Adding pressure washing to your business and how to select the appropriate pressure washer and pressure washer dealer

1. Power Washing
Equipment and Applications
NADCA 17TH Annual Meeting & Exposition
2:00 to 3:30 PM, March 6, 2006
Presenter
Robert M. Hinderliter
Delco Cleaning Systems of Fort Worth

2. Cell Phone and Pager
• Please put Cell Phones and Pager on
Silent
• Thank you

3. Adding Pressure Washing
for Profit
• May be required by your Customer
• May be a natural expansion of your
business

4. • surface concrete cleaning
• flat work
– parking garages
– bank drive thru
– shopping malls
– fast food restaurants
– drive ways
– side walks including gum removal
– and store front including the parking areas

5. • wood deck cleaning
• exterior building restoration
• Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning
• house washing
• vehicle fleet washing

6. Evaporator and Condenser
Coil Cleaning
• Coils
– Are made of Thin light materials
– Damage easily
– Easily cleaned with care
• Chemical appropriate to the items being cleaned
• Foaming Chemical Cleaners
• Power Wash
– Parallel with fins
– Low Pressure, low psi or increased distance
– Wide Angle Nozzle

7. – Remove access Panels
– Power Wash from all angles

8. Kitchen Grease Exhaust
Cleaning
• More Millionaires Than any other area of
Power Washing
• Regulatory Driven
– Fire Marshals
– Insurance Companies
– NFPA 96
• Extremely large amount of commercial
kitchens (restaurants, etc)

9. • Free Training Materials at www.ikeca.com
• Trade Associations
– www.ikeca.org
– www.pwna.org

10. Grease Duct Cleaning
• If grease ducts are properly installed there
will be an access panel every 12 feet
• It will be grease and water tight
• See www.ikeca.com for complete
information

11. • Cleaning will require
– Scrapping
– Power Washing
• Caution
– Air Ducts converted into Grease Ducts are not
water or grease tight
– Ducts may run over office areas
– Leaks may fall on office equipment such as
computers

12. • Grease Fans
– Housings should have access panels for
cleaning
– Scrape large accumulations of grease
– Pressure wash from all angles
– Chemicals and heat are normally required

13. Evaporator and condenser
cleaning
• Depending on the air stream techniques
for either Air Duct or Grease Cleaning will
have to be employed
• Grills and diffusers will have to be
removed and the ducts inspected before
you know for sure which technique will be
required

14. • There are specialized chemicals for
cleaning different types of ducts
appropriate to the type of contaminates
are in the air stream.

15. Water Control Devices
and Containment
• Draping with plastic sheeting
• sump pumps
• Vacuums
• vacuum sludge filtering systems

16. • squeegees and brooms
• portable wash pits
• drip (catch) water trays
• catch basins
• tarp catch basins under pipes and other
items
• portable dams
• portable drain covers

17. Cold Weather
• In cold climate and high crime areas
pressure washers are mounted in
– Trailers
– Bobtail Trucks
– Vans

18. • Kitchen Grease Exhaust Cleaning to be
done in below freezing temperatures as
long as it safe to:
– Drive
– Walk on side walks
– Climb on roofs.

19. Duct Cleaning Resources
• There is not a golden bullet and technique
that will clean every type of contaminate in
all air streams!
• There are schools, videos, DVDs, and
associations built around cleaning different
types of ducts. See the section on
Professional Trade Associations

20. Choosing a Pressure Washer
Commercial or Consumer Washer
The Main Difference is:
–Quality
–Ease of maintenance
–Support
–Note: Not Performance (Capability- PSI
& GPM, although consumer units
generally are on the low rating)

21. • Consumer typically designed:
–100 hours of usage
• 20 hrs/year
• 5 year life
–Single usage parts
• Plastic or Low Quality Materials
–Dixie Cup Machines (Throw away units)
–Little or delayed support
–proprietary parts

22. • Commercial/Industrial Washers
–1000s of hours of usage
–Ease of Maintenance and repair
– Generally high level of support
• Maintenance & Repair Facility
• Usage Support
– How to use and repair
– Entrepreneur Support for business usage
• Internet
– High Level of Support and Training
– Low Level of Support, price driven

23. Typical Consumer Washers
• Pressure fed (garden hose hook up
required)
• Pumps with integral
– pressure regulator
– by-pass line
– inlet regulator
– pop-off valve
– maintenance and repair
• Difficult
• requires proprietary parts
– Often difficult to get
– Unavailable in a reasonable length of time

24. • Pull Start Gasoline Engines.
• Direct Drive Pumps Dual Lance variable
pressure wands.
• Low Pressure Chemical Injection.
• Pressure nozzles with plastic inserts.
• Zero degree rotating nozzles.
• Components that are not obvious
– internal plastic parts
– brass parts
– Not high quality such as stainless steel.

