I've got some downstream questions

[CCPC 26]

OK, I've decided that I want to give downstreaming another shot (couldn't hurt).

I do, however, have a few questions.

First, I ordered a a downstreamer from envirospec which came with a 10' long, 1/4" draw hose, I'm wondering if I could gain more pull using a 3/8" hose instead, and will the 10' hose affect the pull?

Also, regardless of weather it allows for more pull, will it have any adverse affects on its performance?

I was also thinking of putting a ball valve in the line (if I go with a 3/8" draw hose) to allow for me to turn the valve when I don't want to draw chem, does this sound like it would work, or am I missing somthing?

lastly, what is the largest orffice nozzle you can use without pulling any chem?

Thanks!

[R L S 14]

10 feet of draw hose is fine and will work with no hitches. If you put a 3/8 hose on the injector it will just get bottle necked down to 1/4 at the injector hose barb anyways, stay with the 1/4. A shut off valve would work for two things one to shut the flow off and two, you could meter the flow of chem by slightly closing it. As far as the largest orfice you can use without pulling chem I had to play with differant nozzels to find mine. You could always hook up a psi gauge at the gun and use a dual wand to figure it out by opening the wand until you hear or see it drawing chem, look at your gauge and theres your lowest pressure. Hope this is somewhat clear.

[newlook 265]

One recommendation on the ball valve, make sure that you completely flush with clean water after each use. Sometimes the chems after many uses will have a tendency to "gum" up in the ball valve and it can be difficult to open and close. It is more of a maintenace thing than anything.

[R L S 14]

Good tip Carlos.

I always run water thru mine and soap after I run acid thru it which is very often.

[CCPC 26]

Thanks guys. If I put a ball valve on 1/4" hose it will be reduced to 1/8" inside the ball valve, but if I use a 3/8" hose my ball valve will be 1/4", so with this in mind, I wonder if the 3/8" would be better for what I want to do.

[R L S 14]

I am not sure what you want to do but the 1/4" line after the ball valve will still fill up with chem and pull the same.

Im set up for dual chem applications and run metering valves on both my lines and have no problem with them.

[VanDiesel99 14]

Why the ball valve? Most downstreamers have an adjustment knob where you can turn the downstreamer off.

[R L S 14]

I like the idea of the valve. When your hands are wet and the knob is really, really, hot it would be easier to just flip a little handle. In my opinion.

[VanDiesel99 14]

True, but they are expensive aren't they. I know the xjet 3/8 hose barb ball valve is like 8-9 dollars. I have never seen one smaller.

[Dan B 14]

iam haveing downsteaming problems. my old downstreamer went out and i had to get a new one well ive tryed 2 diffrent types and i cant get them to draw when running 200' of hp hose. i can put the injector in the middle of the 2 100' hoses and it works but will not draw if i put the injector at the machine. the old one would work anyone got any ideas why ? thanks

[CCPC 26]

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.

[COOPER 14]

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.

[wesley 15]

Lance, When I downstream I use a Hi/Lo spray tip from spraymart. No changing out tips and can twist the tip to about zero degree for about a 30' reach and 40 degree for up close soaping applications. You may already use this method but if not I think you would like using this tip for your downstreaming. Oh yeah, when you get ready to rinse just push tip down for high pressure rinse. Hope this helps.

[Atlantic Power Washing 14]

iam haveing downsteaming problems. my old downstreamer went out and i had to get a new one well ive tryed 2 diffrent types and i cant get them to draw when running 200' of hp hose. i can put the injector in the middle of the 2 100' hoses and it works but will not draw if i put the injector at the machine. the old one would work anyone got any ideas why ? thanks

Try shortning your hose to 150'....200' is too much back pressure for you downstream to work properly. If you have a burner make sure the downstreamer is after the burner. Other things may come into to play but I would try that first.

[RogerG 14]

Hi Dan,

I also have 200' of hose but I don't have any problems with drawing chems. Where do you have your downstreamer mounted? I have mine mounted on the hose reel then the jumper hose from the burner screwed into it. Dan when I moved my downsteamer I thought that I had the arrow pointing in the right direction but come to find out it wasn't. Try flipping it around to see if that will work.

Roger

[bforbis 14]

Hey Roger,

Would you mind sending a pic of how you set it up.

