VanDiesel99

Anyone have problems with swivel fittings(such as those that come on some stock pressure hoses) leaking? I think the hot water I use may be burning up the oring or whatever keeps these types of fittings from leaking. I had to have new fittings put on the ends of all my hoses with swivel fittings. Also had to repair my thermostat because it had a swivel added to it. I can understand the hose swivels becoming damaged, but the thermostat swivel should have held up better in my opinion. Not a big issue, just curious about others' thoughts.

I have a K7 flow type which is definitely what I prefer. My cold machine has a pressure actuated and it scars up my QC's fast and is hard on everything. The swivels leak the most as I let off the trigger, the pressure is building up before the unloader releases it. I have changed out all my swivels, I was just curious why these would be used when they have a very short lifespan and are not easily replaced.

I use one of the stainless suttner swivels at my gun but not he hoses. One of the hoses that I had to replace both swiveling ends was a custom piece to run from my machine to my reel. It was immobile, I believe it was due to corrosion, the swivel actually develops leaks at the base and not the threads. The hot water probably just made the problem worse. They swivels just all happened to be start leaking when hot water was used.

Hey Alan, it only took me 295,328 tries but I have regained the championship belt! Does it show how many times I have played?

Honestly, I love this work right now. It gives me tremendous freedom. I am my own boss, I actually enjoy the work and recieve satisfaction from it. I am a fool for tools and equipment so it gives me a good excuse to buy as many tools as I can think of, and the bank to do so(+what I save in writeoffs). Did I mention I like being my own boss? Plus you can make as much as money as you can stand. If you want to work 18 hr days you can. I just recently landed a contract with a company that is renovating a group of convenience stores all over this side of the country. I have been working all night Fri and Sat nights traveling around this area cleaning the storefronts and pump islands. They have over 1000 stores, I don't have the list of the ones they are renovating but my contact said not to schedule anything anytime soon. If anyone is interested I may sub contract out some of the ones that are further away.

Actually, one of my uncles is the executive vp of Gray Construction and although he won't tell me what his salary is, when he was promoted from Operations manager they gave him a $80,000 raise. I am guessing he is around $160,000 a year. He is one correspondence class away from receiving a civil degree from UK, but claims his degree isn't needed now that he has advanced as far as he has. He knows engineering but only as reference information, not working knowledge. Anyway, after I have completed some courses I will make my decision. The civil degree is basically the CM degree with another year worth of courses. Regardless of what I do I plan on becoming a certified surveyor just because.

Snake and Asteroids... heh Actually... Engineering Mechanics(Statics), AutoCAD, Geology, and Calculus with Analytical Geometry. Currently majoring in Construction Management but may soon switch to Civil.

finals week

How about the the separation of politics and pressure washing? :)

I carry a 24' werner heavy duty aluminum with me at all times. But I also have a 40' around just in case. Usually the 24' gets me where I am trying to go.

haha, I talked to the guy about them. He tried to sell me on $100 a piece for the areas in front of the 2 entrances. Thats not too hot considering it would take around 2 hours to do each one(give or take considering the amount of gum). Then consider the fact that you are going to have to travel to each location just to do these jobs(AT NIGHT). Then he threw in the fact that I would have to bring my own water to each job. Then a few days later he called me back and said that someone offered to do them at $75 a piece. :) He was kidding right??

Thats good information, thanks! I too had a problem starting my smalled 13.5 horse machine(pull rope start), in which I run the 30wt ND. Haven't yet made the switch but will be doing so soon. Probably change the oil in both machines so that the other machine's electric start isn't stressed too much.

Hey Rog, Are you just going to clean the trim and knock off the loose paint or try to get up close and personal and remove almost all the old paint? I have a job similar to that to bid and they haven't really specified what they want.

I use a non-braided hose but if the hose is warm at all it will suck itself closed and reduce the amount of chemical I am applying. I have been looking for some of the very fleixble green hose the x-jet came with as well with absolutely no luck. The rigid hose they sell most places will loosen up considerably when warmed but when its cold they are simply a nuisance. Wonder why that type of hose is so hard to come up with?

all those capitals make me dizzy Did you test to see if water would even come out that end of the spray bar(hold spray bar and engage unit). What kind of surfacer do you have?

