rick77

Well, I am now officially a downstreamer. Everything went well on my first day of downstreaming even though I only had 6% SH instead of 12.5%. For my mix I used close to 5 gallons of $1.50 per gallon 6% SH from Big Lots, 16 oz. of Simple Cherry and a shot of Dawn in a 5 gallon bucket. Of course no water was added in the mix. Using my 4GPM, 4,000psi machine with 200' of hose and the downstreaming nozzles that Bob at Pressure Tek chose for me the chemical draw was perfect. This is great news because I need every bit of 200' of hose on so many of my high end residential gigs. It was a great thrill to not have to lug around the soap bucket and hose!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The dwell time with 6% wasn't bad at all and the results were very nice. I want to get a 55 gallon drum of 12.5% SH in the near future but until then it's nice to know that 6% SH will do a great job downstreaming. I look forward to trying this new downstreaming setup on a large 3 story house. Many of the homes I do are 3 story so that will happen soon. Thanks for all of the valuable input!

I'm probably gonna have to bite the bullet and drive out of town and pick up a 55 gallon drum of 12%. Up until several months ago I didn't have a place to store a drum but now I do. It looks like downstreaming takes more chems than x-jetting so I'll be able to use the 55 gallons quicker than before. It's plain to see there are pros and cons to both x-jetting and downstreaming.

That's the plan man.

Smarter to Barter when you can ehh!

Thanks for the helpful info Randy! So I guess it's very uncommon for for folks to use 6% on a regular basis. A gentleman by the name of Bobby Weir (a member here on The Grime Scene forum) called me yesterday and talked to me for quite a while telling me a wealth of helpful information. So here's a Shout Out to Bobby Weir from Mt. Pleasant, SC. I enjoyed our conversation. It's amazing how much one can learn from talking to a veteran in the business. I've been at it for 2 years and have only X-Jetted so far. I got 4 downstreaming nozzles and a J Rod 4 way nozzle holder today from Pressure Tek. I tested the nozzles out and they are much softer and seemingly more efficient than the X-Jet M5. I'll be downstreaming for the first time tomorrow. I'll be using 6% for now until I can find a source for 12%. I'll be doing my house and a friends house in trade for hosting and building my website. I can't wait! Thanks guys!

I've been reading that some of you don't use proportioners with your Xjet. I've tried that before and a five gallon bucket will empty out on one side of a house in the blink of an eye. I've been using the red proportioners for house washing and my solution goes a long way. That's with 3 gallons of 6% bleach, 10 ounces of Simple Cherry, 4 ounces of F-13, a shot of Dawn, and the rest water in the 5 gallon X-jet pail. This mix does a great job even on dirty houses. So what color proportioners do you guys use? Those of you who don't use them in your X-jet, doesn't your bucket empty out really quickly and you have to refill more? If not, what's the trick to using the X-jet without proportioners?

I'm curious to know if you always flush water out of your pump and hoses at the end of a workday. If not, will the water left in the pump and unloader cause any damage? The reason I ask is because I never flush the water out and one morning I noticed a redish brown looking color inside of my bypass hose that goes from the unloader back to the float tank. This only happened one time so maybe it was something about the particular water that I used the previous work day. Do I need to flush out the pump and hoses after each workday?

Thanks guys! I just had to make sure this was not a major problem. Glad to know I don't have to worry about it until Winter.

Yeah, it looks like rust as I can see it through the clear poly hose from the unloader back to the float tank. This is a new machine/rig/trailer etc. I did several jobs and there was no rust build-up in the bypass hose. Then suddenly after a particular job there it was the next time I used the equipment. It seems this would not be good for the pump and unloader. I got a ball valve and T joint yesterday so I can at least drain the bypass hose of water after each gig. As far as water in the pump I'd have to wait until my 35 gallon float tank is empty and then run the motor on my power washer dry for about 5 seconds to flush out the water in the pump. Which is the worst of the two evils? Leaving water in the pump and unloader or running the machine dry for 5 seconds at the end of each day of use in order to flush out the water?

Amen on that! Do not ever put a metal scraper on glass unless you have a scratched glass waiver. There's a lot of defective tempered glass out there that has fabrication debris on it. This fabrication debris is on the glass because the tempering furnaces are not kept clean. Glass dust is heated and basically welded to the glass as it is tempered in the furnace. The glass dust or fines will break loose and scratch the glass. The metal scraper is not what actually scrapes the glass. Metal scrapers will not scratch glass if used properly. The glass fines actually scratch the glass. The glass manufacturers try to put the blame on the window cleaners but it's their fault that they did not keep their furnaces clean. They are selling defective tempered glass. Do not let this become YOUR PROBLEM. Get a scratched glass waiver signed by the home owner or builder before you use a metal scraper on their glass. visit www.stopscratchedglass.com for a wealth of info and for sample waivers that you can use for your business whenever you need to clean any tempered or heat treated glass.

I'm still clining to mine. I may delve into downstreaming eventually just to see what all the fuss is about. The bucket is a pain in the ass compared to not carrying a bucket but other than that the Xjet M5 rocks. Other than not carrying the bucket around downstreaming doesn't sound like much of a picnic to me compared to the ease of use with Xjet M5. Twist my arm if you will.

x3 I find F-13 to be far superior to Gutter Zap. Gutter Zap works well but it will ZAP your pocketbook because one gallon of it doesn't last nearly as long as a gallon of F-13. With Gutter Zap you'll be ordering much more and paying more shipping. Go with F-13 and one gallon of it will last probably 10 times longer than Gutter Zap.

