Al Patterson
Member
go good last night?
Super Rigs!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter wetfoot
- Start date
go good last night?
BUNN
Member
Thanks. That is the third truck since Starting the business. First one wore out, the second got 4 to 6 mile to the gallon when pulling the trailer. Found this as the prices for diesel went past 4.40 a gallon. Works very well and has all the power I can ever need. 14 miles a gallon and even with the price difference between gas and diesel this is a much better truck.
Jim@Garagecleaning
banned
Gosh, I wish I could buy Diesel at 4.40 a gallon...Here in N. California last week I paid $5.29 a gallon. To filled up our Pressure Washer it took $590 ! Thats 1 machine. For that day, we spent to fill up 3 trucks and 1 machine over $900. For three days we spend and average of $2,000 for fuel.
Nothing like 265 degrees on a hot sunny day !
1ST picture has new rig in background
2ND picture is our 2ND truck with the Filter in the back ground. Filter was required by EPA for this job of cleaning sidewalks. Also the unit was in cool down mode which takes 4 minutes of running water through the boilers with no heat on, before we can shut off the unit.
3RD picture is of heat at 265 degrees. We do not run 300 degrees unless absolutely necessary.
Nothing like 265 degrees on a hot sunny day !
1ST picture has new rig in background
2ND picture is our 2ND truck with the Filter in the back ground. Filter was required by EPA for this job of cleaning sidewalks. Also the unit was in cool down mode which takes 4 minutes of running water through the boilers with no heat on, before we can shut off the unit.
3RD picture is of heat at 265 degrees. We do not run 300 degrees unless absolutely necessary.
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DJ Carroll
Member
Jim for some one with such a high dollar rig i thought for sure you all would have uniforms. How come you dont?
Ashley Phillips
Moderator
Jim
Is that you on the left with the surface cleaner?
Is that you on the left with the surface cleaner?
Jim@Garagecleaning
banned
No, That is my Foreman, Ash.
Jim@Garagecleaning
banned
As far as uniforms, we do have coveralls with logos as you have seen in past photo's, but I do not make my guys wear them during the Summer days do to the extreme heat of the pressure washer unit. We had an incident wear one guy almost fainted from the intense heat/ steam. He got dehydrated even though we gave him plenty of water. Him almost fainting was a problem. The outside Temp at the time of him almost going to LA LA LAND was only 83 degrees with very low humidity. I am sure with your rigs Wetfoot, you would have the same problems? How did you overcome the extreme heat with your super rigs?
I am going to try t shirt's in the near future, however the shirts would have to be of high quality, yet able to breathe. They cannot have dye transfer. I am talking with the manufacture about the problem.
I am going to try t shirt's in the near future, however the shirts would have to be of high quality, yet able to breathe. They cannot have dye transfer. I am talking with the manufacture about the problem.
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Jim@Garagecleaning
banned
We also have a problem of our guys using the wand and getting second degree burns. We USUALLY only use the wand at 245 degrees or more at night. At night, my guys must wear the following:
1 Tee Shirt
1 Thermal long sleeve
1 Thick sweat shirt
1 Insulated jacket
Gloves are required with an insulated wand. The insulated wand becomes to hot to handle without gloves after 10 minutes.
The wand at the quick connects need to be wrapped three times with a full size bath towel. Then secured with duck tape.
The duct tape will melt into the bath towel after 15 minutes or so, but the fiber mess stays intact.
V "O" rings last about 4 hours and that's not the cheap ones. The cheap ones made in China last 10-20 minutes.
We do not use PVC gloves at all due to that fact that they melt to the hose. We currently use thick Leather Gloves which starts to burn holes in them after a days use.
If my guys do not rotate the usage of the wands every hour, they will get second degree burns on their underarms/ribs and anything else that the hose touches. By the end of the night, blisters the size of half dollars will pop up.
We are looking into the use of Fire Jackets and gloves. But the draw back is that they are very heavy.
Wet foot, what dose your guys use for your Super Rig's heat? You must have the same problems as I do. How do you overcome the problems of your guys getting second degree burns after an hour or so of working?
1 Tee Shirt
1 Thermal long sleeve
1 Thick sweat shirt
1 Insulated jacket
Gloves are required with an insulated wand. The insulated wand becomes to hot to handle without gloves after 10 minutes.
The wand at the quick connects need to be wrapped three times with a full size bath towel. Then secured with duck tape.
The duct tape will melt into the bath towel after 15 minutes or so, but the fiber mess stays intact.
V "O" rings last about 4 hours and that's not the cheap ones. The cheap ones made in China last 10-20 minutes.
We do not use PVC gloves at all due to that fact that they melt to the hose. We currently use thick Leather Gloves which starts to burn holes in them after a days use.
If my guys do not rotate the usage of the wands every hour, they will get second degree burns on their underarms/ribs and anything else that the hose touches. By the end of the night, blisters the size of half dollars will pop up.
We are looking into the use of Fire Jackets and gloves. But the draw back is that they are very heavy.