25. Typical Commercial/Industrial
Washers
• Belt Driven Pumps drawing water from a float tank.
• Electric Start Gasoline Engines
• Separate components:
– Pumps
– pressure regulator
– by-pass line
– inlet regulator or float tank
– pop-off valve
– high limit switches
– maintenance and repair much easier
– Substitutions or alternative components can be used.
• Trigger Spray Gun with interchangeable wands and
nozzles.

26. Typical Commercial/Industrial
Washers
• High Pressure Chemical Injection with low
pressure chemical injection option.
• Stainless Steel or Carbide Pressure nozzles.
• Heaters for heating the pressurized water to
200º F.
• Components that are not obvious to the buyer
are:
– internal stainless steel
– ceramic parts instead of plastic.

27. Sources of Supply
• Consumer Stores
• Industrial Supply Houses
• Specialty Stores – Pressure Washer
Dealers
• The main difference is the quality of
equipment and technical support before
and after the sale

28. Choosing a Vendor
• Depends on your requirements
– Technical Support before and after purchase
– Reliability
– Ease of Maintenance, parts availability
– Hour of Usage
• One time job
• Every day usage
– Importance of operations

29. Water the Universal Solvent
• Dissolves more substances than any other
liquid including:
– Acids
– bases

30. Water the Universal Solvent
• Pressure washers enhances the cleaning ability
of water:
– Heat
– solvents and chemicals
– abrasion
• Pressure
• spray angle
• rotating nozzles)
– dwell time.
• With the proper application of these enhancers
almost anything can be cleaned effectively.

31. Hot or Cold Water
• For commercial operations where:
– Grease
– Oil
– Gum
• Hot water is required:
– Competitive
– Cut expenses
• Chemical cost
• Labor

32. Hot or Cold Water
• Cold water and strong chemicals will work
on some applications but over 90% of
successful contract cleaners use heat to
cut chemical and labor expense.
• Hot Water is a better solvent than cold
water.

33. Cold Water Jobs
• Deck and wood restoration
• Flat work not involving:
– Grease
– Oil
– gum
• Vehicle washing with brushing

34. Cold Water Pressure Washers
• Temperature Capability:
– Average capability 120 to 140ºF
– Special Units up to 200ºF
– “Water Heater” can be added for 200ºF
• Water is heated after the pump
• Pump handles cold water
– Cold water pressure washers do not heat the
water, hot water pressure washer do

35. Cold Water Pressure Washers
– Trigger Gun Off in closed loop by-pass
• Temperature reaches 200ºF in 5 minutes and turns
into steam in 10 minutes.
• Do not turn trigger gun off for longer than 2
minutes
• For Longer periods of time
– Bypass back into float tank or water tank
– This puts chemicals into float tank or water tank
– Another option is a cooling coil in bypass line
– This applies to both hot and cold water
washers

36. Cleaning Power: (GPM, PSI, ºF,
Chemicals ,& Nozzle Type
• Cleaning Units per hour: PSI x GPM x 60
(pounds per square inch x gallons per
minute x 60 minutes per hour)
• Cleaning Units: PSI x GPM
• There is presently no standard that takes
into consideration all five factors for
cleaning ability.

37. • Missing:
– Chemicals
– Heat
– Nozzle Type.
• These three items typically can multiply
the cleaning effectiveness several times.
• Most commercial hot water pressure
washers can be used for any cleaning
situation with the application determining
the nozzles and chemicals used.

38. Total Cleaning Power
• GPM
• PSI
• Heat
• Chemicals
• Nozzle Type
A total balance is needed for good cleaning.
Any one item can make up for shortage in
other items.

39. GPM (gallons per minute)
• Most successful contract cleaners use 4
GPM or more. Below this volume labor is
too expensive.
• Below 4 GPM is consumer volume
because time (labor expense) is not a
factor.
• If you have lots of debris or dirt GPM is as
important as PSI is.

