Introduction and Initial Equipment

Hi all.

My name is Luke Smith, I’m booting up a new exterior cleaning business in the Whispering Pines, NC area. (I’ll add the name to my profile once I secure the domain and social pages.)

I hugely appreciate the folks on this forum. I spent at least 20 hours here before creating an account, and 7 hours since then.

Thanks to your help, I’m confident I can start business with a professional mindset instead of naturally falling into the Craigslist Jockey category.

I’d like to start giving back to the forum by sharing my initial equipment list.

Current:

  • Cold water, belt driven machine putting out 4 GPM at 4,000 psi
  • 50 ft of standard non-marking, high pressure hose
  • 100 ft of heavy non-marking, high pressure hose
  • 2540, 0040, 2510, and 0010 nozzles (soap low, soap high, rinse low, rinse high)
  • J-rod
  • 3 - 5 GPM downstream injector
  • 1 gal pump up sprayer (for subtle material / chem testing and tough spots)

Upcoming purchases:

  • Whisper Wash 16"
  • Hose reels
  • External bypass
  • Buffer tank
  • 5.5 GPM 2500 psi pump

Bare minimum chemicals:

  • 12.5% bleach
  • Elemonator

I hope some newcomers find this helpful.

I’m looking forward to chatting with you guys!

Luke

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Luke this is your father… You forgot the trigger gun water sabre…

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Ha, you think they’ll kill me off in the new series?

I had a Stuttner gun and manufacturer lance come with the machine. The Stuttner is nice and heavy.

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Get yourself a rotary nozzle will save some verses using the lance on pavers and small walkways…

Longer lance has come in handy many times for me… and surface cleaner. Even if just a cheap one to get you by.

Hey Smithly, welcome.

Looks like you have done your research, and have a good grasp of the basics. Here’s some stuff i’ll add.

Use a 2-3 GPM injector, even if you upgrade to the 5.5 GPM pump. This generally gives you a better chem draw.

Grab a 20’ Unger extension pole from Home Depot, and a gutter brush to do gutters. Also one of these gutter tools to help with cleanouts.

Skip the 16" WW and go with a 19" WW Classic or Eagle Wash 19", especially if you are going to upgrade the pump.

Consider a 12V system for roofs, surfaces that need a strong application of chems, or just transferring bleach.

Get a ball valve from pressure tek, and consider an injector bypass kit, so you can rinse and surface clean with full flow.

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Use a 2-3 GPM injector, even if you upgrade to the 5.5 GPM pump. This generally gives you a better chem draw.

I haven’t had a chance to confirm, but the 4 GPM injector should give me up to a 1:10 ratio. Using 12.5% SH, I can get a maximum of 1.25% SH at the wall. From what I’ve read, roofs generally require 5%+, which I’d use a 12V for. An injector that could get me 1:4 or 1:5 would be nice for applications demanding between 1.25% and 5% SH, is that about the ratio of a 2-3 GPM injector on a 4 GPM machine? If these tough applications are rare and isolated, a pump up sprayer should work as well, correct?

Grab a 20’ Unger extension pole from Home Depot, and a gutter brush to do gutters. Also one of these gutter tools to help with cleanouts.

Nice.

Skip the 16" WW and go with a 19" WW Classic or Eagle Wash 19", especially if you are going to upgrade the pump.

Bob said a 4 GPM machine could move the 19" fine, but I’ve seen the 4" rule come up a lot. You think I could get consistent results out of the 19"?

Consider a 12V system for roofs, surfaces that need a strong application of chems, or just transferring bleach.

Yea, I’ll likely do this and skip getting the 2-3 GPM injector.

Get a ball valve from pressure tek, and consider an injector bypass kit, so you can rinse and surface clean with full flow.

What’s the purpose of the ball valve in this case? If I get a bypass, I’ll be pushing full flow regardless, correct? Or are you suggesting I use a ball valve in place of the multiple nozzles?

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Yea, I imagine the rotary nozzle is helpful for hitting flatwork that isn’t easy to get to with a surface cleaner.

Yes it will be ok. Might not be 100% optimal, but i dont think the difference is that big of a deal. I used a 19" with a 4GPM for a while, before i upgraded to 5.5, and it seemed to work fine for me.

I would still suggest going with the 2-3 GPM injector… you want to be able to draw as much chemical as you can… you can always dilute the bleach, but you cant pull more than the injector allows.

Ball valve allows you to switch from wand to surface cleaner without shutting of the engine. Also, it’s great for rinsing concrete and watering the landscape… can rinse houses also. Can even apply soap with it, if you wanted. Dont have to hold a trigger.

When you use an injector, it has a very small opening in it, which restricts water flow. Using an injector bypass removes the injector from the water path with the flip of a valve, so that you have full flow for rinsing.

Still use a jrod for soaping/rinsing, but then you have the ball valve there if you want to use it for the reasons i listed above.

Cant do 5% with an injector… cant remember the max draw rate right now, but i think it’s only around 1% with any injector… maybe a little more.

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