RyanH

Same pressure. Different flowrates are okay. I think it would be a 100% increase in flowrate if the machines are identical and the water sources are equivalent. 100 horses have twice the power as 50, but the whole lot can still run only as fast as one.

A subcontractor is basically an employee that is classified as a non-employee for tax purposes. They are generally self-supervised and have their own system of doing things and the only requirement is that they meet your expectations of job quality. The concept of sub-contracting can be very beneficial if you do it right. Done incorrectly it can be more work and less profits. Suppose you see a lot of potential for house painting and you are in a position to land many jobs doing this. Unfortunately for you, you rock as a deck restorer but suck as a painter. You can find a painter who does really good work but is not booming on the number of accounts he has. You find the jobs, quote and close them yourself, then pay him a percentage of your quote to do all of the work. The caveat is that you are not directly supervising him and you take a hands-off approach to how he does his work. He is also not bound to work only for you....he can work either for himself or others since he is not employed by you. You profit because you get paid for doing virtually nothing, they benefit because you are providing job leads they would otherwise not have. If you are a good salesman and can sell the job, and convince the painter to do the job at a cheap enough rate, you can profit. Hell, even $100 just to close the deal is not bad. The benefits to you is you are not responsible for maintaining the sub-contractor's records for taxes and you don't have to file a W2 on them, just a 1099. You write off the amount you pay him as an expense and you pay taxes on your percentage of the cut. If you want to be a sub-contractor, then flip everything I said around to put yourself in the contractor's shoes. It gives you freedom in that you are being your own "boss" and keeps you from being tied down by a single employer. It also allows you to take a vacation when you want instead of being limited by a fixed number of days each year. A painting company could sub-contract a pressure washing job or deck job to you and you benefit in the ways mentioned above. Ryan H.

Wow. You're going to open Pandora's box with this type of an open-ended question. You'll get plenty of feedback from those more experience than myself on the ratios and concentrations of chemicals to use, so I'll skip that and try to give a little info on the differences in the chemicals. Chlorine is the most popular chemical to use to kill mildew, mold, moss, and various other types of living things on a surface. Chlorine itself is a gas at normal temperatures, so it is delivered in the form of a hypochlorite. The hypochlorite is paired with one of several other materials, typically sodium, calcium, and as has recentely been noted on another thread, lithium. The concept of using chlorine in this form is akin to getting an iron supplement through the form of a iron sulfate tablet (instead of scarfing down iron shavings or sucking on an iron pipe). Bleach from a store can be of many forms. Institutional bleach generally contains mostly water and sodium hypochlorite and is used specifically for disinfecting surfaces. Laundry bleach contains the sodium hypochlorite and some other surfactants (soaps) to help dislodge dirt/grease and bleach out stains (and any other color with which it comes in contact). Outdoor bleach (like that made by Clorox) contains the hypochlorite but also contains specialized soaps to help break up the dirt and other undesireables from surfaces you are likely to find outside. It also contains materials that help to quickly break the hypochlorite down into basic salts (like sodium chloride) so as not to adversely affect the environment. The reason people here (and elsewhere) use specialized chemicals is because these store-bought brands are generally too weak and expensive to use in a business. The reason for using a 10% or 12% chlorine bleach is because you are buying the "good stuff" and not having to pay for alot of water, and a 30 gallon container of 10% bleach is as effective as a 60 gallon container of 6% bleach (available in stores). Why pay shipping on water? Other chemicals contain specialized soaps and surfactants that will allow better cleaning depending upon the surface being cleaned. This is where you will get many opinions. As a general guideline, you want to mix your chemicals such that your end concentration is adequate to do the job. That may sound ambiguous....that's because it is. Experience will tell you how much you need on a certain job. As an example, I like to make my solution such that the final concentration going onto the house (after mixed with water from my pump) is approximately 0.5% to 1% chlorine and about 0.2% tsp, if I use any at all, on a lightly mildewed vinyl house with normal dirt accumulation. These numbers will vary wildly depending upon surface and severity of dirt. That's pretty much the rundown on chlorine. There is much more when you start talking about acids, percarbonates, silicates, ect. There have been many discussion threads in the past covering various chemicals and their uses/applications. Try reading some of them in between updates to this thread and you are likely to find answers to almost every question you have. Ryan H.

