Power Washer & the 3 Bears

When is it too small, when is it just right, when is it too large? Power washers are closer to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears than you would think.
This entry will not win me friends with the larger is better crowd. Nor the handy man specials that try to cut prices, only to cut quality and are gone as fast as they came. It is more about finding what is right for you and what you do as a professional power washer. Knowing and finding your nitch in the industry is what it is all about.

Our last house washing in Springfield MO found us back at school. While we were not the highest bid or the lowest we still won the bid on this home just off campus. It helped that I had done the complex just two doors down last year. I showed up with my house washing rig parked next to the home which was very dirty and covered with your normal algae, mildew and years of grime.

The house mother told me, it seems that over the last few years the "handyman" was charging for a yearly washing but the home just seemed to get that much dirtier. My rig may look a bit small next to the home but it has everything needed to do this job as well as any other house washing job, with top name and commercial quality washers and equipment.

Cleaned by Pete's house washing set-up

Cleaned by Pete's house washing rig I can do projects this big or bigger with it.

Do you need a trailer with a 500 gallon water tank? Do you need a large 4 wheel drive pick-up? Do you need a hot water skid? If we do I'll go back to the shop and get one. Day in and day out this little rig will help save me and my customers money also help out our environment. Saving gas, oil, exhaust output by the truck and the washing unit as well as soaps, cleaners and water. On the other side of the field we are a small footprint but do not lack in quality of machinery on this rig. No "big box store" or "the warehouse" sale items here. Finding the just right as Goldilocks did was the trick I have been working at it for years, finding the just right for me. Many will say a bigger power washer with more pressure and gallon flow will do this that and the other, but for washing houses is it really needed?

House washing done by: Cleaned by Pete

House washing done by: Cleaned by Pete

House washing including the upper deck done by: Cleaned by Pete

I have invested in top notch equipment and over the years, used and decided what works and what does not for us. In a discussion the other day we were discussing what size pump is needed to wash a house. As with any discussion sides were taken and defended. I took the side that a 4, 5 or 5.5 gallon pump is all that is needed in most house washings. Others said no! Less than 8 gallons to 10 for washing a home was simply a waist of time (time and speed being their total basing factor). With a larger pump, came disadvantages for me. One being that you will need a larger motor 20 hp to 25 hp motors have to be used on most of these pumps. That is a twin cylinder of some type. Two cylinders mean twice as much gas and twice as much exhaust. I run a small 5 gallon pump off a 13 hp motor with lower psi to help save gas and exhaust (my carbon offset). The second reason: I like the control of the 5 gallon pump enough and plenty of extra power to clean any house or residential need I have come across. Others say you can do it faster and in less time with larger pumps that may be. I'm out to clean / wash and not racing to see how fast I get done. That is not part of my game-plan. A third reason is that the large pump and motor will take up a lot more room and it also weighs more. With more weight comes more ware and tear on the service truck. This will add more cost in gas and maintenance too. Larger pumps just ware things out faster too, nozzles, hoses, and other parts will just ware out quicker. Size is at a premium on the S10 also bigger may not fit. The fourth reason I don't wish to use larger pumps is they need more water 250 gallons or 500 gallons in a tank you need to pull around. Water supplies will not keep up with this type of water usage. Residential homes do not have this much water pressure or flow. Transporting large amounts of water to a sight that has water does not make scene to me. Again larger trailers, larger trucks, larger motors to run the pump all for the sake of time and speed. The last big factor in my game-plan is the bigger units original cost is quite a bit more this is a big factor when you're running a business. Does getting done quicker justify the cost how much return is realized.

