Number of tanks/ Different set ups

T

tryingtogetby

New member
Man, am I confused......lost in the woods!


I've been doing a lot of research, and Im trying to make a decision on what type of set up to have for house and roof washing!


I see the down stream vs xjet/m-jet debate is a pretty good one, and Im leaning toward the idea of having both just in case! My main question at this point in my research is the number of different tanks people have and why!


I have seen some set ups with just one tank in the back of a truck for roof washing I believe, I've seen several trailers with just 2 tanks, which is the most common with one being much larger than the other. Then, there was a box truck with 3 tanks, 1 with water(125gallons), 1 with chemical(55 gallons), and another with solution(65 gallon)! The water tank had a all flow pump, the other 2 used 5850s, but only 2 hose reels total!


I guess my question is.......hell, I don't know what my question is, guess I'm just looking to see why some many different set ups, and which is the best In your guys opinions!


Go easy, Im still in the research phase!
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Usually most will have a water tank to supply their power washer and the sizes vary from 100 gallons and up. Then if you are washing roofs then most will have a 65 to 100 gallon tank for mix and a 50 gallon tank to hold sh in. Some may even have another 35 gallon tank for house wahing hooked up to their downstreamer connection. I personally use 100 gallon for pw, 100 gallon for mix and 65 for straight SH. The more work you do the bigger the tanks you want.


Hope this helps.
 
No need (IMO) to have different tanks for different washes (unless you do a lot of different jobs in a day). I'm a one man operation and I have a 225 gal "buffer" tank (clean water only) and a 15 gal chemical tank for whichever mix I need. I have the chem tank mounted in a garden cart with extra mix supplies to minimize going back and forth to the trailer. I just DS the mix (at the wand) as needed. Changing tips or nozzle to whatever is required makes it quick and painless. Going from one mix to another is as easy as calculating the remainder of your mix and adjusting for the next job (i.e. house wash to roof wash or vice-versa). I use the same ingredients, just different amounts (percentages) depending on the mix I need.

As far as how many and how large, I guess that would depend on how much work you do in a day.

I'm also toying with the idea of a backpack system like the one in this video.


As a side note, I regulate my pressure at the pump, so "technically", I'm "soft washing" when it comes to siding and roofs.
 
Michael DeRose said:
Usually most will have a water tank to supply their power washer and the sizes vary from 100 gallons and up. Then if you are washing roofs then most will have a 65 to 100 gallon tank for mix and a 50 gallon tank to hold sh in. Some may even have another 35 gallon tank for house wahing hooked up to their downstreamer connection. I personally use 100 gallon for pw, 100 gallon for mix and 65 for straight SH. The more work you do the bigger the tanks you want.


Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

So, you are saying that you have a tank with just 12.5% in it, and you pump it from there to you mix tank, and your water tank is an accumulator! Besides on the pressure washer, how many pumps do you have? Your set up is downstreaming, correct?
 
If you were gonna wash a customers roof, then there house/siding, how do you go about mixing? Or do you have different 15gallon tanks one with each different solution? And your set up is xjet or m-jet?

i meant to quote red here!
 
Leave the pump and unloader alone and regulate pressure with the tips you use.

You see different set-ups because we have different needs, we use 300 and 400 gallon buffer tanks and 65 gallon tanks for the mixes we use for either roofs or for down streaming house wash mix. You have to manage your mix which will become easy after a while. We generally use 5 and 15s for bleach.

We do a lot of large complexes and need the higher capacity and we run 2 guys per rig with between 5 and 10 gpm per machines. If you're working yourself and/or with a helper you can do a 30 to 100 gallon buffer tank 30 to 100 gallon roof tank and use a 5 gallon bucket to downstream or x jet from.
 
Exactly!
John Doherty said:
Leave the pump and unloader alone and regulate pressure with the tips you use.

You see different set-ups because we have different needs, we use 300 and 400 gallon buffer tanks and 65 gallon tanks for the mixes we use for either roofs or for down streaming house wash mix. You have to manage your mix which will become easy after a while. We generally use 5 and 15s for bleach.

