adding hot water to cold machine

[jalawn]

OK, what would it take to add hot water to a cold water machine? I'm only looking for something kind of inexpensive. If it will cost too much to start, I will just put it off until I do enough work to pay for it. Ya know... start small, work your way larger.

Jamie

 

[Mike Hughes]

You dont even need hot water for most applications, outside of commercial and industrial.

Dont get too caught up on the hot water thing......GPM's are more important.

Do a search and use the words "hot box" or "hotbox"

 

[the_GUNN_man]

I agree that the gpm's are what you really want. You said you had got a 5 hp and a 11 hp pressure washer from a guy. Out of the 5 hp you are probably getting 2.5 gpm(gallons per minute) and the 11 hp you are probably getting 3.5 gpm. If you want to do this with any amount of speed you need higher then that. Forget about pressure. When I ask someone about their pw the first thing they say is "it is ***** psi". When I ask how many gallons per minute they just kinda look at me blankly. I have two small machines that are 4 gpm and I have my hot one that is 5.5 gpm. There is a big difference between 4 and 5.5 gpm. I clean so much faster with 5.5 gpm. It also wears you out more then with a 4 gpm too. 4 to 6 gpm is what you really want. Any higher then 6 gpm would be more useful for flat work. So if you are in this business and want to make a career out of it I would suggest like Mike said and go with higher gpm's before you worry about adding hot water to your cold machine. Remember gpm's are what matters. Most of the time 2000 psi is good enough for most jobs. When you get a higher gpm machine is usually has the psi you need too. I seldom see a 5.5 gpm machine with only 1500 psi. Most all higher gpm machines will go if you at least 3000 to 4000 psi.

 

[jalawn]

Thanks guys! I know my 5hp is a little under 3 according to the specs, and my 11hp is around 3.5gpm. I was really more curious about the hot water than I was serious about buying one. If it was needed and inexpensive, ok, but I will probably stick to cold water for now. My next purchase will most likely be new hoses and guns... Are the guns and hoses from Northern tool any good? Their prices are pretty good...........but is their quality?????

 

[Mike Hughes]

Shop around at the various distributors you find on these bbs', you will probably find better quality for an equal price.

Also, at the top of the page, click on 'user cp' , go in there and edit your profile, fill out the signature area to include your name........we all like to know at least the first name of the person we're talking to........

 

[B.E YOUNG Sr]

Jalawn,
A hot box will cost you around $1000. It will make a tremendous
amount of differance in you cleaning abilities. You use less chems
but you will now have to spend additional money on diesel or kerosene. You will also need a generator and fuel to support it.

It really depends on what you want to clean.

Also you would almost certainly need a trailer for the additional equipment. It could be loaded in and out of a truck but it will wear you out!

 

[oguard]

There is a matrix of performance for most cleaning applications, this generally applies to grease/oil/fat type of soil.

Cold water is not as good as cold water + chemicals,
is not as good as hot water,
is not as good as hot water + chemicals.
Hot water over 140F (60C) will soften and release grease/fat/oil.

Using the formula for impact force: (Flow x Square root of Pressure)/18.92 shows the following:

1 GPM @ 4000 PSI = 3.34#
2 GPM @ 2000 PSI = 4.73#
4 GPM @ 1000 PSI = 6.69#

All the above have the same 'rating' of "Cleaning Units". However the 2 GPM unit will clean ~29% faster than the 1 GPM unit and the 4 GPM unit will clean ~50% faster. If you keep the pressure the same at 2000 PSI then the numbers work out as follows:

1 GPM @ 2000 PSI = 2.36#
2 GPM @ 2000 PSI = 4.73#
4 GPM @ 2000 PSI = 9.45# or the 2 GPM unit will be ~50% faster and the 4 GPM unit will be ~75% faster.

Pressure is the easy part of the performance equation, this is why you only need the square root of that value.

Flow is directly related to Horsepower, more of one requires more of the other.

A vast percentage of cleaning can be done quite efficiently, with minimal chance of damage, at 4 GPM @ 2000 PSI. Most contract cleaners are limited by water supply to 5.5 GPM because this is the average available flow from municipal and rural sources. Carrying a 100+ gallon tank will offset some of the impact of low flow versus demand.

As to your original question you can expect to pay from $1000 to $2500 for a hot box/heater module. the difference is in the details; thermostat, burner control switch, fuel (diesel or propane), burner (12V, 110V or milivolt), portable or stationary, painted or stainless steel, safety certified or not and so on.

The requirement of having hot water is limited to what you are cleaning; if you do not encounter grease/fat/oil in your jobs then cold water will work perfectly fine. Know what you are cleaning and adjust your method to the surface.

Experience, information available from BBS's and local professional pressure washer dealers and contract cleaners can and should be your best source of information on how to proceed.

Sorry for the long winded response, hope this helps? Cheers.

 

[JR Wood]

For the cheap ones you will need a generator, so it isn't cheap anymore.

 

[Mark]

A Paloma heater is usually either LPG or Natural gas fired, they will not take very high pressure they have copper heating coils,
so you would need to run hot water on the inlet side of your pump which I would Not recomend.

I think you would be better off with a 12 volt oil fired water heater.

Call me if you want a quotation on one.