I had the same issue with it not working with 200' of hose and gave up messing with it, but some times I think down streaming would be a better choice for some jobs.

Mine was set up near the pump (factory installed), but not sure without going to look and confirm.

Thanks

[bforbis 14]

I think I am just missing something altogether on the "down-streaming method" When I first tried using this method, I had to walk back and forth to cut off/on chemicals depending on whether I rinse of apply chems. Then I worried about if chems had run out, clogged line or there was always something that did not seem to be working correctly. I had several injectors seize up between uses, which added another PITA factor.

I realize I was very new to using this method, had no idea really what I was doing. This was over 2 years ago and I never really tried anything else after I went with the XJ. I just thought tha was the way it was and the bucket method was and is working well for me.

If I had to go back to the truck/machine it was much less frequent (mix chems or something little).

What am I missing?

[CCPC 26]

I tested my three different downstreamers today to find out what the draw rates were and the results we're very disappointing.

General pumps and Enviro's Super Sucker (super sucky) drew a horible 14.5 : 1 water/chem ratio

The best I could get was from my Adams injector of which I managed to squeeze a disappointing 11.5 : 1 ratio of water/chem.

I really need some advice on THE BEST downstreamers on the market, that provide the highest draw rate. I know I'm never going to get close to the x-jet, but it would be nice to atleast achieve a 6:1, or 7:1 water/chem ratio.

PLEASE HELP!!!

[Barry M 73]

I think what Lance is trying to say is that both the x-jet and a downstreamer have their place.

[Mike Williamson 198]

I tested my three different downstreamers today to find out what the draw rates were and the results we're very disappointing.

General pumps and Enviro's Super Sucker (super sucky) drew a horible 14.5 : 1 water/chem ratio

The best I could get was from my Adams injector of which I managed to squeeze a disappointing 11.5 : 1 ratio of water/chem.

I really need some advice on THE BEST downstreamers on the market, that provide the highest draw rate. I know I'm never going to get close to the x-jet, but it would be nice to atleast achieve a 6:1, or 7:1 water/chem ratio.

PLEASE HELP!!!

I haven't tested it, but espec's bleach injector works great for me. It runs about $50.00 (stainless) for the adjustable model.

[Mike Williamson 198]

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

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

[CCPC 26]

I haven't tested it, but espec's bleach injector works great for me. It runs about $50.00 (stainless) for the adjustable model.

I've done a lot of searching the last couple of days, and that seems to be my #1 choice out of all the ones I've seen. I've seen the same model on multiple sites, but enviro has it for the best price. I'll probably give it a shot.

[VanDiesel99 14]

For the guys who run 8gpm or better:

Are you using guns with 13/32" openings or do you know? I was having a little trouble drawing a a good chem rate with my 8gpm machine, then I read on the espec site where a smaller opening in the gun could cause back pressure on the downstream injector causing less chem to be drawn. They have a hydraulic YRL50 Compensating gun that I am going to try out to see if that alleviates the problem. Curious what others think about this.

[CCPC 26]

Has anyone ever tried out the posibility of connecting two downstreamers in a row and dropping both lines for higher chem flow? I remeber someone asking about this awhile back, but wasn't sure if anyone actually tried this, or knows wether it would work or not.

Maybe if the two downstreamers were not right in a row, but instead seperated by about 10' on hose. Maybe one right after the machine and another connected right before the hose reel. I wonder if this would work? I can see a lot of advantages to this because you wouldn't need both of them all the time, but when you need a little extra chem strength you can hit a ball valve on the the other one. :lglolly:

[PressurePros 249]

Has anyone ever tried out the posibility of connecting two downstreamers in a row and dropping both lines for higher chem flow? I remeber someone asking about this awhile back, but wasn't sure if anyone actually tried this, or knows wether it would work or not.

Maybe if the two downstreamers were not right in a row, but instead seperated by about 10' on hose. Maybe one right after the machine and another connected right before the hose reel. I wonder if this would work? I can see a lot of advantages to this because you wouldn't need both of them all the time, but when you need a little extra chem strength you can hit a ball valve on the the other one. :lglolly:

Don't trust my science on this Lance but I think you are on the right track. I think you could split one downstreamer into having two draw hoses and increase your chem ratio. Somewhere I remember seeing something like this called a "double gulp" maybe?