So is smaller better? Could be. Having just what is needed to get jobs done is what I strive to do. So is larger better? Could be, depending on who you ask. Yes I do use my larger unit for commercial cleanings. Too small is just not in the equation for me at all, consumers grade power washers do not get the job done. Could I use my house washing rig to clean a large apartment complex? I could but it would be not as efficient, this house is about as big as I go with the house washing unit. That is why I have larger units and use then when needed. The same thing should apply for going the other way. Is a big unit as efficient for house washing? Is the only drawback here is speed and time? The savings to me, my customers and helping be as "Eco friendly" as I can, out weigh that one difference. You can not judge a book by its' cover you also can not judge a washer by the size of the truck. You have to look further than truck size, what equipment is on-board, Are they using "commercial or industrial" grade equipment. Customers should ask and look talk to you the intended hired contractor. They should check them out we need to be able to answer question and reassure them the job completed will be the best possible.

Here is a new truck, it happens to be one of my competitors, I don't judge them though they have mislead some of my customers. But still that is their business tactics and the way they want to run their company. What I'm saying is look at the pick-up and the equipment. Does this big new big pick-up help to clean and wash? Then look at mine who do you want cleaning your home? The largest single investment you have. This is actual photos taken on a bid I was doing and the competitor show up with their equipment to do their bid. What and who would you like to wash your home?

   Cleaned by Pete was driving the company truck too.

Beside the dedicated unit on the service truck you can see: a 16hp motor with a gear driven Hypo pump (the blue one). This is a smaller footprint due to the geardrive replacing the belts. A direct drive AR nickle head pump powered by a 15hp motor. We needed some portable units to get around and on the roof and in some areas we could not just run hoses to. These two units are custom built for size and power with all top graded parts and pumps.

There is also a difference between a service / work truck and one you drive around for personal use on the week-ends. It shows more of a commitment to your business and to the customers. A truck will get you there but it does not help you wash a home that is all in your equipment. You can see above a "big box store" consumer grade power washer in a big new pick-up, yes this is their power washing unit. Or you can pick from the industrial / commercial grade equipment on the back of a custom built cleaning rig designed by Cleaned by Pete with house washing in mind. While it is not new, a 4x4, crew cab, and I can not drive it on a date Saturday night it does what it was made and built to do, work.

Nice truck to get you there in style while supporting your consumer grade washer, is this to small?

Cleaned by Pete's house washing and residential cleaning rig, we find it just right for our cleaning style. jobs, and the size of what we clean. Not to big, not to small but just right for the residential and commercial jobs we do.

We had a photo of a super rig here,
the builder of the rig wished it removed.
I will honor their wishes. It was sourced off
the internet without any references to 
ownership. Sorry for any uses of said 
super rig on this blog.
It now has been removed.

Special built custom rig for commercial lot and structure washing, while just right for what it was built for, could be a bit of an overkill for washing a house and most residential usage. The question again arises when is a power washer to small, when is it just right and when is it too big.

I have always subscribed to the simple fact having the best equipment, tools, and washer to do the job. I could never uses my equipment to clean a large garage or even a oil rig, nor would I want to. It is just as simple each job dictates what pressure washers and equipment needs to be used. Each job is different each job requires specialized equipment and tools. Each contractor knows his equipment and what can be done with it. There is a limitation of what one can do with a washer and on the other hand to much power is not always a good thing at times it will all depend on what we are washing. Most power washing contractors seem to find their special part of this vast cleaning field and then mold and fit their rigs and pressure washers to what they want to do. Professionals use professional equipment not a "box store washer".

That is why Cleaned by Pete has 3 service trucks and a fleet of washers. Witch includes skids to portables, hot water and cold water units, electric and gas, to meet the needs of each customer and their jobs.

Cleaned by Pete
is a power / pressure and soft washing company
specializing in residential and commercial exterior cleaning
serving the greater Springfield and Southwest Missouri area
417.459.7869

Thank you for the visit and reading the blog, leave us a comment and you are welcome back at any time.

Driving You Crazy? or Ways of Driving Your Pressure Washers Pump

Driving You Crazy? or Ways of Driving Your Pressure Washers Pump

The pump is one of the main components of your system. How it turns to produce the pressure comes from a motor electric or gas that is the end of it right? Pictures all are provided by Cleaned by Pete via his equipment and washers except the hydraulic photo, I do not have a tractor so I don't have a need for this washer.

