Mega church update

Making good time. This 12v is a lot better than the ol’ X-jet… holy smokes. I’m ready to get the gas powered one set up and run two at the same time. Lol

There are 5 of these wing walls and a giant rotunda that is only accessible from the roof. Tomorrow we’ll knock out the last wing wall and the sides of the rotunda we can’t get too.

The bigger windows are 8 foot windows and you can see on one of the progress pics how high we can get with the 12 v. Everything else is done from the lift.

Monday and Tuesday will be from the ground and hopefully no hiccups. Knocking on wood now.
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Great start! Hopefully it ends up being quicker than scheduled.

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Nothing better than getting a good start… definitely a confidence booster!!
Any details as to what you specifically you like that much better about the 12v?.. other than the typical higher concentration?
What gas powered system are you considering?.. would you consider an air system?
Sorry for all the questions, but you’re knowledge has been very valuable to my short time here! Thank you and I hope you have continued success on the mega church

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I’d like to know this info too.

I bought a maruyama 8 gpm chemical pump monntthhs ago, but have no where to mount it at the moment. I like the idea of it because it runs off gas instead of a battery which is also something else I didn’t want to deal with. Having a pump take up less space than two moveable battery boxes was about the only way I could get to tackling the factory and this church in any reasonable amount of time.

I’d love to have something that shoots soap 60 feet in the air, but is there anyway to rinse with any kind of efficiency at that height? I’m not really sure yet.

As far as air diaphragm pumps I’d have to lug around a compressor too which I’m just not capable of at the moment nor is it my desire to do so. If I’m being honest with myself and I keep getting huge jobs like this, it may make sense to build a softwash only truck that can lug around 150 gallons of soap which is about what I’ve used each day we’ve been here. That truck also needs rinse capability.

I had a good phone call a couple weeks ago with IBS and he said he use to have all this stuff separate when he first started and inevitably customers would want multiple services so I’m on the fence. I am not completely sure I want to offer multiple services. I’ve got this winter to decide because in February/March I’m not offering some of the same stuff I have been. Gotta pare down the list even more. I may do stucco, eifs, and flatwork for commercial exclusively and vinyl, painted surfaces, flat work, and gutters for residential exclusively. Residential roofs aren’t a big market here. If you can sell roofs in your market it may be time to start researching, buying and trying, and asking these other pros.

That’s a long way of saying, I don’t have a ton of experience with pumps like these nor do I really wish to. I want to find something that works for me with the least amount of effort involved and ride that horse until one of us kicks it. The only reason I have the 12v is for space and I figured I should try it before I knock it. I know one thing for sure. @racer was right. It sure as heck beats the x-jet.

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Wow, I’m 2 for 2, ball valve and 12V. Now you know why I never pull my xjet out. I’m sure it’s got its place, just haven’t found it yet.

Building looks good. Nice work. What final ratio you using with the 12v, about 2%? You rinsing with your pw?

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What concentration of SH is doing it for you on this?
I recently did a school gymnasium & 3.5 to 4 percent was the sweet spot for dwell time & effectiveness. I have a Gould booster pump 7GPM from Power Wash Store. It pushed 40 feet vertical through 500 feet of hose. Most of time I was out of sight from my rig. I used 2 way radios to communicate with my helper at my truck. He kept the SH tank full, turned pump on & off, & switched me from wash to rinse. I did the 8500 square feet of EIFS in 2 days.

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I tried 3% and it wasn’t enough to tackle some of it. Moved to 4% and it’s been right on the money so far. I’m also only using 8 oz of Elemonator per 55 gallons of mix and I think it’s perfect for eifs. Not rinsing forever and there aren’t a pile of suds on the ground afterwards confusing me. Lol

Rinsing with the PW which is fine for now. I’m soaping. Jeremiah is rinsing. But at some point I want to rinse and soap with the same trigger so two guns can run at once.

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Yep. 4% and about 5 minutes of dwell time so we’re going from soap to rinse dang near immediately. Are you using a mixer or proportioner of some sort? I’m still mixing everything in one barrel and can already see the desire for a pro portioner for next season.

I got superrrr lucky. The entire base has rocks about 16 inches out and they run the sprinklers right up until I get there. I don’t have to prewet until around 1:00.

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I have proportioner on my skid. It has three tanks/valves. One tank 55 gal for water, one 55 gal for SH, one 7 gal for soap (I use Elemonator). I can power the pump with a generator or plug it in to a standard outlet. Downside compared to x-jet is I have to flush the entire line to go from wash to rinse & back.

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We’ve been running the soap back into the barrel until it sputters and the water starts. We’re burning through a ton of mix and I don’t want to get to the end of the job and need 20 gallons to finish so we’re being super conservative with it. Which is fine. It takes 60 seconds for the line to clear.

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About 7 - 8 min is sweet spot. Just for kicks mix up a small batch, say 10 gal. 3 SH and 7 water and add more soap. If you’ve got some roof snot use it 1 oz per gal, if not bump up the elemonator a good bit. You’ll save some money using less bleach and a little more soap. 4% direct applied is screaming hot. Sure you don’t care on this project, but learn to use the least amount of chemicals necessary to do the job effectively. Just my humble opinion to being a good steward of the environment.

doing it like you’re doing with one applying and one rinsing most efficient. Let him come along 10-15 min behind you.

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bookmarked. Like I told Dan 4% is screaming hot, but we’re being conservative with the mix. One I don’t want to mix more than 3 barrels each day and two we’re are going through a lot just based on the size of this building. I had a 275 gallon tote delivered and it’s dang near at 40% emptied. But that’s also because I make another 3 barrels before leaving.

Difference between 3% and 4% about 5 gal per barrel. It adds up.

yeah… I guess that makes about 30 extra gallons used so far.

With the 12 volt system you need to move a little faster than what your use to when applying it by DS… The mix is stronger so it does not have to be drenched like you down streaming. The first couple times your probably wasting alot. Do a thin coat. If the mold or dirt is heavy or in the case of stucco you can apply a second coat real quick before it dries.

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Fellas, I got questions, please. SO, 4% would be 2 to 1, right?

Rick, you rinse with PW, right?

DanC, you rinse with 12v? I get my 12v fatboy tomorrow thanks to @Atlas1, and it’s time to query the pros. Does it hurt the pump to keep running when I have the nozzle turned off?

HUH? Please elaborate.

You can’t rinse and and soap with the same hose on a 12 volt, you would either need 2 separate pumps or move the dip tube over or get a propotioner. With a pressure wasure you can get a gun with two lances in it and a valve switches between your high pressure and your low pressure soap.

They got me confused on their percentages. To me 4% mix would be 2 gallons of bleach and 50 gallons of water. Maybe they are taking into account the bleach being 12.5 or 6% bleach or something.