beyoungsr

Ron, This is a pretty neat idea. I kept thinking about it today while cleaning. My unit was 150' away and I sure hated to walk back and cut off the burner during wash down. Sam's Club sales a car alarm for $29.95. It comes with one remote. I may buy it and try your idea. It would be a great time saver!

Tony, I am sure that it does provide some benefit. Do your other units have pressure or flow unloaders? I know that flow unloaders are much smoother. Mine are all the pressure type. A long time ago I use to use a 6' wand with a 45 degree angle at the top. I was on a 6' ladder washing a gable and squeezed the gun and nearly went flying off the ladder! Needless to say I changed the way I did things quickly.

Tony, I have done my homework. Pulsation problems are much greater with hose lenghts less 100'. Fact is no one has spoke up about having problems without one. No pumps blown a part or other damage reported. Not one supplier or distributor has chimed in saying you need one! Actually EPPS manf. and the WIZ firmly said you don't need one. Dave Olson said he had one because he runs a duplex and not a triplex pump. I don't think anyone should make a claim of a possible safety hazard and not have the facts. It should have been listed as an area to research and not stated as fact! This should especialy hold true for moderators. How can you say you must have on your setup and don't have one yourself? A pulsation damper is not a must have safety item. Did you ever have problems with your 13 hp Honda with long runs of hose? Any pumps blow apart or did you suffer any injuries? Lastly I am not arguing with anyone here just questioning a moderators recommendations! And yes I do have the facts since I researched the subject.

Paul, I don't think the question is if they are available. The question is if they are truely needed wouldnt they be installed by the manufacturer. Surely they would not leave their selves wide open for liability lawsuits.

Tim Hays, Use this link www.pressurewashinginstitute.com to this board. You will find additional info. on the subject in the equipment section ASK THE WIZ.

OTP, Could not find any accumalator on new link. Thanks anyway though. All questions answered on another board. Don't need one for my application.

OTP, Used the link but can't find any pulsation dampeners. Maybe I am blind. LOL!

Ron, I have a pulsation damper and a pressure accuator that are on a GAIL piston type car wash pump a guy gave me. Looks like the damper is on the incoming supply side. I beleive both a filled with nitrogen. Not sure if the are functional. Would like to find out more info on the dampers. Do's don'ts how and where to install and why. Maybe Dave Olson can enlighten us!

Tony, Is that it sitting on top of the unloader? Will it only work with a flow type unloader? Is there a chance of my pump blowing apart if I don't have one? What brand and what psi rating is it?

Ron, I just looked at all the catologs I have and can't find one skid that has a pulsation damper installed on them. I do remember seeing one in a picture of Dave Olsons red truck I think. I beleive it was on the back wall near the boiler. How long have you been using them?? OTP, I have found using steel connectors on hp hose can cause problems. The rust coming off them can plug turbo filters and surface cleaner filters also. I switched to s.s. and have not had any more problems.

Ron P., Can you elaborate a little on this? Is the effect woarse when using 200+ feet of hose or a 50 feet length? My thought being 50' is a much shorter distance. If the unloader bypass hose is plumbed to a tank wouldn't the shock be nulified by the tank? What brand of pulsation damper have you had success with? How expensive are they? Do you install this immediatly after the unloader? I have frequently used 200'+ of hose on occassion, so what you are saying raises major concern! I don't want a pump blowing apart. Why don't the manufactures warn of this potential danger? Anyones input on this subject would be greatly appreciated!

I have seen Rick's set up, it's really slick. Rick has really perfected and designed a lot of power washing tools. I told him he ought to publish a book with all his wares and wisdom. This man has got to be one of most generous guys I have ever met. He actually made time in his busy schedule for me to ask him anything I wanted about the business. I asked and listened for almost three hours! Also got to look at his many rigs From burners, pump rebuilding, soap dispensing, rotary union adjustments, best h.p. hose for the price, suppliers ect. Rick is a true professional who unselfishly shares what he has learned with fellow power washers. Professionalism through education! Oh yeah we operate in the same area but I am full time part timer. Has your competition treated you this good???? Many Many Many thanks to you Richard Craig-Prowash God Bless You Rick!

One Tough Pressure, Thank you for the reply. Sorry to hit you with so many questions. You are right that recovery is needed now! It does not seem like many P.W. companies are that concerned with it yet, Differant parts of Texas are really starting to activly enforce it. So you pump and filter your water and than dispose in a sanitary sewer by permit? What type of filtration do you use for oil removal? If filter socks what micron do you use? The city I live in is hiring a storm water program administrator. I expect active enforcement in the next year or less!

