[dandandan]

Algae,moss and oil,are these the 3 most common headaches to clean off driveways?Will your surface cleaner  combined with a rotary nozzle do the job alone? If not what solution are a must  have to carry on your van,has anyone ever used chlorine on a driveway or path?

[steve doyle]

Tech-clean do a good oil remover

Google "algaecide" or look up pete at "valetech" on ebay.

[dandandan]

Thanks.Will your flat surface cleaner and rotary nozzle be enough most of the time though?

[steve doyle]

yup,
I dont have a turbo nozzle so just fsc (good one) and lance and thats enough.

[BDCS]

search old posts and you will find most of what you need - i only carry degreaser and brick acid

[dandandan]

thanks,having good search now.What  does the degreaser do?

[BDCS]

Removes the oil stains and the brick acid for spilt mortar, sometimes I have paint stripper with me but you rarely need much in the way of chemicals

[dandandan]

thanks a lot mate,just trying to get as much info with only starting up this year,it`s really appreciated

[James Johnson]

get a good turbo nozzle and that will do most jobs better that a rotary, but check with dealer regarding the right one for your machine and hose length, we use 100ft hoses and the difference can make a difference.

[karygate]

bdcs  what degreaser do you use and where from . have just started myself and only done patios so far but got a driveway soon .using a 13hp pressure washer and fsc.

[BDCS]

Tech clean http://www.tech-clean.co.uk/contact.html

[steve doyle]

get a good turbo nozzle and that will do most jobs better that a rotary, but check with dealer regarding the right one for your machine and hose length, we use 100ft hoses and the difference can make a difference.

Although I dont use a turbo nozzel so am not sure of how good they are i cant see them being better than a good fsc so I would like to know how they are better? maybe I am missing out.

The fsc will be easier on the back, and limit the sh!t going all over the property. It will also give a nice quick uniform clean from a set distance above the block and will not jet too much jointing sand from between block or lift them.

Am i missing something with a turbo nozzel?


steve

[rob fryer]

A turbo nozzel at 3000 psi 200 bar is a great bit of kit ,if you have a build up of moss and weeds etc it just rips through it ,I could not be with out it now.

[drivewasher]

Steve. You know the rule that the smaller the surface area the greater the pressure applied, like the elephant and the stilleto heels the elephant distributes its weight onna larger area than a ldies stilleto, thats why a stilleto digs in to hard flors and elephant can walk on soft sand.

A standard lance uses a fan profile nozzle say about 5 inch wide by 1/10 inch so the surface area of contact is .5 sq inch.
A turbo nozzle employs a tiny pencil point about 1/16 inch diameter so the contact surface area is tiny compared to a fan nozzle's contact area, hence a much increased surface pressure for the same water outlet pressure (250bar in my case)
Such a tiny but very efficient point would take hours to clean a surface so it's spun well not actually spinning it just appears to spin, it actually ossilates at random to give a diameter of cleaning like a fsc but in about 4 inch diameter.
It does fan out like a cone profile so the further away you have the turbo head the bigger diameter of clean, but same rules apply further away = less pressure

steel and concrete can be cut with hp water useing the pencil poin technique, small brass or steel gears like in clocks are sometimes made this way

[steve doyle]

cheers drivewasher,

I have seen them on a karcher so have an idea of how they work, i just havent used one, I would agree they are going to be alot faster than using just a normal lance but I dont clean much with my lance so its not really the point. I was responding to a post (james johnson) which said a good turbo nozzle will be better than a rotary fsc.

So i am interested in how many people use them instead of rotarys?

Personally, I clean everything with my fsc and only use the lance for steps, walls etc and rinse downs.

So how is the turbo lance better than the fsc and why should i be getting one, personally I cant see where i will use it but people are obviously using them somewhere so I want to know what if anything i am missing out on?


cheers

steve

[BDCS]

I think the point has been lost - I don't think it was meant that they were better ie to replace rather than to have along side. I use my fsc to clean the drive or patio main flat areas, then the normal gun to clean up, then the turbo nozzle to " spot " any areas left by the fsc. I have a 6" wall float that I use for steps etc. The combination of these tools mean that I rarely resort to chemicals unless spilt oil or cement are involved.

[drivewasher]

Yes exactly! I use mine as an extra, Genrally for garden walls and step risers when moss is particulary bad. You have to be carefull though as turbo head can destroy bad brickwork and concrete. Puts slash marks and even splits timber

Steve,
It's not better than a surface cleaner for surface cleaning (if you see what I mean) In that it's best cleaning diameter is about 4/5 inches its made to concentrate the power in a small area. I only use it occasionally it makes a real mess loads of spatter everywhere

[steve doyle]

ok cheers,

Had visions of me being the only one using fsc's!!!!


panic over.

 

[drive surgeon]

steve more often than not i use my turbo to do the whole drive if its blockpaving, i find it quicker, as the fsc does not get the weeds out, the turbo takes it all out in a sweep so sometimes its quicker to just use the turbo on the whole job, especially on jobs under 100 sq m. i use a smaller machine as the big machine and fsc take ages to set up and fill a bin.

[Roger Oakley]

Steve,
Tech-clean do a turbo nozzle that is matched to your machine, about £100.00 inc del. from what I remember. I have had mine for about 3 years well worth the money, just don't use it on wood, you will destroy it. On most flat surfaces, Indian, Yorkstone even concrete they are fine, again just be careful, just get used to using one, and you would see the benefits of having one. I have used just a turbo lance on say 50 sq mts of block, takes abouts 1.5 hours including clean up with the same machine as you. A turbo lance is well worth having in the long run.