Surface Cleaner Questions

Hey there! I’m very new to this group so I’ll still be learning some things. I am also pretty new to the business and I am wanting some advice, I keep getting two answers…

So I am about to buy a new 4.2 GPM Predator washer by Harbor Freight, but obviously I need a surface cleaner to go with it. I currently am running a small 2.5 GPM with a 15" surface cleaner, but what I am wondering is which one do I need now?

I have been looking into getting 20" surface BE whirl-a-way, but then people are telling me to get a 18" or even a 16".

I know that I need to get the 25025 tips for the cleaner but I’m still confused on what size I’ll get and I’d rather not waste any money on it.

Anyway, thanks for the help!

-Matthew T
Thomas Pressure Washing

The absolutely worst thing anyone on this forum could do for you is to tell you what nozzles you need. You need to learn to read and understand a nozzle chart. It is like teaching a person to fish instead of giving them a fish. You need to know this for everything PW related. There are several threads on here that talk about nozzle charts, 2 nozzle vs. 4 nozzle bars, and surface cleaner sizing. Once you have determined what size you need, then ask if that is correct. Plenty of nozzle charts and nozzle apps on the internet.

I made a mistake on my drive because I listened to a salesman and a manufacturer. Understand what your machine actually does GPM and pressure, vs what the advertisement says. Do a bucket test. Test your injector draw rate. maybe if you aren’t sure, buy a gauge and hook it up to check the pressure.

But it you are like about 75 percent of the people that post on here 1 or 2 times then we never hear from them again, yeah go ahead and buy 25025’s.

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No I definitely will do this! Thank you for the reply!!

It was one of the best pieces of information I got here as a new person. The difference between a professional and a hacker is knowledge and experience. Knowledge can be gained easily with just a moderate amount of effort. This place will give you eveything you need.

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You’ll have to test the nozzles to see if you want the 25025s or 2502. Based on reading here I was using the 25025s on my 4 gpm with a Honda 390. After 100’ hose I was at 2200 psi. Not bad, but in my area there is a lot of lichen that are a pain to remove and it just wasn’t enough. I went back to the 2502s that came in it and was getting right at 3000 psi and it works much better. The nozzle chart is a good starting point, but not a guarantee of the pressure you’ll actually get.

I have an 18” surface cleaner currently. If I were you, I’d stick with 16”. The 18 works great, but I do need to move noticeably slower that when I had a 15”. Looking back I should have gone 16, but I got the 18 for a really good price.

Yeah I was just thinking to myself that the safer bet is the 16", do I still need to change the tips to the 25025?

Try it with 2502s first and see what you’re getting. To be safe, I wouldn’t go more than 3000ish psi. For me, the 2200 I was getting with the 25025s was fine for concrete that was just dirty, but I get a lot of algae and lichen and even with a strong pretreat, so that wasn’t cutting it. I don’t know your whole setup, so who knows that you’ll get. Mine is through a reel, 100’ of hose, ball valve and filter at the SC gun. So even though the chart says I should be at 4000, my machine will not do that.

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Gotcha, thank you!