Portable Pressure Washers and Why?

[OctaneGuy]

For dispensing the detergent, NXT Car Wash soap, I decided a portable enclosed container was important, so I took an old empty bottle, drilled a hole in the cap for the feed tube, and now I have a portable detergent tank with an easy carrying handle!


In use, it looks like this


Working on an SUV


Detergent is only dispensed on the low pressure settings. It's simple to rinse the car off at high, rotate it to low to dispense soap, then hit it on high again to rinse off.






My overall impressions is that this unit is a steal at $49 and definitely worth much more. I guess I will have to see how it works in the long run since some people have questioned the long term reliability, but so far I feel the build quality is high, usability and quality of the pressure stream is more than sufficient, and I'm hooked on just how useful a pressure washer can be. I agree with Joe at Superior Shine that with the pressure washer adjusted correctly, the output of the water is very soft, and I have no fear about using it for more than just wheels. Being able to dispense NXT Car wash means I won't have to use the 2 bucket method, although I think that using the pressure washer to rinse, add soap, then massage by hand, then rinse again with the pressure washer may be the better way to go, in which case atleast a bucket of clean water would still be desirable.

Finally my next project is to try out some ideas I have for portable water tanks to draw from.

[Alex7938]

excellent write up there OG,

i think you can get better foam though,

heres a list of a few car shampoos used via a pressure washer

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/showthread.php?t=795

and if you type in chemical karcher into ebay you should be able to pick up a detergent bottle to attach to the end of the vario-lance,
as featured here

http://www.meguiars.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2417&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

hope this helps

Alex

[OctaneGuy]

I tried the system again today and used a higher concentration for more foam. Basically I used more washer than water since it gets mixed with the water from the pressure sprayer as well, I figured it could be more concentrated. It worked better, but I still think a wash mitt is needed to really get it clean. Would a high foaming system eliminate the need to touch the paint before rinsing???

Richard

Originally posted by Alex7938
excellent write up there OG,

i think you can get better foam though,

heres a list of a few car shampoos used via a pressure washer

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/showthread.php?t=795

and if you type in chemical karcher into ebay you should be able to pick up a detergent bottle to attach to the end of the vario-lance,
as featured here

http://www.meguiars.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2417&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

hope this helps

Alex

[OctaneGuy]

In continuing my Portable Detailing equipment to all fit in my MINI, I confirmed my 2 gallon pressurized water system works beautifully with the Karcher.

The flow rate with 20 pumps (around 40psi) was as strong as maximum pressure as when using the water from the house spigot.

With this, my Karcher, and a small generator, I have a MINI washer system that's fully mobile!

The Karcher requires a water source with some pressure. Although it claims to work with standing water, I haven't been all that impressed with its performance.

How many gallons of water does it take to wash a MINI? I'm not sure, but the flow rate on my pressure washer is 1.3 Gallons per minute, and I should be able to rinse it off twice in less than a few minutes.

So my idea is to take a 2 or 3 gallon bug sprayer, add on a spigot for a hose, pressurize it to it's max 40psi, and use that as a portable source of water. 2 or more tanks could dramatically expand the capacity by chaining them together. For two units, this would simply involve replacing the sprayer hose with some tubing, so the water can flow from one tank to the other. Each tank can be pressurize individually but I assume they would equalize since they would essentially become one large 4-6 gallon supply tank.

This is the tank with a spigot attached. I simply drilled a hole,


then used a Dremel to shape it large enough for the spigot.




Then used silicone sealant to waterproof it.


Under pressure the flow rate is generous


I used a spigot with a valve so that I could easily open and close the water flow.


The final piece was built today. I bought a 15' lightweight garden hose and cut off a 1' section. I added on a Male 5/8" thread to the cut end. This became the bridge to connect the pressure bottle to the pressure washer. I gave the bug sprayer 20 pumps, and turned on the pressure washer, and immediately I got volume as strong as when connected to the house water supply. I was very impressed. Surprisingly 2 gallons lasted for quite awhile. I will have to wash my car a few times to see just how far it will go.




After the water level dropped--about 1 gallon, I gave it 10 more pumps, and continued spraying. The only mistake I made was when I attached the spigot, I should have had the spigot point up, not down. In the down configuration, with the extension hose installed, it extends too far off the bottom, causing strain on the spigot and not allowing the bug sprayer bottle to sit flat.

I noticed a small leak from here, so I'm going to reinstall it 180 degrees to solve this problem.

In the future I might double the capacity by simply attaching a hose where the bug sprayer gun would connect to bridge the two bottles together. Each would remain independently pressurized, although Im sure bridged together like this, they would equalize each other.

