PLD

I have heard this phraseologly used several times and I believe that it is in fact incorrect. Unless the percarb has a ph significantly greater than 7, you are not neutralizing anything. You are actually acidfiying the wood (lowering it's ph). And since it seems there are several manufacturers making percarb + oxalic (see previous thread), then I am assuming that percarb is near neutral already or at least unresponsive to Ph- oxidizers. Otherwise, the compounds they provide would decompose in their own container. I'm sure those of you with significant wood experience see benefit to the OxA prior to staining (as do I) or you wouldn't be doing it. And my post is not meant to imply that you shouldn't follow up a cleaning with OxA to brighten the wood. But... but if you are using percarb it's not "neutralizing". One last thing, unless the quantities of your oxalic and caustic are in balance, the final Ph of the wood is completely unknown. Too little OxA, and the wood remains Ph > 7. Too much oxalic, and the wood's PH drops well below 7. And in an marginally controlled environment like saturating a deck an unknown final Ph is a certainty. It would be interesting to see a few Ph strips applied to the wood post Oxalic. My bet is that the surface is very acidic.

Yes, that is an important one. If you all of a sudded no longer feel hot (chilly actually), you are beginning (or well into) a heat stroke. Take immediate action to reduce your core temperature. Get into the shade, get wet, and rest abot twice as long as you feel you need to. Once you get back to work, keep in mind that you will be able to tolerate the heat less and less after each rest cycle and plan accordingly. This is no time to be macho and tough about it. Heat strokes can be deadly...

I can't say for percarb, but for strippers it's no good.

No. Strippers are generally PH+ (alkaline) and oxalic is PH- (acid). As best, they will neutralize each other (Oxalic is often used to neutralize stripper before staining). At worst, you could create a very dangerous situation.

I had a very long conversation with the folks at xterior today. Learned a few things that might be of interest. We discussed the xjets inability to draw longer than 50ft. They said that Xjets will draw up to several hundred feet lateral and more feet vertical by using a smaller orifice inside. At one point, they said smaller orifice = less spray distance. Later when discussing draw, they said orifice size affects only draw and not spray distance. I asked for clarification but the engineer was unavailable till later. We also discussed buying packets of 20 asstd proportioners each time one is lost/damaged. They do carry them in singles for $1.25, and your distrib should be able to get them. I also inquired if making my own permanent brass proportioner in the xjet hose barb was a viable idea. They seemed to think so and took my email addy and said they would have their engineer contact me. We discussed the advantages and drawbacks of the xjet vs DS'ers and the same for the old style vs. M5. I mentioned that I thought the mobile vanes were what is affecting spray distance with soap and that making the spread/opening wider might help a bit. I ended the conversation by inviting them here to search for threads on the xjet and field questions. The seemed interested in our feedback, but are afraid to join in the debate for fear of appearing like they were here to sell. They plan to kick of their own forum soon, and they also feel afraid that their presence here may appear as an effort to draw off readers. I did find out that their engineer is in house. I highly recommend that xjet users contact xterior and ask them to participate here. IMHO a few hours of his time here would prove invaluble to them and us alike.

xterior responsed and indicated that they were willing to join us here. I have'nt seen a post from them yet, so I re-extended the invitation tonight. Beth & Rod, perhaps you might invite them so they don't feel like they are poking there noses in unwanted space.

I used to think so, but not any longer. Mix for one house wash with proportioners = 16-25lbs. Mix for one house w/o proportioners = 85-125lbs. Two guys = 2 heavy buckets and two handtrucks on the vehicle.

