Power Washers
Published by SidingPro on Tagged Home ImprovementThe major misconception about power washers is that the pressure does all the cleaning. This is true to a certain extent but too much pressure can easily damage many different surfaces when it comes to exterior cleaning. The speed and cleaning effectiveness actually comes from the gallons per minute (GPM) or flow that the unit puts out.
The more GPM the better and faster a unit will clean, this coupled with the right cleaners and lower pressure, to eliminate the risk of damage, is an effective plan to clean siding, wood and other surfaces around the home. To achieve a lower pressure for exterior cleaning it is necessary to change the nozzle at the end of the wand to one with a larger orifice.
Nozzles are measured and stamped with a 4 digit number. The first two numbers represent the degree of the spray pattern, which most commonly range from 0 degrees or a pencil like stream up to a very wide 40 degree fan. The second two numbers represent the orifice size or simply the size of the hole that the water shoots out of.
The bigger the orifice is the less pressure is put out but at the same time the GPM or not affected. An example would be a 4010, this nozzle is a 40 degree spray pattern and a number 10 orifice. A nationally recognized “nozzle chart” is used to compare the orifice size number to the units GPM to determine how much cleaning pressure is put out.
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