The item was a 13hp pw'r. I paid through paypal(they recovered 9 dollars for me "thanks"). The item was over the limit that ebay would insure or whatever. The username was whiterodeo2001 but I got them removed from ebay immediately. I bought the item minutes before they got some really bad feedback. Was that the same item tim? If it was then you should of out bid me!! :)

I was ripped off for an item on ebay, and was wondering if they were the type of company that would track someone down for a situation such as this. I have already contacted the attorney general's office in that area, but they don't care. If I could find the person I would have a better time dealing with the problem without paying lawyer fees.

Hey Gunn, what kind of unloaders do you have on each machine?

Yea Mike, I was hoping that Flojet was going to work out because it sounded like good stuff. Your right 7+ gpm is too much chem, I would like for a steady 3gpm or so. The bypass idea would work but I hate to have another engine running while I am up on the roof. If would be nice if everything could be controlled remotely or by pressure switches and the like. Maybe my idea is flawed, I will see what I can come up with and get back to you guys about it. The shurflo would work too but I would just like to be able to coat the roof quicker.

100 ft of hose is not always going to reach where you need it. What if you were on a three story roof and you couldn't reach the other side? You would have to get down, move your dolly around to the other side of the house then get the chem line up the other side of the house. I am assuming your setup is on a hand dolly. I have been using the x-jet from on top of the roof, so the distance it shoots is irrelevant. And I am really looking for something in the 3 gpm range.

I am debating on how I am going to setup my roof cleaning pump/setup. Right now I use the x-jet for the roofs I do, but its nothing but a pain. It gets the job done but it can't draw the chemical up to the roof from the ground, so I have to take 5 gallon bucket up on the roof(not fun). Then I have an extra hose to work with while on the roof(not fun). Then everything gets a fine mist of sodium hydroxide on it(not good). I have not yet experimented with the shurflo pumps but I have heard they have a problem pushing the chemical great distances(150-200ft) without losing a lot of flow. I need at least 2-3 gallons per minute at the peak of a roof. The problem is I can't really get that flow rate without using something like a roller pump with a gas engine setup. The problem with that is, once your up on the roof you don't want to get back down for any reason(such as turning off the extra gas engine). Plus the extra maintainence and worry involved with another engine. One idea I had, was using an electric motor/roller pump that I could plug into the polarized outlet on my skid unit. That way once I climb up on the roof I can use my remote to start the pw'r then the roller pump is ready to roll. Since its an electric motor there is little/no maintainence and it won't have to be shut down after I apply the chem. My problem is that I know very little about electrical applications. What would be compatible and what wouldn't. How the roller pump and motor would act when not in use, what kind of switches(pressure/flow) the roller pump has. If this setup would even work or not. Any helping hints would be appreciated.

Recently purchased a "Power booster" so that I could link my two machines together to run my surface cleaner more efficiently. The power booster is basically two hoses with one way valves that merge into one out hose. I have a hot 4.8 GPM 3000 PSI and a cold 4.0 gpm 3000 PSI. The hot has a flow actuated unloader and the cold has a pressure actuated unloader. When I connect them and try to run the surface cleaner, the cold/pressure actuated machine kicks on but the hot/flow actuated machine never builds up pressure. Will putting a k7 flow actuated on the cold machine remedy this problem? I know it will work with two pressure actuated unloaders, but I won't be removing the k7 from the large machine. Any other suggestions would be appreciated, Thanks!

I never actually hooked it up to the surface claner because I didn't have the larger tips. What I did was use a very large oriface 0 degree tip that should have been more than both machines together could max out. I do see what your saying about the surface cleaner tips they would have to be rated for the 8.8 gpm it would theoretically would be pushing. I also tried it with a 80 degree size 11 tip that I had to try for roof cleaning.

Anybody see anything wrong with this?

I had a job similar to that except there were eighteen decks, they were all on the second story and were only accessible through the apartment to which they were attached. They were about 120 sq ft a piece for a total of 2160 sq ft, plus they were all spindled. They didn't specify whether they wanted it sprayed or brushed, the decks where up against brick and had a concrete pad below them. My bid was $2800 and I didn't get the job(and they really needed it). I felt like that was a very fair bid considering the circumstances. This was last year and they still haven't got them taken care of, my guess is all the estimates seemed too high, oh well.