Shurflo or Xjet?

[Work2Fish 14]

Hey guys Im new to TGS and really respect alot of you pro's out there. I want to do roofs and need to get equipted. I have been looking at the Xjet and shurflo routes. From what I can gather the shurflo is an external pump that shoots the chems on the surface. I would need seperate tanks for each chem and another hose reel setup. As for the Xjet it just snaps to end of my gun and sucks the chem straight from the jug. It seems to me the the shurflo would breakdown because of the chems eating at the insides. If you could give me some input or advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance,

Chris

[FullBlast 14]

You sure don't want to let Clorine set in it!!! It will rust shut over night!!! But it holds up pretty good to chems. They do seem to be troublesome lil pumps tho. Rule one keep the battery charged on it or it will burn the pump up!! For some reason they don't seem to last long. Don't know don't run clorine thru mine every day like some people do. My 2 pennies.

[Larry B 55]

I think both have their advantages/disadvantages. I do believe that if you use a shurflo, you should have a second pump available to swap with. I did not and ended up x-jetting to finish the job. Either way always have a spare to pull the job through.

[CCPC 26]

For roofs, I would always recommend to go with a shurflo pump vs. x-jet. The x-jet can work, but you have less control while applying the chem, added difficulty getting the proper lift on taller roofs, and a lot less flexibility in strength of chem.

As for shurflo's breaking down quick, I strongly disagree. Shurflo's will ware out just like anything else, but if you're using the right kind (i.e. equiped for use with strong corrosive chems), you'll get more than your share of life from it.

I've had shurflo's last well over a year with almost daily use cleaning roofs and what not. I've even forgot to clean them out with chem left in them for days at a time, and still no problems. The other good thing that I've found is that when they do start to fail they seem to lose strength slowly, so you see its starting to fail, and you have time to order a replacement before total failure (at leat this is how its been in my experience).

Actually, my shurflo pumps tend to last longer than my M-5 xjets. The plastic end of the M-5 seems to fail in some way within as little as 4 months.

[Don Phelps 85]

Hey guys Im new to TGS and really respect alot of you pro's out there. I want to do roofs and need to get equipted. I have been looking at the Xjet and shurflo routes. From what I can gather the shurflo is an external pump that shoots the chems on the surface. I would need seperate tanks for each chem and another hose reel setup. As for the Xjet it just snaps to end of my gun and sucks the chem straight from the jug. It seems to me the the shurflo would breakdown because of the chems eating at the insides. If you could give me some input or advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance,

Chris

Hi Chris,

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you yet. I haven't forgotten though. I can show you a ShurFlo set up and a gas-powered pump (< not cheap). I've got a house wash and some concrete lined up for our co-op day. It's been a catch-up week, but I'll call you soon or you can give me a call at your convenience.

Ps. Most ShurFlos will last quite a while if outfitted with the correct seals, valves etc. and rinsed thoroughly after each use.

[Work2Fish 14]

Hey Don,

hope you and the family had fun on the vacation. Ill call you first thing tomarrow. may we can grab a bite.

Take it easy,

Chris

[Don Phelps 85]

Hey Don,

hope you and the family had fun on the vacation. Ill call you first thing tomarrow. may we can grab a bite.

Take it easy,

Chris

We got there on Friday and there was no snow anywhere but the slopes and the temp was in the 40's. By Sunday night there was almost a foot on the ground and it was freakin' cold! No matter how much I travel, it always seems weird to throw a snowball in the morning in NY and walk the dogs in warm, sunny FL in the afternoon. We had a great time though!

Talk with you soon,

Don

[Don Phelps 85]

It was good to get a chance to hook up with you today Chris! Hopefully you took some useful knowledge away from the experience and it will help to cut your learning curve way down. You've got a great attitude and will go as far as you want in this business.

[Degraffreed 21]

Don, could you provide a picture of your Shur Flo setup and I know you developed a roof cleaning wand. I seem to have misplaced my photo of the wand. Want to do more roof cleaning this year but prefer not to X-jet.

[Don Phelps 85]

Here is a link to the wand pics.

http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3117

This is a link to a pic of the tank.

http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4669

I don't have any other current pics to show you, but the only difference is there's a jumper hose from the tank to the ShurFlo and 200' ft. of hose attached to the outlet side of the pump to the wand. On the inside of the tank there's a hardwired pvc pipe that goes down to the bottom of the tank. Hose tends to curl up or the end will float back to the surface in the tank and draw air, so I find it best to use the pvc pipe to keep it near the bottom.

[john@AEC 37]

G'day Don

I've read some of you other posts about this (and that and the other) and must say thanks for being so open about what works. (Sucking up complete so onto question LOL).

I'm putting together another electric pump setup (for sodium hypochlorite - about 3 to 5%) and am having trouble finding out what is the best material for seals etc. Both Shurflo and Flojet have some models with viton/viton, is this what you use? is there something better? Teflon is extremely good, but nobody makes seals with teflon (too brittle), have you (or anybody else for that matter) tried spraying seals with teflon ?

Thanks in advance

Cheers

John

[Don Phelps 85]

Hi John,

We've always used the ShurFlos with viton and santoprene seals and valves. If flushed immediately after each use, they'll last quite a while. Occasionally a pressure switch will need to be replaced, which is often due to too much back pressure causing the switch to cycle back and forth. A larger orifice will usually eliminate this problem.

With regard to other kinds of seals (teflon, nylon, etc.), we've never felt the need to try them. As previously mentioned, as long as it has viton and santoprene seals and valves and is consisitently rinsed after each use, it'll serve you well.

Here is a link to the most commonly used ShurFlo.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product2_6970_9414_9414

[Barry M 73]

Hi John,

We've always used the ShurFlos with viton and santoprene seals and valves. If flushed immediately after each use, they'll last quite a while. Occasionally a pressure switch will need to be replaced, which is often due to too much back pressure causing the switch to cycle back and forth. A larger orifice will usually eliminate this problem.

With regard to other kinds of seals (teflon, nylon, etc.), we've never felt the need to try them. As previously mentioned, as long as it has viton and santoprene seals and valves and is consisitently rinsed after each use, it'll serve you well.

Here is a link to the most commonly used ShurFlo.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product2_6970_9414_9414

I agree with Don, this pump is very dependable as long as you rinse after each use and lube with a silicone lubricant. I've done 25,000 sq ft of roofs in 3 days with no problems so far. I have to say I'm also amazed at the fact that an average sized marine battery will run my shurflo pretty much continuous for 10 hours and still show a charge at the end of the day.

Don, I do notice that with the 6510 tip my pump does kick off and on, but chems don't stop flowing. What other tips do you recommend that might stop this from happening and causing premature failure?

[Don Phelps 85]

Hi Barry,

I'm assuming that you're using 3/8" i.d. hose. If that's the case, a #6510 should be plenty large enough. I would consider adjusting the pump at the head. There is a screw there for adjustment. If you're using smaller i.d. hose, back pressure is probably causing the problem.

[Barry M 73]

Hello Don,

Yes I'm using 3/8" chem hose, but I wasn't aware of the adjustment screw. Thank you very much.

[john@AEC 37]

Thanks Don

Amazed at the price $57.99... they're over $200 by the time they get down here.

I'll try and permanantly mount mine and have an extra container of water just for flushing.

Cheers

John