We do a lot of large complexes and need the higher capacity and we run 2 guys per rig with between 5 and 10 gpm per machines. If you're working yourself and/or with a helper you can do a 30 to 100 gallon buffer tank 30 to 100 gallon roof tank and use a 5 gallon bucket to downstream or x jet from.
Click to expand...
 
My water tank is the buffer or supply tank for the pressure washer. I also have a 5850 for transferring SH from the 65 gal tank to my mix tank. I have another 5850 to apply the chemical from the 100 gal tank. When I downstream I use 5 gallon buckets.
 
I understand what you guys are saying, but I'm still a little confused! Anybody have a link to diagrams of the different configurations!

Let me see if I have this straight.

if I were going to roof wash a house and its siding that was 2000 sq foot! I would use a low pressure high flow pump on the roof. Then use a pressure washer and downstream on the siding?

I would need 2 tanks one for each solution, correct? Maybe Im confused by the terms chemical and solution.
 
tryingtogetby said:
If you were gonna wash a customers roof, then there house/siding, how do you go about mixing? Or do you have different 15gallon tanks one with each different solution? And your set up is xjet or m-jet?

i meant to quote red here!
Click to expand...

After cleaning Roof add water to your mix and clean the house. Rinse w garden hose or pw'er w open ball valve
 
Kiloman said:
Dont put chemical on your back that thing will leak and burn your back sooner or later.
Click to expand...


Part of my learning curve was a back pack sprayer , 10 years ago got one hell of a chemical burn on my shoulder blade . Took over a month to heal.
 
Mdirrigation said:
Part of my learning curve was a back pack sprayer , 10 years ago got one hell of a chemical burn on my shoulder blade . Took over a month to heal.
Click to expand...

That is just one of many, many reasons all of us will not use the backpack type sprayers, If you have ever had a chemical burn you will understand and not take chances. Most of the backpack type sprayers out there, even the regular pump up sprayers will not last using most of the cleaning detergents most contractors use.

The one from Tractor supply is a piece of junk. I have asked about it here at the local store and they tell the cashiers to have the people test them first with water to make sure it works before putting chemical in them. Read the reviews on their own site, only 2 out of 5 would recommend it.
 
Mdirrigation said:
Part of my learning curve was a back pack sprayer , 10 years ago got one hell of a chemical burn on my shoulder blade . Took over a month to heal.
Click to expand...

That is just one of many, many reasons all of us will not use the backpack type sprayers, If you have ever had a chemical burn you will understand and not take chances. Most of the backpack type sprayers out there, even the regular pump up sprayers will not last using most of the cleaning detergents most contractors use.

The one from Tractor supply is a piece of junk. I have asked about it here at the local store and they tell the cashiers to have the people test them first with water to make sure it works before putting chemical in them. Read the reviews on their own site, only 2 out of 5 would recommend it.
 
tryingtogetby said:
Man, am I confused......lost in the woods!


I've been doing a lot of research, and Im trying to make a decision on what type of set up to have for house and roof washing!


I see the down stream vs xjet/m-jet debate is a pretty good one, and Im leaning toward the idea of having both just in case! My main question at this point in my research is the number of different tanks people have and why!


I have seen some set ups with just one tank in the back of a truck for roof washing I believe, I've seen several trailers with just 2 tanks, which is the most common with one being much larger than the other. Then, there was a box truck with 3 tanks, 1 with water(125gallons), 1 with chemical(55 gallons), and another with solution(65 gallon)! The water tank had a all flow pump, the other 2 used 5850s, but only 2 hose reels total!


I guess my question is.......hell, I don't know what my question is, guess I'm just looking to see why some many different set ups, and which is the best In your guys opinions!


Go easy, Im still in the research phase!
Share
Click to expand...


Fill out your signature, forum rules, so we know who you are and where you are from.

If you are serious about getting into the business, you might contact someone that is out of your work area and try to work out something with them to work with them for a day or two and see if you even like this kind of work, lots of guys get into this with no clue and end up selling their equipment for less than 1/2 the price they paid for it.

Another reason to go work with someone is to see how they do things, have their trailers rigged up and why, how they do the jobs, the efficiency of how things are run on the jobs (these will save months or years of learning the hard way) and what to do when problems happen.

Good luck.
 
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