I recently got a pressure guage for my machine. Is it best to mount the pressure guage on one of the ports on the unloader or directly onto the pump? I've been leaning towards mounting it on the unloader but thought I'd consult all you guys to see which way is best. Thanks!

I guess that's personal preference. I had to make a choice of one or the other and decided that by having the guage mounted on the machine there would be no worry of losing it or dropping it and bursting.

That's a great point. I think it's just a 1/4 brass plug but I do need to keep it on hand just in case something goes wrong with the guage. There are no installation directions with the guage I bought. But there is a sticker on the guage itself with writing about 5 times smaller than this type that you are now reading. The sticker says after installation cut off the top or pierce the hole as shown. The illustration isn't very descriptive so I'm not really sure exactly what they mean. Am I supposed to just clip the yellow plastic stem with scissors? What's the reason for this?

I guess I could see the guage just as well on either the pump or the unloader because they are so close together. It'll probably be easiest to mount the guage onto one of the ports on the unloader.

That's a cool lookin' trailer setup. What's the load limit on it? I just got a new trailer but it's a little shorter and not as wide as your's. Mine is 5' X 10' . I think the gross axle weight is like 2,200 lbs. I've got a lot of stuff I want to put on mine but don't want to overload it.

I need to check out the Myrtle Beach convention. I only live about 4 hours away. I'd love to win that skid too!

Just the other day I had finished power washing a huge home. I laid the gun down on the ground to go around to the machine on my trailer and cut it off. Just seconds after I cut the power washer off I heard a pop sort of like a weak firecracker. Upon inspection of my gear I find that the seal on the 90 degree swivel inlet of my Cox Reel (model 117-250) had blown. I guess it's an O ring that blew. My PW'ing machine is a 4gpm 4,000 psi and the Cox Reel is rated at 4,000 psi. I was surprised that this happend but it did. The machine was cut off but there was pressure trapped in the hose. Maybe if I would've had the gun in my hand and could've purged the hose to let out the trapped pressure this would not have happened. So I'm thinking that somehow the machine built up pressure more than 4,000 psi causing the reel inlet swivel to blow the O ring, or the O ring was just weak. Is this a common occurance? Can the O ring be replaced or does the swivel inlet have to be rebuilt. I can't find the literature about the Cox Reel so I'm at a loss as to how to fix the blown seal or O ring on the swivel inlet. Any help or advice apprecitated. By the way, this Cox Reel is less than 2 months old and not used that much.

Don't they already have one? Clay Aiken announced that he is gay. Didn't he win American Idol one year. Adam seems to be a likely candidate now that you mention it. I actually didn't vote for any of them but was kinda pulling for Danny. He seemed to be a well rounded guy and had a nice singing style. I thought he was going to win it but he got knocked off before the last two.

Well, it looks like this is a common thing with Cox Reels. I think I'll order that Super Swivel that Christopher mentioned. I don't want to rebuild the swivel to be the same exact P.O.S. swivel that blew out on me the 2nd time it was ever used. No wonder folks don't have a lot of good things to say about Cox Reels. I have two other Cox reels for my pure water/water fed pole window cleanining system and haven't had trouble so far but there's no pressure involved in that system. Anyone know for sure that the Super Swivel is better than the regular swivel on the Cox Reel. Is the O ring stronger?

It's a shame that you pay for a brand new Cox Reel (model 117-250) and the O ring blows the second time the reel is used. As I already said, this was the first time the new power washer was used but I had used the Cox reel once before with my other machine. I'll see if I can get the Super Swivel from Bob @ Pressure Tek and hope for the best. Thanks for the info guys!

My power washer is brand new. A "Pressure Pro" 13 Honda, 4 gpm, 4,000 psi with General pump. This was the very first day I used it. Bob at Pressure Tek said everything was set at the factory and ready to go. I have a brand new tank, tubing and plumbing, etc. and have a water filter between the tank and the pump inlet. Do you think the checkvalves would be sticking on a new machine like this?

I liked Danny Gokey best of all too. His voice has character and he has a lot of "soul" for a white boy. He seemed to be a really great guy too. He doesn't have the technical prowess that Adam has with his voice but Danny is a really good singer with his own style. Adam's pipes are great and he can sing anything but the whiney ultra high tenor range gets old pretty quick. He's a little on the wicked side too. I like Chris and think he's got talent. I think he's a good kid and I'm happy for him. It's not always the best talent that gets the contract. It's always what sells that gets the contract. The American Idol clan can market Chris and make a star out of him.

I'm a musician and consider the show mostly a big joke. It's just entertainment playing down to the masses. All that said it's still a contest. My wife watches it faithfully and I get caught up watching it myself. It is entertaining but it is a joke of a contest. But this year they did in fact have some decent singers. Adam is probably technically one of the best singers ever in the contest. He's got serious chops and can sing like hell. But he's not mainstream enough for the masses so he lost out in the final vote. Chris is more mainstream and is actually talented too but does not have the pipes that Adam does. He's seemingly very modest and likeable and the girls love him to pieces. In the end it's a popularity contest and Chris was the most popular among American voters. Both Adam and Chris are winners because the show has launched high profile careers that (more than likely) neither would've had. The entertainment business is a big mess! We miss out on the greatest talents out there while the media feeds us crap.