Mike Williamson

This is exactly why religious debates really ought to be avoided in an online forum such as this. I find what you're saying to be offensive, since you're basically saying that my entire experience with God (which is fairly extensive and quite interactive) has been nothing but a delusion of my mind. I can assure you that it is not, for very valid reasons I'll not go into here. That's all I'll say on the issue, since I do NOT want this thread to get ugly as I believe it did in the past. Religion and politice (and the proper roof cleaning chemical) are the WORST topics for discussion in the relatively anonomous online world. They are topics some people feel VERY VERY passionate, regardless of which "side" you are on. That passion often translates into hurt or offended feelings, and much too often, an offensive or very personal response. It's too easy to say things at a keyboard that you would NEVER say to a person's face.

Oh, I forget...you have more competition up there than I do here! LOL

LOL...hate to say it...but I told you so!! Too bad about the surfacer tho. Are you going to try to return it/get it replaced? I would! $245.00, that's almost three housewashes! :lgbugeyes

The really cool thing about this is that you can import it into Google Earth if you have that installed (and if you don't, I suggest it!). You can zoom in a lot closer and see more detail of where everyone is at.

Oh no no no no! HF acid is NASTY stuff...can kill you. Most gutter cleaners are butyl based. There's another chemical that works, but I don't recall what it is.

Who screamed louder, the peacock or Roger? LOL!

The turbo is basically a zero degree tip that spins in a circle. It can damage the concrete because you're concentrating all that water and pressure in one tiny area, rather than spreading it out in a fan pattern. It uses the same amount of water as any othe tip. The tips don't regulate the water, they regulate pressure. You may have used less water because you were able to clean faster. I've tried turbos for cleaning curbing, and wanding it with a 25 degree tip works just as fast or faster. Better to take the profits from your first few jobs and get a surface cleaner, even if you have to resort to a cheaper knock-off brand. They still work, and are much faster and more efficient than a wand or turbo. You'll never get the same results with a wand or a turbo. I've seen many driveways a few months after they were wanded, and the algae is already growing back and is showing the wand marks.

You forgot to mention that he'll tick off everyone who's been helping him get started, and he'll lose that resource when he needs it the most.

That's exactly what they are. Well, I'm not positive about WHAT the substance that bonds to the aluminum is, but I do know it is electrostatic bonding. That's why you can't simply scrub them off. It takes the proper chemical to break that bond. Same way truck washers can make an entire truck shine without scrubbing it at all, by using the proper chems to break the bond between the dirt and the truck, usually hydroflouric (sp?) acid.

I'll stain the easy ones...meaning the ones where there is little to no detail work. For example, just did one (a clean and re-seal of one I did two years ago) last month that is out in the middle of the yard. Nothing around it but dirt, leaves, etc. That one was EASY to seal! The painting did go easier once I figured out it was much easier to tape everything off and spray it rather than try rolling it and cutting in.

Stay on this board and learn, get a "real machine" and you might just find youself preferring to wash 100% of the time! From what I've heard from the painters I have spoken with, the money is better. Personally, I hate to paint! Just painted a house for a customer...hated every minute of it!

Thanks for clearing that up! I kinda figured after thinking about it a bit that it was line friction... I couldn't agree more! Talk about laughing, I was cleaning a roof this morning. I had just started spraying the roof (with a roller pump set to about 5gpm) when I heard a high pitched moter going. I looked over, and two doors down there is Joe Homeowner blasting away at his roof with a small (can you say 2.3gpm?) pressurewasher. He had a pump up sprayer and a bottle of clorox up there with him, and he was blasting away full pressure about 4" from the roof surface. He was still blasting that same side of the roof when I climbed down and started rolling my hoses up. He's probably still up there. But hey, he saved a couple hundred bucks, and only took a few years off the life of his roof!

I think that's basically what I was saying when I said "The only thing that makes any sense to me as a possibility is that in a 1/4" hose, there is a much greater percentage of the water creating friction against the walls of the hose, so you would have a more significant pressure loss than you would with a 3/8" hose" I think I had pretty much figured out where I had gone wrong with my last post!