No pumps are divided into different speeds or RPMs they also are mounted differently and have different life-spans. If you can a turn a pump slower but still achieve the desired pressure and water flow you will do the same job only with less wear and tear on the pump. Less wear and tear means a longer life who would not want their pump lasting longer? How is this done? Why would you want anything else? Well the answer starts here, what do we need to do? 

First thing is we need a pump that runs at  1700 RPM (rounds per minute). These pumps will have larger cylinders, capable of pumping larger volumes of water. With each stroke of the pistons in the pump's head more pressure and more water can be pumped out. Since the pump is turning slower it will last longer. The three most common ways of doing this are by using pulleys and belts, using a gear drive or gear driven speed reducer, and the last method which is not to common is a hydraulic pump (as a pto shaft or hd pump on say a tractor). These methods use a gas powered engine to make power and then you can transfer that power to the pump.

Top view of one of the belt driven pumps from Cleaned by Pete.

 Belts and pulleys

Belts and pulleys come in different configurations and you can "over drive" as well as "under drive" the pump by changing one or both pulleys. The main thing here is you still must have the correct size of gas engine to provide the RPMs as well as the required torque. To small of engine or to little of HP horse power can not compress the larger volume of water in the head of the pump which the pistons are trying to compress. Belts and pulleys are the most common way a commercial or industrial grade power washers are driven.

Cleaned by Pete's belt driven pump, twin belts transfer power form the motor to the pump this is a 5 gpm @ 2500 psi with a 13 hp Honda engine.

Under Cleaned by Pete's Landa skid belts provide power to the pump as well as the 110 volt generator seen on the right.  Since it is pulling a pump 5 gpm @ 3500 psi and a generator it needs a larger motor in this case 18 hp twin Briggs supplies the power.

You can see the pump and the belt and pulleys that drive it in this picture.

Gear driven or Gear Reduction

Gear driven or Gear Reduction set ups have an enclosed set of gears such as the transmission on a car. The gear ratio cuts the speed of the motor in half or there about half speed. This will let you use a belt driven pump but via the transmission you can bolt it to your engine. This makes the pressure washer a smaller and more compact size. This method is gaining popularity with pressure washer builders. This method of driving the pump still has all the advantages of the belt driven unit but as stated above the "footprint" is smaller when using a small pickup as Cleaned by Pete does this gives us more room for other needed items. Smaller footprint washers and vehicles are becoming a must when trying to stay as "green" or earth friendly.

Gear driven Hypro pump the small transmission reduces the speed of this 15 hp engine to around half to power the 4 gpm @ 3200 psi pump.

The belts and pulleys are replaced by this gear reduction or gear box transmission Cleaned by Pete's gear driven pump.

Hydraulic drive

The  hydraulic drive is not that popular but does need to have a mention. A hydraulic drive system is a drive  system that uses pressurized hydraulic fluid to drive hydraulic machinery via a vane which than can transfer those RPMs to that same pump used on the other two systems mentioned above.

PTO driven pump via the shaft on a tractor.

Hydraulic drive on a pressure washing pump

Why do we as power washers chose one of the systems listed above? I have mentioned the life of the pump is doubled it simply last longer. An other reason power washers like this system or pump it will "draw water". Drawing water means the pumps volume of water is large enough and slow enough to pull water from a tank or reserve. I does not need to be forced fed water from a water tap or a well pump system. You see big water tanks that are used in areas where there is no water supply. These pumps can create enough suction or draw to pull water from a tank or gravity feed (bottom of the water tank is above the level of the intake on the pump. These pumps with larger pistons and water volume usually move larger gallons per minute and have higher pressure. Remember GPM x PSI = TCU (gallons per minute x pressure per square inch = Total Cleaning Units) or the work our washer can do. Draw backs are these pumps cost more and are larger. They need more maintenance at times, changing oil in the transmission, new belts or belt adjustments 

The Direct Drive Pumps 

Direct drive pumps work in the same manner but turn or spin at the same speed of the engine or motor driving them. Since they spin at 3400 RPM to 3600 RPMs they wear out quicker and have smaller pistons most direct drive pumps don't have large volumes of water. They can draw some water but it is not advised to use them in that matter. Gravity feed if set up correctly will work but most have to be force fed from a water tap or some type or other pumping devise. I have used a sump pump to supply water to them, they will need the supply of water to match their outputs if you are putting out 4 GPM you need 4 gallons per minute going in. The direct drive pump is found on most consumer grade systems. 

