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Good morning Gents,

I've got a question with rinsing...

I understand that an 8 gpm pressure washer will soak the plant life, trees, etc... BUT... for roof rinsing are you guys using a buffer tank ( 50 gallon water tank ) with a booster pump or are you guys using the 8 gpm pressure washer and dragging up the heavy PW hose up the ladder... ???

I understand that from some roofs the ladder will not be needed... Simply trying to find out the best way to rinse a roof when need be... Most if not all of the homes that I will be cleaning all have gutters... Even the commercial buildings ( retail, dental offices, etc... ) also have gutters...

Thanks guys... !!!

Edited by JetBlueRacer

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8 GPM PW with a high flow 65 degree soap tip will do a good job rinsing on low stuff with a long wand. One thing to be careful of if you rinse from the ladder or from the roof is the kick from the PW when you pull the trigger. 

Lot of guys use a Harbor Freight Sprinkler booster pump run off a tap with a garden hose. 

 

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Thanks Kevin,

That is what I was figuring as well... as the 8 gpm is a little ripper when you pull the trigger... Gonna keep doing some research on booster pumps... Do you have any particular ones that catches your interests... ???

Tommy

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Thanks Kevin,

That is what I was figuring as well... as the 8 gpm is a little ripper when you pull the trigger... Gonna keep doing some research on booster pumps... Do you have any particular ones that catches your interests... ???

Tommy

Two ways to help mitigate that issue...first, use a large diameter nozzle (which you should be using on a roof rinse anyways!). Second is to use an oversized return line to the buffer from the bypass on the unloader. This helps to mitigate the shock. There are unloaders and guns that are softer starts from what I understand, but have not tried one. 

As for the booster pump... THIS.

Buy the extended warranty. 

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Thanks Shingle Brite...

I already own a HF Predator 420 air compressor literally used like 2 times... I'll figure it out once I get going... Just going to keep it simple and easy... Not trying to recreate the wheel or make it complicated... It's already HOT enough outside so I am simply wanting to make it as smooth as possible without losing time...

Thanks guys... !!!

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I personally would never even bring a powerwasher on site of a roof cleaning, not even for watering bushes. They call us because we clean with no-pressure. They dont want to even see a PW.

A garden hose is really all thats needed. A booster pump will definately help

We always bring one. It allows you to offer additional services to the client. My guys did an add on driveway cleaning yesterday. Fired up the hot water Dragon and got rid of a decade worth of grime, algae and oil. Customer was absolutely beyond thrilled when his black driveway he'd been living with for over ten years turned back into a nice clean white one.  He was *extremely* happy and we earned a bit of extra incremental sales. Win Win. 

Now, to play Devil's advocate...

A Pressure washer is simply a gas powered water pump that has high pressure *capabilities*. Try to run a PW with no nozzle on it and you will see that it has a very weak stream, probably around 20 PSI. It is all about nozzle selection. 

You can nozzle down a booster pump with a jet stream to the point where the pressure it delivers will do some damage...and you can nozzle UP a pressure washer to the point where the pressure is extremely weak and it is literally impossible to do any damage. What you are aiming for if you use a pressure washer to rinse a roof is the equivalent to what a booster pump puts out. It is just a matter of proper nozzle selection for your particular machine and showing the customer exactly what you are doing if they have any questions. 

For example, if you take an 8 GPM power washer and put an 050 nozzle on it (no smaller than 15 degrees), you will get 100 PSI of pressure. That is about what a booster pump will deliver and well below the impact pressure standards for the roof. Stand back to do just a rinse and it is literally impossible to do damage. You can go even bigger to an 080 and it will drop you to 40 PSI which is lower than a garden hose. You COULD even use a power washer to apply chem if you didn't mind constantly killing pumps and hoses (NOT recommended, it would get really really expensive really really quickly!) 

Point is, you are not USING pressure to clean the roof. You are using a cleaning solution applied with a dedicated pump to chemically clean the roof without pressure. You just happen to use another tool in your arsenal, a gas powered pump with the PROPER nozzle on it, set to the PROPER pressure to RINSE the roof off. 

Here is a link to a nozzle calculator. Enter in the output GPM capability of your machine and the desired pressure you want to achieve and it will tell you what orifice size you need. 

Pressure washer calculator

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I just use a garden hose. For the higher stuff, I either do it from a step ladder, or use a jet nozzle made for cleaning pool filters.

Often, depending on the type of plants below, I may only rinse the lower half anyway.

This is the kind of roof I love to clean!

