High Pressure Value

By Earl Kauffman

DECK: Use of pressure washers can add value to your equipment, reduce the repair

costs and help keep your equipment running longer.

If you work on your own equipment you know how nice it is to be able to work in

a grease or mud-free environment. Even on the job-site, depending on the time of year,

a pressure washer can power-away grease, grime and friction producing grit. A clean

machine often brings more money in a trade than a dirty one, just like a machine with

good rubber often brings a higher price than one with bald tires. How do you pick a

pressure washer that works in your operation?

The use of the washer determines which one is right for you. Sales

demonstrations that split a board at 3000 PSI aren't exactly the criteria for choosing a

good washer. One-hundred-ten and 220-volt electric washers are the quietest while

gasoline or diesel powered washers give the portability often needed in the field. Hot

washers rarely get moved from the place they are put when first placed. Water supply

volume is critical.

Shopping for the right washer can be tricky. Although there are some good

foreign brands, if you can't get service when you need it, your experience will be

disappointing. Washer manufacturer's like Camspray (www.camspray.com) match a

motor, pump and gun, package it for the application selling 180 styles through servicing

dealers. A dealer can help you navigate between the different specifications like, does it

have plastic or stainless valves or stainless or longer lasting ceramic plungers in the

pump, etc. You will find pumps manufactured by CAT (http://www.catpumps.com/),

Giant (http://www.giantpumps.com), General (www.generalpump.com), Hypro

(www.hypropumps.com) and most recently Udor (www.udorusa.com) on many washers,

just like you find Detroit's, Cumming's, Cat's, Perkins, Kubota, Isuzu, and International

engines under many brands of hoods.

Lynn Strickler at Messick's in Elizabethtown, PA, (www.messicks.com) says the

place to begin is to know your water flow. He says "take a five-gallon bucket and time

how long it takes to fill from the supply spigot. If it takes two-minutes, your pump

capacity should be no more than 2.5 gallon per minute." Most pumps sold today are the

plunger or cup-style positive-displacement pumps. Though known for it's suction or lift

ability, twelve-hundred pounds-per-square-inch (PSI) is usually tops with the cup-style

while the ceramic plunger pump can reach pressures up to 4000 PSI but needs a ready

water supply. For commercial machines requiring longevity and optimum seal life

choose a pump with 900 to 1,400 revolutions-per-minute (RPM's), generally belt or gear

box driven. These slower pumps matched with water supply allow the pump cylinders to

completely fill with water preventing cavitation, or the rapid formation and collapse of

bubbles caused by the vacuum due to inadequate water supply, causing early seal

failure. Higher RPM shaft drive machines are great for light use. The injection of soap or

aluminum brighteners are best done after the pump and heating coil on hot machines.

Trigger guns and wands often come with an adjustable tip that has a push-pull

action to activate the soap suction. Many users prefer using the individual quick change

tips with a 0, 15, 25 or 40 degree spray pattern tip. Recommended safety precautions

include temperature and pressure regulators on the pumps. Releasing the trigger

allowing the pump to cycle the small amount of water in the pump head can cause the

water temperature to rise, without added heat. A temperature relief valve on the pump

set at 145 degrees as well as a pressure relief valve set at 500 PSI above operating

pressure is a simple inexpensive precaution that will prevent the hazard of a pump head

failure.

Your next repair job could be on a clean well maintained machine, ready to be

traded-up in this, or many seasons from now.

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