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Pressure washer answers to your previously asked questions

Thanks ------------------------------ Hi Tim,
If you're planning to start a part time power washing business during the summer months you can make a decent amount of money but you are going to have to spend money first and do some research. First find out what the legal requirements are in your state. Do you need a license or Bonding? How much is liability insurance in your area? Insurance is a must due to the amount of pressure you will be using also. If you are willing to spend a couple thousand dollars and spend time learning how to power wash properly then power washing may be the summer job you're looking for. If you're not willing to invest that much time and money I'd look for another summer job. I used to mow lawns when I was in high school and you can make a good amount of money doing that with less overhead and training.

Hi Joe, If you're really serious about getting into power washing then I would suggest buying neither of these machines for driveways. Both are home owner machines, I don't care what either store says. They are direct drive and also cold water with the bare minimum for cleaning. These machines would be best for a homeowner to maintain their own property. If you want to do this for a business, Find yourself a belt drive machine and look at the GPM. That's more important than pressure rating. If you are doing concrete cleaning you are going to want hot water, it just cleans SO much better and faster. With those machines, you could start up doing house washing and decks maybe 3-4 days a week but plan on replacing them in a year or so.

Check prices on power washers with
The-Power-Washer-Advisor or Sun Brite Supply You should be able to find a high quality machine that will last much longer than any hardware store bought model. They will cost more but they will save you money if you're going to be in business for more than a year. Also, find good cleaning chemicals to use, don't skimp on paying for them either and don't buy chems at home depot, they don't work well at all.

Hi Miles, With the machine you described here I would suggest you pass on this job. For cleaning an area this large you need a high volume machine (5gpm minimum) and you need hot water. Any other contractor out there will blow away your pricing and will do it in half the time as you would be able to with this equipment. Sorry for the bad news but the amount of trouble you could get yourself in by taking on a job like this far outweighs any hard feelings you may have for it. A couple of tips: Never pour acid directly on anything. Raw chemicals are dangerous to use and if you don't know anything about them, a health and legal nightmare. Any parking lot cleaning or commercial work for that matter, must be EPA compliant or you risk huge fines for you and the property owner. With the machine you have you are going to have a really hard time competing with anyone, look for a 4-5 gallon per minute machine if you really want to go into this business and check into the PWNA. PWNA.org You will find that many PWNA members will help you if you ask but you have to get up to speed on your equipment first.

The information on this site is great a real eye opener ,but I did not find the answer I needed. I've owned,rented,and borrowed many different presser washers throughout my life I'm 39yrs old. Today I rented apressure washer to clean a house for one of my customers. After I set my self up to do the job I noticed there was no chemical hose on the machine. Needless to say I went back to the rental place and asked for one. When it was given to me I was asked what chemical I was going to use. My reply was clorox its what I allways use!! This person told me it was very bad to use clorox with the pump and I was shown what chemical to purchase. But now I'm puzzled and looking for answers to why it is bad for the pump, which is what lead me to this web site for some answers.I've read trough this site It has a lots of useful information,but nothing on the use of clorox.Ok now lets get to the suggest a topic part. I dont think I'm the only one who has been using clorox through the yrs. If this is bad for the pump why isn't there any information on it and other chemicals that are possibly bad for the pump? Topic: Chemicals that should not be used in a pressure washer pump and side effects to the pump if used. Use my clorox for example, if used in pump(it will wear out the orings prematurely,damage unloader valve,damage piston,...etc. > > I don't know what it does to the pump but I would like some feed back on the topic of the use of clorox in a pressure washer. The person at the rental store could not tell me why not to use it he just said it was bad to use it. Any information you have would be greatly apprecihated!! You may email me with what ever you know on the subject. Thanks a Bunch

Easton, I can sympathize with the employee of the rental store as I have owned a Rental store since 1989. In essence he is only trying to protect his equipment. The truth of the matter is that he is both right and he is wrong. There are two types of chemical injectors used when applying chemicals. These are "upstream" and "downstream" chemical injectors. An upstream injector means the chemical is introduced to the punp at the inlet side of the pump which means the chemical runs through the pump.He is right in the sense that only very mild detergents can be used with upstream injectors. Bleach would be far too aggressive. The only reason these are even used (besides being more expensive) is that the upstream injector allows you to apply chemical with high pressure using a normal pressure tip. I don't know of any rental store that would take this risk with expensive equipment. I am almost sure that you have to use a black tip (chemical tip) to apply your bleach. If in fact you need to use the black tip then what you have is a "downstream" chemical injector. This is by far the most common injector used by rental stores. (99%) How this works is that when you install the black tip it has a much larger inlet orifice than a standard pressure tip. What this extra large orifice does is to create a siphoning action which allows the injector to suck the chemical into the water stream AFTER the pump outlet. The tradeoff is that you can only apply chemical with low pressure when using a "downstream" injector. Clorox and mild acids are perfectly OK to use with this injector as they never come in contact with the pump. Tell him not to worry about the pump or unloader valve as they won't be affected. What is affected is the trigger gun. With regular use of bleach a trigger gun can last as little as 5-10 hours of use before having to be rebuilt. Some contractors invest in cheap $10.00 "throw away guns" but I don't advise this. What I advise you to do is invest in a "chlorine" gun, Envirospec sells some good ones at reasonable prices, give them a call at 1-800-346-4876. With your own gun the store employee will have nothing to worry about. Just a tip: pool chlorine is the bleach we use in florida. It is very effective and much cheaper down here than clorox. I am not intending to embarass the store employee, as I said he is only trying to protect the stores investment. I hope this helped and I will take you up on your suggestion and develop an article on the dos and don'ts of applying chemicals and the use of different injectors. Again I hope this clears the issue up for you.-Randall

Easton - Here's the article I promised you

I would recommend a minimum of 4gpm, the PSI depends on experience. Normally I suggest 3,000 PSI but the most important factors are more GPM and good cleaning chemicals.

What chemicals are good for tractor trailers?

Big Truck Brite or Glimmer Truck wash by Sunbrite for most situations, if you want to two step with stronger chemicals and acids Visit Sun Brite Supply

If you are not sure how much to put in the pump and the manufacturer can't tell you, measure how much comes out of the machine and you should be close. Or just use the oil stick that's built into most models.

[Many quality pumps have a round sight glass built into the side of the casing. 1/2 the way up on the sight glass is the proper amount.]-Randall

It may be the rings inside your pump, or your unloader may need to be replaced.

[The broken o-ring could definitely cause these kind of problems]-Randall

It sounds like your unloader may need to be replaced.

[Unloader valves are the most notorious valve in a pressure washing system...You just never know how long they will last. This is why it is always a great idea to have a spare on hand-Randall]

Can someone explain how to remove "black streaks" from gutters? What are these streaks. Thank you.

These streaks are caused by electrostatic bonding and are best removed using a chemical called gutter zap. This product can be found at most power wash supply companies.

Gadzooks!...Go to the AR Pump website and find the parts breakdown for the model pump you own, I suggest you order new parts and not "cannibalize" parts from other pumps. You will have a better experience in the long run.

AR Pumps Website

Thank you and God Bless,

Ron

Hi Ron, Honestly I don't suggest using a power washer to clean windows for quite a few reasons. In this case you would need to use an x-jet or thruster nozzle to get the chemicals up high enough. (almost any machine will work depending on it's specs) The problem with this method is the chemicals may flash dry on the window creating a film instead of clean windows. Using high pressure on windows can also cause extensive leaks and breakage. If you really want the windows clean, use a ladder and squeeges. It may be harder and more time consuming but, it's still the best method.

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