man thank you thank you thank you thank you I cannot say it enough for being one of the only persons on RU-vid to actually show us the softwash setup versus getting up here talking about how much you made in a week thank you once again my brother
This is the best DIY build on RU-vid. After watching tons of soft wash RU-vid gurus, your the only one I could find that actually went step by step. Thanks for sharing. I will be building one soon.
This is gold for people that are just starting out with a budget. I’m definitely trying this out this weekend. Thank you so much for the easy to follow instructions
Great Idea. One thing I saw was you need to install a one way valve / check ball. on the soap side. The garden hose will just fill the tank up and overflow it without a 1 way valve blocking reverse flow from the water supply to the tank. Great job though.
Do you mind explaining a little deeper? Im not to familiar with the terminology but I’m interested in what you mean. That way I can prevent the overflowing. Also wouldn’t I be able to just turn the hose on and off instead?
@@stevanhoffman4240 but you could set up a proportioner with this right? You could have the tank filled with bleach and just have a proportioner intake the tank bleach and garden hose water.
This could help somebody: Need for softwash system: Ever flow 5.5 GPM pump 3/8 suction hose and strainer 1/2 x 2 pipe threaded q1 1/2 shut off q2 1/2 pipe male - 3/4 male q1 1/2 male 3/8 nipple True blue 1/2 -3/4 adapter for water hose 3/8 clamp 1/2-3/4 metal Gilmore gun 3/4 female to 1/2 male adapter (metal) 1/2 reducer to 1/4 (metal) Ss 1/4 Quick connect (metal)
What is 1/2 pipe male - 3/4? I’m trying to search it up on Home Depot but cannot find it. Is it a 1/2 pipe with one side 1/2 threads and the other 3/4 threads?
This is an awesome instruction video. I really like the way you built this that way you can just leave chemical in the tank instead of batch mixing like most of these setups. I was wondering if you could put the bleach intake after the pump instead, that way the pump could last a bit longer? Either way this is more helpful than batch mixing multiple times on a job👍
great video you took all the guess work out. however, I have a question concerning the output of the pump can I use my pressure washing hose instead of the flex Zilla water hose needed to know before I plum out my fitting thanks
I enjoyed the video. Couple small things I'd change. 15 gallon tank will kill your legs going up and down the ladder doing a roof. I'd do a 30 gallon one. Otherwise this is a great starter one to test your market, if it goes well you can do a skid..
This is dope. I am going to fix my little north start soft washer to this set up so I can run water through it too. Super smart set up. Thanks for the video!
Nice video man, I really appreciate it and it’s helped me out.. my only question is with the the valves, are you pulling chemical and using the inlet water to do your mixing? Or are you batch mixing and what is the reason for the valve that’s isn’t pulling from the tank? Tia
@@jdoesitall4940 very nice. I was just talking to another soft washer and he mentioned that you can make a two tank proportioner and I will just have to add the surfactant by hand….. nice build man!
Thanks for the video! My kids liked the music too. Is the pipe coming off the front next to the pump for a water hose inlet, so you can have a 50/50 mix water/tank?
Awesome video! my only concern is how many stories can this set up reach? most of the time I need to reach at least 2 stories sometimes 3. will set up reach 2-3 stories? Thanks man!
On the plumbing side need 3 of 1/2 x2 pipe thread 2 shut of valves 1/2 with thread 1 t 1/2 thread and a threaded 1/2 pipe one end that coverts to 3/4 other end found it on the sprinkler section then you need 1/2 pipe with 3/8 nipple for suction
So this is batch mixing setup. Fresh water inlet seems to be for rinsing the pump and hose. There are two ball valves so this could act as proportioner. Sauce could be stored in the tank. I am afraid though that fresh water from the hose will end up in the tank. So 12 v pump would need to pull from water tank. So yes this could simple 2 valve proportioner. Except the surfactant. So you would need to add 3rd ball valve. Well. You will end up pretty much building proportioner. I think it is better to use this system what it designed for- batch mixing.
Great video, so informative and well made! Thank you Sir. One question, is it bad to run harsh chemical through the pump? And is there a way around it? Cheers 👍
Sooooo... Stupid question time, and I hope you still read your comments. I'd like to start by saying I love your videos, and hope to see more in the future... But when you say 3/8" suction hose, do you mean inner dimension, or outer dimension? I'm not new to the concept of pressure and softwash, but I currently only use XJet and Downstream. I'm looking to get into softwash this year, and want to create my own rig. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
@@jdoesitall4940 Erm. Another question... Between the shut-off and the hose adapter... what type of pipe section is that? It doesn't say, and can't see it clearly. I apologize for all of the questions.
