WHAT WILL YOU BE USING IT FOR?
Before you start the buying process you need to figure what your planned applications will be. Will you be using your water blaster for domestic cleaning, commercial contract cleaning or industrial wash down work? Will you be pressure washing daily, weekly or only three times a year? What kind of work will you be doing, building maintenance, equipment wash down, vehicle washing, drain cleaning or clean up around the farm? Do you need to use hot water, cold water or have chemical injection options?
By figuring out what kind of cleaning work you’ll be doing, you’ll quickly get a good idea of the nature of the machine and accessories you need. You should at this stage know if you’ll need a domestic water blaster or an industrial one, you’ll also know whether it needs to be small and compact or large and trailer or van mounted.
WHAT WILL BE POWERING YOUR MACHINE?
Think about how you’ll use the machine and what’s the most practical and economical solution for you. Electric pressure washers are great for mid to light duty work. There are however a few drawbacks to electric machines in that your range of movement is limited to the length of your electrical cord and access to electricity isn’t always available if you’re out on site. Hot water pressure cleaners tend to be hybrids, whilst powerd by electricity, they also use diesel to fire their burners and heat water up to your required temperature. Boiler units like the Firebox can be connected to a petrol cold water pressure cleaner and powered by a generator to create a hot water pressure washer(without destroying the seals on your cold water pump).
Petrol water blasters and diesel run pressure washers are ideal for heavy duty cleaning around construction sites, farms and for building maintenance. Petrol units provide both freedom of movement and enough power to get the tough jobs done. For those in the mining industry diesel is the only power source that meets ‘minespec’ requirements.
WHAT’S YOUR IDEAL PRESSURE?
Now you know what you’ll be using it for and your power source, you can figure out your ideal pressure range. High pressure cleaning can be extremely dangerous to both people and property. Using too high a pressure on something like wood, stucco or plaster work can cause catastrophic damage by eating away at the surface of the item. Conversely using too low a pressure on something that requires heavy duty cleaning like surface preparation can waste both time and money and not get the job done properly. It’s therefore essential you select a pressure cleaner that has a pressure and flow combination that can meet your range of cleaning needs.
The three most commonly requested pressure and flow combinations at Kerrick are:
- Property Maintenance: 3000 psi at 21 l/min
- Surface Preparation / Graffiti Removal /Construction Site Clean Up:4000 psi at 15 l/min
- Vehicles & Boat Wash Down: 1740 psi at 11 l/min on cars and boats to 3000 psi at 15 or 20 l/min on trucks
IN CONCLUSION
By now you should have a good idea of the type of machine that will suit your needs. In many instances an ‘off the shelf’ product will do the job, however sometimes a little more customization is necessary. For the more tricky cleaning applications or situations where a more industrial machine is required get in touch with the team at Kerrick, we can talk you through your options and help you build your dream machine. Have a look through our Custom Builds Blog, it will give you a good idea of the types of industrial cleaning equipment available and provide inspiration on how to tackle your own cleaning needs.