I understand all that. The point is, the tip you have been using is much smaller than the hose you were using...So the "resistance" of the hose is irrelevant, at least as I understand it. The only thing that makes any sense to me as a possibility is that in a 1/4" hose, there is a much greater percentage of the water creating friction against the walls of the hose, so you would have a more significant pressure loss than you would with a 3/8" hose (which is around 100psi per 100' of hose)

Maybe Phillip can jump in here and explain this. I just don't get how the pressure will be any different with a 3/8 over a 1/4" hose.. If anything, the smaller hose would restrict the water flow more, as does a smaller tip (most of which are much smaller than 1/4") and raise the pressure, not lower it. Unless the machine is going partially into bypass....That's the only way this would make sense, but why a 1/4" hose would cause that but not a 3.5 size tip makes no sense to me! Not arguing anyone's experiences, just trying to understand the why!

The hose shouldn't have anything to do with how much water is put out, unless there is a severe restriction somewhere, maybe causing it to partially bypass? As long as the motor/pump are working properly, and unless it is bypassing, you're getting 2.3gpm regardless of the hose. Strange that you'd notice such a difference! No wonder you were confused a while back when we were talking about deck cleaning with low pressure!

Exactly! The best ice cream I've had short of home-made. Any flavor you can think of, any topping you can think of, in any combination you can think of. Just like Starbucks, expensive (not overpriced). You get what you pay for. In fact, one little strip mall I clean every two weeks has a coldstone right next door to a Starbucks. Get there early and I can get a cup of latte and a bowl of ice cream!

http://www.theunion.net/lindberg/Pretty%20Planet/Pretty_Planet.htm

Yep! Imagine the view of the night-time sky on a moonless night from that REALLY dark spot right in the center of Africa!

Just saw today at Home Depot that they're not carrying the Excel line, and have replaced it with DeWalt (unless DeWalt bought the Excel line).

I would say yes, simply for the benefit of the larger motor. I keep my pressure at 3000psi for concrete, so I don't run mine at full pressure, meaning I don't put the full load on the motor. I would guess that this will lead to a longer motor life, but I may be off base there. If money is more an issue, go with the smaller machine, you'll still have plenty of pressure and flow to get the job done. You really don't need more than 3k psi for anything you'll run into for residential.

Local is great. We don't have anyone here in Gainesville, but I bought mine from Don Phelps in Orlando, and it is nice to know that if I have repair issues, it's only a coupld hour drive to get it down there to people who know how to fix it!

I used to have the problem of my hands smelling like chlorine for days, my clothes smelling strongly of chlorine, etc. That's when I used the Xjet, and before I set everything up on a tank system. Now the only chlorine I come into contact with is from what sprays back from the house when I downstream, and from the hose when I'm doing roofs. I don't stink like chlorine nearly as much, and I don't notice my hands smelling for days afterwards. When I was working with the stupid 2.5 gallon jugs from the pool store, I was a lot more sloppy. I love my tanks!

Yep! My 8gpm will hit about 15' without a tip in the gun. Sometimes if I need just a little stronger mix from the downstreamer, I'll pull the tip and soak it down with just the open end of the gun. It seems to pull a little stronger mix that way. I use a 3/8 hosebarb in a QC plug for a zero soap tip on that one.

Bleach may not be carcinogenic to any great degree, but breathing the fumes and/or evaporated vapors isn't good either. I know I've climbed off roofs after 30 minutes of spraying pool chlorine on hot shingles and had a horribly sore throat and feeling like I had a chest cold. I believe that's what pushed me over the edge last month with the pneumonia episode (spent 5 days in the hospital). I'd just finished an hour-long roof cleaning on a very hot day, and I breathed in a good amount of evaporated chlorine. That's one reason I went with the roller pump...I can spray further away from me, in greater volume, and am back off the roof in 10-15 minutes, rather than 30-40 minutes.