A direct drive nickle plate pump putting out 4 gpm @ 4000 psi driven by a Lifan 15 hp engine.

A direct drive nickle pump putting out 3.5 gpm @ 2700 psi driven by a Mitsubishi  7 hp engine.

Direct drive General pump 4 gpm @ 4000 psi powered by a 15 hp Lifan engine.

You can see in this picture the direct drive housing that protects and connects the motor to the pump. Cleaned by Pete portable heated unit photo.

The direct drive pump can also be found to attach to an electric motor. Most electric motors run around 1750 RPM some run at 3400 RPM your pump must be attached and mounted to the correct size motor. Electric motors are rated still in horse power but they are classed differently than a gas motor. Torque produced in an electric motor is constant unlike a gas motor. Electric motors start and run constant even under load gas motors have governors that speed up or throttle down the engine under load to keep it constant. You can find belt driven electric power washing units also and they will have a longer life as it gas breathers do.

C frame pump mounted directly to a 1 1/2 hp electric motor.

An electric kitchen cleaning unit capable of running hot water from the kitchen boiler or hot water heater do to its special packings.

This is an old "barrel pump" set-up the direct drive pump is a Hypro twin cylinder that was the standard for carwashes in the old days.

This is a 3600 RPM C frame pump for an electric motor only via a special adaptor it is mounted to a 6 hp gas engine. A Cleaned by Pete special build.

A closer view of a "C" frame pump designed to work with and bolt on to electric motors with a "C" plate face.

This is just some highlights on driving a power washer picking which way you need will boil down to what you are looking to do with it. You need to decide on a few things cost, life, style, footprint, what will power it, are just some of the questions that should be addressed before you purchase a washer. For Cleaned by Pete and what we do we have several different washers and use several types of drives depending on what the job requires. The question is always is my motor big to run this pump. Pumps require a certain horse power and speed and much be matched to the motor or engine. You can always use a bigger motor or engine with no problems but to big of pump will not work out. 

 

Nozzling the Power Washer: explain to me why & how it works

Nozzling the Power Washer:
explaining why & how it works


I have been a bit under the weather here lately so to keep busy I thought I would put in a bonus entry.  The busier the week the less time I have to write here. I have written about nozzles if you need to review please refer to the entry: http://cleanedbypete.blogspot.com/2012/12/nozzles.html

I was asked to try to explain nozzling a power wash again. Had a question that need to be clarified. Since they did not follow what I was trying to convey on a few points. I'll try it again hopefully this time I can explain it better. Sometimes you can say something that makes all the scene in the world to you but others may not follow the point because of the writing.

We know that a pressure pump is employed to do two functions in the standard power washer. The first is to pump water the second is to put that water under pressure. We then get our ratings of psi and gpm. If for the sake of argument we are pushing out 4 gpm @ 4000 psi we can change one thing here that would be the pressure. If we have a constant water supply we will be putting out the 4 gallons a minute no matter what we do. We can take out the nozzle it will put out 4 gpm, we can put in a zero degree nozzle the same 4 gpm. This remains the same what ever the pump is capable of, it will remain the same as far as output, as long as the water supply that feeds it is up to the output level or greater. We can try to put in 8 gallons of water into the pump but it will still only pump out the rated gallons.

I would like to mention you can and are able to change this output on a pump by over-driving or under-driving it. This is achieved by changing the pulleys on the motor and or pump. Over-driving it we will turn the pump faster thus moving more water through the pump, under-driving the pump it will produce less speed thus less water will move through it. If this seems to interest anyone let me know I'll try to put together an entry on it.