Fiberglass handcart with pneumatic tires (6 or 8" I believe). Capable of holding [more weight than you can put in a 30 gallon container] with ease. Only metal parts are the handle itself and a few bolts holding everything together (nothing else to rust or corrode). Mid $30's at The Home Depot (may vary by geography). This cart combined with a 15 - 20 gallon chemical container (I picked mine up from a dumpster somewhere....used to hold a citrus degreaser) makes a very good setup.

Has anyone tried either the Tornado Air Mover or the K&N Filter in their vehicle for improved gas mileage? I have a friend who documented everything and found the Tornado to give him a 2mpg improvement in his Chevy 3500 extended cargo van. My Ram 1500 (rather, my wallet) is lucky to get 12 mpg (typically around 11.5 alone, 10.8 with trailer) and I would like to do something to pick this up, and one success story isn't enough to fully convince me that it is widely applicable. Any experience on either of these?

I think my problem with the gutter cleaner (tool) I have is not so much the attachment itself as it is the application. MOST people around here wait until they have plants growin in their gutters or the gutters are flowing over before calling for help. The pine straw, leaves, dirt, ant beds, bird nests, and snake skin (things I have found in gutters) tend to make a dense weave and make it very difficult to easily clean them. Cleaning by hand is the only thing I've been able to do. But again, this will vary according to geography and habits of the people in an area. The mess is too dense to blow out, and there is too much to move it from one end of the gutter to the other. Fortunately I don't get much of a call to clean out the gutters (most of my target areas use gutter guards which work pretty well for the types of foliage around here), so it's not a problem.

Georgia claims to have the lowest tax on fuel......oil companies claim that the two largest factors affecting their prices are taxes and oil costs......oil costs from suppliers are constant across the country (I presume).....then why in the world would South Carolina (where I'm spending the weekend) have gas $0.15 CHEAPER on the gallon than Georgia!!!!!!!! Who is lying? I think the companies in Georgia are trying to screw the customers out of some money. Oh well.

15.35 mpg in city driving. My wife is getting tired of me stopping by a gas station every 100 miles. Damn, how about that Tornado!!!!

And as a bonus, if you have any hint of mental disorders (bipolarity, for example), prolonged exposure to this product should surely straighten you out!!!! :) (not serious.....don't try this, PLEASE!!!) Ryan H.

If there is any dirt/dust/furry things from the trees, using water to clean *out* the gutters will make a big mess. You will notice stuff getting on the outside of the gutters and house (both of which will require rinsing). Possibly windows and surrounding areas as well, like has been said. If the gutters have streaks or dirt on them, upsell your service and clean the outside with Gutter Zap (or another gutter capable cleaner...I like Purple Power). best to leave the inside to hand cleaning or a blower. There are bent adapters for cleaning gutters with your wand and you can do it from the ground....worst $30 I've ever spent on equipment (in my opinion). Ryan H.

Results thus far. I did a 330 mile road trip and broke it up into a few parts. Previous mileage without the Tornado was 12.45 miles per gallon on the interstate. With the Tornado, I've averaged 16.35 miles per gallon.....clearly an improvement. After 2100 miles the gizmo will have paid for itself ($70). These numbers are averages of the three broken up parts to try and provide a good number and take into account for variances in humidity and temperature. There was about a 20% difference in humidity and 15 degree F temperature difference between the starting and ending points and the three parts of the trip spanned those zones, so the numbers seem pretty much on. I'm a very satisfied customer. Ryan H.

