Re: How Much Water is Used?
20 gallons probably won`t be nearly enough for a full blown 2 bucket wash. I`d look more into the 50-75 gallon range if that`s what you`re hoping to do.
You may be able to make 20 gallons work, if you pressure rinse the car first then do a rinse less wash. That would be your best bet probably. 2 cars though, forget it, not with 20 gallons. Figure your average rinse less is going to take up 3 maybe 4 gallons, then you`ll probably use 10+ for pressure washing. If you plan to do wheels and tires as well, you`re going to run out real quick. I wouldn`t feel comfortable knowing I didn`t have more than enough to do the job (for a customers car that is).
npw if you were doing just rinse less, you could probably easily pull of 3-4 cars with 20 gallons. Are these maintenance washes you`re doing?
Re: How Much Water is Used?
Shane, thanks for the response.
50-75 would be way too big for me! My wee little yaris *can* handle the 400lbs of a 50 gallon. Not so sure about the 75 gallon tank. BUT, i don`t want to install such a big tank in the inside, either. I plan on doing some outside unit. Not a trailer, but more of a platform on a hitch mounted carrier. I`m limited to how much weight it (or the hitch) can handle. That`s about 200lbs.
Okay, so doing 2 cars is now out of the question. That alone helps! I`ll just plan ahead and not book 2 jobs on the same day. At this point, it isn`t a concern anyway. Not much action coming my way.
Currently, I have one semi-regular: an SUV that I do a maintenance wash on. A Kia Sportage. I`ve actually gotten it down to under 2 gallons for a rinseless job. The smaller cars I`ve done I use a gallon, give or take a bit. I haven`t used 3+ gallons since when I first started.
To answer your question, it`s a "yes/no." For myself, yes, they would be maintenance washes. For others, I would do whatever is needed. I`m negotiating a "contract" with a guy to do his work truck. He`s only allowed so much on his budget for car washing. That amount is something I can work with, but only doing it twice a month. For his, I`d also do rinseless and wouldn`t need the water tank with hose or pressure washer except maybe the first time doing it.
I do come across a car from time to time that is just plain filthy. One of those jobs where you want to pre-rinse the heck out of it, and take your time doing that. One that I wouldn`t even consider rinseless on! That scenario would be about the only other time I would use the water tank with a hose or pressure washer.
Re: How Much Water is Used?
One year later.... using the water tank set-up as listed in the OP....
For a pre rinse, chemical decon, then 2BW - Using a garden house and regular hose attachment, I used 20 (+/-) gallons on a 4 door sedan
For a heavy wheel (only the two fronts) cleaning, pre-soak, chemical decon, and 2BW - using a small pressure washer, I used less than 10 gallons for a different 4 door sedan.
And i really like using the pressure washer to clean nasty wheels. :)
Re: How Much Water is Used?
JustJesus - Are you pre-filing/mixing your buckets before filling the tank?
Was thinking (depending on space in your Yaris):
1 bucket premixed with 3-4 gal of rinseless wash or traditional soap solution (gamma seal lid), 1 bucket with fresh water for the rinse bucket (Traditional 2BM or Rinseless wash) lid of course again, then have the 20 gal tank just for hose / powerwasher stuff.
or have Gary Dean method in your bucket for rinseless (uses a lot of towels, though).
You probably already thought of most of this, just talking out loud.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JustJesus
One year later.... using the water tank set-up as listed in the OP....
For a pre rinse, chemical decon, then 2BW - Using a garden house and regular hose attachment, I used 20 (+/-) gallons on a 4 door sedan
For a heavy wheel (only the two fronts) cleaning, pre-soak, chemical decon, and 2BW - using a small pressure washer, I used less than 10 gallons for a different 4 door sedan.
And i really like using the pressure washer to clean nasty wheels. :)
Re: How Much Water is Used?
nickclark08 - hehe, yeah, I have thought about all that. Thanks, though!
I ended up with a 26 gallon tank to use as needed for those pesky jobs. Otherwise, I usually use a rinseless method, ala Garry Dean style.
For the time being, I don`t anticipate doing more than one car at a time, either. So I don`t necessarily need to carry a bunch of water, or soap.
You know, I was hoping the Gamma Seal lid would solve an issue. I FINALLY gave in to buying one with the hopes of having my ONR mix last longer than the roughly 2 weeks I`m getting. I used to use a Home Depot bucket with one of their standard lids. The ONR solution, over time, gets some weird little...i don`t know if it`s like mold, bacteria, or something else. It`s not like I put mitts/towels back in my buckets. Things only come OUT of the bucket. And in between pulling towels/mitts, I cover it up.