I get tired of tile, tile, tile!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1H1R4CD0f8

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For you big air guys you are missing the boat if you don't use it to rinse with. I carry two 1" pumps-one for mix and one for water. I use the big HF ac and plug both into the manifold. It runs BOTH at the same time with no issues. Hook the ho water up to your buffer tank (55 gallon drum works great) and you will have some SERIOUS water for rinsing. I use 3/4" hose and Elay shutoffs with Master Nozzle if I need it which I usually don't. Crack the shutoff open just right even without a nozzle and I can reach the top of almost any roof from the gutter line with some serious volume. Try it you'll like it!

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For you big air guys you are missing the boat if you don't use it to rinse with. I carry two 1" pumps-one for mix and one for water. I use the big HF ac and plug both into the manifold. It runs BOTH at the same time with no issues. Hook the ho water up to your buffer tank (55 gallon drum works great) and you will have some SERIOUS water for rinsing. I use 3/4" hose and Elay shutoffs with Master Nozzle if I need it which I usually don't. Crack the shutoff open just right even without a nozzle and I can reach the top of almost any roof from the gutter line with some serious volume. Try it you'll like it!

Big air definitely gets the job done for rinsing! 1" pumps are great for that. This is one time when having a smaller compressor is actually an advantage. One of my 1" pumps on my big compressor run open would draw that 55 down to nothing in a matter of minutes at about 45 GPM even with the domestic supply hooked in. 

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Big air definitely gets the job done for rinsing! 1" pumps are great for that. This is one time when having a smaller compressor is actually an advantage. One of my 1" pumps on my big compressor run open would draw that 55 down to nothing in a matter of minutes at about 45 GPM even with the domestic supply hooked in. 

That's true but it's also true for my situation. Wide open I can pump my 55 dry pretty quickly. Fortunately running either ac with a pump wide open makes little sense for rinsing.   I either have a master nozzle on or are cracking open the shutoff. Both slow the flow enough that the buffer can keep up with all but the worst water pressure. 

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We always bring one. It allows you to offer additional services to the client. My guys did an add on driveway cleaning yesterday. Fired up the hot water Dragon and got rid of a decade worth of grime, algae and oil. Customer was absolutely beyond thrilled when his black driveway he'd been living with for over ten years turned back into a nice clean white one.  He was *extremely* happy and we earned a bit of extra incremental sales. Win Win. 

Now, to play Devil's advocate...

A Pressure washer is simply a gas powered water pump that has high pressure *capabilities*. Try to run a PW with no nozzle on it and you will see that it has a very weak stream, probably around 20 PSI. It is all about nozzle selection. 

You can nozzle down a booster pump with a jet stream to the point where the pressure it delivers will do some damage...and you can nozzle UP a pressure washer to the point where the pressure is extremely weak and it is literally impossible to do any damage. What you are aiming for if you use a pressure washer to rinse a roof is the equivalent to what a booster pump puts out. It is just a matter of proper nozzle selection for your particular machine and showing the customer exactly what you are doing if they have any questions. 

For example, if you take an 8 GPM power washer and put an 050 nozzle on it (no smaller than 15 degrees), you will get 100 PSI of pressure. That is about what a booster pump will deliver and well below the impact pressure standards for the roof. Stand back to do just a rinse and it is literally impossible to do damage. You can go even bigger to an 080 and it will drop you to 40 PSI which is lower than a garden hose. You COULD even use a power washer to apply chem if you didn't mind constantly killing pumps and hoses (NOT recommended, it would get really really expensive really really quickly!) 

Point is, you are not USING pressure to clean the roof. You are using a cleaning solution applied with a dedicated pump to chemically clean the roof without pressure. You just happen to use another tool in your arsenal, a gas powered pump with the PROPER nozzle on it, set to the PROPER pressure to RINSE the roof off. 

Here is a link to a nozzle calculator. Enter in the output GPM capability of your machine and the desired pressure you want to achieve and it will tell you what orifice size you need. 

Pressure washer calculator

We all know what a PW can do,and so do most HO. They all have their little machine they've played around with on the weekends and most times they've torn something up. They no the damage that can occur. People are thrilled and curious when I tell them "we use non-pressure methods" to clean their roofs,siding,decks,pool surrounds,brick pavers,hardscaping. Its science vs brute force. Its a strong selling point.

Of course we as professionals know how to use a Pw safely, but after pitching the non-pressure methods Im not bringing out the PW to water plants. Thats not to say a Pw isnt needed for some things.

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In my opinion, the better selling point is that we clean with low pressure versus saying we don't use a pressure washer. Better to talk about what you do than what you don't. My pressure washer is a very valuable tool and absolutely no one has ever said anything about it other than "wow that thing looks awesome!"  

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In my opinion, the better selling point is that we clean with low pressure versus saying we don't use a pressure washer. Better to talk about what you do than what you don't. My pressure washer is a very valuable tool and absolutely no one has ever said anything about it other than "wow that thing looks awesome!"  

I think your missing my point, but whatever.

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