I bought the Tornado and installed it yesterday. Going on a roadtrip over the weekend, so I will be documenting fuel consumption/mileage along the way. I'll let everyone know the results. Some background info on the truck for those who might have similar: 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab (heavier than standard) 5.7L HEMI avg. economy: 11.5 mpg (based upon actual distance and gas consumed, not onboard computer) 4.92 rear-end gearing ratio (I believe this is the proper term)

X-terior sells a solution called X-Crete that (from their description) would be ideal for this. Too bad you aren't in GA, I'd tell you to swing by this weekend and pick some up. I ordered a 5 gal bucket earlier this year and have most of it left. I tried it to get some brick mortar off an exterior door....it didn't work. I think the mortar was too thick and the chemical is made mostly for the powder from the concrete that has gotten wet and hardened. http://www.xterior.com/html/chemicals_2.html X-Crete is at the top of the page. Ryan H.

Similar experience in the janitorial side of my work...... Was in a hurry to clean some bathrooms and doused the urinals with bleach. That in itself was no big deal, but the bleach running off the urinals onto the floor caused quite a stink. ammonia + chlorine = RUN FAST!!! <RANT> Why is it that people who claim to be kick-ass hunters can't seem to hit a toilet bowl with any degree of accuracy and precision? With the degree to which they miss a toilet, I estimate that they would miss hitting a deer by about 100 yards. </RANT>

I think he means that when he injects chemicals with the Xjet, he loses distance. I've noticed the same thing with mine. I get a nice stream without chemicals, but with chemicals (or any kind of injection) the stream is reduced somewhat and has more spray and a reduced distance. I've checked for clogs or trash in the line and can't find anything. I just assumed it was a property of the Xjet. Distance on mine is reduced from about 40 ft to around 25-30, but like I said, I get more spray, which gets chemicals spread around more than I would like.

I've also wondered about the existance of such a device as well. I wouldn't mind it for something like roof cleaning where priming the hose is a problem or pulling around two hoses is a pain. It seems to me that a downstream port with an orifice the same size as that in the XJet would work. If anyone knows of one, please holler! Ryan H.

Diesel fuel contains some heavy organic contaminants and oils. K1 Kerosene would probably be a good choice for getting the tar up to begin with, and will (most likely) do a decent job of lifting the diesel contaminants. You could possibly flush the area with acetone instead.....there will be no residue from it. If the above sounded anymore uncertain or ambiguous (all of the "probablys" and "most likely s") it would have no merit at all!! :) Ryan H.

One idea that may work if you have limited options: Go to a local commercial location that has a loading dock (grocery store, dept. store, etc.) and talk to the manager about working out a deal. Clean his sidewalks for him (remove gum and dirt) for free if he will allow you about 15 minutes worth of his loading dock and access to a pallet jack. He can have one of his employees handle the pallet with your supervision (so he has no liability for your machine) and you have no liability for his property, since his workers are handling it. Loading docks are unused most of the day so there should be no problem with logistics. It just depends upon whether or not you can talk a good deal. If I were a store manager, I'd give 30 minutes of my employees minimum-wage time for a clean sidewalk. And, you may score some walk-up clients in the process of cleaning the store (and earn a future customer from the store itself). There's nothing to it but the way you do it! Ryan H.

Good info. I'm going to be trying a few new ideas soon involving cheap pumps and chlorine. I've already had success pulling the chlorine solution through a 60' hose and Xjetting onto the roof, although the concentration is a little less than desireable (only about a 10' rise, though, keeping consistent with what Paul said about Xjet's ability to prime at 10-12'). Electric pumps are cheap enough and can easily pump the volume I need. They have too low a pressure to send the stuff up on it's own, though. BUT, I've got a few ideas that might work. Pulling a bucket of the chlorine up to a rooftop seems very dangerous and difficult to me, especially on a roof where rappelling equipment is necessary. Currently I use a 25 gallon container on a hand truck (big, knobby tires) and position it in a good location to reach most of the roof then move it for the other side. Running a 100' line with a pump to provide additional pressure will be ideal.

