Probably the most logical answer I’ve heard so far, BUT my goal is figure out a way to do it without lugging tanks and chemicals and pumps and hose reels to the top of a roof AND without having to find an external water source. I’m trying to keep all of my equipment self-contained in the spray rig on the ground. I want to be able to accomplish this task in the safest and most efficient way possible.
I definitely wouldn’t want to be lugging a 70 gallon tank on top of a 4 story roof. Doesn’t seem very wise in my opinion, but everyone has their own ideas and opinions. I would go with your plan to keep everything contained to your trailer on the ground as you said.
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I did misunderstand - thanks for the clarification! It seemed like you wanted to shoot up 60’ from the ground. Now I understand your situation.
I recall reading a post about a guy cleaning a tall water tower. Maybe a search on that type of topic would help. That job was over 100’ high as I recall…
Let us know what you come up with.
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Usually 6 story+ buildings have roof access from the top floor. If they do, there is most likely a safe access point that has an area of flat roof.
Obviously if the only access is slanted roofing, that option wouldn’t work…
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Thank you. I will definitely look into that. This whole process has been very frustrating to say the least.
Getting myself to the roof is not the issue. Getting the cleaning solution from the ground to the roof is the problem.
1 foot of elevation change creates 0.433 PSI of water pressure. So in this case 40 feet of head is going to be about 17 PSI .
A fat boy 7 gpm should do a 4 story just fine. Would be running at half or so the psi you would on the ground. But you don’t teally need psi on a roof.
I’ve used my fat boy to pump uphill at least 25 foot before and didn’t notice a big difference.
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I would also recommend using as few of fittings as possible on the setup as to not restrict flow. 12v should do it though.
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1/2 “ or larger aodd pump . 5.5hp or larger compressor. 5/8 or larger hose will all work with what your trying to do. We regularly clean 3 and 4 story roofs with this set up. Distance and volume suffer a little at those heights but still work fine if your walking the roof.
If your plan is to spray a distance of 60ft while being 4 stories up only a gas powers AG sprayer will do it. 15-20 gpm at about 500-600psi .
Be sure to build in the cost of the pump it will not last very long . No pumps with those specs can tolerate chlorine.
$1000 pumps and will likely get less than 100 hours out of them .
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Decent 6-7 gpm 12v will pump it fine up 60-70feet… Won’t have a ton of flow, but if you’re walking the roof it’ll be fine You lose a lot more to hose friction than you do to head loss.
Here is a handy calculator that will tell you everything you need to know. Play around with it. They don’t have 5/8 hose as an option, but will be between 1/2" and 3/4"
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Booster pump would also work. I know a guy who regularly cleans high up and uses nothing but boosters.
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Donte55 Would you have to balance pressure ratios between the primary pump and booster pump? Do have any links or info on how I could research this more?
There is only one pump. A booster pump is like a 12V big brother. Runs off either customers house/business or a generator. Most still run a buffer tank set up with some kind of mixer/pro-portioner with them. They put out more pressure than a 12V or Air pump if you need them to, and a lot of guys use them to wash buildings. They dont put out enough pressure to use a surface cleaner. The biggest i would go is a 3/4 HP once you go to a 1HP they start drawing a lot of amps, sometimes more than most homes can keep up with. Witch is why most have a back up generator if they need it. Like the 12V less noise than a compressor or engine running.
I dont currently have a booster, but if i start getting into more apartments i would build a rig with one. The no noise is what i like. Right now im running a Air set up for roofs, and stucco. The vids below dont show them being used up high, just showing what it is. But they can push chems up to height no problem. Really the best two options for what you are trying to do is booster or a air set up.
For a column of water, you will see a drop of 1 psig for every 2.31 feet of height. So, from previous posts, he is going up six stories, at ten feet per story, or 60’ high: 60 / 2.31 = 26 psig of loss due to the change in elevation. Then he will have losses due to the hose. So using a larger diameter hose would help maximize how much pressure is available at the nozzle.
(Sorry, should have looked at the dates before I replied.)
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I had the fat boy, oh man lift with half inch hose boom was stretched out straight up 40 ft and I still had plenty of pressure, could have went way further I felt like,200 ft hose
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