I started with the Twin Pump System, and given the choice to do it over again, would get the Blend, which AC did not offer at the time. The twin pump works, but just requires a little more "fiddling" with on each job. You have to set up the system, transfer bleach, mix a batch, prime it, etc. Also, you will have to figure out how to carry more bleach, so you end up transferring and handling bleach more, which is less safe.

The biggest advantage of the Blend comes when you have several different surfaces requiring different mix ratios. Going from 4% to 1% and back to 4%, for instance, happens immediately with the turn of a dial. When one batching with something like the Twin Pump, it is very easy to have to much of one mix left to be able to make the proper amount of another, and the math gets a little tricky. Experience can help with this, but it happens. For instance, if the roof requires less than you thought and you end up with 1/2 tank of 4% left, and now you need to do siding at 1%, you can't. This is even more problematic when you have employees. In the above scenario, employees will likely just make a full tank of 2% and use it on the siding, increasing the likelihood of plant damage. Or they will dump it somewhere, exposing you to liability and wasting your money. If they make the full tank of 2%, you have a half tank of 2% left, so the next day, you are forced to make way more 4% than you will need for the small roof you are doing that day. You can avoid this by making only what you need, but then you may run out and have to mix up just a bit more. All of this also increases your time.

You will not NEED a booster pump right away, although if you do a lot of work where people are on wells, it will really help a lot. We went without a booster for 4 years, and we always found a way, even on tall third story exposed basement homes with weak well pressure. We often had a hose running up an extension pole to rinse in these cases. The booster makes this go much faster.

I second all of Tim's points as well, except one. Anything can break down. The Blend can quit working properly, it has happened to me- not a pump failure, just a significant problem with blending. Troubleshooting the fix was a little time consuming and required a couple calls to SWS, and a trip to the hardware store. Luckily, you can bypass the "blending" part of the blend system entirely. You can one-batch in the tank, turn both blend valves off, and take your multi-tap hose and drop it into the tank. We ran that way for three days doing a 4 story hotel roof/EIFS job because there was no time to do the troubleshooting. We added a few hours to the job transferring bleach and mixing, though.

With good municipal water supply on a residential job, you can run the Blend and bulk rinse at the same time on one hose. You do have to be "aware" of the fact that you are sharing a water supply for two things, but it is rarely a problem. Generally, you will not run yourself out unless both the guy rinsing and the guy treating are both spraying pretty much constantly. On commercial jobs, or really large siding jobs, where a lot of chem and rinse spraying is happening at the same time for long periods, I will hook up two hoses. Sometimes, you just have to bid knowing it may take a little longer due to water supply, like in the case of a weak well. I have done this. When bidding residential jobs, I carry an 8 foot section of garden hose and a witch's hat nozzle. If the home is on a well, I hook it up and spray water for a minute to test the pressure and volume of the water supply.

No, you just need a decent amount of antifreeze. In my GenII 5 gallons was more than enough. My GenIII with booster pump, etc will be more. You obviously rinse really good, running lots of water through the system, then just put antifreeze in the tank and run it through, making sure to move your valves around to get it in every hose and part. I go to a salvage yard and buy filtered used antifreeze for a buck a gallon, as I have 4 hot water pressure skids to winterize as well. I winterize even though my shop is heated, just in case of heating system failure. Also, antifreeze conditions seals, valves, and other parts. Some will use windshield washer fluid, which has the same deicing ingredient, without the conditioners. Antifreeze does not really go bad, so I reuse it for several years.

Howdy Jim,  Not sure what I can add, but figured I'd try since this BB has helped me considerably.  I have  Gen II and just pulled it off to winterize last weekend. I don't have a garage and the rig sits outside all winter patiently waiting for spring. I live south of Boston. I only operate on the weekends and was straight out from March-November.

 

Last year (winter 2015) I used 5/6 gallons of -25 windshield washer fluid and run it thru all tanks, valves, all combos of to and from, reels etc., and took the pump off and brought it to the basement. When I fired it up this spring there were no issues, leaks, burst line or plastic connector issues. 

Last year I bolted U shaped supports from Lowe's onto the 4 vertical ladder rack supports just above the tanks height, out of the way and slide 2x4s under /thru to lift the rig off the truck. The ends of the 2x4s extend out past the sides of the truck and are used as lift points. Sort of a King tut chariot. This makes it easier to lift up, get the weight off the bed rails, and move. I placed 4 pallets stacked at the tailgate on the ground and off it went. I did take off the reels and booster pump to bring inside this year, I wanted to do some maintenance and the weight taken off adds up for a lighter easier lift. we did it with three this year VS four last year. 

I have the SWS booster pump setup running to a 275' hose reel of the back deck. Use it on every job as SOP. One hose from the HO bib to the booster pump, and can either fill the buffer tank or run from the bib straight. We put another hose out at the rear of the house bib if they have one as SOP in case needed and to sped up the wrap up using plant wash. There are time when there is not enough water pressure to run both straight from the bibs, so we fill the buffer tank and use the booster from there, while the back house hose is running. When we run from the buffer tank to booster, we get average pressure at the hose end VS from the house bib to booster which is higher. It definitely save time for plant wash, final wash application, rinse etc. 

I don't have a blend or proportioner but have been looking at both for cost comparison, best application for me . I like the concept to save time, bleach, surfacant etc. but with a Gen II it's all about retro fit compatibility. 

Always keep a spare pump, pressure gauge, wand parts etc. on board! We got good at swapping out!!  Long winded, hope it helped some and good luck!!

v/r Jeff

 

Howdy Jim,

I started off from the get go with SWS for on line and hands on training. I purchased the SWS Gen II skid with the buffer tank as my initial start up. Overall it has all performed well and held up to expectations.

1. I replaced the throttle valve once after the first winter I had it, but that was after the winter storage and think the temps did it in.

2. Went thru a few liquid filled pressure gauges, but keep spares on board.

3. Couldn't fine tune the the original DPI pump so I went to one batching and disconnected the DPI. Blend module or similair process sounds like the way to go, and hope it is successful.

4. The main 12V pump has been replaced numerous times and I always keep a spare on board. The last model purchased spring this year from SWS held up for the season but was losing pressure by the time I shut down. I always have a spare on board and was happy with the pump life cycle, it served the rig well.

5. Bulk rinse pays for itself in labor/time saved quickly. 

 

Hope this helped.

V/r Jeff

Hello everyone, I have questions about different Soft wash machines.. Not sure which is better.. I'm new with softwash.. and Trying to start cleaning Roofs and the whole softwash system.. Not a lot of money and need something that will get me making money so I can get better Machines I would put pictures but not sure how so. I'm Looking at a 12 volt machine or gas machine and wasn't sure which is better... 1) Maverick Softwash 12 volt, 7 GPM 100psi. 2) Comet pump gas machine 9.6 GPM 140psi Self Prime

Call the office at SoftWash Systems and inquire about the 50 gallon blend unit.  Best start-up unit.

855-763-8669

9-10 gpm softwashing is a disaster.  don't do it.  you don't want gas powered equipment of any kind to softwash correctly and safely

tim is dead on. Educated before you buy anything.

I agree with Tim and Jeff. Definitely go to the academy, and 9-10 gpm gas power is to much chemical waste and to noisy for most projects.