Heck yeah! I actually found a honda GX390 with a general pump for 800 on market place! Only had about 2 hours ran on it.
Wow! Great deal!
Ok, but good wouldn’t you have rather made great money and made it quicker? 
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Lol! You have a good point! It’s all relative unless you go 8gpm or more. Technique has a lot to do with it too. I’ll upgrade to 5.5gpm eventually but I’ll probably never go 8gpm because I don’t want to carry that big of a buffer tank and do all of the re-plumbing. I’m a part-timer!!
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You say that now until you make $1500 in one day.
I’ve made $1,100 in a day washing. Still not worth me leaving $130k sales job, 5% 401k match, company car, frequent flyer mikes, hotel points, health benefits etc. I’m building my business for my 2 boys so they can have a way to make money over the summers.
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I’ve made over double that in a day with my direct drive 4gpm pressure washer, but I’m sure I’m the exception rather than the rule. Would love to upgrade but it’s such a pita ordering tanks and just everything else in general idk if it’s worth it for me.
Have been going back and forth between paying through the nose for an 8gpm unit or just upgrading the pump on my Honda 390 to a 5.5 and seeing if that would hold me over for next summer. Unfortunate thing about living up here in the boonies is having to buy everything at once as soon as I find a suitable box truck to bring up with me so I don’t have to deal with outlandish shipping.
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A 5.5 is a massive upgrade over a 4gpm unit. That being said, if you can wait and go straight to an 8gpm then that is probably the better option. Then you keep the 4gpm as a backup machine and just upgrade it to a 5.5gpm whenever time/funds/logistics are in your favor.
One thing that’s affected my leaving a 4gpm as well is that I think I remember reading the 5.5gpm units don’t put out as hot a mix when downstreaming right? I’m already only using 7.5SH so it’s already a little light.
Eh, technically I guess but there’s plenty of folks running 5.5’s and store bought bleach that are making it work. Then again, your area grows some serious stuff so maybe a 12v would be the better investment in the short term?
Short term I’m using a 55gal drum and a 5.5 pump for batch mixing. So far I’ve been able to DS houses and just use the 12v setup for roofs. If I need a little more stank than DSing for say, concrete, I will occasionally use an xjet for pre and post.
I dream of the cool setups where they use dye marker in soaps (kitschy I know) and have separate tanks for everything and fancy proportioners but I can definitely make due with what I have. The biggest next step for me is getting out of my 5.5ft truck bed and having a more permanent setup. Slowly but surely!
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Ah, then you’re already primed to upgrade machinery! Go for the 8 if your typical houses can supply it. Some areas really struggle with low flow and have to wait around for buffer to fill.
Props on the use of the word “kitschy”. I had never heard that word before and had to Google it. Good stuff lol
Unless you’re doing a lot of concrete surface cleaning, I’d go with the 5.5. Great size for the average HW, don’t have to worry with larger buffer, etc and it will pull better than the 8. 4 gpm will pull close to 10-1, 5.5 about 12-14 -1 and and 8gpm will pull about 18-1
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With a 5.5 pulling 12-14:1, how can you ever get a 1% mix in a house?
if you’re getting 12.5-15% SH then you’re right there. I clean nasty stuff all day long with my 8 , rarely ever need 1%. If bad, just hit it twice, takes like 2-3 min per side. 1% not some magical number.
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It does, if you’re using 12% concentration.
Ah, yes, you’re right you have to be shooting straight SH
What PSI is your machine? Do you use the same machine for flat work?
- Yes
Your machine is 600 psi???
