Christopher 102 Report post Posted October 13, 2004 Hello Everyone, On my way home tonight I saw a crew cleaning a fast food establishment. I stopped and talked to them. We started talking about surface cleaners and they had one similar to the Hydro Force (4 casters, aluminum or stainless deck and handles) that they said was made for them by a friend and they are having a couple more built. They were working for a company but had their own business as well. They did not know the pressure of the machines on the truck but the engines were 16hp Vanguards. I explained how my 3000psi, 5.6gpm, hot water machine could clean very well only the 30" surface cleaner with 2 nozzles will not clean very fast. They turned on the pressure washer and started the surface cleaner and the guy was walking very fast and the surface cleaner was cleaning as fast as he was walking. The cleaner had 3 nozzles but the tips were worn and I could not tell if they were 15 or 25 degree tips. It was incredible how fast the surface cleaner would clean, it was at least double or triple the speed that I could clean with mine. I started wondering if it was the tips (possible 25 degree) or higher pressure or if 3 nozzles clean better than 2. I thought I would ask everyone what their opinion was about this: Do you think if i changed the manifold and put a 3 bar manifold it would clean as fast as the other guy or is it just the tips or a combination of the two. I have been in business for about 6 months and would like to be able to clean concrete that quickly but do not want to buy another surface cleaner yet as mine is still new. Anyone seen a difference going from 2 to 3 nozzles or change out the nozzle sizes and seen a big difference in cleaning speed? Thanks for any help and advice. Chris Chappell Superior Power Washing Corpus Christi, Texas 361-853-2513 chris969@swbell.net Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RyanH 14 Report post Posted October 13, 2004 If your machine can put out enough water to drive more nozzles, it will definitely clean better. On a 2-bar setup, they bars have to make a 180degree spin to make a single pass....with a 3-bar they have to make just 120deg, and with a 4-bar only a 90deg spin. The higher the pressure and higher the flowrate from your machine, the faster these bars will spin, and the faster they will make their cleaning passes, which translates into a faster walking time for you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Christopher 102 Report post Posted October 13, 2004 Has anyone tried to go from 15 degree nozzles to 25 degree nozzles? If so did it clean faster? Has anyone changed from a 2 bar setup to a 3 bar setup? If so did it clean faster? I would like to make mine clean faster since I cannot buy another surface cleaner right now. Thanks for any help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Specialized 14 Report post Posted October 13, 2004 Chris, True...the more tips you have..the more times it passes over the same area as you walk. But...your gpm are no longer divided into two tips 50/50...they are now 33% from each. Probably going to do less assistant if you change it out with your machine. Make sense? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites