Beth n Rod

Innovative is, I agree a strong word and thats why I voted "not really". I mean you find the right stripper, you can DS it on and wash it off in a systematic fashion and be out of there before another contractor has refilled his pump up sprayer couple times. That's very time saving and perhaps takes awhile to find the right chems and suppliers but is it innovative? That may be subjective. To the guy with the pump up, maybe it is.

True, many techniques in this industry can remain the same for many years. If it's not broke don't fix it. A line that makes sense. But as manufactures develop new products, and equipment gets new features, old methods can be made more efficent. I have personally had customers in the biz many years tell me I helped turn their business around with products or equipment I introducted to them. The "wheel" can't always be re-invented, but it can be improved upon. Utilize your dealers and manufactures to learn of these improvments, and keep an open mind. Old habits tend to be hard to break, but if a something would make you more money, wouldn't you want that?!

I would think a new and improved cleaner or a stain are the only true horizons that could give my onsite time a jolt. I employ a cleaner w/power washing and apply a water cleanup stain[olympic] to achieve an in and out in one day program. beyond that I know that multiple decks in a day or a crew is out there but that is not innovative just more productive.

one of the ideas I had for improving my onsite time was a scaffold that attached to the deck and gave me a walk way on the outside of decks above 8 ft. I've looked into the possibility of a small cherry picker type hydraulic boom that I could tow with my 4 wheeler to the back yard. $$$ price of that would need me to be full time to make it cost effective. The one thing I might try is pump jacks like the siding guys use . They are portable and cheap. I turned 50 this year and realized I need innovation to make this work easier on my body. I'm just not ready to hire a helper. I currently use portable pressure washers with their own carts. Lugging all the equipment arround back is a chore. I am going to convert my garden cart to a pressure washing cart this winter to mount my equipment to and tow with my 4 wheeler. My homeowners association doesn't allow trailers to be parked outside . I have a landscape trailer for my lawn business that is in the garage that I use to haul my p-wash equip. I plan to store the p-wash cart in the shed and just drive it onto the trailer with the 4 wheeler. Save load time and back stress.

Thanks Paul! :groovy: You are most welcome.
Please don't hesitate to ask if there is anything else I can do for you.
Beth :groovy2:

There are no instructions to replace the seals. I also would not replace the unloader without testing it first.
The first thing to do, since you are not getting any prime out of the pump, is to hook it up to a hose for a pressure feed. Leave the hose off or disconnected for now. Turn the hose on as full as you can get it. Leave the machine off for now. After the garden hose is turned on all of the way, is there water coming out of the outlet? If there is, you know that you are getting a feed. If there is not, clean out the inlet filter. There are multiple varieties of these filters. They can be a simple screen that is where you attach the hose to the machine, or sometimes they can be a little upstream of the hose, and actually have a filter housing that you need to remove. It will be a little round thing that is on the inlet side of the pump that a pipe is running through. The top will screw off and there is a screen filter inside.
If you are getting water out of the machine, turn it on, with the hose still off. Does it look like the water is pulsating? If it is, the seals should be able to pump at least a little water. If it is not, then the seals are really shot. They are not hard to replace. If you have some common sense, and can put things together the way they came apart, you will be okay. If it appears that it is pumping water, turn off the machine, and Attach the gun. See if it is working now. If it is not, check the unloader. Hopefully you have a rubber line between the unloader, and the inlet of the pump. If you do, you can try to turn on the machine, with water to it. Hold the gun open, and pinch off the line as tightly as you can. If the pressure goes up, the unloader is probably bad. It is time to replace it. If you sensed a vibration in the gun, it could be one of the valves has gone bad, or an o-ring in the pump has gone bad. You will need to take all of the valves out and check them. After the valves are out, suck on the big end of them, and see if there is an easy draw of air. If there is, there is something wrong with the valve. Chcck that the housing on the valve is not cracked, or that the little plate in the valve is not broken. While they are out, you can also check to make sure the orings that the valves sit on are in good shape.
For me, the first thing I usually check on a low/no pressure situation is the valves. They are easy to get at, and are fast to check. Then I would worry about seals. I can check the unloader with my machine on simply by seeing if water is flowing back into the tank. There are other thigns to check, but these are the biggies,
Scott Stone

BBS Question,
What does the Rep: thing mean on my posts? ---->
From: Germantown, Md.
Joined: Mar 2003
Status: Online! Rep:
I see them on everyone's posts and I was wondering how I got the title of traveling on a distinguished road instead of owning my own road?
I'm not sure if I'm exactly a glorious beacon of light or whatever that's supposed to mean but I figured with my experience I should be a bit further along on traveling some kind of road in life.
Henry Bockman
President of Henry's Housework Inc.
website, www.henryshousework.com
email, Henryshousework@comcast.net
Phone 301-353-9287
Fax 301-353-1677
Cell Phone 240-274-0300

It's not done, but we hope you are getting the feel for the new look at TGS. If you have not been to the new home page click www.thegrimescene.com to see it.
We want to know what you think so far. Bear in mind it's not finished, nor are all the features set up yet.
Please vote and let us know....
Beth & Rod
Administrators:cool: :cool: