Hi All,
As mentioned in the introductions, my name is Mitch from a coastal village in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. This forum has answered a lot of questions I had but I thought I would throw a few more out there.
The machine I picked up is a 4gpm 4400psi, came with factory downstreamer pictured here,
The manual said the DS pulled at 1:25, which didn’t mean much to me without much knowledge but soon came to find out that would be an issue. Did a ratio test and had seemed to be getting about 1:20 pull from the DS. I tested out different strengths of SH mix and realized that the little bugger aint gonna cutter, although I did manage to clean some siding, it took time…and a lot of questioning myself… and decisions in life and… thinking my wife is going to kill me for another crazy idea I’ve had.
I purchased a 2.1 ds injector yesterday, plan to test it out when weather permits. Which leads me to my first question, should I be putting some windshield washer fluid through the pump after use if its going to drop below 0°C (32°F)?
My original plan getting into this was to clean boats, as a coastal fishing community, commercial fishing is the main driver of the economy here and boat cleaning would certainly be of interest. Within a 30km (20mile) radius there are 7 harbours, so it could be a profitable venture along with other typical cleaning jobs. Can’t get great info on exactly what would work on there boats, such as chems or techniques. Boats would be cleaned on land. Typically 45ft and under fibreglass lobster fishing boats.
I plan to install an unloader and possibly a bypass for the injector, if anyone could elaborate on the benefits of the bypass that’d be great. I don’t think a buffer tank is absolutely necessary with a 4gpm from what I read but apparently some people are hesitant to let you use their water supply according to a pressure washing company located about an hour away (yes we generally measure distance in hours).
Would a submersible pump be needed for a 4gpm or would gravity fed be enough? And would a 55gal drum be enough of a buffer for 4gpm if water at residence was provided? I have a 1000L (275gal?) tote as well.
Metal roofing/siding has taken off around here the past number of years, I see very conflicting reviews on cleaning metal roofing/Galvalume, most saying stay the eff away from it. As a rookie I don’t plan on marketing that service immediately but was wondering if there is a tried a tested way of performing the task. I understand the risks, was just wondering if there is a way to softwash or a way to remove salt spray from the service to prevent premature fading and rusting. Salt spray a major issue around here.
And lastly, for now… The picture above of my pump, is that considered my unloader? I understand the use of an unloader but in my manual it says its a pressure regulator and if needed to adjust it as needed. I’ve came across charts that explain the psi difference with different tips, which i plan to do but was wondering if anyone had any input differentiating the two (unloader/pressure regulator)
Long post, SORRY! Oh, currently using gain/arm and hammer as surfactant, if any Canadians out there have any tips on what to use for surfactant that’d be greatly appreciated. Any other gear that you would suggest other than a surface cleaner?
Thank you.
