Pressure washer soap detergent feed question
I bought a Black Max pressure washer with the soap dispenser hose fed downstream of the pressure pump, with no shut off valve. Manual says to use low pressure (black) nozzle only- question- (1) do I have to empty the soap dispenser before going back to high pressure nozzle, or can I simply let remainder of soap tank run through the high pressure nozzle?, and (2) if fed down stream of pressure pump, what is the reason bleach products can't be used? Thanks I'm not an expert on that type of pressure washer, however, the soap valve will close when used under high pressure normally, so you can keep the soap in the tank. If the dispenser is downstream of the pump or any other devices, I'd say there is no risk of harming the pump by using bleach. I don't know what it would do to the hose or sprayer valve. I usually use bleach in a pump up garden sprayer to apply it, then use the pressure washer to clean it off. If you have to use the low pressure nozzle to dispense soap then that means you have an upstream injection system. In other words when you use low pressure.....the vacuum draws the soap up and thru the pump. That would be why they don't recommend using bleach. That being said....I use a bleach/soap combination with low pressure injection. I think my PWer is set up to siphon cleaning agents but I've never used that feature. IMO applying the cleaner with a pump up garden sprayer does a better job and there is no danger of the cleaners causing any wear and tear on the pump. This may or may not be off topic, but on my PW, the siphon fitting is below, pre pump. The little ball never seats itself and constantly sprays water out. I removed the fitting and replaced it with a comparably sized plug. I never used the feature anyway. Is that siphon fitting necessary for the PW to operate properly? I only ask, because I cannot get full power to the head, and am not sure if we used it last year with the plug or not. I posted this question. This morning I put enough in the soap container to soap the house side, and when the soap ran out, switched to the high pressure nozzle. This seems to work well, but I still am seeking definitive answers to the original questions. You would think that the manufacturer would put a valve in or something, but the instructions are completely silent on this. Re the bleach, the manufacturer is in a SYA mode, or too lazy to make any changes to the previous models that had upstream injection which I can see MIGHT harm the pump. But downstream, the injection point is actually in the hose 0utput connection. Maybe when the manufacturer's people learn to write, they can be more instructive in the manuals, instead of all those meaningless black bordered warning boxes the lawyers litter the page with. I looked through Black Max's PW literature, and no where does it say where the clear soap dispenser hose attaches to the wand. At what point does it attach? Or does it siphon through the pump body post pump? Clarification on that may tell all. If it is past pump, then there should be no problem running products through it that otherwise would weaken the pump rings. I think they say use the black tip because it delivers just the soap without spraying too hard and diluting it as you go with the heavier nozzles. I don't know anything about the particular pressure washer being discussed but many soap injectors are mounted on the unloader valve which is after the pump discharge. What has been described sound like this type of system. These use a venturi to create a low pressure (negative pressure) that sucks the soap solution into the pressurized stream leading to the wand. They ONLY work when the nozzle is changed (or adjusted) to the low pressure setting. The soap solution does not travel through the pump but the injector is made of brass and stainless steel and a full-strength bleach could cause harm. No, you do not need to empty the soap container before switching to the high pressure nozzle as the soap solution will not be drawn with a high pressure nozzle in place. You should empty the container and rinse it out along with flushing the injection system by running the low pressure nozzle (or setting) with clean water in the soap container when finished for the day.
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