I was thinking the 2nd valve should’ve be behind the pump so the water doesn’t turn left towards the pump? Another words why is the second valve next to the Lid, to rinse the pump and keep water from diluting the chem batch?
Can you make me one bro and ship to Australia haha 😂 Awesome vid I'm going to try make it I know it's straight forward but I'm definitely not handy lol thanks for the info
How much does the fact that you are pulling water straight from the water hose spigot instead of a buffer tank affect your mix percentage? Do you pull less SH when both valves are fully open because the water has its own flow into the pump? I am finalizing my setup today with this concept of no water buffer tank but I'm curious as to how it will perform since people normally pull from tanks without their own pressure and flow.
@@J05hFontenot it turns out in another video he was still batching mixing with this setup. It's easy to think he's pulling water from the spigot and pulling SH from the tank but that's not the case. I tried it, you can't have a blend manifold/proportioner where there's running water coming into one end and bleach just sitting in a container and pull from both. The running water will flow into the bleach container and dilute it. I finished my SoftWash system recently and I have a 13 gallon water tank constantly being filled by a garden hose that connects to a Jobe Megaflow valve. Whether I'm on the trigger or not the water is kept topped off allowing for a much smaller water tank with essentially unlimited water. That's the way to do it.
@@leveragelifestyle8581 Great advice! I haven't started yet, but I've been learning and trying to wrap my head around how the water tank is topped off. I had assumed that people use the hose and the tank, and that it had to be topped off at the end of the job before heading to the next. I also don't see a 50+ gallon tank being used up completely for a residential job if you're only soft washing
@@J05hFontenot yeah theres only 2 ways to do it, you either batch mix which means you add bleach and water to one tank to get the mix you need or you use a proportioner which pulls from a water tank and another hose runs to the bleach tank and it gets mixed in the hose that connects to the inlet of the pump. Typically the water container gets topped off for SoftWashing or pressure washing before or after a job from the customer's water. Either way, get the jobe Megaflow valve for softwashing, period. You don't have to worry about carrying water with you and can use a smaller trailer.
Hey is this royalty free creative commons public domain music? I wanna use it in my video ad. been looking forever and stumbled into this. some nice upbeat funk/jazz.
I’m just starting in this. I’m wondering how much area I could clean with this size tank. Any input is appreciated. I understand that I can refill the tank when needed, I’m just trying to get an idea.
Lets say i have this same setup. how do you get the proper ratios of chem to water? im still confused on that. if you fill the tank with SH and surfactant, how do you know the concentration coming out of the pump? or do you mix the water and SH in the tank ( to get your proper ratio ) and then the pump draws from just the tank?
you will need to make a batch and that's what goes in the container. To make a batch its C1V1=C2V2, meaning C=Concentration V=Volume. inital Concentrate(C1) times Initial Volume(V1) = Final Concentrate(C2) times final Volume(V2). I hope this helps.
I don’t want to mount my pump on top. Was gonna have it to the side of the pump. Do you think I could do this coming out of a bulkhead fitting on the side? I also need to configure a way to be able to empty the tank or fill a five gallon bucket.
Is the piping thats next to the pump so you can flush your pump without draining the tank ? I’ve built my own system like the small northstar setup. But want something more efficient.
Late to the party just wondering if this shoots chemicals to roofs from the ground. I'm a heavy guy who shouldnt be on roofs (clumsy). Please demonstrate:)
@@MrTgpargolfis it worth it to do this as an add on service? I do carpet / tile & grout cleaning, but was recently asked to “pressure” wash a heavily dirty commercial building and then the secretary of that building asked for me to do her home as well. I wasn’t looking for this type of work, but it just came out of no where. Now I’m trying to figure out what I need and how to go about effectively soft washing foam stucco. I’m on the fence if I should go through with accepting these jobs and either purchasing the north star 13 gallon set up, or building something like this myself. In your opinion, was it worth it for you 2 years after your comment?
@@MrTgpargolf I live in south Texas. I’m finding it hard to get prices from the companies here that soft wash. They don’t want to share their price by sqf. Only 1 guy told me he charges about 30¢ a sqf. Is that average?
