pulling from a water tank

[TalcottPressureWashing 14]

well i've finally got my trailer 99% ready to go. Looking for a water tank now i've gotten several leads that i'm following up on

My question is this,i'm looking for a pressure washer and i'm going to be starting off with a min 4 gpm cold water machine . I know from this site that gear driven and belt driven pumps will pull from a supply tank. But i keep seeing machines listed that say they have a triplex pump and i'm not really sure if that is a pump that is capable of pulling from a supply tank or not ANY help with clearing this up for me would be greatly appreciated.

[Doug T 19]

Triplex refers to the number of pistons in the pump. Could be belt driven, gear driven or direct drive triplex.

[Don L 14]

Lyn,

I don't use tanks yet,but the gentleman who taught me the trade,has one.I am no authority,by any means,but I am quite sure that if you set your tank plumbing so that your outlet is at the the lowest point in the tank,it will gravity feed.Essentially providing you with a "pressure pump".Wait and see who else posts-I could be wrong,but if not someone that has more tech knowledge will be able to provide more details.

[One Tough Pressure 580]

Any washer will run from a tank if setup correctly. The more water in the tank, the more head pressure it has and the easier it is for the pump to be supplied.

If using a direct drive unit, it is advisable to make the hose line from the tank to the washer, higher than the washer itself. The line should draw from the bottom of the tank, and not over the top. A 3/4" or larger hose or pipe is best, and the shorter the better.

In comparison, I have a belt drive that sucks thru 10 feet of hose to a tank that is 18" below the pump head. That pump will suck the tank dry if I let it.

[David O'Connell Jr. 14]

We have 2 machines. A 5.5 gpm and a 8 gpm.

They both pull from a 250 gallon tank.

With either machine running we need water running into the tank at all times.

The 5.5 machine has 2 feeds into the pump. It needs both, the machine chokes w/o it. The same with the 8.

[Howard 50]

I have a 4gpm Hot Portable direct drive PW From Pressure Pro hooked to a 230G water tank. The line is plumbed to the low tank drain opening with 3/4 hose. I have mine plumbed with a 5gpm shurflow supplying water to the washer. That is the only way I could get water to flow to the washer. The entire unit is mounted on a frame which is higher than the tank outlet. With less than 120G of water the pump inlet is higher than the water level and no water will flow. Hope this helps, just plumb a pump and go, or since you're still looking get a belt drive.

[Jeff 232]

Get the belt drive then you won't have to worry, like you would with direct drive

[EnviroClean 15]

My Belt drive machine sucks water from a 300 Gal tank. (Jenna Jameson Style)

[Paul Kassander 26]

I have always used water tanks as supply for my machines and have never had difficulty. Like Howard said you want to oversize the inlet hose to offer as little restriction as possible for the water flow to the machine. Definately make sure to suck from the bottom of the tank the water head will help to prime your pump when you first start the machine up. The only time you may have problems is when the water level drops low and you are trying to suck the water up to the machines. I use a 1500 gallon tank feeding two 5.6 gpm pressure washers and the only time I have any issues is when I get down to about 3" of water and some air gets in the line. My pump inlets are about 3' off of the floor. My second truck has 500 gal the same way, but the inlet is set almost level with the tank output which allows me to get almost all of the water out of the tank leaving about 1". Try to keep the line as straight and short as possible to avoid any unnecessary restrictions.

[Russ Spence 76]

My Belt drive machine sucks water from a 300 Gal tank. (Jenna Jameson Style)

where do you get one of those jenna jameson style machines!!!!!!!