Beth and Rob, Do you think this could be a topic or subject that could be added in the future? In Texas and many other parts of the country wash water run off to storm drains is a hot topic. What type of conformance does the EPA expect?

One Tough P.W. Just curious as to how long you have been in the business? Your profile does not say much to that effect. Any specialties? I did notice you are EPA compliant. What does that specificly mean? How can I get certified? Do you pump, filter and recycle your wash water? If so can you give some direction to those asspects? Maybe you could reccomend some equipment. Are you able to upcharge any for being EPA compliant? Recovery seems to be the way we will have to go in the future.

One Tough Pressure, You made a very valid point. Joel or anyone else should checkwith the mfg. first. The limiting factor would be the size and amount of pancakes the burner has. A new fuel nozzle is about $4.00, blower wheel is about $14.00. Adusting fuel pressure up is easily done with a screw driver but, you need to have a fuel pressure gauge installed $6.00-20.00. A temp. gauge would also be helpful. They run around $20.00-25.00 for a good one. An air band adjustment will more than likely need to follow. That adjustment can take a little more time. None of these items should shorten the burner life providing it is is large enough. At least that is according to Wayne Burners Technical engineer. None of what I have mentioned is very difficult to do. You need to have a good working knowledge of the burner though before making any adjustments. Or if you prefer a few hours labor and parts at a sevice center.

One Tough, Couldn't Joel do some simple things to compensate for a larger h.p. pump? You know like changing to a larger fuel nozzle, larger blower fan , ect.? Of course his unit mfg. would be the first place to check before considering any changes.

Thnks Aplus and Ron, I will use you techniques in the spring. May help a coworker clean his large deck. A little learning curve if you no what I mean!

Ron P., Help me understand the dual wand theory. You have a low pressure side which is adjustable and the high pressure side which is fixed. Do you install a hp nozzle on the lp side and adjust as needed? If so do you verify psi with a gauge? Would you loose gpm by adjusting the nozzle to a lowwer setting or would that be insignificant with decks? Sounds like a interesting method and much cheaper than buying nozzles!

RAJD, That gpm should be more than enough to use. Do you expect any furring of the wood using 1500 psi? I don't have much experiance on decks but would think 1000 psi would be tops for me. Please let us know how it turns out! Before and after pics would be great. A very useful selling tool! You may pick up some additional work once neighbors see the work in progress.

RAJD, I would use the fresh water supply even though it is farther away. Have you tested it to see if you have adequate flow? Using a 5/8" supply on a single machine should be ok. The lake water is closer but could be a problem depending on the amount of lift needed. Check with your pump manufacture, they usually have all that data on hand. I don't beleive pw pumps have a lot of lift and cavitation might be a problem. A solution may be to use a electric pump at the lake and pump into the drum. Let the pw draw from there. This way you are flooding the pump instead of trying to use the pw pump to pull the full 150'. May be over kill but this would assure you of having a constant supply of water. What ever you decide try it before you start the job it might save your pump. One other thing I am assuming is that you will be changing nozzles to lowwer your pressure. Adjusting the unloader in this situation might be a disaster!

One Tough Pressure, The 3/4"commercial contractor hose I buy have full 3/4" fittings. Same applies to the shorter hoses I make myself. I pay $8.00 for a set of brass ends. The larger hose makes a big differance when you have to use long runs. Use two machines ect.. I guess my preferance is to always have the maximum amount of water available to the pump. A 5/8" hose is 25% larger than a 1/2"hose and a 3/4 hose " is 20% larger than a 5/8" hose !

Joel, When you can I would switch to a higher gpm pump. Will make the job easier and will let that new surface cleaner really work. I would suggest buying a repair manual. The Steam Cleaner and Pressure Washer repair manual-$40.00. You sound like you are handy enough to repair your own stuff. The savings can be tremendous. You may also want to buy spare parts at this time. An unloader, o-rings, nozzles to reduce pressure ect. Get some good boots, advil, tylenol, walkman, earmuffs ect. Save All related sales receipts for tax time. Good Luck!

Ditto on what Ron said. Another instance where 3/4" vs 5/8" helps if someone else is using the same water source. A sprinkler system cutting on or maybe a toilet being flushed. Also you would want your incoming supply line as big as possible to refill the tank quicker. Keep the supply line as short as possible. I dont use hose quick connects or the commercial t's or y's because of the narrowing of the passage. I make my own t's out of 3/4" PVC for full flow. Bigger in this case does mean better