Hey guys. I have a couple questions if any of y’all wouldn’t mind helping me out here. I have the 4.2gpm/4400psi machine. I know that I’m supposed to control the PSI by switching nozzle, so…
Why does my machine have a pressure regulator on it where I can raise or lower the psi if that’s what the different nozzles are for?
I highly doubt I’m supposed to leave my machine at 4400 psi while I am surface cleaning a driveway. I was told constantly changing the psi will shorten the lifespan of my machine. So should I service claim at about 2500 psi on my regulator and gauge?
I’m guessing that when we buy a new surface cleaner that we should also buy the correct tips at the same time, because I’m on my second surface cleaner and the tips have been wrong both times out of the box even though I bought the 16in.
If the concrete is newer versus older do we change the tips out accordingly prior to the job? If the job has new concrete (at least 1yr) and old concrete do we do one first and then switch to different tips to do the other?
Recently I was surface cleaning a sidewalk and my 20inch (I know it’s to big for 4gpm) which is brand new was working great and once I made it to the driveway it started striping and really just doing a crap job… instantly! Could this be because of the rather large puddle I ran it through on the sidewalk right before? Will puddles throw the rod out of sync? I checked the Tips afterwards and they were clean but I switched them to brand new tips anyway and it still did a crap job. So I switched to my brand new 15 inch surface cleaner rated for 4gpm and it was still funky.
I did a job not too long ago cleaning a run-of-the-mill wooden fence (no stain). I wet the surface down first and then applied 50-50 SH and water. It did a pretty good job getting rid of the organics by itself and then I rinsed off the fence with about 1800 psi and staying the same distance away from the wood on every pass. It looked great when I left even after it dried! But I drove by today and it was brown when I left and it is now gray, instead of black how it was originally. It was my first fence job. I asked the client if she wanted me to put oxilac acid on it afterwards and she said no that she did not want to pay for that. So is that normal? I put 50-50 on my backyard fence and did not even spray it off with a water hose and it looks 100 times better than hers, poor lady.
I love this website and I wish I would have found it a whole heck of a lot sooner! I have learned so much from y’all! I really do appreciate any feedback y’all may give me! Have a good day guys. Thx!
Ok, I can’t answer all those questions because I can’t remember them all. Try shorter posts. Here are a few things though
You don’t have a 4/4200 machine
I never switch surface cleaner tips out for different jobs but I also won’t do concrete that is less than 2 years old. Then I would probably change them in fear of ruining the concrete.
Pressure unloaders are adjustable so they don’t have to manufacture a thousand different versions for every possible pump and engine combo. Set it and forget it.
Always order the correct tips, plus a couple spares. They wear out over time. And they never give you the exact tips you need for your pump/engine combo
If it’s less than 18 months old, I wouldn’t use a surface cleaner, period. Some go even longer than that. Just soap and rinse with low pressure if you need to get the surface dirt off.
No clue, but it wasn’t the puddle that did it. Might have hit something else hiding in the puddle, or the curbing?
I don’t clean wood for this very reason. So darn unpredictable how it’ll look afterwards. But a 50/50 mix is way too strong for most wood. Definitely need to post treat with oxalic or citric acid if you’re planning on using such a hot mix.
Nearly all surface cleaner come with 2502 nozzles. You need to order right ones when you order machine or get the right ones. Telling us about w/o pics is basically worthless as far as us being able to help you. There are a lot of reasons drive could have been striping when sidewalk wasn’t. Pressure, age of concrete, quality of concrete, etc
The fence is gray because you bleached the crap out of it. I do a lot of wood and have rarely run across one that needed more than 2-3% at the most. If you’re going to be using more than about a 1-1.5% mix always figure in neutralizing it in the price. Takes hardly any time and costs very little.
You may want to do a lot more reading on here and some more practicing before you start learning on customers homes.
Hes just trying to say the engine usually isnt really big enough to put out those kindve numbers. Any of the 13hp pressure washers you get from the big box store wont put out both 4.2gpm and 4000 psi either way you dont need the full 4000 psi so it’s not a big deal
If your surface cleaner feels unbalanced, flip it over, stick your boot on the bar to prevent it rotating and check to see if both nozzles are spraying equally. If not you’ll have to take them off and clean them.
A 4/4 should be using 25025’s to get 2500psi. When I had mine and a 16" surface cleaner I had to go pretty darn slow to cut down on striping. It wasn’t fun.
As Rick said you used way too strong of sh on wood. That high amount will destroy the wood. 1800 psi is also too strong. Drop down to about 1000 psi. Neutralizing with citric or oxalic acid is cheap. I always add it into the price on bare wood. You really should go back and do it for free if the fence looks as bad as you say it does.
Start reading through old posts on here. You don’t want to practice on people’s property. Learn it, practice on your house or even friend’s and family’s houses, and then you’ll be ready to rock and roll without worrying about damage or poor quality work.
