bought the first one I had after I turned it back in for a new one with only 41 hours on it. It had broken down four times in those 41 hours and after explaining the legal ramifications to all parties involved I got another one, which sucked almost as bad as the first. Hopefully the spell has been broken. I've only mentioned this once before on the internet, but got accused of slander for stating the facts. It's funny how some of the unscrupulous try to manipulate things.

I'm not down with the old fat ones, but the smokin', hair up, intellectual ones with the glasses can run my country anytime!

No! The eyelet is for lifting the burner coil off the unit.

That's a great idea, Jeff. Everytime we get caught in a downpour, the first thing I think is "What's it doing to my skid?" It was good to hook up with you and your employee. I'm glad you guys made it back home with no problems. Good luck with the new rig! :)

I think it sends the wrong message.

John, These are the pumps that we use. They'll handle chlorine all day long. http://www.cds-johnblue.com/featured...ctDP43GRPC.htm

It wouldn't hurt the skylites, but many times a ShurFlo simply won't produce the psi and volume to shoot it like that. If we were cleaning this roof, we would either walk it with fall gear or shoot it from the ground in some places and from a ladder in others. That being said, we use gas-powered diaphragm pumps that shoot quite a distance and deliver as much as 4 gpm. Most guys on this board and others don't use these pumps because they're expensive and hard to justify when they don't clean that many roofs. Some of these guys that use x-jets on roofs consider themselves fast, but it's all relative. They have their routine down. Which is good, but they have nothing else to compare it to. They're not really as fast as they might think. :)

Based on what you've stated so far, I don't think you have the right equipment or experience for the job. If you don't have a good feeling about it, maybe consider passing on this one. Putting money before safety can be costly.

You've left us with a somewhat vague post. I'm assuming that you're asking about cleaning the roof since it's nasty, but for all we know you're asking about how to approach doing a house wash since it appears to be just as bad. Let us know what you're attempting to clean and what equipment you have for the job and we can help you.

Our water toys are listed on ebay if anyone is looking for some good, wet fun. :lgbugeyes http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270022030967&ru=http://motors.search.ebay.com:80/270022030967_W0QQfromZR40QQfviZ1

I thought that was supposed to be an alien 'wand.'

Thanks for the good words, Wayne! Tom, As Wayne said, he purchased a 12 volt 5.6 gpm hotwater skid from us in December. Mike Williamson also got his 8 gpm 120 volt hotwater skid from us. There's also another board member here who is currently setting up his new rig with a 5.6 gpm hotwater skid from us. I'll let him make his own annoucement about his new business whenever he's ready. The point being that our prices are extremely competitive! If I can be of service, feel free to give me a call. Don

'Achilles Last Stand' ---Led Zeppelin This has turned into a popular game. It started on CleaningTalk.com then Russ started it over on *** and here it is.

Great lookin' kids, Bruno! When are you gonna bring 'em down to the Mouse House in Orlando?

Here is a copy of an email I received. If anyone in the area is interested, contact Javier. Hi, my name is Javier Gregson. I work for commercial services. I am emailing you because our company is currently looking for someone who does surface cleaning. We have been given a contract to do surface cleaning for all the Cracker Barrels. We wanted to know if your company would be interested in doing some surface cleaning for us for some Cracker Barrels in the Florida area. We just need a little more information. So if you could, please fill out the following questionnaire and reply to me as soon as you can. I also attached some information about what the surface cleaning for Cracker Barrel would entail. It would require that each Cracker Barrel be cleaned every 3 months at $200 service. Javier Gregson Commercial Services 2443 St. Johns Bluff Rd Jacksonville, FL 32246 1800-359-7083x111 jgregson@commercialservices.cc

This time of the year we have to schedule work to start earlier in the day for two reasons. The heat AND the rain. The heat is ridiculous and the thunder storms pop up out of nowhere in the afternoons. They might last ten minutes, or three hours.

2,000-3,000 psi/#9 3,000-4,000 psi/#13 4,000-5,000 psi/#16 If you're borderline, you would probably want to go with the smaller one for your machine due to psi loss from hose length, etc.

I always pictured you as more of a 'union jack' print speedos kind of a guy. :lgbounces

Hi Dustin, If it's what I think you're talking about, it is used to help hold the metal insert in place that's specific to your machine size.....#9, #13 etc. It might stay in place for a while without it..

I just heard and watched the shuttle come back to the Cape. I've never explored what caused the sonic boom(s) associated with it's landing. This is what I managed to dig up.....Very interesting stuff! As an aircraft, rocket, car or even ducks move through the air they cause pressure waves in the air that radiate out in all directions at the speed of sound. In the left illustration a vehicle (arrow) is moving to the left at subsonic speed and slightly catches up to the sound waves in front of it and leaves the trailing waves behind it. At the speed of sound (Mach 1) shown in the middle illustration, the vehicle is traveling fast enough to catch up with all of the forward radiating sound waves, forming a strong pressure wave normal to the vehicle. This is the pressure wave that destroyed many aircraft before the flight of the X-1 in 1947. If the vehicle has the proper design and has enough power to penetrate the shock wave by exceeding the speed of sound, it can out run the shock wave which then bends back to form a strong shock cone. When this cone reaches observers on the ground or at track side, the sudden change in pressure as the wave passes causes a sonic boom. Large vehicles such as the space shuttle and the Concord supersonic airliner have a second distinct shock cone that forms from the rear of the vehicle caused by the air back filling the void left behind the plane or car. When this happens we hear double sonic booms spaced about a second apart. As the vehicle passes through Mach 1 the pilot or driver senses a sudden silence because they are outrunning all air noise. However, when they return to subsonic speed they experience great noise as the shock wave(s) catch up and pass the vehicle. I have had the opportunity to experience many sonic booms at Edwards Air Force Base in California, including the landing space shuttles and many supersonic fighter aircraft. The greatest boom that I have ever experienced was when the giant XB-70 bomber went supersonic at 40 thousand feet above the air base. The double sonic booms were like fireworks going off next to your ears. The B-70 was designed to ride up on the shock cone to gain extra energy from the wave, just as a surfer rides up on a breaking water wave. Surprisingly, ducks fly in V formations with the lead duck setting up pressure vortices in the air in a V shaped wave. The other ducks in the formation ride the V wave and use only one half of the energy to fly that the lead duck must use. The aerodynamics for low speed flight are very different than that of supersonic flight, but many of the concepts and mathmatical models are similar.

"Choking the the valve!" :)

We had a situation where we could've gotten 1/3 up front for a commercial roof job. I was hungry to work for their company and wanted to show them that we could cover it one way or the other, so I laid out the dough and took full payment after completion. As Jon said, it gets a little stressful with that kind of cash out. But I think it makes a statement about someone's company when you show them what you're capable of from a financial standpoint. They then knew I had the financial resources to work on a large scale job.