So I got a pressure washer.....

[buco]

It's been about 2 years and true to man code I have thrown out the instructions. So I pulled this thing out because the wife wanted to use it.

I have a problem. I can not get it to take the cleaner through the plastic line. I pulled out the fitting that the plastic line goes in to and it's just a loose ball bearing on the inside of it no other parts.

Can someone help me figure out how to get fluid to the washer?

Thanks!

I've attached pics.

 

[aka Larry]

The cleaner only comes in using the lowest power nozzle, at least that's how it works on mine. IOW, the high-pressure nozzle doesn't get the soap. I used my with the soap once, but the since the pressure is what does the work, I never used it with the soap again.

 

[buco]

Here's a better pic

 

[buco]

The cleaner only comes in using the lowest power nozzle, at least that's how it works on mine. IOW, the high-pressure nozzle doesn't get the soap. I used my with the soap once, but the since the pressure is what does the work, I never used it with the soap again.

Thanks so much for that. I'm gonna try it out tonight.

 

[buco]

Last pic.

 

[4BT]

Make sure you are using the soap nozzle.

 

[buco]

What's the soap nozzle?

 

[Steevo]

Mine is like Larry's.
I have to use the low-pressure nozzle to have it siphon soap through the siphon tube.

 

[rlitman]

The soap nozzle is so wide open you don't get any real pressure.
If you had an adjustable wand, you would open it all the way up.
It will also **** soap if you have no nozzle at all.

The problem with these upstream soap dispensers is that the concentrate can dry in that ****** and clog it up, and then they don't **** soap any more. I've had some success blowing out the ****** with compressed air when the stop soaping.

 

[fatfillup]

The soap nozzle is the black nozzle. It creates a pressure differential between before the injector and after the injector creating a venturi effect thus allowing soap to be injected into the water stream. And yes it will be low pressure. Put the high pressure nozzle in to stop the flow of soap.



As far as not using soap, some jobs don't require it. Such as cleaning residential sidewalks or knocking mud off you tractor. For house washing, deck washing and such, yes you can blast the hell out of the surface without soap and get it clean. In the case of the house, you will force water underneath the siding and as for the deck, you will raise the grain on the wood. The proper detergent applied at the proper strength will get a better result in less time and with less damage to the surface. Oh, dwell time is everything. You need to allow the detergent ample time to do its job. Normally a minute or 2. Longer is better but you don't want to let the soap dry on the surface. If it seems to be drying, direct the spray of the wand towards the surface to mist it wet without blowing the soap off.

 

[sberry]

We have a hand pump garden weed sprayer for soap. never do **** it thru the machine. That part of it was designed by the soap salesman.

 

[buco]

Thanks guys. The soap does work with the low pressure soap adapter. I'm disappointed it doesn't work with high pressure.

Thanks again!

 

[rlitman]

If you want soap on the high pressure side, you need a high pressure soap injector. It goes inline with the hose, after the pump. They don't **** soap from a bottle though. They are a canister that takes little soap packets.

 

[jamesemery728]

1. Use the black nozzle.

2. If that does not work, sometimes the ball bearing gets gunked up with cleaner. Take the fitting apart (don't lose the spring if there is one) and make sure everything is clean and the ball bearing is not sticking.

 

[fatfillup]

We have a hand pump garden weed sprayer for soap. never do **** it thru the machine. That part of it was designed by the soap salesman.

Lot of truth there except the injector being designed by the soap salesman. I am one and know lots of them, none of us is smart enough to design anything

Just so you guys know, I have sold and service washers and soap for 30 years. That is exclusively how I make my living until I started selling tools 5 years ago.

Applying soap thru a pump up sprayer can be very effective and efficient, especially for spot cleaning such as degreasing a motor. You get the soap exactly where you need it and n the concentration you want. Its not real effective time wise when doing large areas such as a house or tractor trailer though. Just too slow. Now if you had an electric pump to go along with your washer, low pressue and about 2 GPM and a second person to do the soaping ahead of the rinsing, you can be real efficient in both time and soap use.

sberry makes a valid point about injectors being wasteful, thus lining the pockets of the soap salesman, but that has more to do with employees not knowing how to use the soap correctly. ie, they leave the soap on too long and waste most of it. Pro washers, who pay for the soap they use, get their money's worth or they aren't in business long.

 

[sberry]

The pro also uses 1 gallon and charges for 2,,, ha I use very little and should have some milder pressure washer soap similar to car wash stuff around but I keep ZEP industrial purple on hand. Do not put it on straight on paint. It will strip an enamel paint and damage many others.

I really only use it for stripping and cleaning to sterile so to speak. sometimes blast stuff off, put a little stuff on,. soak and wash again. Great ahead of paint work.

I wash a lot of cars, never use it. I turn on heat as I start out, by the time I come around to front and windshield I have hot water to cut bugs etc, then rinse with cold. Takes me about a pint or so of diesel for hot water to do a car.

In winter a quart or 2 depending on ice build up.

 

[Az Scooter]

I am with FatFillup. If you are removing anything oil based, it will be far more effective, and less expensive to use soap to break the chemical bonds the dirt might have. The only exception that I can think of where soap is not more cost effective is when there is dust, and I could debate that all day.
Dwell time and Chemicals are king with pressure washers.

 

[Jsf721]

Low pressure nozzle.

What's the soap nozzle?

 

[sberry]

I an sure AZ can get good prices on soap but I like Home Depot, can get 5 gallons at a time vs a barrel and I don't do much anymore to justify searching it out wholesale.

I built several units, couple of them had million BTU burners on them, would run 2 wands about 11 or 12 gpm hot @ 2000 lbs. We put them in F600 trucks with 1000 gals of tanks, 20 hp Kaw liq cooled engines. As I recall SP100 pumps. They had some smaller units at 5 gpm on 1 ton but the big units actually took some injection work from hot oilers, light brine sometimes as well as fresh water.

Most of the pressure washing was simple equipment cleaning, oilfield, a bit of injection work and some pipe thawing in the winter.

Using a washer is something a lot of people do not realize the skill involved, it looks simple. My Bud says it takes him 15 and 6$ at the car wash and it looks like ****, I am at 3 minutes, 4 if I dodder and its clean.

I use this a lot, I hate working on a dirty car, used at least twice so far today including the tray on the hi chair for the baby,,, spotless.