Downstreaming Remote Controller

How much flow does a downstream injector lose? - YouTube I’m pretty sure this is with the injector inline, so I’d imagine you’d get even more than 1gpm gain with the injector in the loop. This guy is part of the company and I find him kind of pompous, but the other guy, who I believe is the one who actually made it happen, seems cool enough.

Wow, one gal difference. Same as what I said and tested nearly 3 years ago when I got one just using a 30 sec bucket test… And he’s acting like he discovered sliced bread. The original bypass was done back almost 15 years ago, if I remember correctly. But everyone should test everything on their own equipment and then they know and make a determination what they want to do, if anything.

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Haha, yes I don’t like his attitude either. I think the cool thing is being able to achieve that extra 1gpm at the push of a button. I’ve had remotes to switch from soap to water through the injector, but being able to get full flow while rinsing can end up saving a decent chunk of time throughout a day - especially on full days of condos where it’s just banging out one after another.

His video shows a flow not under pressure. With a pitot gauge and a 0050 nozzle you gain less than half a gallon. If there is a gimmick, a vendor will sell it. That’s their job. Not faulting them really. Lot of money and headache for minimal gain, especially with multiple machines

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May I ask why bother with remove valve at all? Could you use an electric relay to turn your pump on and off as needed without all that science with rotary valves and servos and ton of fittings? Am I misunderstanding the purpose of this remote? Can you turn your pump on and off with remote ?

I guess anything is possible, but it would be extremely hard to rinse something with your pump turned off.

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Yes.

When the chem injector is installed, all that pressure and water from the pump has to squeeze through a super tiny hole, and it can reduce GPM considerably. I know from (limited) experience when surface cleaning and I have the injector taken off, I have to put an ankle weight on the cover to keep it from hovering, unlike with it installed.

The bypass theoretically goes around that obstruction by turning a valve so water has a straight shot to the gun. Installing a remote electric valve on the bypass means you can rinse or surface clean at full capacity without having to go back up the hill to your machine every time…or even worse shutting the machine off, depressurizing the gun and taking the injector off.

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Well, looky what arrived today:

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Interested on your take on it Alex @Infinity. Have you used the shurtz box?

I have not. I’m sure it’s a great unit. What attracted me to the FlowPro most is that there’s no bleach mix going through an expensive valve (or near any electronic components). And the valve that it does use, is easily replaceable with the standard DN10 ball valve most of us already use.

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Buy a Schertz box. You will not regret it. I have been down that road. It ends with a Schertz box.

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I’m curious how that works. Please tell more!

I see old Jud West sold another one

I do like the shertz box. I have 3 now, but you have to fix them before you use them. The three ports look nice all pointing down, but that isn’t necessarily where they are tight. You have to disconnect the hoses, tighten them and drill holes in the box wherever they end up. Slather the electrical connections. If it’s under about 40 degrees you have to hold the soap button down for the first 5 minutes or so to keep the valve open. But, they are the best thing going right now

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It operates a high pressure bypass valve, instead of a soap valve. Great for those mystics who believe in the power of the downstream bypass, but comes with the side benefits mentioned previously.

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Y’all made me crack open my trailer for a pic of my remote.

I would have used a bigger box but had this one left over from the first gen that used those blue valves.

I realize this is not the same as a bypass remote but anyhoo.

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Finally installed. Man, they give you plenty of wire.

Pro-tip: read the instructions. When you first plug it in and press the rinse button to open the valve, wait at least a minute before hitting the mix button to close it. It has a little capacitor inside that needs to charge up before it has enough juice to close the valve.

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Had my first real day of washing with the remote controller.

Game. Changer.

If you work solo and do any projects of reasonable size, you owe it to yourself to get a remote control for your soap. It doesn’t have to be the FlowPro one that I got. Just any remote.

I must’ve saved close to an hour yesterday due to all the landscaping obstacles, ladder-work, etc. . Even if I only save 1/2 hour per day by not needing to traverse difficult terrain back to the truck, this controller will pay for itself in a week. Best of all, I wasn’t completely worn out afterwards.

But I do need to get on some kind of an exercise regimen, now. I can see myself getting fat with this thing :rofl:


On a somewhat related topic: I noticed that the board inside the controller for the flowpro has a lot of spare pins available.

I am wondering if there’s any way I could use some of them to signal my iGX700 to throttle back to 2500 rpm while I’m soaping. This would give me the control and dilution rates I’m used to with my 5.5 machine. Then when I hit ‘rinse’ on the remote, it would signal the machine to go back up to full speed.

Can anyone point me in the direction of the development documentation for Honda’s new electronic control wizardry?

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I don’t have info on throttling back your engine but I did just finish making a remote force feeder pump for my 8 gpm machine. I figured on the side with heavy algae I could hit the remote to force feed. I like your idling back idea though. I’d like to try the same on my fuel injected Kohler.

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Good idea Brian! @marinegrunt I’m going to log this one away for future ideas.

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