Linking two machines?

Christopher said:
It depends if your machines are belt/gear drive or direct drive.

If they are belt/gear drive then run separate hoses from the tank to each machine, Don't use a "T" to save a little bit of money for the supply to the machines, don't starve them, you can mess up the pumps.

If they are direct drive, run separate garden hoses to each machine from the house. A lot of times the flow from a house is not enought for an 8gpm machine, a lot of times not enought for my 5.6gpm machine so run a hose from the house to each machine.

Once you experience the 8gpm or more, you will want to do that a lot or keep it rigged up like that. Sure makes a huge difference when running surface cleaners.
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Chris ....it was hidden in this post and I was reminded today something else you said...here goes:

you could buy 2 direct drive cold water units 4000 psi @ 4 gallons per minute tie them together end up with 4ooo psi 8@ gallons per minute
1500-1600 dollars total but you could never get them to draw out of a tank Because 3500 rpms wont suck (correct ?) and chances are 2 garden hoses wouldnt supply enough volume.....could you hook up a delvan/ shurflow 7 gallons per minute 60 psi and than draw off tank (325-500 gallons) for second washer and how would you keep pump delvan from overheating when washer wasnt running?


the reason for this question is: to do it correctly it would cost 3-4000 dollars to get one machine to do 8 gallons at 4000 psi
 
offdutyfireman said:
If you run a T and are only flowing one machine you will be pulling water out of the other pump and line. If you use a T isolate the with ballvalves.
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That is a good point William, I did not think of that. Thanks.
 
David Potter said:
Chris ....it was hidden in this post and I was reminded today something else you said...here goes:

you could buy 2 direct drive cold water units 4000 psi @ 4 gallons per minute tie them together end up with 4ooo psi 8@ gallons per minute
1500-1600 dollars total but you could never get them to draw out of a tank Because 3500 rpms wont suck (correct ?) and chances are 2 garden hoses wouldnt supply enough volume.....could you hook up a delvan/ shurflow 7 gallons per minute 60 psi and than draw off tank (325-500 gallons) for second washer and how would you keep pump delvan from overheating when washer wasnt running?


the reason for this question is: to do it correctly it would cost 3-4000 dollars to get one machine to do 8 gallons at 4000 psi
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Usually the direct drive machines need a little bit of pressure supply to feed them as they spin fast and most of the time will not pull from a tank.

I know some guys that run the direct drive machines and have no problem running 2 machines from a homeowner's hose bib. When I run my 8gpm machine, I usually have to run 2 supply hoses or take breaks and let the water catch up.

You can only flow so much gpm's through a homeowner's hose bib with the city water pressure. When you connect another hose bib to another machine, you are flowing more water out of the house and not restricted by the plumbing from one hose bib so you are getting more than 8gpm total from the house, just not from one hose bib.

There are some houses where they have great pressure and can probably run 2 machines from 1 hose bib but when you are risking the chance of cavitating pumps from inadequate supply, I would just run another hose and not take the chance.

There have been a couple commercial locations where 1 hose bib can supply both the 5.6 and 8gpm machines on the trailer (supplying the 325 gallon water tank) and not starve the machines but that is rare, usually I have to run 2 supply hoses to the tank.

Yesterday I did a job washing a lot of concrete and used the 8gpm machine, the homeowner supply was almost enough from their hose bib but I did take breaks moving the hose around, moving the hose to the back yard, etc... so the tank had time to catch up every once in a while but if I kept running the whole time, I would have to stop and let the water build up in the tank so I would not cavitate the pump.

If I ran 2 supply hoses, the flow would have been more than what I needed so I would be constantly going and shutting off 1 supply hose so I don't overflow the tank (I do not have my float valves installed yet on the tank).

Hope this helps.
 
David Potter said:
thanks chris so you could you be remote and run 2 direct drive pumps of a tank ? (no water source other than the tank)
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No.

Not without having a pump to supply the water under a little bit of pressure like 20 to 40 psi but I would not use shurflo or delavan pumps, a lot of times they do not flow what is listed in most conditions, only if all parameters are right. I would not take the chance of cavitating the pump.

If you are in a remote area and only have direct drive pumps, maybe a large flow roller pump with a relief valve so you have some flow and pressure and what the direct drive pumps do not use, it will be bypassed through the relief valve back to the tank.

This is a lot of work and effort just to use those direct drive pumps.

Unless that job is paying a lot of money or happens all the time, I would not spend the time or money to do this, easier to get gear drive machines or belt drive machines which will both pull from a tank or from a supply hose from a house. With the gear drive or belt drive you can run them from either supply source, direct drive you are limited to pressure fed from supply hose from hose bib.
 
