Man, I have always wondered how that works! Hey thanks for all the contents Billy! I find this channel to be the most informative pressure washing channel on RU-vid and I watch them all! I like Aaron and the Lean Mean Academy too, but I’m unsure about the whole SEO thing. Sounds like a great winter time side hustle for Aaron and I’m not mad at it. I just love his “go get em” attitude!
Hi billy i run a window cleaning company, we do power washing. A customer wasn’t getting enough water pressure to get full pressure what a little pressure was coming out nothing impressive it wouldn’t clean concrete or anything, but I just used the pressure washer as a soft wash system and completed the job. Is this safe for my machine? Have you ever done anything similar?
Fill a bucket with water. When your pressure washer feeds from the bucket while the water is running and the level goes down then you need a buffer tank.
I have a simson 3.5gpm pressure washer,would I need a buffer tank cause I don’t want to turn the pressure washer on and off every time I need to let off the trigger on the gun,what if I had to go to talk to the customer,I don’t want to turn off the pressure washer off just to talk to the customer,even though I have a 3.5 gpm machine would I still need a buffer tank,I don’t want to burn up the pump
Most pressure washers that put out less than 4 gallons per minute would not pull water from a buffer tank. Generally speaking you have about two minutes of run time without pulling the trigger before the machine needs to be shut down, any longer than two minutes you could cause damage to the pump due to overheating.
Hey Billy, great video. I use a 4.5 gpm pressure washer. I wash a lot of homes that have poor water flow to power washer. would a small buffer tank be beneficial ? Thank you sir
Yes but it may require a small pump to pressurize the water from the buffer tank to the inlet of the pump on the pressure washer. You can test it out to see but most small pressure washers require some psi to operate properly
I run a 55 gal on my 4gmp unit simply because it makes me feel better not know how the customers water flow is Ive seen some trickles ... better safe then sorry.
What about with a 2.5gal machine, I had a job today and I thought my machine was broken was when I got home it worked just fine. Never thought I’d have an issue with such a small machine but this was the first! Any advise Is appreciated!
Hey billy, I got a new phone and I don’t have your number. My name is Logan Durant, we talked a bit a while ago. I purchased your yard sign video but no longer have the link. I can send you the paid invoice if you’d like. Thanks
Thoughts on running 2 separate 5.5 gallon pressure washers at the same time with a 225 gal buffer tank… i understand it will need to be at around 100gals to even start, that being said if i run water from the house into my buffer tank that starts at about half full, will that keep both machines going at the same time or will it run below the minimum required amount to run the machines?
It is a 275 gallon tote on an aluminum pallet. Usually you can find this at food manufacturers. You could probably look on Facebook marketplace and find a bunch in your area. Usually we pay less than $100 for it but often times it needs a good cleaning out with soap and water
Want to run a red engine honda 11 hp, cat pump machine maybe 5 gal/ min I need to look, from a 55 gallon barrel. I have a lake cabin with a well system and don't want to burn up my pump trying to drive the washer from the spigot , I need a buffer tank set up. I have a 55 gal blue barrel with a valve with just screen filters for now. I have a harbor freight 1750 electric washer there for car washing and rinsing my log cabin from dirt and tried it with the barrel and it did not seem to have enough input pressure to maker the electric washer work like it does hooked to the house spigot pressure. I saw a vid with a guy who had a tank and a Harbor freight Drummond pump between the tank and an electric washer maybe more powerful than the one I have but not that much more The Drummond pump said it was 320 gal / hr on the label. Could I use that for the bigger machine . Thanks for any reply and the input barrel measuring system
Yes you could use a 12 V ever flow pump that puts out 5.5 gallons per minute and it would do just fine. You could also use a solar powered battery charger to recharge the batteries if you want it. This works really well when trying to pressurize a tank of water to the inlet side of any type of pressure washer. Some of your larger pressure washers will draw water from a tank but the smaller ones generally don't have the capability to draw water without at least 40 pounds of static pressure
So youre saying if I had a 12 gpm machine hooked up directly to the tank with a steel hose, the inlet of the pressure washer would create a vacuum that could supply the water to it? I was wondering if I needed a pump in between the tank and the washer.
No you should be able to siphon straight from any clean water source with that type of pressure washer. Generally speaking anything over a 5.5 gallon per minute machine will have the capability to/from a water source that is not pressurized
I have a 4.5 gal/min machine, I tried to run it off a 45-gallon drum filled to the top. I used a large half-inch hose but my machine was still starved of water. It even has a speed reduction gearbox. Do people use an electric pump with a tank?
Yes most often with that type of pressure washer you will need to pressurize the water going into the pressure washer. Often times this can be achieved using a 12 V pump with a battery set up.
It's very likely that using a Fossett would be sufficient for a 5 gallon per minute machine. If you could send me a picture of it or a link to the machine I can read the specifications. You could find my phone number on my website which is in a link on the description of this video
Hey Billy. Good content, thankyou. Question... with a tote do I need to make an opening in the top to release the suction it the tank so it does not crush in as the pumps are pulling water? Do you just leave the cap loose or is there a way to vent it? I filled mine to wash it out and when I was draining from the front ball valve it started to suck the plastic tank in like crushing a soda can. I opened the large top and it came back to normal position. Is there something you do to vent it?
Yes you can drill a few half-inch holes in the very top of it but you must've flush the tank out several times very well because those little plastic particles cannot get into your pressure washer pump.