I have been doing some research before purchasing a pressure washer. I have read that a belt drive is better than direct drive because it runs the pump at a slower speed, and having the pump isolated from the engine also keeps it running cooler. I have been talking with a dealer who prefers a direct drive to a belt drive, but uses a gear box to reduce speed to the pump. I haven't read anything about this setup, so am looking for some advice. Thanks in advance.
Pressure Washer Purchase Advice
- Thread starter kubotafan
- Start date
BUNN
Member
Are you implying running an inverter from your vehicle's battery to run the heater? Not a good idea, IMO, unless you have two batteries with an isolator.
I am not sure how he the company has it set up but I thought the inverter was running from the pressure wash "unit".
JohnB
JohnB
Hey thats a good question though..... If you have a machine that is electric start and you put a really big car battery on it , then hook up a inverter to the machines battery would it power a burner and blower motor ? Lets see..first a wayne burner transformer is 2.2 amps and a blower motor is somewhere around 8 FLA... So you would be safe at saying 11 amps draw, So we use ohms law and the power wheel to say volts X amps will give you watts.. so 11x120 =1320 watts .. So you would need about a 1500 watt inverter...
http://www.donrowe.com/inverters/inverter_faq.html#how_long
Here is how long you can run the inverter..
So you can run it about 2 .27 hours on a fuly charged battery with 600 nominal amps..
I was going to try this along time ago... I was going to go to a parts store and buy a 1 wire alternator about 65 amps and run it where my winco generator used to be on my machine, Then I was going to buy a 1500/2200 watt inverter.. but thats alot of money and work if it didn't work so I am going to purchase a new generator..
I still may try the inverter idea anyway.. Its the same pricipal as the generator head anyway.. The AC generator has a rectifier in it that converts the DC power from the coils to AC power, Much like an inverter...
http://www.donrowe.com/inverters/inverter_faq.html#how_long
Here is how long you can run the inverter..
So you can run it about 2 .27 hours on a fuly charged battery with 600 nominal amps..
I was going to try this along time ago... I was going to go to a parts store and buy a 1 wire alternator about 65 amps and run it where my winco generator used to be on my machine, Then I was going to buy a 1500/2200 watt inverter.. but thats alot of money and work if it didn't work so I am going to purchase a new generator..
I still may try the inverter idea anyway.. Its the same pricipal as the generator head anyway.. The AC generator has a rectifier in it that converts the DC power from the coils to AC power, Much like an inverter...
JohnB
JohnB
http://item.express.ebay.com/1500-W...370007500109QQihZ024QQtrZexpQQcmdZExpressItem
Then you would need a mounting bracket for a alternator
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HIGH...024QQitemZ370028092262QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
Ok lets see .. Inverter is 181.00 and the alternator is about 150 with shipping so about 331.00... But I can buy a winco on sale for 382.00 ... So the Winco generator is the way to go.. Because I dont think the charging system ( Alternator would last real long turning it at 3600 rpm... HMMM Got to check this out..
Then you would need a mounting bracket for a alternator
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HIGH...024QQitemZ370028092262QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
Ok lets see .. Inverter is 181.00 and the alternator is about 150 with shipping so about 331.00... But I can buy a winco on sale for 382.00 ... So the Winco generator is the way to go.. Because I dont think the charging system ( Alternator would last real long turning it at 3600 rpm... HMMM Got to check this out..
Barry M
New member
I've heard this from others to. Leaking gaskets and broken teeth also.
Christopher
Moderator
Besides the gear teeth breaking, gaskets leaking, NO CUSTOMER SUPPORT after the sale, and then the "The part is on back-order", my friend had to wait over 3 weeks for the part for the great little gear drive.
I know a friend that bought a gear drive, had nothing but problems with it, could not get the company to replace it, had to wait forever for the parts and then finally the parts came in and then gear teeth broke off again. Wow.
That right there is enough for me to not ever want to go through that nonsense, no matter how cheap the price is or how over priced the shipping is to save some money on the cost.
Belt drive all the way for me. When a belt breaks, you can get them almost everywhere, gear drives.......good luck.
I know a friend that bought a gear drive, had nothing but problems with it, could not get the company to replace it, had to wait forever for the parts and then finally the parts came in and then gear teeth broke off again. Wow.
That right there is enough for me to not ever want to go through that nonsense, no matter how cheap the price is or how over priced the shipping is to save some money on the cost.
Belt drive all the way for me. When a belt breaks, you can get them almost everywhere, gear drives.......good luck.
The Cleaner
Vetran Washer 30 Years Plus
I have put thousands of hours on gear drives , without one failure. I got away from the belt drives because they were not reliable under constant use. They tend to slack out and break under extream use.
Hook up a hot box to a gear driven pump and go clean, no problems..
Hook up a hot box to a gear driven pump and go clean, no problems..
Attachments
greg/sd
New member
I had always used belt drives but i switched to gear drive on one of my machines and ive got to say its worked pretty well. im thinking of switching all my machines to gear drive. I had one of the cheaper gear drives given to me and it leaked big time pulled it off and put a general gear drive on and no problems since.