For those who have gone from 4 or 5 gpm to 8 gpm, I’m curious to know what you didn’t expect when upgrading from 4 or 5gpm to 8gpm. I think I’ve covered the obvious stuff…new fittings for the SC, 1" supply line, bigger chem injector, bigger buffer tank (100 gallons is plenty for my area), etc. Am I missing anything?
Secondly, how did the upgrade affect employees? Obviously (hopefully) they are able to finish the job quicker and with higher quality. But how much quicker? Going from 5-8gpm is a 60% jump in water volume but that isn’t going to translate into 60% higher employee productivity (wouldn’t that be nice!). In YOUR experience, how much quicker can you do a house wash, for example?
Lastly, any input at all when going from 5-8gpm would be appreciated. And yes, I have done a significant amount of reading before I posted this
I just went through the whole shebang starting with a 2.4 in 2018.
4-5.5 was nice, I noticed a big difference with rinsing speed and concrete went a little faster, but I was getting frustrated with striping. SH pull from the injector was about perfect with 5.5.
5-8 jump was a real shock. I can now get 3 story peaks from the ground using my 1’ wand and shooter tip. Surface cleaning is night and day speed wise, I almost walk normally behind my 19”. Rinsing speed is ridiculous.
Drawbacks, my 2.1 injector doesn’t draw as much as I’d prefer so it usually takes two applications, especially on gutters. I’d use a 1.8 but as I use a remote, trying to rinse with it still on cuts down on GPM. Also the sheer volume of water can pile up quick when rinsing off concrete so low spots need to be dealt with. I personally have to watch my 65 gallon leg tank so it doesn’t run dry when people’s spigots are lower flow.
My biggest regret is not spending the extra $500 to get the 8/3500 instead of the 5.5. I could have avoided so many problems.
How do you deal with water pooling in low spots on concrete? sludge sucker? push broom? Man it can be frustrating when there’s no where for the water to go! lol
There are so many topics answering the exact questions you are asking. I love the want to learn but research more. You will find the answer a lot faster and avoid creating repeat topics
ok bear with me…so right now all I did was hit “reply” to TexasPressureWashing. But that doesn’t let you know I replied to you? So I need to use the @ …Think I got it
Depends who you ask. I prefer 5.5’s for residential and keep the 8s for large concrete work and commercial. They say gpm is king, I’ve looked really hard to find some 35 horse Kohler builds for the folks that love efficiency, I’m still looking to this day, hmmmmm
I never got involved in this discussion but anything over 8 gpm can be hard to feed since most spigots don’t put out enough. An 8 gpm is the sweet spot. Plus, you get up to 10 gpm and above you need 1/2" hose. You already know all of this though. It has just been kind of boring around here and you’re wanting some good conversation.
I know I said I never got involved in this discussion but you do realize you saying a 5.5 gpm can wash as fast as an 8 gpm is like someone saying a 3 gpm can wash as fast as your 5.5 gpm?
I just like the extra reach my new 8 puts out. My first wash job with it was a two story house on a hill, so the peak was easily 30’ off the ground, and the sucker got it no problem.
I built an 8.6, 3k psi machine and love it. My motor recently broke down and I thought about cancelling jobs because I didn’t want to use my 5.5 because I am 8 gallon privileged now. I hate my 5.5 except for small 2nd and 3rd story decks when the 8 is too much.
