WaterTanks - How to?

[MudDuck 20]

I just bought a John Deer 3800psi / 4gpm with a 13 Horse Honda gas. I wanted to use a portable water source but the manual stated that you shouldn't or can't "siphon" and I take that as it needs a garden hose hook up from a sourse, ie house spicket. How can I set it up to use a tank on my truck? Do I need another pump at the tank to feed it to the washer and if so what typ? Or can I just hook the tank up directly and let it go?

[Lightning Gene 66]

If you elevate your water tank and depending on the size, you should get enough gravity flow to supply your machine,,,,,

[Christopher 102]

If that is what the manual says then do that.Is your pump a direct drive or gear drive or belt drive? This is very important.One of the guys on another board is going through this as he changed out his direct drive pump to a slightly larger pump and tried it with a tank. Since it is direct drive, it spins faster than a gear drive pump or belt drive so it is engineered to be supplied with water under a little pressure like from a garden hose.He tried it with a tank and it will not work. He talked to a lot of the guys out there and still, only when he has it connected to a hose will it have flow and pressure, otherwise you are running it dry and will eventually ruin the pump.You could run a pump from the tank to your pressure washer but it would need to be at least 5gpm and 35psi or more, your manual should say what supply pressure. To do this would be a lot of work, added expenses and more maintenance.Just connect it to garden hose supply or save up and get a belt drive and walk away from all those problems.

[Russ Spence 76]

I just bought a John Deer 3800psi / 4gpm with a 13 Horse Honda gas. I wanted to use a portable water source but the manual stated that you shouldn't or can't "siphon" and I take that as it needs a garden hose hook up from a sourse, ie house spicket. How can I set it up to use a tank on my truck? Do I need another pump at the tank to feed it to the washer and if so what typ? Or can I just hook the tank up directly and let it go?

he is right , the machine is not set up to pull water it has to be fed through a supply but if you have it high er than the pump (being fed from the bottom of course) it may work

[Adrian 155]

.....plus..... you will need the shortest supply hose from tank to pump as possible.

Too long of a hose will cause it to collapse and it will not draw water.

[plainpainter 217]

I imagine if you got a specialty 2" hose made up as well - that it would work. I will be experimenting with the same thing.

[814jeffw 71]

I run a direct drive pump from of a supply tank with no problems. It is a 100 gal. tank. 4.6 GPM 3500 PSI pump. There is also a 210 Gal. tank in the van that feeds back to the trailer from gravity. But it works with just the 100 gal. tank by itself. Also run a bypass back into the tank. This keeps cool water cycling through the pump during times when the trigger is shut off.

Jeff

[MudDuck 20]

I want to get a 125 tank and set in my truck to feed it. So if it works ( have water and preshure) doe's that mean its fine or am I slowley tearing up the machine? I guess I should have done more research before starting this endevor, lol but it is what it is. Just starting out but have a good market area so maybe I can get enough slop jobs to save up and get a "real" rig.

[814jeffw 71]

As long as the pressure side is "smooth" it should be fine. If it's starting and stopping or vibrating in your hands, then your probably starving it for water. I don't think it will hurt it, as long it's not completely out of water for very long,.. but I don't really know. You won't want to use it that way anyhow. You need to by-pass though.

Jeff

[MudDuck 20]

One more question if I may, the intake port on the pump will only pull solution with the low pressure tip in. Any other tip and it wont pull soap. aslo do you "not" want to run bleach through the pump or doe's it matter. What other injector can I get for a "down stream" injector and how doe's it conect. Sorry I know it's a "newbie" aint gotta clue question but I have to ask.

[MudDuck 20]

Ok I think I just found the anwser with the x jet. For the down stream question.