Garage Cleaning 101

Thank You Jim for answering my questions, the exchange was great, I will consider your recommendations. Thanks for informing me about the non-functional link, below is the file, Page 13.
 

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Nigel, always glad to help you. I do better on the phone than with these written replies. Though I did not expect 3 hours on the phone, however during that time, you also gave me some insight on the research you do.

By the way, If I did not have a timer on the phone, I would of sweared it was only 40 minutes or so.

I hope that the info we gave to each other will help both of us to further our business.

Jim
 
Jim runs his machines at 300 degrees. If I did not trust Jim, I would not believe it. The ONLY way that water is able to get to that high of temperature is because it is under so much pressure. If the pressure was normal, it would be physically impossible to heat the water that much.


Yes, you,re right Scott. I have had the temp to 295/300 degrees at more or less 2500 psi. I will not go over that 295/300 degree mark. I am told by Landa Corp, that 310+ degrees under pressure could be very dangerous if something was to go wrong.

For that reason alone, we have decided to run it at 250 to 270 at a higher pressure of 3,000 to 3500 PSI with only 1 boiler engaged at one time instead of two daisy chained together.

I have noticed that at different temperatures, the cleaning capabilities increase.

This is what I have noticed....


Gum and most stains ( NOT ALL) 240 to 270 ( Gum evaporates, dose not melt)

OIL at 250 to 270 degrees (Oil is lifted up from the cement, not pushed or smeared to the side)

Rust at 280 to 300 degrees.

With Rust, we have noticed it's not about pressure so much as temp. We have only tried a few stains, not all of them came all the way up, though some was very hard pressed to notice that the rust was there, the others sure got allot lighter. The rust was from irrigation ( Lawn ) area's. We have not tried a pipe drainage rust yet.

We have however had the fire dept. respond to our cleaning earlier this year from all the steam pouring out from the 4 level of the garage. Cost us $1,000 for the 4 engines and the big hook and ladder response. Now we inform the fire dept that we will be cleaning the garage.
 
I would not have paid. Of course, I am that way.
 
To Scott, Ron, Russ and everyone who has asked me and supported me to be more open on the BBS for Garage Cleaning, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !
 
To Scott, Ron, Russ, Grant, Jeff, Ashley and everyone else, I want thank all of you for encouraging me to be a better man by helping and showing the right direction to take when it comes to Garage Cleaning. Just this week I have had over 15 calls from members on Garage Cleaning Techniques, from Hawaii to the east coast. I think I have spent over 20 hours on the phone this week alone in helping someone. I am glade that I am able to help all of you that ask, by hopefully directing you in the right direction.

To all of you, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !
 
For that reason alone, we have decided to run it at 250 to 270 at a higher pressure of 3,000 to 3500 PSI with only 1 boiler engaged at one time instead of two daisy chained together.


DAISY CHAIN BOILERS!!!:eek: , where do you get such high temp controls Jim??
Most boilers have a high temp shut down of 200F. What is your high temp safety shut down set at?? Tell me you have one on there!!!

What did Landa say was the life expectancy of their boilers used at such an extreme??
 
They didn't say how long they will last, how ever all the high temps are set to just over 300 degrees. We now have a thermostat set for a max of 302 degrees.

Before the burns, we did not have a thermostat. As you know, we run our boilers at full load. They now shut off and on when they hit 302, otherwise they are on constantly until they hit the desire temp.

I do not like them shutting down, because there is a 50 to 60 degree drop between shutting off and turning them on again.

THIS IS NORMAL FOR ALL PRESSURE WASHER MACHINES.

When others ask me about temp issues, I always asked others if their boilers ever shut off at their dial set temp gauge. If people say my boiler is set at 200 degrees and IT NEVER shuts off unless they release the trigger, then most likely they ARE NOT AT 200 degrees.

You will not believe how many of us have said they reach 200 degrees because they set the dial to 200. Then when they put on a in-line tester, they realize that they are only at 170.

We as an industry, need to be educated in our equipment. Don't take the salesman or manufactures line which say's "UP TO" or a "temp rise of".

Less than 90% of the time you will not be able to hit that "UP TO " mark, especial at night in the winter. ( Yes, for those of us who run during the day with outside temps hitting 97+ degrees in the summer, you may hit even higher than 200 degrees ). I know this to be true because we have to De-tune our equipment in the summer time. There is only 1 boiler manufacture who guarantees 200 degrees on six or so of their pressure washers, and its not Alkota.

And Please, when someone says "I have a 440,000 BTU Boiler and I hit 250 degrees at 8 gallons per minute, because I changed my thermostat from 240 to 302 and now it runs so much hotter". Before you make those statements, do an IN Line Tester. ( Thats a pressure gauge and a temp gauge and install it by your wand with the hose completely rolled out at 2 am. They cost about $60). Unless your outside temp is 105 degrees and the water is preheated up to 130 degrees, you will not hit those temps.

