Certainly. You and I probably know the same amount about 12v pumps. @Greg755 just dropped some serious knowledge on me about the fatboy. I’ve already broke some rules. I didn’t get a accumulator tank and I’m using a couple 90 degree barbs because I had them.
@racer and Greg are probably better to ask about roof work and the technical side of it.
Especially since I bought the roof pumps for washing dryvit. I get 2-3 roofs/year at best.
I made 60 gallons total. I used the last 10 gallons of roof mix to DS the rest of the house. 2200sf house.
The bladder tank, aka “accumulator” tank is more to keep your pressure switch from burning out. It keeps the pump from cycling on off as often. You dont have to have it but it does add life to your system. Because water doesn’t compress, but air does…
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Sounds like a necessity to me.
Doesn’t really matter. You can switch to your water tank and use the same hose, or just a garden hose from the spigot if you want. Whatever gets the water up where you want it, IF you want to rinse.
It’s surprising how fast you can suck a chem tank down when applying it direct on a roof. I’m taking two 55 gallon drums full of 4% mix to do a 4k square foot roof tomorrow, just to be safe.
Apparently those might not be as critical as one might think. I’ll pm you a link to a discussion on a forum where guys use 12V’s heavily, and several of the veterans make a decent case stating whyt you shouldn’t bother with them. I’ve never used one, so i dont have any personal experience.
Luckly diaphragm pumps are a little more forgiving than impeller pumps. Most of the time I use about 14 gals of 12 percent in a 65 gallon tank. Along with some house wash (surfactant) that way I can always add to it and make it stronger if needed like if there is a lot of moss or lichen … I always rinse and always bag or bucket the gutters… By the way the fat boy will take forever to rinse with… Get a booster pump if your going to do roofs…,
I’m rinsing with the PW. Still a pain?
Just use the same tips as you do for the soft wash. If you have an 8 GPM,pressure washer that is better but you will need larger tips… For rinsing you only need a little pressure, but the more volume you can get the better.
Also the PW is great to soak down the plants and grass.
I found a 5.5 gpm 70pis 12v pump for $119 I was looking to buy to build my own setup, I spoke with the seller and said it would hold up for chemicals…would some of u roof guys mind posting some pics of ur setups. I wasn’t aware of need a accumulator either so if anyone has pics of how u set all that up it would be great.
I was wondering if I choose to rinse if PW would be OK to use as well, that was gonna be my go to rinsing method.
Greg, how is a booster pump powered? 12v? Compressor? 110? I’m not really familiar with how they work. Another topic I have to read through for 5 days lol.
A lot of the guys are using 110 volt pumps. But you can use a gas one or an air one. In one trailer I use my 1 inch air pump on the other I have a gas pump,and a 110. Basically how you drive the pump is up to you it depends on how many gals a minute it delivers, then you just get the proper electric or gas motor to drive it. Or in the case of air pumps a large enough compressor.
You 'll rarely need 40%. Most shingle roofs will clean fine at 30% or slightly stronger. 30 gal of 12.5% bleach in 100 gal tank is about perfect unless you’re cleaning tile, then you may need 50%. heck, 2/3 of most roof 2% will be enough, just stronger on the bad side. That’s hard to do if you’re batch mixing though. You’re better off going lighter and then re-hitting bad spots again if needed.
You’re going to use roughly, depending on pitch about, 1 gal of mix for every 50 sq.ft. The shallower the pitch the less you’ll use. Don’t use Elemonator. Get some type of clinging surfactant, like roof snot, snotmenade or lacking any of those go to grocery store and buy Arm and Hammer laundry detergent w/ oxi. About 7.95 per gal. Depending on temp, use about 2 cups per 50 gal of mix. If cooler bump that up some and may need to bump up SH ratio slightly.
I’ve only used 4% maybe 5-6 times in my life.
Rinsing roofs: There are only a few occasions where you may want to rinse a roof.
First, if there are no gutters but you live where there is heavy dew. If you don’t rinse the lower 1/3 or 1/2 then the dew during the night will run off on to plants below and though it won’t necessarily kill the plants you’ll leave a dead ring around the house.
2nd - If a house is heavily stained then it will turn brown when you treat it. It’s dead but will be unsightly until it rains a few times and it rinses off. A lot depends on your customer education. Took a long time for it to get there, not going away overnite. Most get it. But if it makes you feel better then you can rinse the really bad spots if there is a lot of brown. A lot depends on color of underlying shingle. Light brown roofs the easiest.
3rd - You’re doing a house for a realtor or a HO who’s putting the house on the market and don’t want to wait for rain. Even then usually just need to rinse the bad spots and maybe valleys in the front.
Just remember - If it’s brown it’s coming down, If it’s black, got to go back.
PS: If you’re going to rinse, then you need to charge accordingly. Rinsing will take about 50% of the time it takes to spray the roof originally. when you tell the homeowner that it’s going to cost them .10 per foot more to rinse, most decide to be patient and let nature do the work.
Get the accumulator
I just bought a booster pump, and I am really liking it. I got a 1HP, and wired it up for 110. Could use customers electricity, but I bought a generator off craigslist for $150.
Some guys use the customers power, and I may some day, but I am using the generator for now. I hear some people say they have no issues using customer power, and others that say they have had some problems… so im playing it safe for now with the generator.
Measured the spraying distance horizontally and was getting over 55 feet with an 0040 tip.
Next on the wish list is a proportioner.
That is a great response. I guess I should have broken down the different types of rinsing. But for me I always rinse in some fashion. With that being said I seldom have people who want me to do a complete deep rinse because they don’t want to pay for the extra time.
