Mike Williamson

Jon: Where do you see it repoured? The only thing I see is about a 2" border on each slab, which was done when it was poured...not sure why they'd do this on a driveway, but they did. Whoever poured it did a lousy job. Is that what you're talking about, or did I miss something you noticed.

There is more than one type of Kilz...they DO make a latex product, but you'll be more likely to run into the regular kilz. Not sure what it is made of, but definitely not latex. It is some tough stuff.

John: Yes, the XJ can draw at a 1:1 ratio, but only if you're running at 2.5 GPM. For a 5GPM machine, running wide open, your best draw rate will be 2:1. My 5.6gmp draws at roughly 2.2:1 I'm not sure if the new XJ draws at a higher rate. I've heard that from one person, but haven't heard or seen anything from the manufacturer or distributors.

rob: In all seriousness, I hope to be as busy as you are one of these days! :)

Rob: would that we were all so busy that we don't have 15 minutes to do anything else other than sell deck jobs. Like I said, not everyone is so blessed to be so busy, and lots of folks live in an area with downtime during the winter.

Well, for the right person, selling cars can be pretty lucrative. Let's hope Joel is the right person! It's also a bit easier on the feet and back!

Rob: It was just a suggestion. Keep in mind, not all of us are billing $100.00, and not all of us are either full time or busy enough that we can't find 10 hours to put something like this together. I'm not looking to do the soda keg thing at this time, I just have a habit of looking at things and trying to figure how I could do that myself. Also, although I am busy, I don't work 18 hours a day....Don't assume that because someone is going to build something they're going to do it during their normal working hours. Some of us like reading the boards, watching TV, etc, and others like to tinker. Then there's the whole "slow season" for those in the north..... I agree, if you're eating into hours of billable time, you're better off spending the money. BTW, the link I posted advertises that the kegs are checked for leaks. Unless there's a problem with the keg, I'm willing to bet I could put something like that together in a matter of a couple hours. At any rate, it isn't something I'm looking to do for myself, just posting information in case someone else might be. Options are always good.

You can also do a search on ebay for soda kegs

Here's a link where you can buy used pepsi kegs for $25.00. http://www.homebrewsupply.com/catalog/category98.html I imagine with a bit of cheap modification you can build the same thing a heck of a lot cheaper than $200.00

Well, it isn't so much the self-managed associations as the management companies that pay slow, often because invoices get caught up in approval processes, get shuffled into a file, etc etc, and just don't get paid on time. I would think a self-managed association would pay quicker, since you typically have one board member responsible for writing checks, etc.

I got my rebuild kit today, and will be installing it tomorrow. I got the spinner out of the surface cleaner (and pain in the rear in itself) this evening, and will start in the morning on rebuilding it. Anything I need to be aware of before I begin? How difficult is this thing to get apart and back together? The blueprint that comes with the kit is just a CAD drawing of the spinner...no instructions as to getting it apart, or back together. Thanks!

Hadn't thought of them being worn. I'll see what happens when I replace them. The arms are at the proper angle, I used a template provided by Wiz. Greased the spinner, though that is suggested only at 3 month intervals. We'll see what happens!

I agree with Jon...If you're dealing with the HOA board directly, and not a management company, be sure to get a signed contract. You may not need three signatures, depending on CA law, but you're safer if you do. If you're dealing with the management company, be sure the owner or President of the company signs the contract. Some companies pay slower than others...we pay within 30 days...One major check run each month. Get your invoice in by the 5th, and you'll have your check on the 10th. I realize many companies aren't this way, just wanted to point out that we're not ALL evil :) Knowing what it is like from a contractor's perspective, I wouldn't stand for us to be slow payers. You don't generate contractor loyalty by holding up people's paychecks.

yep, HOA boards can be tight-fisted. That's my day job, VP for a property management company that manages HOAs. All too often they want too much work done for too little money. Are you dealing with a self-managed association, or are they managed by a company? Self-managed associations can be difficult to deal with, because many times the people you're dealing with don't have a clue as to what it will take to get a job done right, and they have a personal stake in keeping expenses as low as possible. Management companies usually have a better idea what it takes, and what it should cost Is it a condo or single family homes?

