How messed up am I?

That’s pretty much exactly what I do.

I don’t remember what thread your new products were on but I think I remember you mentioning a newfangled two stepper gun coming out. Is that right?

Guy backed over my sister’s Malibu with a dump truck once. Said he never saw here and she was behind him blaring the horn. Guy didn’t have a CDL and ran off the scene. Meth heads, man.

I dropped the thing and the glass broke. Ordering a new one.

In the meantime, any idea what caused the pressure loss?

The unloader valve was already turned to it’s most clockwise position when I took the initial reading of 3500psi at the gun.

I move the valve a quarter turn counter clockwise and gun psi went to 4200. I turned it to it’s original most clockwise position and it went to 3500 again. I turned off the machine and checked the gauge after noticing it spiking over 5000psi when the trigger was let go. Had trouble replicating the 3500-4200 psi results when adjusting the unloaded but at the point the gauge was broken anyway.


Initial psi before pulling the trigger


Psi when trigger was pulled

Psi when trigger was released again.

Might need to check those belts and make sure they’re still adjusted properly. New machines will stretch them a bit when they get a few hours on them.

Do you know how to set an unloader?

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Man if you’re getting 3500psi you’re golden. I seldom ever use over 2500.

Throw the gauge away. Don’t worry about little drops in pressure, especially if you’re measuring then with a broke gauge.

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I think @KDAL_Tex is gunning for mainly commercial work if I remember correctly so sometimes that extra few hundred PSI comes in handy but I don’t think there’s much out there that 3500 psi and the right chems can’t handle.

That being said, I don’t remember what pump he’s running and I have no idea if he should actually be seeing 3500 or not.

The belt that runs the pump? The machine has about 5 hours of run time. At least according to the burner tachometer. Idk if it measures engine hours or just burner hours.

I’ve watched the video on powerwash.com’s youtube channel on adjusting the unloader. How you’d turn it in quarter turn increments left or right to increase or decrease the pressure. Test it with a gauge.

I thought I was doing it correctly but the wildly changing psi from 3500 to 4200 after a quarter counterclockwise turn surprised me. I figured the pressure would be reduced by the counterclockwise turn. My concern was that if the unloader valve was already turned max clockwise position that the pressure was already as high as it could go and therefore there might be issues with the plungers causing a decrease in pressure. But you just mentioned it could be a belt tension issue

I have a feeling I may be incorrect on some of this so please enlighten me. Getting all the hard lessons this month.

It’s a general pump. The specifications for my unit are 4000psi/8gpm. Honda gx800 engine.

The pressure definitely comes in handy for clearing stubborn grease. It’s not that I necessarily need 4000psi but is is what I paid for so I like to make sure everything is working properly.

This is what I cleared last night. Strong mix of degreaser, hot water and the pressure cleaned it up nicely.


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Yes, it’s 4 times lighter than the competitors but here’s the deal. I literally started with the hardest product first. Why, I have no idea other than I was livid seeing what was being sold over and over. The machinist that I’m working with does big money projects for SpaceX, Northrop Gruman, Boeing, Boston Dynamics etc. so he picks up my project and sets it down every few days. I don’t hound him or the price skyrockets. It’s practically finished but I chose to set it down and knock out the injectors first since it’s two pieces versus many.





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That thing is a work of art. I’m interested in seeing how they work. I got a call from a trucking company and I’m considering hiring a guy to wash trucks for me. Figured I can throw a small trailer together to get him going then upgrade as I go. I’m assuming you still have to have three hoses going to the trucks with yours?

It will work like the rest but with more thoughtful plumbing that eliminates unnecessary adapters. That last fitting that’s in the fixture eliminated a heavy brass adapter and one extra fitting. I was out to get rid of every gram I could! It became an obsession. I even ended up making my own check valve and 3 way ball valve from scratch. And yes you will have three lines to the gun sleeved in a very light abrasive resistant woven jacket

Okay, yeah, you shouldn’t be seeing 5k psi on that pump. Granted your gauge is whacked and probably not anywhere close to accurate which probably explains your large pressure swings with minor adjustments to the unloader. That pump should spike at 4100-4300 psi MAX. Any more than that and you risk grenading that pump.

However, it’s unlikely that you’ll get 8gpm AND 4000 psi at the same time. When you set your unloader you want to set it with the tip that gets you the highest pressure (probably your 0° tip) while only bypassing a trickle of water into the buffer tank while holding the trigger. Once you have the unloader set correctly then leave it alone. Adjust your pressure up or down by changing the tips on your gun. Go down a half size to get more pressure or vice versa for less pressure. This is all predicated on your belts being properly adjusted (1/4" - 1/2" of up and down play in the middle of the belts between pulleys) or else they may be slightly slipping and you’ll have pressure dips when it slips then spikes when it’s grabbing.

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What degreaser are you using? I’ve got some good stuff for fats and proteins.

No idea. This is what the dealer gave me as a “throw in”. I rather use it as a bleach tank but for now I’m just dousing the dumpster pads and Softening up tire marks on curbs. I have Husky brand biodegradable and Hotsy Ripthrough degreasers.

That Hotsy stuff is decent on like equipment grease but for restaurant dumpster pads or sidewalks you really want something that is formulated for fats and proteins. I use Xtra Clean which is made to clean commercial smokers and grills. It’s excellent.

Could you post a photo of that chem? I’m trying to find it but all that’s showing up is some carpet cleaner.

Also I just became an official member. Decided to upload a profile pic for the occasion.

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Once you get pretty seasoned there are some VERY hot mixes out there for dumpster pads

If you watched the old video of Hinkley adjusting an unloader you did yourself a disservice and are lucky you didn’t get hurt.

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