Now that we have the constant water volume or the gallons per minute is static. By changing the nozzle we can change our pressure. Someone out there right now is saying I can change the pressure by screwing out the unloader that is all it takes. While this is true to a certain point once your unloader is set for maxim output it should not be touched!!!!! Let me repeat this once your undoader is set to the maxim output it should not be touched. I have most of my unloaders  set to the maxim output and then I will lock them down, inside the knob with a nilock locking nut, being able to turn the knob at maybe a half turn to free up the unloader if it sticks. This way it is non-tamperable if someone walking by turns the knob. 

This leaves us only one way to now change the pressure that is being developed in the pump is "nozzling". Our pump should be using a certain size of nozzle let just say for this case we are using a #5 nozzle this is the size of the hole in the nozzle. If we use this #5 nozzle we will be putting out our recommended pressure. No matter if we use a 0 degree tip or a 40 degree tip we will be changing the fan pattern but the pressure will remain the same if we use that #5 tip size. Use your nozzle chart and find what size tip you need to use and you will have your maxim pressure.

Now for us "house washers" we would like to have less pressure sometimes like when we wash vinyl or soft woods as well as paint. How? you are asking well we use an over sized tip we can use say a #40 or #50 we can have the advantage of changing the fan pattern to. Getting the cleaning power of a larger stream of water moving that dirt off. We are always cleaning with friction water moving over the dirt partials the force of the moving water is what really cleans. The fan pattern will not change your pressure but it makes you able to contain the stream for a further reach or to widen it for a larger rinse area. Let us look at it this way on your garden hose if we block off part of the end of the hose you can make the water squirt out further the smaller we make end of the hose the more pressure it has. A fire nozzle has a relative small hole in comparison to the size of the hose. If we use just the end of the hose the water comes gushing out but with out alot behind it. Any time we move up in the nozzle size by enlarging the hole will allows us to still have the cleaning power of the volume of water at a lower pressure.

When I first started there were not all the shops and supply houses out there and it was more of trial and error to find out what worked to lower the pressure. I  would used worn out nozzles or would go in and buy a fist full of correct size nozzles and start to drill them a bit larger with a numbered set of drills. Drill it out try it see if it was what we needed. On a side note, you notice these nozzles wear out sometimes you think you're loosing pressure in you machine but it could be the water has bored out the hole in the nozzle larger. The higher the flow the more the pressure the quicker the wear on the nozzle. Now as we drilled and tested we would find the hole size "oversized nozzle" that worked for what we were doing. You know when big is too big because it will have reduce the pressure enough to draw soap or cleaner. Now this is nozzling in it simplest form. Simply letting more water flow out the nozzle by making it bigger in diameter and in the process we also soften up its' cleaning effect on the surface we need to be more careful with. Surfaces as vinyl, wood, plastic, soft rock or any other substrate that cannot take high pressure. We here at Cleaned by Pete  smaller washers for certain jobs that will require less pressure. In using less pressure and gallon flow we also we not be able to reach and clean higher areas as two and three story houses. Nozzling the large units is what works for us.

Play around with larger sized nozzles and find what works for your washer and how you wash. Always go bigger the bigger you go the less pressure your washer will develop. You will want the greatest flow with out drawing soap. You are fine tuning your machine what works for another may not be optimal for you. Never go smaller than your recommended size unless you have a gauge and a special gun with pressure pop-offs to check things out. If you do not you may need to see your power washing repair shop to set the unloader and find the  approbate size nozzle. Please let me know if I need to try again of it this now make more sense. The power washer creates the pressure the nozzle just controls it.

Just a tip if you would like to try to see what may work for you to help to quickly get a range of what size tip you would like and what works, pick up a #30, #40 and a #50 all in a 0 degree and give them a try. If you draw soap or cleaner "downstreaming" you can use that tip shoot soap but you know what range your in for rinsing. Once you find the best size you then can get in to the fan pattern from 5 degrees to 25 degrees again what works for you.

Cleaned by Pete @ 417-459-7869 in Springfield MO, wants to thank you for reading and supporting our blog if you have a free moment please share it with your friends or other people feel free to post a link to the blog. As always thank you for your support.