Hi all, was just wondering if Drawing water from a drum vs directly connected to a tap would have a big difference long term. My machine is an AR 1475 and it can draw water directly from a drum but was just wondering if long term that would strain the pump/engine more that if I just connected straight to a tap.
Water sources are a little weak where I am from so normally a 5 meter inlet hose is what I can use directly on a tap, if I do 10-20meters+ it cannot supply enough water so I normally draw water from a drum. But it this will damage my lifespan then I would rather connect it to a tap then just use a longer pressure wash hose to go around, wanted to know your thoughts on this.
Im just starting btw and dealing with what I have right now so I load my machine and unload it off my van wherever I go and carry the hoses etc with me and set it up. Hopefully things work out and ill be able to build a proper rig.
If youâre worried about flow get a bucket, a stopwatch, and figure how many gpm you get out of a hose spigot in your area and the drum you plan on using. One thing to keep in mind is even if the water supply from a house is more than your pump requires but, is still considered low flow, if the homeowner turns on a washing machine or dishwasher the flow could drop considerably and starve your pump. Thatâs why a buffer tank is normally the way to go. Iâm not sure if I would want to mess with dragging a buffer tank off of my vehicle and setting it all up at every job. I would definitely invest in some pressure and supply hose and leave it on the vehicle. Youâre not talking much money. Plus, when you have a buffer tank you can setup a bypass so you donât have to always worry about being on the gun. If the homeowner comes out to talk or, you have to answer the phone, you can set the gun down without worrying about your pump overheating. Without a bypass youâll have to make sure you squeeze the trigger every minute to keep your pump cool.
@marinegrunt makes sense, well its just an empty drum that I carry with me then place it in a good spot where I know would be a good location then fill it up with a garden hose and have my machine suck through that, Investment wise the setup I can afford but not only have 1 van which is for my personal use if I convert it into a rig then I wont have have a personal car for me and my family to use because there wont be space thats where my finances wont work out. I also googled and watching videos regarding the bypass thank you for mentioning it to me thats pretty awesome. Hopefully soon i can make this generate money to by a 2nd hand pick up and set up my rig on it
@dcbrock@Innocentbystander what are your thoughts, its sucking water fine or should I just stick to the tap, either option dont bother me at all but was just worried about the effect it can do in the long run on my pump , im just thinking drawing water would strain my pump more that if it was directly tapped and end up killing my pump faster long term
I can only speak from my experience last year, my first (semi) serious pressure washer was a direct drive 4/4. It did draw from my buffer tank provided the machine was below the tank, but it didnât sound as happy about it compared to getting 60psi out of a faucet.
Marine brought up a good point, youâll need to press the trigger every minute to prevent the pump overheating until you can get a machine that returns water back to the buffer tank.
@Innocentbystander got it thanks, gad to know it wont make a difference either way at least I have 2 options thats better. It actually does pull from the drum thats how I use it most of the time has to be deep drum though if its not deep it wont pull water
@dcbrock Thank yeah ill look deeper into it and see what solution I can find, by the way if I use a bigger inlet hose size will it improve water feeding into the pump example 1/2, 3/8, 5/8 inlet hose will it make a difference in improving the flow going to the pump
