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COOPER

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Posts posted by COOPER

  4. Posted · Report reply

    I have always had trouble getting the oxidation off also until the other day. I was called to wash a house that had blue vinyl siding. The lady told me that they were having the siding painted (I don't think it is a good idea to paint the siding, but I am not a painter.), so all the oxidation had to be removed. I wasn't worried about discoloring the siding so I mixed up some of our Orange Nitro and Lazer degreaser 1 to 1 and then diluted this mixture 1 to 1 with water. I prewetted all the plants and any sufaces that I didn't want to mess up with strong chems. I sprayed this on a side of the house and the oxidation just rolled off. I rinsed just as if it was a regular housewash and the siding dried and looked as good as new.

    My normal housewash mix is one quart Nitro or Lazer (both seem to perform just as well) to 3.5 gal. of 12% and the rest water. I downstream this with a 20% General Pump downstreamer.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    I use a very concentrated detergent called Orange Nitro. I put 1 quart with 4 gal. of 12% and downstream with 0 degree and regular soap nozzle. I rinse with the M-5 X-jet ( I do not apply det. with it just rinse, I like the action it gives when rinsing) I can clean the average 2000 sq. ft. house in 1 to 1.5 hours.

    The orange nitro costs $382/ drum but is the strongest detergent I have found in over 6 years of cleaning. You can mix it 1 to 1 or 2 to 1 with water and strip a deck with it, and one quart can clean a 2000 sq. ft. house.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Can I ask why? Wouldn't just using a lower pressure tip to rinse with be easier?

    Wouldn't be any easier at all you would have to have 2 or 3 tips to do the same thing since the M-5 is adjustable. I have always downstreamed since I started 6 years ago. I tried the X-jet last year and don't care for applying chems with it, but it sure is better than using 2 or 3 different tip to rinse with.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    So I will be good to go with using 3/8" instead of 1/4"?

    Well, I went with the downstreamer on a house wash today for the first time (on the whole house), in almost 2 years, and here's what I've come up with:

    I consider my x-jet setup one of the best in the way of user friendlyness and effecieny, but, the fact is, no matter how effecient my setup is, I'm still having to unload extra equipment, untangle hoses, move my cart from place to place, spend extra time cleaning out my x-jet, draw hose, fittings etc, and the thing that I dislike the most, having to use alternetive methods for cleaning hidden areas on the second floor that I can't reach from the ground.

    With that said, downtreaming has its disadvanges as well. First and for most, the draw is never going to compete with x-jet, it takes a little longer to apply chem with a soap tip vs the xjet, I hate the fact that I can't rinse with low pressure when needed without walking back to the trailer, and I don't like the idea of running chems through my reels, wands, and hoses.

    The things that I've come to realize after todays trial run is, that I'm a hell of lot better, smarter, faster and more effecient with downstreaming than I was 2 years ago. I'm also using a higher gpm machine than I did 2 years ago when I swithched from downstreaming to x-jeting.

    What I've come with is my speed is about the same using either method on an average house wash, but downstreaming is much more easy going and much simpler setup and cleaning process, and because of my increased experience since I last used this method, I think after getting a little more used to it over the course of a couple of weeks, I can actually shave some time off my average house wash compared to what I do now using the x-jet.

    On the other hand, I don't see anyway I can beat x-jeting on some of the larger houses I wash, or some of the commercial buildings I wash because I can apply the chem almost twice as fast. I think idealy downstreaming will become much more effiecent on my average house washes, but x-jeting will still be far superior on some of the larger jobs I do.

    I downstream my soap and then rinse with my M-5 X-jet.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    Hey Jeff,

    I have open trailers now, but when I had an enclosed trailer I used the locks like you can buy at the mini storage places. I don't know who made it but it was round and you could only lock it with the key. I had been using a regular master lock before that and one day I stopped to fill up with fuel, got out and unlocked the trailer, filled up with fuel, locked the trailer and got in the truck -- NO KEYS -- they were laying on the floor of the trailer and the door was locked. I was about 45 mins from home and had to sit and wait for my wife to bring the spare key which was at home. All my tools were in the trailer, so I couldn't even get a hammer or something to knock the lock off with and was too embarrassed to ask anyone else for something.

