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From working on boilers in my day wouldn’t 250 degree water flash to steam as soon as it hit atmospheric pressure? And it would have to be kept under pressure in vessel, essentially a boiler to attain that kind of temperature and keep it in water form.
this is my hot water skid. The silver cylinder on top is the coil, which acts kinda like a boiler. It’s 80’ of steel tubing coiled up that the diesel fired burner heats up instantly when you squeeze the trigger and shuts off when you release it.
For size comparison, that’s a 250 gallon tank behind the washer. This thing is a beast that weighs 1000lbs.
A stainless Hydrotek no less? Ok now you're just showing off. For anyone reading who doesn't know pressure washers... Yoteman's running Cadillac style. Oops, I guess we should say Lincoln around here. My MiTM would be considered a Ford by comparison. Or maybe a Chevy. Ok, a Yugo?
Not being in the business....or not being smart... or a bit of both...resulted in my having to rebuild almost every part of my machine, that was originally designed as a four tire roll caged unit for DisneyWorld, for cleaning their theme park. It does have a belt driven General pump and a small onboard float tank, but it is configured to be tethered to a garden hose to keep the float tank full., It has a vertically oriented European style boiler. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have spent two or three times more for a brand new machine, But I learned the only way I know how... the hard way.
After the boiler flooded, filling the entire burner chamber, I had my work cut out for me.
After extensive use of a wire cup brush on a 12,000 RPM angle grinder, I finally cleared away enough rust sluff to find the hole...
A closer view with macro...
Now at 5x optical magnification...
This wasn't the only problem my machine had.
Like some diesel trucks, my boiler also had injector problems. When the injector shut off, fuel would still dribble out... Any man over 50 reading this might understand this problem, but here is a photo of how I rigged up the diesel injector outside of the boiler, into a Home Depot bucket, to watch the spray / dribble pattern (pardon the diesel mist over the photo)
See the dribble down the center? DRIBBLE AT FUEL CUT OFF MOMENT
Nozzle: Delavan 2.25 GPH, 70 degree, B type solid cone spray
Pump: Suntec A2VA-7116, 3450 RPM, 12 V
This is the full spray action. This injector has some big holes, as you can tell by the initially solid fuel spray as it leaves the nozzle. It'll put out the heat, but adjusting the blower is very very very tricky. On little 1/8 the turn is all it takes to go from white smoke to black smoke, while missing the sweet spot inbetween entirely.
FULL SPRAY ACTION
Nozzle: Delavan 2.25 GPH, 70 degree, B type solid cone spray
Fuel Pump: Suntec A2VA-7116, 3450 RPM, 12 V
Fuel Pump Pressure: 101-105 PSI (gauge mounted on pump)
I ended up changing to an entirely different injector style, supposedly dripless. The down side is that I lost a lot of heat... as the flow rate was less than the original injector, But I also lost a lot of smoke with the changeover to the dripless injector, once I made another adjustment battle with the blower.
As if the leaky, smokey injector and the hole in the coil wasn't enough to worry about, there were also microscopic fissures in the ceramic insulators of the electrodes, enabling electric arc leakage through the insulator to the nearest return path, which was through the electrode plate, which was being arc gouged by stray electrical shock current to the point of holes being blown through the solid cast metal...
I ended up changing out the electrodes and the entire electrode plate system to a newer style.
But man, It was never ending battle with things going wrong on that thing.
thank you, it is a good machine, one of the few with a true 200* heat rise. But don’t discount your machine, the MiTM are very highly regarded in the pressure washing community and also known as one of the best.
Looks like you’ve gotten to know your machine inside and out! Man I feel ya, all I get done is working on my machines. The pressure, the chemicals, and the fumes from sodium hypochlorite just wreaks havoc on ny equipment. I spend hours each week keeping it all running.
I spent 22 years as an IT mananger for a large corporation and my wife in nursing. Three years ago I started up this business as just a weekend thing and it exploded on me and allowed both myself and my wife to quit our careers and do this full time. It was the best thing that ever happened to us. I love this kind of work and what we specialize in sets us apart from typical pressure washers.
