[drive surgeon]

do they look at your equipment and check it all to see if its running at full pressure, did they check your whirlaway and stuff, how much do they charge, what did they do?

[Andy Foster]

Sorry chaps, but there is definately something wrong with your pump/fsc setup.
Pirtek know absolutely nothing about pressure washers and their settings, the right nozzles etc... they make hoses very well but do not clean stuff like you and I.
If you want a professional to check it over then go to someone who make/mends/services pressure washers, not someone who makes hoses.

Andy

[dandandan]

Pirtec supplied and fitted my hose to reel on van,re-fitted all my connectors,checked the pressure on my machine,changed the nozzles on my fsc,tightened and checked all my fittings and are available 24hrs to mend hydraulic pipes etc on heavy duty machinery so they do more than supply hose,i reckon theres 2 people on this site who reckon an fsc is more powerful than a turbo nozzle.I admit i`m green to this job but i`m giving my opinion on whats happened up to now.

[DavyP]

In my humble experience, and this is just my opinion, which can be likened to an ar$ehole in that everyone has one  i'd say the following.  Having started out with a turbo nozzle, it did do the job fine, how-ever it was messy, time consuming and used alot more water, which has to go somewhere and again if the drainage on a job is poor takes more time. 

I bought a mosmatic flat surface cleaner and the difference is like chalk and cheese.  I'd liken it to painting a wall with a brush or a roller, the brush will cover the wall (eventually), but takes time to get the paint even and uses more paint, the roller covers smoothly, easily and uses less paint.

There is no doubt the turbo nozzle is the more powerful as the water is coming out of 1 hole as opposed to 2 on the fsc, but with the fsc's jet  being applied closer to the ground the difference is usually negated and a smoother cleaner finish given in much quicker time with less water.

I think it's important to find what woks best for you and stick with it, how-ever I can't help wonder if there is a problem with a setup where the user finds it easier to clean for example brick paving with only a turbo nozzle and ignore the fsc. 

Again this is only in my humble experience, but I genuinely believe a properly set-up fsc/pressure washer/turbo nozzle combination is considerably more effective and efficient than a turbo nozzle alone.  Imagine facing 500 square metres of paving with a turbo nozzle

I'm no expert on how to set up the fsc nozzles etc., perhaps someone else can advise on this, but a properly working set-up is irreplaceable.

[Andy Foster]

DavyP has hit the nail on the head.

No-one has claimed that the fsc is more powerful than the turbo, just that its purpose is to clean the kind of surfaces that some are using a turbo for and if setup correctly, then will do the job better than any other tool that is not designed for that purpose.

Regarding the Pirtek guy you dealt with... you were obviously lucky that he personally knew a bit about pumps.  Of the three times I have had to call Pirtek out, three times the guys who came out have asked me 'what is it' when seeing my pressure pump!!!
It is obviously not their company policy to service pressure washers.

If you put a pressure gauge in line on your kit, then that will show you what pressure you are kicking out, that would be the first thing I would do.

I just think that life is being made difficult for you guys and having your system tweaked would save you a lot of time and effort.

Andy

[drive surgeon]

i think im gonna get my set up checked, or try lowering the spray bar in my whiraway.

[dandandan]

You may be right mate,i went to the pirtec workshop you see and there were 3 lads and the boss,they couldn`t do enough for me,he did check my pressure etc but i will try lowering the bar like you say,fsc is brilliant on flags and smooth concrete etc,like i say i`ve already changed the nozzles and checked they are facing the right way with the nozzle hole running level with the bar  so lowering the bar it is.Let you know how i get on.

[drivewasher]

You may be right mate,i went to the pirtec workshop you see and there were 3 lads and the boss,they couldn`t do enough for me,he did check my pressure etc but i will try lowering the bar like you say,fsc is brilliant on flags and smooth concrete etc,like i say i`ve already changed the nozzles and checked they are facing the right way with the nozzle hole running level with the bar  so lowering the bar it is.Let you know how i get on.

Dan,
The only way you can be sure fsc is working at it's full potential (for your pump) is to fit a gauge on the line and monitor the pressure.
As for "better Nozzles" you can't get any more presuure from the machine you have than it can produce, thats why the nozzles are/should be specific to your pump flow rate and the pressure

IE my 250bar 15lpm needs 2x 020 nozzles in fsc to get around 220bar on gauge (gauge on a t is 10% out) and 040 nozzle on the lance

[dandandan]

When i said better nozzles i meant different sizes to the ones i had on,i just didn`t have the sizes in my head,i think it was you who recommended i did,i got the pressure checked and it was ok ,i`m gonna try lowering machine bar,keep trying to get time to get it sorted but too busy,will have big clean up and check the lot in the winter,thanks anyway,dan

[Andy Foster]

Are you really going to wait until the winter to put this right?
It would take a couple of hours to check and remedy and would save you a fortune in lost time when done.
Of course, it is entirely up to your when you do it, but the sooner the better would be my opinion.

Hope it works.

Andy

[dandandan]

The pressure was checked when i had new connectors on pipes and it was ok so i will lower the bar on fsc but i don`t want to risk damaging anything while i`m busy,might go back to pirtec,i`m enjoying using turbo nozzle and not that arsed about fsc unless doing flags,do you find with fsc you cant direct dirty water that well and it runs down drives into road leaving big brown stains that you have to clean at the end,i prefer now to use turbo and direct all the crap onto borders or onto grass,just can`t see the point in doing the job twice when turbo does it first time,turbo,spray off , rinse down job done.

[rob fryer]

Dananddan i did a block paved area that parks 60 cars in four hrs it hadnt been done in ten years and i re sanded in that time just rolled my decorators sheets up and made a dam at bottom of drive water runs to drain and the solids are trapped by the rolled up sheets, theres no way i could do a area that big with a turbo in four hours .
Whats the make and spec of your m/c  .
I dont think the bar on a wirlaway should be more than one inch from the floor.

rob