    I would get one of those locks. They are strong locks and last too.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    max psi X gpm ( 5.6)= then divide by 1100 this gives you the hp needed to run pump at max.

    example

    3500psi X 5.6 gpm= 19600 divided by 1100= 17.81 h.p.

    Hey Jim, Your 18hp Honda should be the perfect size for the 2021 pump.

    I have had one on a 14hp Kohler for 4 years and about 4000 hours with no problems out of the motor yet. I only run it at about 2800 psi, so you shouldn't have any problems running 3500psi with an 18hp engine.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    In the south we call them "mud daubers" or "dirt daubers"... I think up north they are known simply as "mud wasps". They are solitary wasps that build these cylindrical nests out of mud. For a picture of one of these nests see the following link: http://www.hiltonpond.org/images/MudDauberNest01.jpg

    Last week I did a 2 story vinyl on Lake Chatuge here in Western NC. When we hit the eaves - which happened to have all those perforated holes - red mud just started pouring out of them.

    Apparently there were lots of these nests built up under the eaves... No matter how much we sprayed, the mud just continued pouring out of there. The home owner was more than understanding... But I wasn't satisfied with leaving a house with brown stains on the eaves.

    Has anyone else ever run into this problem before, and how did you handle it?

    Thanks in advance for your responses.

    Tom V. (On The Spot Pressure Washing)

    I have had good luck using oxalic acid on the stains. We have dirt dobers bad around here. If I have that problem I usually come back later on in the day or the next morning, after the house has dried most of the way and spray a little oxalic on the stains. The only color I have had this problem on is white.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Squirt,

    The one in Ocala is actually a cold water unit with a hot box.

    Don Phelps, Maybe it was bought seperately, but it is still made with the same parts as all of the brand name skids. Only thing that I could see wrong with a cold water unit with an added hotbox is if it was a direct drive or gear drive washer which may be the case ( I haven't seen the ad)

    Lou Beach,

    The Water Cannon pressure washers should be just as good as any of the name brand hot water skid units. It has all the same parts as the higher priced skids. As far as servicing it, you will be a lot better off in the long run to learn how to fox it yourself instead of having to depend on a dealer; you can find out how to fix just about anything from this and other boards and honestly there is not a lot to these machines. Buy a new one and just read up on problems other people are having and learn from how they are told to fix them. Check out higher power supplies they have free shipping on anything over $75 and that includes skid pressure washers!

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Hey Michael, would you be interested in a Line Lazer 3000 striping machine? I have one thats about 1 and 1/2 year old for $2600 if interested. I am building a new washer and it seems that everybody around here has gotten into parking lot striping and sealcoating. I have been pressure washing for about 5 years and just added the striping a year and a half ago. I don't really have time to push the striping and for me its not a "fun" as pressure washing. I have about 1/3 the competition pressure washing as I do in striping, so there is a lot of "lowballers" out here sealing and striping.

    If interested give me a call, I will consider any trades also.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    John,

    You will have to match the engines horsepower and the pumps psi in order to prevent unloader trauma.

    You will need 1 unloader with 1 inlet, 1 outlet, 1 by-pass. (psssst...get the one with the big green spring, they are tough)

    You will need a Y connector to the inlet where you will be feeding the high pressure lines to combine into 1.

    Set the psi to the pumps psi rating and use a psi guage as you do.

    Let me know if anything blows...:whoops:

    Rod~

    I don't know if this is what they are for, but in someones catalog I saw high pressure check valves that you could put on the end of the pressure lines coming out of each pump, use the individual unloaders for each machine, and then y the two together. You could y the hoses together out of the hose reels and hook to a seperate reel just for the combined setup. I have never tried it, but I am building a new skid myself and I am planning on trying it when I get it together. I built my own skid almost 4 years ago and it is still running strong.

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