But in this manner, I can now have a pressurized portable system that theoretically is expandable in size to the number of sprayer containers I can carry.

[imacarnut]

richard,
thanks, for the great write-up!

[Alex7938]

Originally posted by OctaneGuy
I tried the system again today and used a higher concentration for more foam. Basically I used more washer than water since it gets mixed with the water from the pressure sprayer as well, I figured it could be more concentrated. It worked better, but I still think a wash mitt is needed to really get it clean. Would a high foaming system eliminate the need to touch the paint before rinsing???

Richard

thats the best thing to do just keep trying till you get it how you like it, the hardest Shampoo to get to work is Hyper wash due to its 400:1 mix ratio.

i'll email Steve and get him to help out as he has tried so many different washes and ratios that he'll know whats best

Alex

[Tom Weed]

I just ordered the Foam sprayer



for my Karcher K 3.97,



and as I stated before, I was just primarily using this pressure washer for wheels, undercarriages, motors and a lot of caked on dirt, but the last car I washed it was pretty cold, so I used the Power washer to spray and rinse on a low pressure setting which you can adjust on the nozzle. There really isn't much chance of damage on this setting and it helped to make washing in cold weather easier, especially on my hands! Well, from reading this thread, It gave me the idea of using a foaming sprayer. I had one that I tried before that attached to my regular garden hose, but it didn't work so well. This idea I think is going to work great and can't wait to try this thing out. I will post the results and take a few pics when I get the chance to use it.

Tom

[OctaneGuy]

Tom,

How does the detergent work on your Karcher? My portable Karcher has a little nipple for a tube that feeds into a bucket of detergent. Is the larger Karcher that way too? Or is it contained in the unit itself?

I'm just wondering with this foam sprayer, I assume it replaces the pressure wand nozzle and the detergent goes inside this bottle? And you don't use the detergent reservoir option of the Karcher?

Thanks for any info.

Richard

Originally posted by Tom Weed
I just ordered the Foam sprayer



for my Karcher K 3.97,



and as I stated before, I was just primarily using this pressure washer for wheels, undercarriages, motors and a lot of caked on dirt, but the last car I washed it was pretty cold, so I used the Power washer to spray and rinse on a low pressure setting which you can adjust on the nozzle. There really isn't much chance of damage on this setting and it helped to make washing in cold weather easier, especially on my hands! Well, from reading this thread, It gave me the idea of using a foaming sprayer. I had one that I tried before that attached to my regular garden hose, but it didn't work so well. This idea I think is going to work great and can't wait to try this thing out. I will post the results and take a few pics when I get the chance to use it.

Tom

[Tom Weed]

Hey Richard,
Mine has the little hose as well, I've only used the hose a couple of times with some deck wash to clean the mildew off of my deck and it worked fine. I've not tried it with car washing detergent.

The sprayer looks like it attaches directly to the handle. Changing out the wands on that unit though is pretty fast so I don't see that as a big deal. It was only 14.00 plus shipping, so I figured it was worth a try if it does a good job of foaming and I will have to compare that method vs. the tube.

Tom

[OctaneGuy]

That's not bad at all. Because the bottle is small, I assume that means you can put a full concentration of detergent in there as opposed to something diluted that needs to be able to travel through a tube like this.



Can't wait to hear how it works, I may get one as well. I put around 2.5 ounces of NXT Car Wash in that jug pictured above and filled it half way with water. Foam was pretty good, much better than the pictures I have in this thread. I may try a higher concentration to see what happens.

Richard

Originally posted by Tom Weed
Hey Richard,
Mine has the little hose as well, I've only used the hose a couple of times with some deck wash to clean the mildew off of my deck and it worked fine. I've not tried it with car washing detergent.

The sprayer looks like it attaches directly to the handle. Changing out the wands on that unit though is pretty fast so I don't see that as a big deal. It was only 14.00 plus shipping, so I figured it was worth a try if it does a good job of foaming and I will have to compare that method vs. the tube.

Tom

[sneek]

i have 2 detergent containers inside my jobmate! never thought of putting in diluted wash solution

i really want to try it but im really afaid of getting a fine

[OctaneGuy]

Fined for what? I don't get it.

Richard

Originally posted by sneek
i have 2 detergent containers inside my jobmate! never thought of putting in diluted wash solution

i really want to try it but im really afaid of getting a fine

[sneek]

the city of Calgary has bylaws against washing your car with soap

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10251&highlight=Calgary

[OctaneGuy]

For my last detail, I decided to just plug the entire NXT Car Wash soap into my Karcher at full strength. It worked great!

[sneek]

awsome!!!! im gonna have to try it when nobody looking!