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Brad do you rinse out the fatboy or 5800 pumps with at least 15 gallons of fresh water when your done cleaning?

Wow, 2 Bad Pumps from Pressure Tek ?
Most roof cleaners I know buy from Lori at Pressure Washer Products here In Clearwater, Florida. I have heard of a FEW problems before, but not like this!
I know the pumps they sell are brand new, not rejects, or refurbished pumps that have failed before.

Iannacchione wrote:

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Ok..I bought a Fatboy bandit from PressureTek last year (August).  Worked great for about 8 jobs and then nothing would come out of the nozzles. 

I did notice some rust when I first sprayed on jobs and thought nothing of it.  Then again today, damn thing worked for half of the job and quit again.  The pump sounds good but no suction at all.  I have a titan hose reel and I figured that it might be the problem.

Do the manifolds break down that fast? 

I bought a spare 5800 and hooked it up my inlet and outlet and hooked it up to the battery and did the rest of the job, at the very end of the job, it stopped working too.  This time, no pump sound at all NOTHING. 

Please keep in mind that both units were "prewired for me" by Bob at Pressuretek.  

Do I need a new manifold or do you guys think it is something else.  I cant figure this out at all.

FIRED UP in Pittsburgh!!!!!

Thank you for your help and have a great weekend.

 

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Ok Brad this is going to hurt. your pump don't work because of ignorance, yes ignorance. You have been a member of RCIA since July of 2009, and YOU bought that pump from Pressure Tec in August of 2009, so you have been a member of RCIA for one month before buying that pump and YOU knew of Pressure Washer Service ( Lori ) and you know everyone buys from her and no one buys From the other place except YOU? LOL thats what's wrong!

 I mean seriously Lori could have had that pump shipped to your door faster than Bob could of spit out the word Pressure Washing Parts

Definition of ignornant means Lack of knowledge. I'm referring to Brad wasn't aware of the great service at PWP.





-- Edited by Walk on Sunday 18th of April 2010 06:00:06 PM

Look I don't think there is any reason to dump on Bob and Pressure Tek. I bought my 5800 from Bob and got excellent service and installation advice.

I have met Lori and buy most everything from PWP now. I didn't change because I was getting bad equipment or service from Pressure Tek. PWP just sells more of the items I need and they proved to me that when new products come along they research the items and let everyone know.

Brad 12 volt pumps are what they are. If not set up properly you are going to have problems. That goes to the size wiring to the size of the hose and fittings used for input and output. If you are having a problem with the pump priming make sure that all the hose connections are tight. A leak anywhere in the input line will cause problems. Also make sure the output hose does not have any kinks or tight turns that will prevent flow problems. Pump will not start if it does not recognize the demand.

I use 12 volt pumps in my biodiesel operation and for roof cleaning at this time. I have some experience with them.

The real answer to your problem is what I'm getting ready to do. I just bought a 2007 used Ridgid air compressor off Craigs List for $350. I'll be ordering my All-Flo pump from Lori soon. Goodbye 12 volt pump problems.

Good luck.

Charles

Iannacchione wrote:

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Ok..I bought a Fatboy bandit from PressureTek last year (August).  Worked great for about 8 jobs and then nothing would come out of the nozzles. 

I did notice some rust when I first sprayed on jobs and thought nothing of it.  Then again today, damn thing worked for half of the job and quit again.  The pump sounds good but no suction at all.  I have a titan hose reel and I figured that it might be the problem.

Do the manifolds break down that fast? 

I bought a spare 5800 and hooked it up my inlet and outlet and hooked it up to the battery and did the rest of the job, at the very end of the job, it stopped working too.  This time, no pump sound at all NOTHING. 

Please keep in mind that both units were "prewired for me" by Bob at Pressuretek.  

Do I need a new manifold or do you guys think it is something else.  I cant figure this out at all.

FIRED UP in Pittsburgh!!!!!

Thank you for your help and have a great weekend.
 

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It sounds to me like a priming issue. The manifold do not break down that fast. Weve been using ours for over year. And we do alot of roofs. And very big ones (6000+ sqft) 75% of the time.

 

-- Edited by Confident Roof Cleaning Houston TX on Sunday 18th of April 2010 02:37:34 PM

DAM CHRIS u sent me to bob 3 years ago lol.

Well I think it is just offering advice for peeps and go from there. I have ordered from Bob and from Lori, I know just prefer her because to me she is faster at getting me what I request. I never had a problem with Bob, he just took a little longer but he always got me what I needed. This all started by offering the gentlemen advice to help him out. As for using a 1/2 hose on a 5800 or a fatboy I would not do it, when I had the 5800 serious and ran a 1/2 " hose and moved up to a 5/8 hose I seen a big difference. I also have been running a yamada air pump that chris recommended, but I also talked to the guys at bph pumps and they gave me what I needed. I took Chris advice on an air pump and will never use anything else. All you can do is try to improve and use what works and improve where you can, then grow.

Iannacchione wrote:

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I want to be clear on what problem that I am having.  When the pump is working good it has a "growling sound" that tells me that it is working properly.  It will stop when the hose is full with chemical and then I spray.  It is intermittent.  When I spray the pump will kick back on.

When it is not working properly (which is quite a bit)  the pump will not make the "growling sound" but will sound like a hum this is continuous, and will not stop.  I know when I hear this that it is not pumping and very very little will come out of the nozzle. 

I really need help with this as it is driving me crazy and making me look less than professional during the job because I have to keep coming off the roof and messing with the pump.  I just cant have that. 

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Brad, you may not want to take my word for it based on the little experience I have.....but based on what you're saying, it sounds like the pump is losing its prime during the job.

I seem to think that you may need to remove you fitting on the inlet side and put plenty of teflon paste (NOT THE TAPE) on your threads and reconnect.  You have a small leak somewhere.  I had a similiar problem and was told about the teflon paste and it's been working great ever since.

Lastly, I think that pump will prime 14 ft vertical.  You could also cut down the length of the hose if you don't need the extra footage on the inlet side.

 

Iannacchione wrote:

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Thank you sir!!! I think you are spot on with that response.

I dont think I have a leak (trust me I have looked at every square mm) but it does seem that I am loosing my prime.

Do I have to worry about the outlet side as well?

Thank you so much!

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Typically you will loose your prime because of air on the inlet side (which is a leak).  You can't hear it leaking.  If you are sealed up on the inlet side you shouldn't have any problems.  Give the teflon a whirl and I think you'll be good to go.

The outlet is not that big of a deal concening the prime.  Only when start-up you'll notice it may take a little while to start priming because it has to push the air out of the outlet hose.