Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Winterizing Booster Pump

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Them pumps are more work then they are worth.

waxman18324 · Founding Member Rest in Peace

The pumps can save a lot of time which equates to money in the bank for those who use them. Like any piece of equipment it needs some attention.

Hank

Liberty SoftWash · PWS Vender

waxman18324 wrote:
The pumps can save a lot of time which equates to money in the bank for those who use them. Like any piece of equipment it needs some attention.

Hank

I agree and she a tough girl(mother nature). Art I will sell you one cheap.

Steve Salley · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Ours does not shine very much, but she sure makes us money. I have our truck stripped down right now and the pumps all ready for some TLC in the shop. We are having a mini reel rack like Tim Astleton's truck fabricated with a local company. ONce put all back together, we will use the newly minted rig to softwash the interior of his shop to remove the heavy coating of film from all the aluminum welding they do.

Diamond Roof Cleaning · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Art i strongly disagree. These pumps can do double duty going from roof cleaning to house washing. Not like the 12 volt pump for house washing which is way slower. These booster can wash a house just as fast as a power washer. The little maintenance that these need far surpasses buying a new 12 volt every 3 months.

Patrick G · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Mike what kind of maintenance d they need? Is it in the off season or no? I always like having an extra pump on board for replacement but at that price it would hurt.

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Art O wrote:
Them pumps are more work then they are worth.

Don't knock it till you try it Art! Just a little a insurance cost me $25.00 and took 10 minutes to wrap. Now that it's there I will leave it until I know we are out of freezing weather.

I agree with all the statements. This pump really made a big change and easily paid for itself in a week. The jobs are getting done so much faster I am still trying to work on the scheduling from what I was use to in the previous years. They are knocking out these jobs so much faster. Maintenance? All we are doing is what we do with everything else... rinse, rinse and rinse!

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Brett, did you state your running yours off a honda eu2000 inverter generator?

If so hows that working compared to a coventional PW setup?
Had 2 of 3 pw's go down this year and if this combo is comparable, may be a better backup system, plus much more quiet

Fred W · Guru

BlueRidge wrote:
Art O wrote:
Them pumps are more work then they are worth.
Don't knock it till you try it Art! Just a little a insurance cost me $25.00 and took 10 minutes to wrap. Now that it's there I will leave it until I know we are out of freezing weather.
I agree with all the statements. This pump really made a big change and easily paid for itself in a week. The jobs are getting done so much faster I am still trying to work on the scheduling from what I was use to in the previous years. They are knocking out these jobs so much faster. Maintenance? All we are doing is what we do with everything else... rinse, rinse and rinse!

Like Brett, we just run water through them and that's it. Never a problem and makes lots of money.....

Jason Watkins · Exterior Cleaner

Maverick Contracting wrote:
Brett, did you state your running yours off a honda eu2000 inverter generator?

That was Brian J.

I pumped antifreeze into mine once this year. I contacted the vendor that sold me the pump and asked for any tips on winterizing... they said they werent sure if antifreeze would be the best for the internals, but I'm not sure what they were basing that on... like if there was a reason for that answer, or if they just thought it didnt sound like a good idea. Their suggestion was to bring it indoors.

Going through another cold snap right now... didnt have time to mess with the antifreeze, so i just put 4mil visqueen over the trailer and put a space heater under. Keeps my PW and reels warm also.

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Maverick Contracting wrote:
Brett, did you state your running yours off a honda eu2000 inverter generator?

If so hows that working compared to a coventional PW setup?
Had 2 of 3 pw's go down this year and if this combo is comparable, may be a better backup system, plus much more quiet

I have it hard wired to 3500 generator. A small footprint at the back of the truck.

I don't know if I would compare them Mav. They both have their uses and together we are able to get the work done much faster.

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Lets see, I need a pump, generator, Hose reel, 5/8 hose, gas, air bags for my truck and I need to maintain all this stuff just to rinse a house. No its just not for me !

Liberty SoftWash · PWS Vender

Art O wrote:
Lets see, I need a pump, generator, Hose reel, 5/8 hose, gas, air bags for my truck and I need to maintain all this stuff just to rinse a house. No its just not for Me!

LOL!

Diamond Roof Cleaning · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Art your right it probrably isnt for someone doing on 2 houses a day. We do anywhere from 4-7 jobs a day and its perfect for us.

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Diamond Roof Cleaning wrote:
Art your right it probrably isnt for someone doing on 2 houses a day. We do anywhere from 4-7 jobs a day and its perfect for us.

No, I do about 3 a day Mike. I like being home by noon so I can watch Gun Smoke on TV. You can to the 7 a day and I bet your lead cost is about $15 to my $1. I like keeping thing simple, it pays better!

Andy Hinson · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Everything freezes. I mainly use mine for roofs and stucco

Diamond Roof Cleaning · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Art my costs are 38 per hour per truck. The truck dosent leave the yard unless there is 1500-2000 worth of work for the day. In the peak we were running 2 trucks at 3-4000 per day for 3 months working atleast 6 days a week. I was home by 3-4 pm everyday except for the days i had to do maintenance on the trucks. So even at 380 per day for labor cost i was still making 1200 per truck or 2400-2800 a day when both trucks were out. I was in the office anwering phones and doing estimates and growing the business. In between that i was watching tv.

Each person will be different in choosing equipment becuase their end goals are different.

That old saying to each their own.

Jim Prom · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I used a 12 volt pump to force RV antifreeze through the booster pump and the entire hose reel, worker really well, as you know the pump wont just draw antifreeze from a tank.

Jason Watkins · Exterior Cleaner

Jim Prom wrote:
I used a 12 volt pump to force RV antifreeze through the booster pump and the entire hose reel, worker really well, as you know the pump wont just draw antifreeze from a tank.

Hmmm... I didnt notice a problem when i did it. I'm using the Goulds 1HP. I had a bucket full of RV antifreeze (may have had a little water in it... cant remember), and it sucked it through the pump like normal.

Why shouldn't it be able to draw it?

SprayWash · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Jason Watkins wrote:
Jim Prom wrote:
I used a 12 volt pump to force RV antifreeze through the booster pump and the entire hose reel, worker really well, as you know the pump wont just draw antifreeze from a tank.
Hmmm... I didnt notice a problem when i did it. I'm using the Goulds 1HP. I had a bucket full of RV antifreeze (may have had a little water in it... cant remember), and it sucked it through the pump like normal.
Why shouldn't it be able to draw it?

you should be, if its primed.

SprayWash · Approved Exterior Cleaner

don't know if this helps, but the Gould's boosters have 1/4 inch ports on the side. You could use this to introduce Antifreeze into the stack.

-- Edited by SprayWash on Wednesday 3rd of January 2018 08:22:03 AM

Liberty SoftWash · PWS Vender

Jim Prom wrote:
I used a 12 volt pump to force RV antifreeze through the booster pump and the entire hose reel, worker really well, as you know the pump wont just draw antifreeze from a tank.

I like that idea.

Fred W · Guru

You and Tim are polar opposites when it comes to taking care of equipment Ray....I'm surprised he can handle you....LOL

My stuff is like yours....fyi.

Jim Prom · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Yes, it would draw if it had not lost its prime.

Jason Watkins · Exterior Cleaner

Ah, ok @Ray and Jim.

Yeah, i think i primed it with the spigot feed, and then switched to the line that had the antifreeze.

SprayWash · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Baton Rouge Roof Cleaner wrote:
You and Tim are polar opposites when it comes to taking care of equipment Ray....I'm surprised he can handle you....LOL

My stuff is like yours....fyi.

yeah....i give him a lot of angst!