Good evening guys. I’m new to the community as well as the PW industry. I have decided to take the leap into the PW industry and hope to learn a few things from you experienced guys. I’ve been reading the posts on here and already feel like I’m learning. I’m probably going to sound really stupid here so hopefully you guys won’t crucify me to bad!
Ok first, I recently purchased a north star 4000psi, 3.5 gpm cold water pressure washer. Maybe I should have found this site before my purchase, but this is now what I’m working with. I also bought a surface cleaner for driveways and sidewalks. My intentions were to do driveways and sidewalks mostly to start, and I’m good with that. However, I’m being told I will miss a lot if I don’t offer house washing as well. So a few questions…
One, I am reading a lot about soft washing and chemical injection. I see a lot of talk about the JRod set up and even the XJet. I assume using these two set ups with the right nozzles can be considered soft washing even with using my pw? Stupid question maybe. Will the nozzles alone reduce my pressure enough? Also, looks like it’s not wise to use the chemical injector included on my pw but need to use a different injector? Looks like preference varies greatly as to what set ups you guys are using, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Also, what chemicals are you guys using? I assume there are better products than just going to Lowe’s and buying the Zep or the Krud Kutter stuff. And are there online retailers that you are using? I’m sure your using different solutions for different surfaces so again, any advice would be appreciated.
Hopefully you guys are willing to help a newbie out and won’t be to rough on me. Thanks in advance!
Sodium Hypochlorite is the primary chem for removing organic material. Also called SH for short. As far as equipment talk to bob at pressuretek. He will hook you up with anything you need. Words of wisdom, read read read and when you think you have read it all— read some more. There is a large amount of information on this forum and the magnifying glass on the top right is your best friend. Type in SH and you will learn everything you need to about it by reading past post. There are a lot of people on here with a LOT of experience and are willing to help, you just have to be willing to listen!! Good luck
Thank you thorosafe. I appreciate the advice.
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Nozzles will adjust you psi alone, yes.
Your gonna hear a lot of negative feed back on the 3.5 gpm . Keep reading buddy
Thank you Cody. Yea, before I even posted I have been reading enough to know that I was going to get some negative comments about the 3.5gpm. That’s ok, it works well for surface cleaning and hoping I can make the most of it on houses until I can grow and upgrade.
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Hey man my first year I was using a 2.5 gallon a minute machine! Halfway through the year I spent a few hundred bucks and built a softwash system with an Ag pump. Been using that for a few years now! Works better than a low gpm machine. This year I have a new 8.5 gpm machine and I’m giving the xjet a try!
Keep on keepin on, and someday you will also sell more than snakes and sparklers!
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Thanks for the chart, but not sure I am following it completely. After much research and reading, I went ahead and ordered a jrod set up. I got the 4 GPM kit which includes: 0040, 0010 ,2540, and 2510 nozzles. If I read this chart, looks like with the #10 i’ll be running about 500psi. Is that correct? But not sure how to figure the #40.
Thanks for the advice. I was actually wondering if I would be better off trying to build a soft wash system as you did or try to use what i have.
what that machine limits you on is how strong you can make your mix. I was having trouble getting a strong enough mix trying to down stream with my small washer. With the softwash Ag pump you can run as strong as you want! Idk how effective an xjet would be on 3.5 gpm. I’ve still yet to even hook my xjet up since I’m waiting on pump and gearbox to arrive.
If you have a spare few hundred bucks you can build a softwash pump. I could take photos of mine if you need guidance.
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I would love to see what you built and any guidance would be appreciated. I can message you my email address so you can send the pics. Thanks a ton!
I would love to see that, too. Let me know if you want an email to send to or whatever.
I can do that just shoot me a message with your email.
Please let me see what you have
Roanoke.carpetcleaning@gmail.com
Thanks Alex
I emailed it over. It’s in 2 parts
I put the video on YouTube since I had so many requests to email it. Again this is a basic starter system with a little bit of an upgrade being able to mix as you go soap. It’s not the prettiest or remotely the best, but it really worked great to get me going in the business!
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Been researching softwashing all evening. And I noticed some have built their own… you save allot of money making your own I’m assuming ? Or is it just so you can get exactly what you prefer in a unit ?
Both! Big savings abs it’s how I like it.
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