I am starting to think that you are jerking me around now. hahahahaha

Do you have direct drive machines? They do cost less but in the long run I would rather have the belt drive and if I could not afford it, then I would go with the gear drive units. I am not crazy about the gear drive units, I have a few friends that got them and the gear boxes crapped out. Two were the keys in the key way and the other had a gear mess up. Out of warranty and hard to get the parts.

I would rather have belt drive, belt goes bad, just to just about anywhere and get a new one. My Hotsy hot water rig is 5.5 years old and not needed belts yet. Belts help with the vibration issues and the pumps run cooler than the direct drive or gear drive units since no direct heat transfer.
 
I know you are not jerking me around, just messing with you with the questions and all, no problem. Feel free to call anytime.
 
Chris I appreciate your insight

this was my logic 1 machine 750 dollars 5 gallons per minute 4000 psi
time 2 machines 1500-1700 dollars and you get 8-10 gallons a minute at 4000 seemed like a great idea if it worked .....

I figured the least 8-10 gallon @4000 psi would be 3-4000 dollars but all this is moot if it doesnt work
 
David Potter said:
Chris I appreciate your insight

this was my logic 1 machine 750 dollars 5 gallons per minute 4000 psi
time 2 machines 1500-1700 dollars and you get 8-10 gallons a minute at 4000 seemed like a great idea if it worked .....
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What is your purpose? Flatwork? House Washing?

Is this for commercial flatwork where you need hot water for nasty greasy areas or gum removal?

If this is for House washing, you might do better with 2 people working on the house at the same time.

If this is for large areas of flatwork, 2 of these machines "T"'d together with a Big Guy surface cleaner would be great, just run separate water supply hoses to each machine and you should have no problems.

How much more for gear drive or belt drive units or these used? If you had the money, I would spend a little more for the gear drive or belt drive and you will have a lot more flexibility and be able to use the tank if/when needed.
 
David Potter said:
new machines..... flat work ...I will call you the first of the week ...if I can get thru ...if larry will hang up ...hahahhahahahahahaha
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That is a good one. hahahahahahaha
 
That might work but you would have to be willing to throw away that pump if you don't have a bypass, a lot of those pumps will not handle being blocked from pressure or flow.

Whatever the pumps do not use will have to be bypassed back to the tank so your submersible pump will not burn up from the backpressure.

You can use a pressure relief valve like what I have on my bandit pump, it is about $20.00 at tractor supply.

I will post a picture later on.
 
Guys, I hate to say this... But you are incorrect. I run two, 13hp, 4gpm, direct drive machines. The both draw from a single, 125 gallon tank. I run them hooked together with a tee, or as separate machines. They have independent, 1" feed lines and draw water from the tank. They will pull my tank empty with no pressure on the feed lines. I have been running this way for a few years now. The direct drives will pull from a tank. Unless I am misunderstanding what you are saying.
 
I have known about 8 guys that have direct drive machines that can't pull from a tank. I have only had the skids, no gear drive or direct drive units.

They swear up and down and then there are some guys on PTState that have tried connecting their direct drive units to tanks and could not pull at all.

This is the info I am going on.

David, rig up a tank to the machine if you can before you purchase it and give it a try, it might work.
 
It may depend on the pump. I have a Cat on one and a General on the other machine. The General pulls fine with a standard hose hookup (with the normal screen type filter). The Cat gave me hell. I spent a few days on the phone with Cat. They finally determined that I was not getting enough flow to the machine. Changed to a larger supply line and a cup type screen filter and it has worked ever since. I did start with 3/4 inch suppy lines. The General works fine with the 3/4 but I did switch to 1 inch on the Cat. Maybe your guys just were not getting enough flow. I know it won't work by just hooking a standard garden hose to a tank.
 
Here is a pic, if it helps. This is when I first hooked the machines together. I have rerouted and made things a little neater now.
 

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propressure said:
It may depend on the pump. I have a Cat on one and a General on the other machine. The General pulls fine with a standard hose hookup (with the normal screen type filter). The Cat gave me hell. I spent a few days on the phone with Cat. They finally determined that I was not getting enough flow to the machine. Changed to a larger supply line and a cup type screen filter and it has worked ever since. I did start with 3/4 inch suppy lines. The General works fine with the 3/4 but I did switch to 1 inch on the Cat. Maybe your guys just were not getting enough flow. I know it won't work by just hooking a standard garden hose to a tank.
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I bet that is the problem right there, a supply hose that is large enough.

I have a friend that is thinking about doing this, I will tell him so he can try it out and see if it works for him. I will tell him to use 1" hose and cut out the experimenting and trying to save a few dollars on hose.

Thanks.
 
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