Pressure washers

[JAG1]

Anyone know how to get the pressure washer to pick up soap to go thru it? Mine has the attachment for dropping the soap pick up tube in a bucket of soap and water but won't suck the solution in. I found the check ball and spring backwards and fixed it but still no soap going thru.

Is there some sort of different attachment besides just dropping the feed tube in a bucket of soap? Seems like it needs a pump or maybe cut the check ball spring so it's not closed off so tight. Just want the best set up as I have a log house and need it to pick up bleach, soap and wood cleaners.

I also have a box elder bug problem real bad this year and the soap kills them. Pressure washer is like a commercial sprayer if I can get the soap thru.

Thanks for any experience with this kind of thing. Mike

Edited October 4, 2014 by JAG1

[MnTom]

The way mine is it has a large nozzle to use with the soap hose. If you use a smaller nozzle so it sprays like you want it won't suck up the soap. Read this and see if it helps: http://pressurewashertroubleshooter.com/wrongnozzle.htm

[Mopar1973Man]

MnTom is correct. The soap nozzle should be a very large bore nozzle typically.

 

Just for fun here is my hand-me-down 3000 PSI power washer.

 

[JAG1]

Sooo to get it to work you guys are sayin' that I need to use a lower pressure nozzle. Thank you MnTom, It looks like I need a high pressure soap injector to reach up high like I need. I will talk with the folks I bought the PW from.

Just talked with a friend of mine and he says his never worked either.

Edited October 4, 2014 by JAG1

[Mopar1973Man]

Here is what it looks like...

 

 

[JAG1]

Thanks Mike it's a matter of putting on the lower pressure tip on the gun wand then. I do have lower pressure tips like that.

 

 Hope it reaches cause it makes a great sprayer too. I want to use a new treatment on my log house that is borates. Like a borax soap, it kills mold, bugs and arrests any potential wood rot organisms.

 

Owning a log house sure is special. It's a bit more work but with a good PW  makes it easier.

Edited October 4, 2014 by JAG1

[Killer223]

if you need the high pressure to reach far up the log wall you can always take the tip out pull the trigger, it'll suck soap up, then reinstall tip. the soap that is in the line, 20-50-100 feet of hose, will then be high pressure. till the clean water pushes through. then repete.

[MnTom]

Another thing you can do is what I have done. I threaded a piece of 1/4" pipe and used a coupling so that I made the wand longer. Right now the wand on mine is almost 5' long. The only problem I have it that it does get heavy trying to wash with your arms extended.

[JAG1]

Thanks to all you guys. I got it taking in the soap this morning with the lowest pressure tip like you all say. Some walls are black with box elder bugs. I'm gettin' them suckers today.

 

Update; Waited till just the right time and killed millions of those bugs yesterday. Great satisfaction with the pressure washer. As they'd try and fly off I could put a big cloud of mist in the air and watch them drop.

 

    Two thumbs up to this site.
 

Edited October 5, 2014 by JAG1

[rancherman]

box elder.   my oh my.   Neighbor   had  a  brain fart a few years ago..  and  was  spraying his  box elder bugs  with  a   Hudson garden sprayer full of  gas..  around the  base of his house. 

 

yep.    burned it to the ground.   Not real sure  what   ignited it,  but  it  didn't take long  with  a  circle of fire  all around the house.

 

I  have  a dual wand  pressure wand,  and  when I want soap,  I turn the  knob and it   divides the  flow to both  nozzles,  which   drops the pressure, and  presto!  soap!

[JAG1]

Robert, Imagine the amount of explosive fumes in that situation. Was he an educated man?

[MnTom]

Robert, Imagine the amount of explosive fumes in that situation. Was he an educated man?

Apparently not to much.........

[rancherman]

well,   he  DID  end up with a brand new  house!  not real fancy, more of a modular type  house.  put it  on the same spot as the old.   The  old farm house  was pretty  run down,  and    speculation     around here    seems to point  towards   this as being  the  goal in the first place...    

lol,    shoot,  I'd try something like this,  and  I'd be in  jail for the rest of my life.   

 

The house was not insured,  (no big loss,  probably valued less then  1,000 bucks)  but the  contents  were insured.    We have some real 'chicken shacks'  around here people still live in

 

so,  yes,   he made out like a bandit!

[MnTom]

That is part of the problem. There is no law about being stupid. Good thing too!!!!

[JAG1]

That is part of the problem. There is no law about being stupid. Good thing too!!!!

You never know, the guy might have a degree in pyrotechnics.

[hex0rz]

Can you take a picture of this "box elder bug"?

 

I literally feel plagued by a certain bug around here and we call them a box elder bug. I dunno though as I don't they are a box elder though.

[Mopar1973Man]

Here you go...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxelder_bug

 

[rancherman]

Here you go...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxelder_bug

 

  

To the  lucky folks  who don't know about these...   imagine   this guy,  (about  a  half inch long)   along  with   999  of his  buddies  per  square foot,  encircling your  house.    looking for a  way in!!!    They  WILL  FIND  IT TOO.

[JAG1]

Thanks for putting up the pics for me.

 

Yep those guys will find a way in, usually by the time the cold part of the winter sets in. They are harmless, never bite but will make you mad when your trying to read or sleep and one lands near your mouth or in your hair. If you don't light the fire on a cold night you will find one or two under the covers with you.

 

The only guy I saw that got rid of them entirely had his whole house resided /caulked, with a very tight job. He said he had a big problem before.

 

I'm winning the war against them, a long process, you have to make your house totally gap free cause they even get behind outside lights inside the electrical box.

 

The pressure washer spraying soap is working great. They're numbers are greatly diminished and I leave it set up ready to go all the time.

Edited October 9, 2014 by JAG1