I’m coming here as a window cleaner who already does softwashing, but im using a 4gpm and I am both downstreaming and x-jetting with my unit while batch mixing, so no noob/newbie remarks, por favor!
I was gifted a used Fatboy rig yesterday from a friend who owns a huge pressure/softwash company. It’s a unit from 2015, so I am pretty much building it from scratch due to age. New accumulator, new pump, new hoses, new battery, new switch.
I see the cooling fan for sale on the pressuretek site and I am wondering where this cooling fan is supposed to go? does it go on the battery cover to pull heat away from the battery as well as off-gassing from the battery as well? It can’t be meant to blow on the pump itself, can it? it doesn’t seem like it would be that beneficial to blow onto the pump since it’s already exposed to air/breezes.
Also…can anyone recommend a hose setup that goes to the draw tank? I do not like the idea of using 3/4 braided draw hose because it’s so unwieldy and hard to manage. I was considering a 3-5 foot length of the 3/4" draw hose then making a PVC draw tube, but instead the draw tube would be shaped like an upside down U or like staple. One end of the tube would be about 24" long, then a 90 degree bend, then a 6" pipe, then another 24" long PVC tube with an elbow at the bottom, attached to a banjo coupling which would be attached to the braided 3/4", then. banjo on the other end so I can totally break down the draw line as opposed to coiling it up. Portability is an issue as I am not a full time softwasher so space is at a premium in my van because I already have my pressure washer in it and my skyvac gutter cleaner, so having less hoses to deal with and being able to break them down would be a huge plus.
Thoughts or recommendations on my new setup? I know most people here are probably running dedicated truck setups or skids, but we all gotta walk before we can run, right?
The cooling fan was/is for Bob’s pump in a box setup to help cool the pump. Those pumps get pretty hot, but you don’t want that setup anyway. Forget the fan. How deep is you mix tank you’re going to be drawing from? And how far away is your pump going to be from that?
I haven’t decided yet, because of portability reasons as I had mentioned but I imagine while I’m kinda designing the setup in the meantime I would use the 5 gallon x-jet pail. I could get a 7-10 gallon water container for my cleaning mix, but then I’d have to have a dolly to transport it around the job. I’m thinking I may end up leaving my gutter cleaner at home until I actually need it for scheduled work because the bandit is the older model that is on the pressure washer two wheel frame so I can wheel it around. I also have a Titan hose reel that I am going to put 200’ of Flexzilla 1/2" on, so that’s another thing I have to add into the mix. So bandit cart, dolly with mix container, and hose reel. As for how far away from the pump, I guess it can be as far or near as it has to be. I mean if people here tell me for best results it can’t be more than 3-4 feet away then I’ll keep it at that, or if they say I can get away with a little longer I can try that. I am open to any and all suggestions; my biggest issue is making everything able to be broken down and stored compactly, with no hoses bent into weird positions allowing them to get kinked like braided hose does. Are they any ideas about how to do this that I am totally spacing out on and haven’t even realized?
At 4.5 gpm output on that 12v at 60psi that’s going to last you exactly 1 min unless you’ve got a blend manifold, which you didn’t mention. What are you planning on using it for?
Since you have the reel and hose, not much use in hauling around on a dolly. Even on a dolly, hauling around 250-500 lbs is no piece of cake. You really need at a min a 30-50 gal tank if batch mixing.
Could you pull a small trailer with your van or truck, whatever you’re using now?
