Well hello everyone, soooo have been reading a lot about this business as my wife and I are in the process of joining the world of pressure washing! No equipment as of yet, just trying to wrap my head around what is important and what is necessary to have a successful business here in Ohio! I am both blessed and curse with being a mechanically inclined individual. I am a machinist and carpenter by trade and therefor I believe I can do anything as far as builds myself. (That’s kinda usually where I get myself into trouble) lol. My wife is on here somewhere and she is by all means the hardest working self motivated woman Ihave ever met ( hence why I married her). I am gonna be honest I felt a little intimidated with all this information that is on here. But I am actually getting to understand a little more. But of course sooo much info and want some direction to get started.
Gonna see how long it takes for my wife to find this!
Well my first question so far that I am trying to figure out. “Soft wash” I have a gx 200 that in the way I figure I can runn a 10 gpm pump and get 715 psi out of it. Using the formula PSI x GPM / 1100 = HP. before pressure loss with hose and everything else and with a regulator/unloader. I can get down to an easy 500 or less. Does that sound realistic and on track?
Welcome! Yeah you can soft wash with 500 psi no problem. That’s it though, no surfaces for sure…
Do they make a pump that I can achieve something like this? I am searching for one to put on. But I feel I am not looking in the right area
This is a tough business to be in, no joke. If you’re dead set on diving in, you’d probably be better off deciding what services you want to offer (& don’t want to offer) & building the best rig you can for the job. I have a pair of GX390’s in my shed I have no use for, I just hate to sell them. I would have zero use for a GX200. The engine is such a small piece of the puzzle, you’d be better off forgetting you own it for a while & wearing out that search button in the meantime.
Udor zeta 40p diaphragm pump
If the top one grinds coffee beans & the bottom one packs them into Keurig cups, I just might have to put them to work.
You’ll have more than 200 psi friction loss running at 10gpm.
I agree that the gx200 would probably not be worthwhile to build a house washing rig off of. 10gpm will also probably be overkill for you starting out of the gate. You’d need a fairly good sized buffer tank to run 10gpm reliably.
You can build a decent little 5gpm machine with one of your gx390’s, and have enough psi to tackle most residential concrete. And you could get away with a 35-50 gallon buffer.
But, definitely take a look around here and get familiar with the setups people have (and why they have them that way).
I run an iGX700 with an 8@3000 gear drive pump. It’s suited me quite well the last couple seasons. I have a relatively tiny 55 gallon buffer tank, but I weighed all the pros and cons before upgrading to the 8gpm machine.
I ran a 5.5@2500 gx390 for my first few seasons of washing, and it did great. I wouldn’t have wanted to tackle any really big projects with it, like a condo or townhome development. But it was just fine for standard house-washes.
Well it’s looking like a lot of people like the 5gpm setup I just didn’t want to sell myself short if I ever need the 8. But I still get confused if I can run a soft wash with this system. I feel I can regulate down to less than 500 psi for that. Is that correct?
The way “soft washing” works with a pressure washer, is using a downstream injector to pull soap, and larger spray nozzles to reduce the pressure. Don’t mess with the unloader.
Here’s a nozzle chart so you can see the difference various size tips make the to the pressure output of your machine. The unloader will remain set at 3000 or 3500 psi, but the actual pressure coming out of the gun will vary depending on the tips used.
Edit: just noticed that chart doesn’t have anything listed under 500 psi. Here’s a better one
I found you…LOL
Hello beautiful! I knew it wouldn’t take long to find me. Lol
Looks like a helpful chart. So if I have it figured correctly. Using the chart for 500 psi output with a machine that has an output of 3000 psi… I would use something in the way of a tip that is between number 15 for a machine that is 5.5 gpm?
For house washing you’re probably going to want to be around 70-150 psi at most. (The downstream injector will stop pulling soap if there’s too much pressure at the gun, and you don’t need any more than that for siding washing, anyway)
I used size 40 tips with my 5.5 gpm machine, producing about 75 psi. Now I use size 50 tips for my 8gpm, producing around 100 psi.
This calculator is also pretty handy:
I see lot of people use the yg1635 gun. Is that something I course use on a system like this?
I’m not familiar with that one. Most any power washing gun will do (bit preferably one rated for 12gpm).
I’m partial to the Suttner 2315. It’s a bit more resistant to bleach, and has a comfortable trigger feel.
Have you heard of the 2700? I had someone telling me its more resistant to bleach than the 2315 but I haven’t done much more in depth research on it then checking out some vendor pages.