40. PSI (pounds/Square inch)
• PSI (pressure) is determined by orifice
size and flow rate (gallons per minute).
• #4 orifice delivers 0.4 gpm at 40 psi
• #4 orifice delivers 4.0 gpm at 4,000 psi.
• This holds true for all spray angles

41. Fan Nozzles
• Lose cleaning power rapidly with distance
• Almost no cleaning power after 3 feet
• Cleaning Range: 8 to 12 inches

42. Long Range Nozzles
• Are zero degrees nozzles that have an
effective range of up to 40 feet!
• Normal (typical) zero degree nozzles have
an effective range of 6 to 10 feet.

43. Effective PSI
• The psi at the surface of an item being
cleaned is determined by the psi at the
nozzle and the distance the nozzle is from
the item being cleaned.
• The greater the distance the weaker the
pressure at the surface is.

44. Surface Protection
• Surface pressure can be controlled with
distance
• It is not uncommon for contractors to use
3,000 psi washers on items that can only
take 1,000 psi by increasing the distance
from the item being washed.

45. Heat
• To be competitive you need hot water for:
– Grease
– Oil
– Gum
• Steam is too slow in most cleaning
applications.
• If you are not over 65 years old you do not
want to buy steam.

46. Nozzle Selection
• Defined by
– Orifice Size (From Nozzle Chart)
• GPM
• PSI
– Spray Angle
• Example:
– 25065
• 25 is spray angle
• 065 is nozzle size (06 – 060, the “0” is not shown)

47. Nozzle Spray Angles
• 0 degree – will leave tracers (chicken
tracks)
• 15 degree
• 25 degree – fits most untrained operators
• 40 degree – Requires Training
• 65 degree

48. 40 Degree Nozzle Advantages
• Held closer to the surface for the same
width of contact.
• Delivers more cleaning power because it
is held closer.
• Takes training – difficult to learn
• Sweep like a broom, keep nozzle equal
distance from the surface

49. Zero Degree Rotating Nozzle
• Advantages of a zero nozzle
• Advantages of a 25 degree nozzle (note:
Angles vary)
• Expensive
• Limited Life
• Fixed Angle and variable angle available
• Can help make up for no heat or
chemicals

50. Chemicals
• Detergents
• Waxes
• Acids
• Brighteners
• Chemicals (3 to 5%) and Heat (2 to 4%)
are cheaper than labor (25 to 40%)
• Read the MSDS Sheets and Label for
proper usage.

51. Gasoline & Diesel Engines
Electric Motors
• Electric motors
– most reliable & maintenance free
– light duty consumer
– 220 volts single or three phase for commercial
• Gasoline Engines preferred power
• Diesel Engines use less fuel but are
considerable more expensive.

52. Pressure Washer Mobility
• Gasoline Engine Skid mounted hot high
pressure washer - 800 pounds
– Bob Tail Box Trucks
– Pick Ups
– Trailers
– The advantage of trailer mounting is that the
towing vehicle can be disconnected from the
trailer for other uses.

53. Start Up Cost
• Typical start up cost range from $200 for a
consumer electric pressure washer to less
than $10,000.00 for a commercial trailer
mounted hot high pressure washer with
start up accessories.
• A search on the internet for mobile high
pressure washer will result in over a
hundred vendors.

54. Average Contractor
Hot High Pressure Washer
• 16 to 18 hp
• 4 to 6 gpm
• 3,000 to 3,500 psi
• 200ºF
• Price Range: $4,000 to $8,000

55. Average Contractor
Cold High Pressure Washer
• 13 hp
• 4 gpm
• Price Range: $1,000 to $3,000

56. Professional Trade Associations
• Building Service Contractors Association
International www.bscai.org
• International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning
Association www.ikeca.org &
www.ikeca.com
• Power Washers of North America
www.pwna.org
• United Association of Mobile Contract
Cleaners www.uamcc.org

57. Accessorizing for Success
• Choosing the right accessories is a difficult
task. Where help can be found:
– Pressure Washer Dealers
– Trade Associations
• www.pwna.org
• www.ikeca.org
• www.uamcc.org
– Internet Bulletin Boards

58. • Just like a new mechanic and an old
mechanic. If you will compare the size of
their toolboxes you will notice that the
more experienced mechanic will have a
larger toolbox with a wider variety of tools
available for him to use in his repair
efforts.
• If you are a carpenter you need more in
your tool box than a hammer.