Turns out I didn't need to rebuild the spinner...Once I got the surface cleaner apart, I realized what was causing the extreme play in the shaft...One the steel eagle, the rotary union is housed in a black casing, and is held tight by three allen screws. When I had bent the bars, the few seconds of running with bent bars had wobbled the union loose in the housing. Not being familliar with the way this thing was put together, I didn't realize that until tearing it apart. As a result, I put it all back together without rebuilding the union, and the wobble is gone. There's still some vibration, but no more than it has always had. I'm assuming this is normal. I did my best to balance the bars, though I don't see an easy way to do that. I balanced the manifold on a nail driven through a 1x4 board, and filed off the edges of each bar until it was balanced. I am not sure yet that it doesn't need to be rebuilt. I used it today and it does not seem to be cleaning as well as it did prior to all this. I find myself having to go slower than normal and having to go over cleaned areas a second time to remove the swirl marks. I expected it to clean better than before, since in replacing the bars, I found that two of the three nozzles were slanted about 45 degrees from where they should be, meaning that rather than the spray pattern being in line with the spray bar, it was halfway between horizontal and vertical to the spray bar. I also found that one nozzle was plugged. When running it today, I noticed that I'm running at about 2500 psi at the pump...I'm thinking that possibly the previous owner of this surface cleaner had installed the wrong nozzles for this machine. I can't tell that for sure, since the printing on the nozzles is long since worn off. I don't know how much difference that 500 psi should make in the cleaning ability. I have some replacement nozzles (25020) which would give me a net size of .06 which is what this machine requires. I don't have any pressure problems when running the wand with a .06 tip, stays right at 3000 psi. The only other thing I can think of is that the bearings are not turning like they should, and thus the spinner isn't rotating at the proper speed. If the new nozzles don't make a difference, I will tackle rebuilding it. As far as pressing on/off the bearings, there's a machine shop here that can do that Any other suggestions as to what would cause the cleaner to clean this poorly?

Alan: Are they expecting you to remove the slurry from the curbing? If so, what are you going to use to do that? I've not been able to remove it from concrete...I'm assuming what you're referring to is the black topcoat on the asphalt.

Meant to mention in my first post...It is the Deublin swivel from a steel eagle. The kit has two bearings, snap rings, a few orings, a spring, and a couple other small seal-looking things. As far as the bearings, I may have to have them pressed onto the shaft, which I can have done at a local machine shop. My main concern is getting the thing apart and back together properly. Thanks!

Ditto that...I'll trade you the spreadsheet for a couple beers in December. :)

I've used a surface cleaner on what I'm guessing you're talking about....it works fairly well, but is slow going. You have a pic?

That's some good advice....About the laxative and sleeping pill thing, I mean. :)

I have never seen anything here that looks like that, nor have I ever heard of it being a problem around here. anyone else here in FL seen/heard of this being a problem?

It isn't cheap, but good quality equipment never is!

I'm not selling them, just using them. I have an Adams and also one from espec. The espec downstreamer is advertised at 24%...I've not checked it for exact amounts, but it is definitely better than 20:1...That's only 5% draw. I imagine that as with the XJ, your gpm determines your draw rate, so it may be a bit less than 24% with a 5.5 (mine is 5.6) gpm machine, but definitely a better draw than 5%. I'll check this weekend to get a more precise measurement. I imagine they put proportioners in the XJ so you can use it for any application. I never use the proportioners when I use the XJ.

Does anyone have any good pics of artillery fungus? I've never seen it here. Thanks!

Rob: No, I meant 4:1 for the downstreamer. That's 4 parts water, 1 part chem. If you're only getting 20:1, there's something wrong. You should be getting 2:1 with the XJ in wide open mode.