My first year I was PT for about 3 months in the fall. Last spring I quit a 65K/yr job to wash houses full time. I added one full time with one employee this year and did little washing myself. I now have two employees until school starts Aug 1 when I will go back to one. Taking on staff is much more expensive and time consuming than I had planned. Expenses did not scale linearly and my first employee performed like a machine which set unreasonable expectations for future employees. All said and done, I will make just a little more with two employees than I did solo and spend alot more time and effort making it. Keeping employees productive is very time consuming and IMHO not a very rewarding part of the job. But, I am learning as I go and hopefully next year will be better. I may go broke, but I refuse to go backwards. For those interested in going full time: Be prepared for lean times and long days. Despite alot of work, I'm certainly not getting rich (yet). Presently no money is being put aside for retirement or college (4yrs away). The winters are very tough on my psyche and savings, but I will persevere until I am successful. FWIW, my 5yr goal is to have three crews/rigs of two men working their butts off 6mo/year (mar-oct) and 1 crew working the balance of the year. At that point, I expect revenues of $9k/week and earnings of about $2k/wk. By that point I plan to stay dry all week. By the end of year 10, I want to be seriously investigating/coordinating an exit strategy.

I run it open and proportioned in various ratios depending on circumstances. Proportioners are lost most often when pulling off the hose from the xjet to change (or remove) proportioners). That creates a vacuum which pops out the proportioner and sends it flying....

I agree about the proportioners. But at this point, I am sick of lugging 15gal buckets and a hand truck everywhere. Combine that with the fact that you can now buy proportioners in singles (as opposed to an assortment) and it's not that bad a deal. Order 20, and know you'll lose some. Also, I am considering having a proportioner machined as a permanent insert to the hose barb. I really only use one, so that would work our well.

Mike I'm not trying to bust your chops or anything, but this thread is an excellent example why I asked (in a different thread) for people to contact xterior and ask their engineer to drop in here for a session. Everyone (myself) seems to have a differing opinions about xjet flow/draw rates, what affects draw rate, etc. I've even gotten differing opinions from different employees at my distrib and at xterior cust svc. Some time with the engineer would be invaluable. If you use an xjet please contact xterior (800-983-7467) and ask them to have their engineer drop in.

Your's are that sophisticated? Mine think that tips are completely interchangeable and as long as you have red, yellow, green, and white you have all you'll ever need. I have rented on ocassion for add'l units and/or backup and seen 2.0 gal machines with a random mix of 2.5, 3.5, 5.5, etc. The also rent surface cleaners outfitted with 3 arms and 3.0 tips for use with a 2.0gpm/2500psi machine.

Bud: 0.5 gal of citraclean? So that's 2.5 gal in a 5 gal bucket? Or 0.5 gallon in a 5 gallon bucket? What type of injector are you using at what ratio? Mike: This question is a good example of why I like to know ratios. Tell me that I need citraclean to be at 3% on the wall and I can easily refigure the mix for my injector, my buckets, bleach, etc. 1/2 gallon in a bucket, 3 gallons in a bucket, or whatever only means something for a given injection setup, bucket size, etc.

From SquirtGun: "2-5 gallon buckets of housewash(2 gallons 12% chlorine,1 1/2 gallon citracleen,4 oz foamer the remainder water in each bucket) xjetted with no proportioner." For a 15 gallon pail, that's 4 gals of bleach (I use 3), 4.5 gal citraclean. Assuming that was total and not per pail (doubtful looking at the bleach), it's still over 2 gallons. There have been others similar, but I cannot locate them at this moment.

That's good info. Can you shed some light on the #13 orifice vs the #9. I've heard different info from two reuptable suppliers. One says select based on pressure as directed by xterior and ignore volume. The other says #9 = 4gpm, #13 = 5.5gpm. I ask because that may be affecting my ratios as well. Particularly if 2.5gpm draw is tied to orifice size and not flow.

I think we have a semantics issue regarding usage. I use 3 gals 12.5%, 1-2 qts of soap from a local supplier and the balance water. That yields 2.5% in the bucket. Figure in 1:2 through the xjet and you get a TTW ratio of 0.833% Why consider a change? Simple. Because of comments like yours (and others). I am pleased with my results, but there are a significant amount of kudos being awarded here to e-plus and citraclean. My questions concern some of the statements about the usage of these two products. I have heard 2-3gal per "bucket" (inc'l Steve's site) and $3.00 per gallon mentioned frequently. If correct, that takes me from $8/day ($166/mo) to $27/day ($594/mo). Hence, my financial issue is not one of cutting my $8/day in half as mentioned earlier, but rather one of not raising them by a factor of 350% I'm totally on board with spending money to get better results, but it had better be a heck of alot better to justify that kind of jump. Since we've gone this far, can someone shed some light on usage emulsifier plus? I inherited an unopened 40# box with my new rig and don't even know where to start with it. That is one criticism I have of both e-spec and rowlett. Docs on the site regarding product usage are non-existent and e-spec doesn't even list prices. I've sent e-spec an email w/o response. Yes, I know I can pick up the phone, but I'd prefer to hear from an end user. Also, anyone near fayetteville wanna sell me a couple (3-5) of gallons of citraclean? I'll even bring my own bucket. I just want to give it a try w/o paying for product, shipping, hazmat, etc.

