[Steve Lowe]

Just bought a new pressure washer from Jetmac  170 bar 13 Litres a minute just for the occasional patio etc at existing jobs.  Would this machine be ok with a whirlaway ?
Many thanks for any advice.

[Ben Marriott]

It will run, but not as well as a bigger machine would do obviously, we say minimum 12LPM at 150 Bar up to the 18" Whirlaway beyond that 15LPM 200 Bar.

At 13 / 170 you are sat just at an 045 which is a really awkward size for a flat surface cleaner.

[Steve Lowe]

Many thanks for the advice Ben.

Maybe for the small jobs I will be doing just using turbo nozzle would be better ?

[nathankaye]

I thought these would be the questions you ask before buying a machine 

[Steve Lowe]

You are right Nathan but looking back through posts did you not do the very same thing ?
I am not after a top of the range machine just a machine that will do the jobs passed to us from the many  management companies  we work for.
We would pass bigger jobs onto a specialist company but we needed one for bin area cleaning and the odd pathways outside blocks of flats.
We can all get into the mines bigger that yours posts but after being in business for 31 years I must be doing something right I hope Lol

[Smudger]

for the best finish use a turbo nozzle, fsc are ok but dont give that extra deep clean and you really need to clean at a slight angle to get the moss etc off the chamfer and out of the gaps.

we only use a fsc for tarmac cleaning or slightly soiled smooth concrete.

Darran

[Steve Lowe]

Cheers Darren

That's my thinking I will just stick to a turbo nozzle as the few pathways we do it should be fine with it.

[chris scott]

Why did you not buy a bigger machine ?

[Steve Lowe]

Because I wanted something suited for the small amount of work we would do with it.
We get a lot of communal bin areas to clean and railings outside of blocks and the odd pathway.
I think what I have will do these things but maybe could of done with a bit more power for pathways we shall see.

[chris scott]

200@15 might have been a bit more versatile.

[chris scott]

Then again our 200@8 has earned plenty this year.

[Steve Lowe]

Its always a hard call Chris and on reflection a 200 @ 15 would have been a bit more suitable but I will see how we get on with it. Any larger areas we occasionally get we will sub out to a specialist company.
The problem we get is that managing agents want one cleaning company to take care of all the jobs they need doing.
We tend to do all the window and gutter cleaning and sub out a fare bit of the rest.

[Steve Lowe]

Then again our 200@8 has earned plenty this year.

What sort of jobs would you use this machine for Chris ?

[chris scott]

Render,gutters ,facias and connies.

[nathankaye]

This is what i use my 200  8lpm machine on,

[Steve Lowe]

That's a great job Nathan how long did that take you ?

Was it done with a turbo nozzle ?

And are those pressure washing videos on your website with this same 200 @ 8 machine ?

[nathankaye]

Its tap fed, not had a proper go at gravity fed, might have a practise over wknd. Reason being, it depends on the tap pressure feeding my machine. So the above job i used a turbo nozzel (lol i enjoy using turbo nozzels, never get tired of using it.) And from start to finish, including soft wash afterwards, probably about an hr.
The videos and pictures on either of my sites (however the facebook page shows most) are with same pressure washer.

[Steve Lowe]

Cheers Nathan

So the machine you have looks like it does a pretty good job to me but am I right that you are going to change it in time ?
Or was that someone else's post I read ?

[nathankaye]

No, thats right. Im wanting to keep the 200 bar aspect or perhaps higher but with an increase of water flow. Because this is an avenue which expands my services, currently i dont mind cleaning perhaps just the one drive in a day, but with a greater water flow it will be quicker and enable me to book 2 jobs on way day instead. Also eradicates floe issue for me as it will be an intrim pump.

So the machine you have should also do great at cleaning, esp if its just residential. Untill i upgrade the machine, i wouldnt be able to maximise a whirlaway etc because of lack of flow per minute. But i do use a 15" fsc which works wonders on slabs n concrete drives and ok on surface cleans of block pathing but still need turbo for joints.

[Steve Lowe]

Fair play Nathan but like I say your results look good to me.
Your pictures really have answered something I wondered as to whether my machine would do what I wanted.
Looking at the formula for understanding the power of pressure washers my machine should be able to at least get the results you are getting and if that's the case I am happy.

http://www.pressurewashingcoach.co.uk/bar_lpm.html