I have owned a pressure cleaning business for many years now and have cleaned many roofs along the way. Thing is we have always cleaned roofs the "Old School" way with a small pump and just chlorine & water. We are currently setting up another enclosed trailer set-up with a Fat Boy pump and 2 tanks. I have been told so many differnet things regarding hose size for in and out of the pump. My question is:
Is it true you have to take the suction inlet fitting size and double that size for the suction hoses from each of the tanks? (1/2 inch to 1 inch) Seems to big.
Secondly, will the Fat Boy pump be able to pull liquid from two tanks with that size pipe and hose? (1 inch hose & pipes & 5/8 spray hose)
I have read so much useful information from you guys on here I could really use some help in this area.
I have owned a pressure cleaning business for many years now and have cleaned many roofs along the way. Thing is we have always cleaned roofs the "Old School" way with a small pump and just chlorine & water. We are currently setting up another enclosed trailer set-up with a Fat Boy pump and 2 tanks. I have been told so many differnet things regarding hose size for in and out of the pump. My question is:
Is it true you have to take the suction inlet fitting size and double that size for the suction hoses from each of the tanks? (1/2 inch to 1 inch) Seems to big.
Secondly, will the Fat Boy pump be able to pull liquid from two tanks with that size pipe and hose? (1 inch hose & pipes & 5/8 spray hose)
I have read so much useful information from you guys on here I could really use some help in this area.
Thanks, Brandon
It is real simple, the bigger your hose is, the better, on both sides of the pump. "too big" will never hurt you, but too small sure will. You do not "have" to double the 1/2 inch suction of the Fat Boy. 1/2 inch will supply all the fluid the pump needs. But one day you may want a bigger pump, or even 2 Fat Boy's ? If you make the feed tubes 1 inch now, your future needs are taken care of! On the exit side of the pump, 5/8 hose is fine. 3/4 is even better, 1 inch better still. Some even use 1/2 inch hose, and just accept the performance compromises compared to bigger diameter hose. Most folks using the Fat Boy I know use 5/8 hose, finding it a good compromise between size, cost,, and performance. You are not trying to get your pump to pull from 2 tanks, at once, right ?
Thanks for the answer to my question. Couldn't of been easier explained. We were going to set it up to pull from two tanks. Is that not a possibility with this pump? Are we going to have mix off one tank?
Thanks for the answer to my question. Couldn't of been easier explained. We were going to set it up to pull from two tanks. Is that not a possibility with this pump? Are we going to have mix off one tank?
Brandon
On our trucks, we have 2 tanks with pre mixed chemical in both, one for tile roofs, one for shingle. This way we know exactly what our mix is.
You can pull from two tanks but not at the same time. You can used a 1" poly ball valve and swith from one tank to another. I use the method to pull from the solution tank and when done I switch to a fresh water tank and drain the solution in the hose (about 6 gallons using 1" on both sides of pump and 3/4" solution hose). I drain the solution into a separate container in order to measure how much has been pumped through, once I pump out about 6 gallons of solution from the hose and fresh water starts running then I know I have pumped 6 gallons of fresh water through the pump. I then pour my solution back into the solution tank.
You can pull from two tanks but not at the same time. You can used a 1" poly ball valve and swith from one tank to another. I use the method to pull from the solution tank and when done I switch to a fresh water tank and drain the solution in the hose (about 6 gallons using 1" on both sides of pump and 3/4" solution hose). I drain the solution into a separate container in order to measure how much has been pumped through, once I pump out about 6 gallons of solution from the hose and fresh water starts running then I know I have pumped 6 gallons of fresh water through the pump. I then pour my solution back into the solution tank.
Mark,
I appreciate the info. Makes sense. We are just setting all of this up so the info is very helpful.