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ksroofs · Premium Member Roof Cleaning Institute of America

RE: Taking apart all-flow

RCIA Founder

andy hinson wrote:
Chris Ive been pulling a 3/4" hose and it gets heavy. Really thinking of changing to 5/8". What do you use with a 1/2"pump?

Back when I worked, I almost always used 3/4 hose. But all I cleaned was roofs, very very seldom did much Softwashing.

I agree, pulling 3/4 Hose around a yard or house sucks.

It does build big Forearms though biggrin

tired chris.jpg

We use 3/4 hose on one truck, and 5/8 on the other.

We do notice some flow and pressure loss going from 3/4 down to 5/8 Hose with the 1/2 inch Kynar Yamada Pumps, but our compressors are 18 and 21 CFM.

If you are using a 5hp Rigid type air compressor (12.5 cfm) and you go to a 18 or 21 CFM Compressor, you may think you got a new pump.

These larger air compressors really "turn loose" the 1/2 inch or larger pumps.

To make a long story short, unless you have a big air compressor (18 to 21 cfm) on your 1/2 inch pump, I doubt the 5/8 hose will hurt you very much.

RCIA Founder

ksroofs wrote:
wooo I took the entire pump apart, cleaned out some of the gunk, put it back together and wd40'd the whole thing, and it started right up! not sure what the problem was, maybe some water? maybe just some gunk? but im ordering a versa as a backup right now!

Cool Beans! Glad you got it working again, but we all need to be aware that anything that the SH touches is pretty much on borrowed time.

It is always wise to have a backup pump, especially when they cost so little!

Good Job !

andy hinson · Nov 14, 2013

Chris Ive been pulling a 3/4" hose and it gets heavy. Really thinking of changing to 5/8". What do you use with a 1/2"pump?

Mr Maintenance · Nov 14, 2013

chris is right . Having a back up pump is hugh. I have one hose reel dedicated to all flo and i have a hose reel dedicated to a fat boy

andy hinson · Nov 14, 2013

Yes I have the 1/2" ARO pump and the 3/4 hose is just for roofs.

RCIA Founder

Mr Maintenance wrote:
chris is right . Having a back up pump is hugh. I have one hose reel dedicated to all flo and i have a hose reel dedicated to a fat boy

Here is a picture of one of our old roof cleaning trucks.

Non Pressure Roof Cleaning Truck.jpg

That was a 600 gallon tank, and it has 3 hose reels on it. 2 of the 3 hose reels were quite "active", with huge John Blue (19.3 GPM @250PSI) Gas Powered Pumps hooked to them, all sucking from the 600 Gallon Tank.

This roof cleaning machine was designed by me to take down blocks in entire subdivisions, 2 roofs at a time!

Those old John Blue 193 Pumps cost nearly 1000.00, and I always carried a backup, because at the 500.00 a 1800 sq ft shingle roof prices we got back then (before I taught much of the world how to clean roofs), I could make the 1000.00 back literally, in a little over an hour!

It has been my experience that roof cleaning pumps will always break, at the worst possible times confuse

Like right when a neighbor of a customers roof you just cleaned, is waving large amounts of Ca$h under your nose.

You really should have a back up Pump with you, at all times.

The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum "Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"

The Roof Cleaning Institute Of America Training & Certification Forum
"Find A Certified Roof Cleaner Directory"