home depot pw

D

desi

New member
Hi,

If you were doing residential work and trying to break into the commercial market ( flatwork & buildings) , would the home depot 4 gpm 4000psi unit be okay. I would start doing comm. work once I had a hot box. I am using a 125 gallon water tank in the back of my truck. My concerns are two things

1) is this enough gpm to be competitive ?
2) will I destroy a direct drive unit pulling water out of a tank?

thanks in advance
 
Hi Desi,

You can use any kind of machine you like to clean, the problem is how fast do you want to do it? The machine your talking about will work but your not going to be very competitive on speed and that's going to effect your profit so it's really up to you. You can always try it out for a while then make your own decision on getting equipment with more GPM.
 
4 gallons per minute will be slower than 5 - 6 gpm, but it's a starting point. Direct drive machines don't create much vacuum for pulling power, but many people use them hooked to tanks. It shouldn't destroy the pump as long as you keep a decent water level in the tank (preferrably above the level of the pump.)
 
A 125 gallon tank? What will you use that for? At 4 gpm, 125 gals will only give you about 30 minutes to clean.

The machine itself will be fine, though I would recommend that you invest in a set of large caliber nozzles to lower the pressure without lowering the volume. When you make some money, and decide that this is work you like (or can get others to perform - well) buy a hot water rig. Hot boxes are nice if you must have hot water, but they are big and heavy and not convenient - most need 110 volts. At 4 gpm, it will just take you longer, mainly during rinsing, while doing flatwork.

Will you be leaving the machine in the truck and running hose to where you will be cleaning? With a little plumbing, you could use the tank as a float tank and run the bypass to it. This would allow the machine to run for extended periods of time in bypass without overheating the pump. VERY useful. In any event, as long as the tank is at or above the level of the pump, you won't have a problem. Direct drive pumps don't draw very well, unlike belt/gear drive pumps.

4gpm/4000psi is plenty to run a surface cleaner. You should buy the best one you can, as they are the only way to do driveways. Faster and more even cleaning. Make sure the tips on it are appropriate to your machine.
 
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