What is the range of mix ratios it supports? I do like the idea of a downstreamer. Lugging 15gal pails is a hassle and space for two empties and two handcarts is precious real estate wasted. However, one of my big issues with a downstreamer is not knowing how to translate "1/2 open" or "1/3 open" to a given mix ratio. Hence, to me it seems that downstreamer chem mixture is more guesswork than science. With the x-jet I know that 5.5gpm = 1:2 and 5.5gpm + beige proportioner = 1:16. The other issue I had with a downstreamer is that most only support 1:20 or 1:10 at best. There are occasions where 1:8 or even 1:3 are useful. Gutter cleaners is one application for 1:3 that comes to mind.

You must be using a 5 gal bucket. I use a 15 so adjust accordingly. I agree that $100/mo is trivial in the big picture. But, I'm doing 2-3/day at one 15 gallon "bucket" each. How does that work out in $/day for citriclean? I'm presently at $5/day for my present soap (soap only).

I need to do just that. It's about 4 hours for me. As for picking up a years supply, that's not going to happen unless he finances... Actually, that's not true but I do need to try some other forumlas just to see if the increase of decrease productivity.

PWKid, If you're listening, post some info about the wonder downstreamer Mike is so impressed with. I found no links/info on your site.

As far as the ratios, you know what "it" (your mix) is. In my case, I would need to know the mix ratio to forumlate a concentrate to suit my needs. I should have said nozzle instead of orifice. xjet = 00040 = "shooter" tip. But now I'm confused. If you cannot draw at HP (normal), how are you using a 00040 tip to soap up?

I agree, but we're not exactly talking pennies. Citraclean is $3/gallon+ shipping on a 55gal drum ($70) for a net of about $4/gallon. The recipes I have seen here call for 2 gallons per bucket. The house wash "soap" I use is 1-2/bucket and works well. $6 may not sound like a big savings but at 4 houses/day it amounts to $500/month. And in my business, $500/month saving is worth looking into.

Mike, You've been pretty outspoken about downstreaming. What types of ratio's are you getting from your downstreamer? Does it draw at HP? More specifically, will it draw with the xjet as the orifice? I'm at the point with carting 15gal buckets that I either want to go back to downstreaming or switch to concentrated chems with proportioners. If the former, I want to be able to shoot 30+ ft like an xjet. If the latter, I need a new soap forumlation that is stable in 12.5%.

Have you had any problems with 12% and "soaps" interacting badly? I have seriously considered this myself (hence why I'm re-reading this thread), but have noticed that some chems that mix well with 3-6% react "funny" when mixed with 12%. Several soaps (including the one I use now) makes the mix overly warm when mixed with 12%

John, I don't buy "basics" like Percarb and Oxalic from a PW distrib because 99.9% OxA is just 99.9% OxA. I just can't justify paying 50-200% more for staples in 5# quantities. Nor do I care to place orders/handle for 25 jars of XYZ. No disrespect intended to our distribs, buy my bottom line comes before yours. That said, there is merit to supporting your local supplier. I am an amateur rocketeer, and the local hobby shops have been decimated by WalMart internet vendors (of which I was one). At first it seemed like a dream come true saving 50%. Many shops failed, but it was inconsequential in light of how much more affordable the hobby had become. That was until you really needed that essoteric part that WalMart/xyz.com didn't carry no would they every consider special ordering. And product advice? Forget it. Joe employee only gets 6bucks/hr and was in wallpaper last week. It's a balancing act in which win-win truly is the best situation. You need to control costs. You need to keep your local vendors alive.