So now we work 8 months of the year and take the other 4 off which means HUNTING SEASON EVERY DAY lol.
but if ya ever are looking for any tips on what chems or techniques to use on a particular project then give me a shout. But then, you just might know as much as I do in this stuff.
. I’m going to put a flow control unloader on it soon so that initial spike when you pull the trigger will be a thing of the past.
Please talk more about this flow control unloader.
Since these tools can be used to clean the frame and underside of a truck, we are still on topic here, even though I disagree with using an HWPW for doing so... unless you have 3 guns (two big arms and a special short wand like Yoteman has) and the experience and judgment to use them. I have none of these, hence my recommendation.
So, Yoteman, this flow control unloader that you would like to buy... how does it differ from the adjustable Suttner ST 261 trapped pressure unloader that I ordered a few years ago from Dultimeier? (Plumbing was yet another part of the pressure washer that I had to fix). The ST 261 is 3/8 in, 3/8 out, 1/4 bypass, forged stainless steel body, 3,600 psi rated, 8.0 gpm flow. How does this adjustable trapped pressure unloader differ from the "flow control" unloader you want to get? I hate to think that there was a better design component that I missed the opportunity to upgrade to when I had it all apart, but at least I'd like to know about it for next time.
Unloaders are simple to replace. A flow comtrol unlader builds up slowly to full pressure once you pull the trigger. It’s reslly nkce because yo don’t have that sudden jolt of pressure. Especially for me riight now 40’ Up washing a metal roof
I use a Landa 11 hp belt drive commercial model pressure washer which drops the engine to idle speed whenever you let go of the trigger and revs up again when you squeeze trigger.
Bought it used back in the early 90's and it's still a great tool.
Up to 4 gpm at 2500 psi is most times way more then what I need but with this setup it's easy to adjust the max engine speed / water pressure/flow.
Pretty handy tool to wash the pickup underside, but it's still a messy job!
I use a Landa 11 hp belt drive commercial model pressure washer which drops the engine to idle speed whenever you let go of the trigger and revs up again when you squeeze trigger.
Bought it used back in the early 90's and it's still a great tool.
Up to 4 gpm at 2500 psi is most times way more then what I need but with this setup it's easy to adjust the max engine speed / water pressure/flow.
Pretty handy tool to wash the pickup underside, but it's still a messy job!
😆
belt driven is the only way to go. Direct drive machines just don’t last.
And I agree, 2500psi will handle most needs with ease.
Landa makes a great machine no doubt.
The one thing I don’t like about the Hydrotek is that there is no throttle so I cant control the engine speed. It starts and stops at full idle which I would think isn’t good for the engine. It’s got a built in 3900w generator so hydrotek removes your ability to throttle it down.
But heck yeah, power washers are an extremely handy tool to have.
Here is a very handy tool you all may be interested in. It’s called a jrod and allows you to have 4 tips all connected together so you just quickly unplug one tip and move to another. I couldn’t imagine working without one of these. Pressure Tek Sales
Yoteman thank you for the link on the K5. It all comes back to me now, as I remember reading everything I could find about the K7 back when I was deciding on what unloader to buy. At the end of the day, I chickened out because of the maintenance issues people reported, and the fact that more attention must be paid to the set up.
I don't pressure wash every day. My use is so infrequent, I need as many parts to be set and forget as possible. Unfortunately, that isn't possible, because something always goes wrong. I put brand new fuel lines and a primer bulb not that long ago, the fanciest primer bulb I could find (the big black inline type that looks like a football) and already it has cracked and is leaking.
So once I read that the K7 requires more care, I chickened out and got the Suttner, and then promptly forgot about what the K7 was until your link reminded me.
You're most welcome. If you ever change your mind, I can tell ya some tricks. I can completely disassemble one, put it back together, and adjust it perfectly in 5 minutes. They’re a breeze! Adjustment is easy, off trigger, when the water is in bypass, you want just a trickle of water coming out the main hose. That’s when it’s perfect!
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