To give you an example:

If your outside temp is 110 degrees and you are inside your home. Your home is a single story 3,100 sq ft. You have a single 5 ton A/C, 4 years old. You decide to lower your thermostat to 35 degrees. The A/C is on constantly. However you set your thermostat to 35 degrees, and it's cooler than outside, so I must be at 35 degrees..... please.
 
BTW Jim,
I ran a test on that powder stuff a few years back. It worked far better than you would think. I did not even leave it on as long as suggested. I spread it on, left it on for 20 minutes or so, and then swept it off. There was a noticeable difference. Not that I would advocate using it. It would just be another tool in our little bag of tricks.
 
Getting boiler detailed info from most manufacturers is like pulling teeth.

Most list the pipe schedule, some list the BTU's, but beyond that.... length of coil..... number of pancakes, efficiency, they have to call you back, sometimes they do.

Why is all that info necessary, to compare apples with apples.

Engines and pumps, you know what you have, but wrapped under that skin of stainless steel is an UNKNOWN!!!
 
There is a reason that most are not real forthcoming with the information. They don't know. Most of the manufacturers have the coils built by a subcontractor and they all use the same one in Siloam Springs, Ark.
 
What's the name of that company Scott?

I know of only 3 companies that make their own coils on their assembled machines.

And 3 other companies that have 3/4" coils on their high volume models.

I was told by one manufacturer that 3/4", schedule 80 coil triples the price of the coil.
 
BTW Jim,
I ran a test on that powder stuff a few years back. It worked far better than you would think. I did not even leave it on as long as suggested. I spread it on, left it on for 20 minutes or so, and then swept it off. There was a noticeable difference. Not that I would advocate using it. It would just be another tool in our little bag of tricks.

I use Bio-Dry and secured 3 big garages in Atlanta that would not even think about paying normal pressure cleaning rates right now. We basically rented a scrubber and scrubbed the deck first. Let it dry for a day and then applied the Bio-Dry to the oil spots only. They were ecstatic and gave me two more garages right away. I would say it looked 75% as good as normal pressure washing at 1/3 of the cost. Sure I would have loved to pressure wash the whole thing but $30,000 was not in the budget (low occupancy) but they gladly paid $11,500 for the service.

As Scott said just another tool in the bag.

Jeff Robison
Clean Up Atlanta
678-360-2518
 
I use Bio-Dry and secured 3 big garages in Atlanta that would not even think about paying normal pressure cleaning rates right now. We basically rented a scrubber and scrubbed the deck first. Let it dry for a day and then applied the Bio-Dry to the oil spots only. They were ecstatic and gave me two more garages right away. I would say it looked 75% as good as normal pressure washing at 1/3 of the cost. Sure I would have loved to pressure wash the whole thing but $30,000 was not in the budget (low occupancy) but they gladly paid $11,500 for the service.

As Scott said just another tool in the bag.

Jeff Robison
Clean Up Atlanta
678-360-2518

That's interesting. That's how you go about doing business and not leaving money on the table. I live in the land of parking garages. I'm going to look into that a little more.
 
I use Bio-Dry and secured 3 big garages in Atlanta that would not even think about paying normal pressure cleaning rates right now. We basically rented a scrubber and scrubbed the deck first. Let it dry for a day and then applied the Bio-Dry to the oil spots only. They were ecstatic and gave me two more garages right away. I would say it looked 75% as good as normal pressure washing at 1/3 of the cost. Sure I would have loved to pressure wash the whole thing but $30,000 was not in the budget (low occupancy) but they gladly paid $11,500 for the service.

As Scott said just another tool in the bag.

Jeff Robison
Clean Up Atlanta
678-360-2518


I truly understand about budgets. That is the one objective that everyone must overcome in their presentations. The difference in price, in your example, is about 40% cheaper than using a washer.

Let me say this, I have used a scrubber before at $600 a day plus fuel and pick up / delivery charges. They have there place. However, cleaning a parking garage, they don't even come close to the quality that our customers demand. At best, they help to remove the loose powder film that may be on the floor, but will achieve nothing about cleaning the deep ground in stuff. I have seen the scrubber clean AT BEST 5% of the filth. So when it comes to break dust, brake fluid, tranny oil, rubber, urine, pigeon feces, dirt, throw up, blood, the 50+ chemicals that any giving auto/ truck can deposit, this Bio- Dry will not remove all of it or even 20%. All that I can see is that it puts a band aid over the problem.

Any if it gets wet, as so may garages do in the winter, the run off of the hundreds of gallons of rain water will affect it.

These are the issues that I would tell my clients who may say, I like this company because they use this XYZ product and it is cheaper. Then I would show the documents that we have, saying just that, along with the EPA who discourages their use here in Contra Costa.

At best, this is for spot cleaning or a small gas pad spill, not for 400,000 sq ft. parking garage.

Thats my 2 cents...
 
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