Wet foot, what dose your guys use for your Super Rig's heat? You must have the same problems as I do. How do you overcome the problems of your guys getting second degree burns after an hour or so of working?
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PowerWash Pros
Member
We got the dri weave shirts from Bass Pro shop and Nate really likes them - he says the are comfortable but airy. We did have the regular ol cotton tee shirts - problem is they keep shrinking after every wash. We looked at the under armor ones but they wanted about 40 bucks a piece, so we went with the bass pro brand for 19.99 and they are really nice.
wetfoot
New member
WEll It looks like that all that heat is kinda a Liability!!!!!!!!!!! I make everyone wear matching t-shirts!!! As far as the guys getting burned, well after they get burnt once then they dont do it again!!! LOL If you put to much heat to any equipment it becomes very dangerous, and SAFTEY is what you want when running a Profitable Company[!!! So we keep things simple and as safe as possible!!! As for cooling, I have several PORT-A-COOL Units That we use when its very hot!!! My guys are all younger, between 20-30 so the heat dosen't bother them that much!!! (It gets me worse than them)!
Jim@Garagecleaning
banned
Not if you now what you are doing. Sorta like cooking over a stove, you know not to place you hand in the flame or pick up the pot without any protection. Common sense. You just have to take you knowledge a step up thats all.
Our equipment is designed to shut off the boilers at 300 degrees. All of our wand and surface cleaners are open gun, though we do have unloaders for added protection and safety alone with HPS.
Our equipment is designed to shut off the boilers at 300 degrees. All of our wand and surface cleaners are open gun, though we do have unloaders for added protection and safety alone with HPS.
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Jim@Garagecleaning
banned
For example, at this location we did just last week, Two pressure washer companies could not get the substance off the cement. One I met had a Alkota 5305 Stainless series and was unable to remove the substance even with detergent. He said he had his unit set for 210 degrees. He stopped shortly after trying ( Approx 700 ft ) We could see where he tried to clean it and stopped. It just smeared it making it look worse.
I got the call to try. Since we were twice as high as everyone else, we offered to clean it for free if we could not remove the substance.
Not only did we get the contract, but they gave us a bonus of $500 on top of being twice as expensive.
So is extreme heat a liability..... not if you are educated in the properly procedures of working with it.
Our equipment is not for the home owner or the occasional user. It is big and hot. There is a place for it when you need that extra bit for cleaning without damaging the cement.
There is a reason why some Alkota's costs $8,300 and other units cost more or less.
No current unit on the market can clean oil substance better than this current hydraulic unit. It is a fact, you need extreme heat to break the bond of a substance at the molecular level. It's chemistry 201 in College. Not sure if it was covered in 101. LOL.
I got the call to try. Since we were twice as high as everyone else, we offered to clean it for free if we could not remove the substance.
Not only did we get the contract, but they gave us a bonus of $500 on top of being twice as expensive.
So is extreme heat a liability..... not if you are educated in the properly procedures of working with it.
Our equipment is not for the home owner or the occasional user. It is big and hot. There is a place for it when you need that extra bit for cleaning without damaging the cement.
There is a reason why some Alkota's costs $8,300 and other units cost more or less.
No current unit on the market can clean oil substance better than this current hydraulic unit. It is a fact, you need extreme heat to break the bond of a substance at the molecular level. It's chemistry 201 in College. Not sure if it was covered in 101. LOL.
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BUNN
Member
I think one of the biggest problems you and your guys have with the heat is that you are in parking garages most of the time. The reduced airflow in the garages has to contribute to higher temperatures in your work area, as opposed to those who clean large open areas. Kind of like the difference in temperature for a greaser in a hood cleaning or on the roof cleaning(big difference in temperature).
Squirtgun
New member
Here we go again with the equipment size thing.
It's kind of like seeing a guy driving a vette or hummer,you just know they have to be compensating for something.
Jim@Garagecleaning
banned
Scott, you always make me laugh
Jim@Garagecleaning
banned
Chris,
yes, you are right about the garage being somewhat enclosed with restricted air flow. In those cases we have to be careful about the boilers getting super heated. We have experienced Vapor lock. THAT WAS AN EYE OPENER !
Water flow just stopped for a short time. Meaning , no water came out of the nozzle while the pump and boiler was on. We wanted to go past 300 degrees for the cleaning of some dumper / loading dock area. At 305 we hit the lock. We immediately brought down the temperature to 265 degrees. Since then, all of our equipment is governed at 300 degrees.
yes, you are right about the garage being somewhat enclosed with restricted air flow. In those cases we have to be careful about the boilers getting super heated. We have experienced Vapor lock. THAT WAS AN EYE OPENER !
Water flow just stopped for a short time. Meaning , no water came out of the nozzle while the pump and boiler was on. We wanted to go past 300 degrees for the cleaning of some dumper / loading dock area. At 305 we hit the lock. We immediately brought down the temperature to 265 degrees. Since then, all of our equipment is governed at 300 degrees.