Pressure Washing Concrete ??

[Timothy]

I have this one.  Vents thru the valve, stops when it’s filled the receiving tank.  Just stick it in, press the button and fill.  It works OK.

From 1 gallon to 5 gallon sizes. 

[Big Frank]

I have 2 of these 2 gallon cans. That's almost enough to fill the tank on my ATV. The auto shut-off usually snaps shut on its own when you take pressure off the spout, but not always. The cap is missing off one.

http://www.truevalue.com/product/Auto-Truck-RV/Gas-Kerosene-Cans/Gas-Cans/Gas-Can-2-Gallons/pc/2/c/35/sc/359/18163.uts

My other 2 gallon can just has a hollow tube molded into the inside of the spout. It looks like a regular gas can with no vent until you see inside the spout.

[billt]

I went to Wal-Mart today and bought a 50 ft. 3/4" hose. It's a nice one, and is of good quality. I also mounted a hose hanger to store it. I'm all set. Tomorrow I'll get up early and get some gas and start in. It shouldn't take very long. I'm anxious to see how well it all works out.

[Rastus]

I got one of those 1 gallon stupid gas cans last week.  Just break the black plastic out and then take a knife and trim the yellow spout down to where the split in it ends.

[billt]

Well I just finished the job and the washer worked FANTASTIC! It really did an unbelievable job. My driveway is the cleanest it's ever been since we moved in over 20 years ago. The rotary cleaning head worked really well. I made 2 passes over the worst parts, and it took 100% of the rubber marks right off. It left the finished surface a bright white after it dried. It made the old concrete look like the stuff I just had poured. It's amazing how it takes that yellowness right off.

My next door neighbor had his pool re plastered last month, and the guys who did it got some cement on the curbing. (My street has that shallow radius curbing that's designed to be driven over). The washer blasted that hard, dried crap right off down to the bare concrete in seconds.

I switched to the wider, high volume, lower pressure nozzle, and it blew everything right into the middle of the street. It's unbelievable the power it has. The "Rotary Nozzle" worked OK, but you have to go slow or it will leave swirl marks. I found the 15" Rotating Cleaning Head to work the best. It was well worth the $70.00 bucks I spent on it. I would recommend it to anyone who has a pressure washer. You can get right up against garage doors, stucco, stone edging, and gravel without making a mess and blasting crap everywhere.

When I was all done I hosed off everything, and it turned out spotless. I stopped half way through to take a break, and let the unit cool down. The pump gets pretty warm. I was glad I bought the nice large 3/4" hose. It really moves a LOT of water. When I was finished I treated the gas that was left in the tank with Sta-Bil, and ran the unit until I could smell it in the exhaust. Then I shut off the gas and ran it until it quit. (About 2 minutes). All the hose connections didn't leak a drop. It all worked really well.

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

  It sounds like a great setup.

From what I've read and heard, Sta-Bil actually works better if you don't run the engine with the gas off until it stops. If the carb is full of gas, the Sta-Bil is in there doing its job. Even if that turns out to not be true, it's still unnecessary to run it dry, and causes more wear on your engine. I've never done that and everything works out fine.

[billt]

From what I've read and heard, Sta-Bil actually works better if you don't run the engine with the gas off until it stops. If the carb is full of gas, the Sta-Bil is in there doing its job. Even if that turns out to not be true, it's still unnecessary to run it dry, and causes more wear on your engine. I've never done that and everything works out fine.

Now you got me thinking. Maybe I'll just turn the gas on and let it sit for a minute. Then with the ignition "OFF" pull the engine through a few times to draw it into the passages and down the venturi. Then just shut the valve off.

Back in Illinois I had an old Toro push mower that I put in the basement after I bought a new self propelled Honda. Before I stored it I filled the tank with fresh gas that was generously treated with Sta-Bil. I then ran the engine for several minutes until I could smell it. It sat down there for over 5 years. When I brought it out into the garage, it started on the second pull. It had no gas shut off valve.

[Big Frank]

5 years is really pushing your luck. I still have my first string trimmer. I don't know if I used it at all last year, and don't expect it to fire up on the old gas this year. It uses a 32:1 mix and has it's own gas can. My leaf blower is 50:1 and so is the hedge trimmer I gave to a friend. My chainsaw and scooter were 50:1 too. I'm not sure what year I filled the can for the weed whacker. If it's no good I'll dump it in my truck where it can mix with all that good gas and be okay. I never dump it on the ground like some people do.

[billt]

5 years is really pushing your luck. I still have my first string trimmer. I don't know if I used it at all last year, and don't expect it to fire up on the old gas this year. It uses a 32:1 mix and has it's own gas can. My leaf blower is 50:1 and so is the hedge trimmer I gave to a friend. My chainsaw and scooter were 50:1 too. I'm not sure what year I filled the can for the weed whacker. If it's no good I'll dump it in my truck where it can mix with all that good gas and be okay. I never dump it on the ground like some people do.

2-Stroke engines that run on gas / oil mix are troublesome. Older 2-stroke outboards with oil injection, not so much. But 4-stroke engines treated with a double dose of Sta-Bil will keep for really long amounts of time. My chainsaw runs on 32:1 and it's always fouling plugs. I keep 2 or 3 on hand at all times.

I bought a Ryobi power blower and it runs on 50:1. But it just slowed down and died while running one day, with fresh fuel and a new plug. I just gave up on it. I'm so glad to see 2-stroke engines going the way of the Dodo.

[billt]

All this talk of pressure washers and small gas engines raised my enthusiasm. So this morning I dragged out an old Honda generator I had that has been sitting over 10 years. I thought I had run the fuel out of it the last time I ran it. I found out I didn't. It had over half a tank of stinky, spoiled, 10 year old stale gas in it. That had been sitting in a hot Arizona garage.

I NEVER thought it would start, thinking the carburetor was a gummed up mess for sure. I dumped out all of the old, stale gas and filled the tank with the fresh fuel I got yesterday for my pressure washer. I added even more Sta-Bil Storage to it, and turned on the fuel valve while I took the side covers off and cleaned the whole thing up.

After I got it all nice and clean and put back together, I was amazed it started on the third pull! After sitting for over 10 years with half a tank of stale fuel. It's purring like a kitten out on the patio as we speak. I'll let it run until most of this tankful goes through it. It only has a 600 watt output, but it's a nice, good running little unit that's pretty quiet. Funny, before I pulled that rope, I would have taken any and all bets it never would have started. Especially after finding out I never dumped the gas out of it over 10 years ago.