How did the algaecide hold up over time? Did it remove the stuff from the roof without much rinsing? Also, how do you do your bleach solution? Just spray and leave it on, or rinse off (if rinsing, how long of a dwell time have you found that works best)? Ideally I would like to apply just before a heavy rain and leave it for the rain to wash off, but that is not always the case. Thanks for sharing! Ryan H.

Pool companies are now putting out chemicals that contain traces of either copper or zinc. Both are fantastic in retarding future growth of algae on a roof, but getting the stuff to stay on the roof would be a challenge I presume. And they're currently expensive. Owens Corning is putting out roofing products with copper-coated granules to prevent the growth of stuff on shingles. When I build a house one day, this is what I will go with.

Two different animals. X-Jet is basically a tip can be used to downstream chemicals into your water stream and put them pretty high up (some say 50ft., I'm usually around 30ft with my pressure washer). It weighs less than a pound of bananas and is an absolute MUST for convenience. It reduced my cleaning time by easily 50%. Extenda wand is an extension pole for reaching high places. You can put your tips on it and put high pressure on a high place. It can be a little fatiguing after awhile and requires patience and practice to become skillful with it. If you put your X-Jet on it, you can send the chemicals WAY up there, but the extra distance the chemicals must travel up the hose will affect the mixing ratios. For high reach cleaning, the Xjet is good for putting the chemicals up high and rinsing, but if you need to apply pressure (like on stone, brick, *real* stucco, etc.), then you will most likely need the extenda wand. Or atleast, that's what I've gathered from my experience. Just a note from my usage habits: Before I bought the Xjet, I used the extension wand on every house either higher than single story or with a chimney. Since I've had the Xjet, I've only had to pull the extension out once or twice to get some *really* stubborn water stains on a chimney (way up there). If you get an Xjet, get the M5.....that ability to change the stream pattern is thousands of times more valuable than the old style. Ryan H.

There are two "reasons" why bleach *may* be bad for shingles. The primary reason is the presence of sodium hydroxide (small amounts) in household bleach. Many claim that it acts as a degreaser and will dissolve the oils in the shingles and cause the grit to lose cohesion. You can get around this issue by using something like pool chlorine, which contains only water and chlorine. There are some *very* trace amounts of hydroxide in this, but only because of the properties of the chemicals involved.....not enough to even consider. The other reason is the affect of chlorine itself on substances. When exposed to sunlight and/or heat, chlorine can form free radicals and severely damage the integrity of stuff. In short, it changes the molecular structure of the substances with which it comes into contact. But this also happens in very small amounts and would require repeated application of a strong source of chlorine over a long period of time. If you drench a shingle in chlorine and bleach and leave it on a hot driveway for the day, and continue to do the same over a period of weeks, you will probably notice that the shingle becomes brittle and can break (old shingles will do this too after many many years). I think you're safe with a one-day application of a few hours dwelling time. Awhile back, Paul posted a link to a write-up by the ARMA on this issue. Here is the link: http://www.asphaltroofing.org/pdf/tb_217.pdf Ryan H.

Maybe try Goof-Off?

I'm not 100% positive on this, but I think it has to do with the transition from laminar (smooth) flow of water in your hose to a turbulent flow. When nothing is connected to your downstreamer port (chemical hose), you have some air entering the port, but the density difference between the air and water is so small it doesn't affect the flow of water, so the water gets a nice jet and a [much] farther distance. Introducing another liquid stream (your chemical) into your water stream disturbs the flow of your high pressure stream and causes some turbulence. There is also an energy drop because you are mixing a slow moving stream with a fast moving stream and some of the kinetic energy of the fast stream (from your pump) is lost, resulting in a lower exit velocity and a stream that doesn't travel as far. This is a pain in the butt when you have to get to those high places. Paul B., any insight on this? You seem to be up on this kind of stuff. Ryan H.