59. House Washing
• Hot High Pressure Washer (for oil and grease
removal on driveways)
• High Pressure Hose reels 2ea.
• Heavy Duty Hose Reel Hook-up Kit 2 ea.
• 150 ft of pressure hose
• 110 ft heavy duty garden hose
• Ladders
• 79” & 48” spray wand
• 18’ or 24’ Telescoping Wands

60. House Washing
• Long Range Chemical Injection Nozzle
• Brushes
• Telescoping Brush Handle
• Electrical Chemical Pump
• Wire Brush
• Claw Hammer
• Screw Drivers
• Pliers

61. House Washing
• Pipe Wrenches
• Flexible Wand
• Teflon Tape
• Drop Cloth
• Clear Plastic Sheeting {2 mil thickness}
• Masking Tape {1 & 2 inch}
• Duct Tape
• Caulking Gun

62. House Washing
• Various types of Caulking
• Putty Knife and Other Types of Scrapers
• Spray Wax
• Detergent
• Appropriate Chemicals
• Assortment of Spray Tips
• Zero Degree Rotating Nozzle
• Training Material

63. Exterior Wood Care
Decks & Fences
• Cold Water Pressure Washer
• Hose Reels 2 ea.
• Hose reel hook-up kits 2ea.
• 150 ft pressure hose
• 110 ft. garden hose
• Electrical Chemical Pump

64. • Dual Lance Wand
• Claw Hammer
• Crow Bar
• Screw Driver
• Orbital Sander {You may need other
types but due to the expense you will
usually rent them}
• Extension Cords
• Drop Cloth

65. • Clear Plastic Sheeting {2 mil thickness}
• Extension Wands
• Assortment of Spray Tips
• Masking Tape {1 & 2 inch}
• Paint Brush
• Airless Paint Sprayer
• Ladders
• Deck and Siding Restorer
• Deck and Siding Restorer and Stripper
• Oxalic Acid

66. Fleet Truck Washing
• Trailer Mounted Hot High Pressure
Washer with a water tank.
• Extension Wands
• Downstream Chemical Injector Kit
• Electrical Chemical Pump
• Brushes
• Brush Handles
• Stack Brushes

67. • Assortment of Spray Tips
• Portable Vinyl Wash Pits and Ground
Covers
• Portable Dams and Drain Covers
• Recycle System
• Vacuum Sludge Filter System
• Wash Pit Sump Pump

68. • Vacu-boom
• Oil Absorbent Booms, Pillows & Pads
• Degreasers
• Truck Wash Detergent
• Spray Wax
• Foam Booster
• Training Material

69. Flat Work
• Trailer Mounted Hot High Pressure
Washer with a water tank.
• Surface Cleaner
• Turbo Nozzle
• Electrical Chemical Pump or
• Pump up Sprayer
• Portable Dams & Drain Blockers

70. Flat Work (Continued)
• Vacu-boom
• Vacuum Sludge Filter System
• Sump Pump
• Concrete Stain Remover
• Training Material

71. Awning Cleaning
• Cold Water Pressure Washer
• Large Spray Tip such as a 6520
• 10” Deluxe Wash Brush
• Aluminum Extension Brush Handle
• Step Ladder
• Fabric Awning Cleaner
• Vinyl Awning Cleaner

72. Awning Cleaning (Continued)
• Awning Protectant
• Electrical Chemical Pump
• Portable Dams & Drain Blockers
• Vacuum Sludge Filter System
• Sump Pump
• Training Materials

73. Kitchen Grease
Exhaust Cleaning
• Trailer Mounted High Pressure Washer
• Cold Water Pressure Washer that will
handle 180ºF Hot Water
• 150 ft. non marking hose
• Hose Reels 2 ea.
• Hose reel hook-up kits 2 ea.

74. • 110 ft. garden hose
• Zero Degree Rotating Nozzles
• Low Pressure Spray Tips 6520
• Rotary Duct Spinners
• Duct Wagon Rotary Washer
• Spring Clamps
• Clear Poly Sheeting {2 mil thickness}
• Scrapers
• Scrub Pads & Holders

75. • Wet/Dry Vacuum with Sump Pump
• Electrical Chemical Pump
• Duct Access Doors
• Portable Dams
• Squeegee
• Mop & Bucket
• 35 Gallon Plastic Trash Can
• 2” Bulkhead Fitting For Plastic Trash
Can

76. • Step Ladder
• Drop Cloth
• 3’ by 5’ ¾” Plywood
• Foot Valve
• Appropriate Safety Equipment
• Training Materials
• Free Cleaning Manual at www.ikeca.com

77. Safety Equipment
• Double Coated PVC/Nylon Suit
• 17” Rubber Pullover Over –The –Shoe
Boots
• Hard Hat
• Visor For Hard Hat
• Soft Frame Goggles
• Gauntlet Type Rubber Gloves
• Black Rubber/Cotton Apron