It goes without saying, this place is incredible and appreciated. Like others have said previously, this forum absolutely ruined me, but in the best possible way. I truly appreciate the gold contained in this little corner of the internet.
Having said that, I have a few quick questions pertaining to my equipment.
First, I should mention that I purchased a Simpson 4240 (4200/4gpm) before landing here and realizing I should have spent that money on a proper, belt-driven machine. I totally get it and it’s absolutely in my plan for next spring when I hope to fully launch. But like many, I’m a hands-on learner and I’m completely okay with practicing technique with what I have now. After practicing on friends and family, and assuming I like it (which I’m sure I will), over the winter I will invest in all proper equipment so that I’m fully prepared for next season.
My question pertains to my 4240: What exactly do I need from Pressuretek for proper ds? I see that some guys step everything down a notch for better pull? Any other odd parts necessary for the 4240 (what size qc’s, etc).
I like the jrod idea. So that with a GP high draw and I should be set, right? And do I need to cap off the factory pump’s injector? Some say yes, some say it doesn’t matter. If I do, what size plug do I need?
My unit is actually sitting in the next state over to me at a family member’s house, which I plan on picking up in my free time, soon, otherwise I could probably figure some of this out on my own. But if anyone familiar with the unit could guide me in the right direction, that would be super awesome as I’d love to be ready to go with all proper parts (and it would give me the chance to buy stuff online today )
In the mean time, I’ll continue burning 10 hours a day on this forum. Jeez. So addicting!
Just unscrew the built in injector and take that piece to the hardware store and you’ll find a plug the same size as it. Take out the ball and spring. The 4gpm jrod will do you good from pressure Tek. You’ll only need to use the 2540 and 0040 from the jrod. Don’t use the high pressure tips. The gp injector will be fine just don’t forget to flush it out after each time you use it. You seem to be on the right track so keep doing what you are doing and you’ll be ready to go in the spring time. I haven’t heard good things about the Simpson 4200/4 but the gx390 is a great engine and 4gpm is okay to start with since you already have it. Best of luck.
I saw that in other posts! Think it’ll get me by for a month or two in practice mode (mostly for skill development?)
And man, if you have anything you can think of that you wish you would have bought from the beginning for it, I’m ALL ears. Whenever you get time, of course.
It’ll work for a while…until you come across a spigot that puts out less than 4pm. Be very mindful of that with a direct drive washer. Take a 5 gallon bucket with you, make sure it fills in a minute before you hook up.
When you can, get that sold and pick up a belt drive so you can hook it up to a buffer tank and no more worries of hitting the trigger every minute or cavitating the pump.
Or a gear drive. Both do the same. I like belt drive with no others fluids to worry about. Some like gear drive for simple installation and more compact. Both run way cooler and lower rpm to the pump. So research both and make your educated decision.
Also, you can bypass your direct drive to a buffer tank to eliminate the heat problem while off trigger. Just won’t draw from buffer tank very well so your still forced to the spigot, unless tank feed is higher than your PW creating a gravity force feed . And I’ve heard some ppl still have issues.
Get the 4 gpm jrod or an m5ds. Only use the two soap tips as previously stated. The the 2-3 gpm gp hi draw pulls pretty hard. Ive got a 4/4400 and im pulling around 1-7 or 1-8 and putting out almost 4.5 gpms with 200’ of hose. It will suck a bucket down quick so be mindful of that. It will let you know when your buckets empty. You can feel it sucking air and the tip sounds like it’s hissing at you. I didnt plug my stock injector but will if it starts acting up. Im still experimenting and working full time and by no means a professional at this. This is just what i can tell you based on my machine. I also have the injector 2’ away from the pump. Based on what i read on here its supposed help the injector pull better. Hope this helps
You will need to remove or drill out the orfice in the factory injector if you put it back on, some (like CAT) have oddball threads so u have to keep it on there. Drill it out to 3/8”. Also, this little guy is a game changer, switch from soap to rinse instead of pulling your drop stick out. Also never have to worry about rinsing out your injector separately. Order 2-3 of them.
I slacked on plugging mine. Turns out it takes 2 seconds to unscrew it, take out the ball and spring, then screw a plug in it. Costs like $1 and takes all of 1 minute to do.
I’ve went through 2 of them last couple days.
FYI. When your DS injector fails and starts back feeding hot H2O under pressure through the 3 way into your chems, The 3 way doesn’t like that ,And snaps off at the turn lever.
Live and learn I gather.
@anon37135677 I’m confused. If your machine was working fine, what does plugging it do? I’ve been using the gp injector with the jrod for the past 2 weeks (game changer btw) and it seems to be working fine without me plugging the regular injector.
Depending on how much hose you’re using it can introduce air in to your line and it can also fail and start shooting water out while your in the middle of a job… It’s just a good idea to spend a minute and a dollar to plug it and get it over with.
Take the stock injector barb off and pull out whatever is in there. Take that barb to your local hardware store and match the threads with a solid plug. Then thread tape or what ever you use and intall the plug. Done deal
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