Clogged Tip - Fastest Job Ever - HOW TO SIMULATE?

Residential
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Hey everyone, this is my first post here. I’ve been lurking for a long time and finally have a topic that I can’t find any good information on.

I’ve got a 4gpm, 4400 PSI direct drive Dewalt machine from the wonderful HD. I use a 50 gallon buffer. I had a 20 inch Whisper Wash, but had to walk way too slow and I wasn’t happy with the lines, so I got a 16 inch Whirl-a-Way. Changed the 2502 tips for 25025.

For me, surface cleaning is inefficient at best, but I’m trying to stick with a trailer-less setup (I mostly do window and gutter cleaning work) and surface cleaning is a great add-on that I want to keep.

A few weeks ago, I was surface cleaning a HUGE driveway. 3 passes over every spot, walking what felt like 1 mph.

After rising with the ball valve, I hooked back up to the surface cleaner and it wobbled more than I’ve ever seen/felt. Instantly I knew it was a clogged tip. Before starting to take the tip off to replace or unclog, I wanted to see what the result would be with the clogged tip.

Holy cow. Incredibly fast. Had to go over every spot ONLY ONCE, and could walk at least 2-3x faster. Was taking off really tough-on marks that I wasn’t taking off before. It was a little loud, but that’s ok with me. If I went a little too fast, it would leave swirl marks, so I’d have to dial it back a hair. But still, walking 2-3x faster and never having to go over areas a second or third time is a HUGE difference than normal.

About halfway through the job, the nozzle unclogged itself. ■■■■. Instantly noticed the difference. Back to having to cover an area 3 times and walking slow. I kid you not - I was literally putting small rocks and pieces of sand in the plug for the surface cleaner trying to clog it again, ha! I couldn’t, so the job took forever yet again.

Yesterday, it happened again. Wonderful feeling. Fastest and cleanest surface cleaning job of my life, thankfully on the BIGGEST driveway of my life. But today, back to being unclogged and slow as ever.

So here’s my question. How can I simulate this clogged tip? I’ve got a 2 bar surface cleaner, so would having one 25025 nozzle and one plug do the same thing? Or maybe one 25025 nozzle and one nozzle with a different size orifice nozzle (2501)? I know this is unconventional, but hey. If it works, it works.

And if there is something that I am completely missing, I’m all ears! Thanks in advance.

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I imagine it’s cleaning better because of the increased pressure out of the one tip. You risk etching concrete because your over 4000 according to the nozzle chart.

Someone could chime in but no don’t know how that affects a pump if it’s rated for 4k psi and the nozzle and flow equal a higher pressure, probably not good for the machine.

But if really want to do it that way you could buy a 1/4 plug

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I agree, I assumed all of the pressure going to just one tip was what was helping. I didn’t consider the possibility of etching, though, thanks for that!

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Put your 2502 tips back in then.

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You don’t want to intentionally make it wobble by using two different sized nozzles. You’re just asking for the swivel or bearing to wear out.

What engine do you have on the pressure washer. Specs are oftentimes exaggerated from the manufacturer so the 2502’s might be fine. We can figure its true specs though. I’m with @SurfaceTherapy. If it was working and not hurting the concrete throw the 2502’s back in. Although, like @Southeast.Exterior mentioned, you have to watch to make sure you’re not doing any damage. Let’s figure out the true specs of your washer first and make sure the 2502’s will in fact put out too more psi than needed.

2 Likes
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Thanks! I’ll definitely try that to increase the pressure. I appreciate the response.

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Thanks for the detailed response! It’s got a Honda GX390 engine on it. 2502 was working, but not as well or as quickly as I expected. So I read lots of threads and saw the 25025 recommended. I’m wondering if going down to even 25015 would be better though, as 2502 was only cleaning around the edges for the most part. Not enough pressure?

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Were you getting swirl.marks? Maybe walking to fast, I know it’s painfully slow with a 4gpm, it’s what I run as well.

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You’re not getting 4K psi out of that pump with a GX390. Probably somewhere between 3250 and 3500. You’ll lose pressure if running through a reel and any length of hose so you’ll be fine with 2502s. But as others have said, be careful with etching.

Do not go lower than a 2 orifice on your SC.

Unfortunately flow is king and once you upgrade your equipment you’ll wonder how you ever did it with 4gpm. Also remember that faint striping is normal on dirty residential concrete. That’s the main reason we post treat and sometimes pre-treat with a stronger mix.

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I probably don’t know what I am talking about, so take it with a grain of salt, but any chance you are starving your pump at times?

From what I have read on here, direct drive pumps don’t draw well from a buffer tank, so you want your tank placed higher than the pump ideally.
Then, the fuller the tank, the better it should feed the pump(higher water pressure). If your tank is not very full, then maybe your pump is being starved at times?

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Yeah I was concerned about that too. The bottom of my buffer is about a foot above my pump. And I use 1inch hose from buffer to pump to get as much flow as possible. And I use a Hudson float valve, so the tank is typically completely full. I don’t notice a difference between using my buffer and hooking up directly to a customers water source, though, so that makes me think it’s not the problem. But who knows.

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this has to be a joke…

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It feels like it, but no.

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Buy the right equipment for your machine - use the correct tips how they’re built to be used… don’t be that guy coming back in a month or two asking how to fix an etched driveway

Edit: if you have to go slow and feel inefficiency is due to your machine, not because the tips are not clogged up. You can remedy that by replacing your machine with more GPM

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Starving pump. I had the same setup, but with Simpson brand, exactly the same machine.
They need a lot of inlet pressure to work.
Try with direct hook up with a good presdure, and you will see it working.
Or install a buffer pump, those small ones, 2.5 hp.
Worked for me for 6 months.
Now I changed to a 1750 rpm pump with gearbox. No need to use buffer pump anymore.

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And important, be prepared to check valves failure if you keep using it directly connected to your buffer tank.

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I’m a new user, and lurker at the moment, but thought I’d share a similar situation and solution for other newbies having similar issues. I have a 4gpm/4kpsi direct drive machine, and 16" SC. I started out one of those cool rubber Flexi-hoses that was 5/8" with an cheapo inline shutoff form Home Depot (which had a 3/8" orifice in the valve). This setup really starved my system, especially if the hose kinked at all, which it did pretty readily. (I didn’t have a buffer like you.) I ended up swapping out the supply house for a contractor grade 3/4" hose and my shutoff valve is a Bibb style with a true 3/4" orifice. The difference was substantial.

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The expandable hoses can’t have water drawn through them at all, they will collapse. I can’t believe you got any water to pull through. I run 3/4" Flexzilla to supply my 4gpm. They are pricey hoses, but worth every penny.

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