I bought the Gamma lid just to see. Was surprised to see the rim part that attaches to the bucket has an O-ring tucked in it. That made sense over having a standard lid. BUT, I find that I`m still getting that weird stuff inside my ONR solution. :(
Re: How Much Water is Used?
Roger that, and thanks.
Kinda bummed the gamma seal isn`t working out for you... I thought about getting one to save rinseless, maybe not so much now.
super weird about the "funky stuff" in your ONR - wonder if it`s the water itself (i guess if using distilled shouldn`t be an issue, but who knows)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JustJesus
nickclark08 - hehe, yeah, I have thought about all that. Thanks, though!
I ended up with a 26 gallon tank to use as needed for those pesky jobs. Otherwise, I usually use a rinseless method, ala Garry Dean style.
For the time being, I don`t anticipate doing more than one car at a time, either. So I don`t necessarily need to carry a bunch of water, or soap.
You know, I was hoping the Gamma Seal lid would solve an issue. I FINALLY gave in to buying one with the hopes of having my ONR mix last longer than the roughly 2 weeks I`m getting. I used to use a Home Depot bucket with one of their standard lids. The ONR solution, over time, gets some weird little...i don`t know if it`s like mold, bacteria, or something else. It`s not like I put mitts/towels back in my buckets. Things only come OUT of the bucket. And in between pulling towels/mitts, I cover it up.
I bought the Gamma lid just to see. Was surprised to see the rim part that attaches to the bucket has an O-ring tucked in it. That made sense over having a standard lid. BUT, I find that I`m still getting that weird stuff inside my ONR solution. :(
Re: How Much Water is Used?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
nickclark08
Roger that, and thanks.
Kinda bummed the gamma seal isn`t working out for you... I thought about getting one to save rinseless, maybe not so much now.
super weird about the "funky stuff" in your ONR - wonder if it`s the water itself (i guess if using distilled shouldn`t be an issue, but who knows)
hehe. I guess we were on the same boat with saving the rinseless. That`s why I would only make 1 gallon at a time for a good while. It`s always enough for a quick maintenance wash :)
Ahhhh. Good point about the water. The water where I live is nasty hard. I sometimes wonder if it`s doing long term damage to my teeth! But I`ve always used store bought Distilled water for rinseless. Recently tried using the Deionized/destilled/whatever they have at the car wash detailing supplies place as well. Same thing.
Maybe I`ll have to close up the Gamma tighter?
Re: How Much Water is Used?
I get a white bits/blobs on diluted APC bottles that I don`t use for very long stretches of time..but we`re talking like 6+ months
Distilled would help I suppose, in which I do use when mixing up Ech02.
I bought like 5 gamma seals when they 1st came out...bleh, not my cup of tea. Ended up tossing 3 of them as it I never used the lids and they were just taking up space. The o ring on them is very cheap. Small in diameter and dry rotted out on at least 2 of the 3 I had never used, just sitting on the shelf.
I don`t think those blobs are a issue....just a natural byproduct of whatever the ~city~ adds to your water. Flouride, etc ?
Re: How Much Water is Used?
Could be the polymers within ONR that separate. I never noticed this with the ONR mix I make and keep in my gamma seal bucket for weeks. I make a 4-4.5 gallon ONR mix at a time. I will have to check. I just made a new mixture a couple days ago.
Re: How Much Water is Used?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Guz
.... I will have to check. I just made a new mixture a couple days ago.
yes.please.THANK.youuuu
Re: How Much Water is Used?
Interested in the ONR results with Gamma lid. Had something similar with (OMG) CG Hose Free... yep, still have some of that stuff as I have not found anything else like it to RW the SUV, not even ONR (V2 used so far and have a new gallon from end of Dec I need to try out)
Re: How Much Water is Used?
I forgot to post these the other day. This is what my fresh ONR solution looked like after 5 days in a gamma seal lid. Looks fine to me.
I did put some in a pump sprayer and that one looks fine other than losing it`s blue color. It turned clear after a few days.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler.../IMG_7591a.jpg
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler.../IMG_7590a.jpg
Re: How Much Water is Used?
I only notice my RW getting "funky" if there is humidity ,so when I leave it in the garage. I usually bring the bucket inside the House and it seems to "last" longer.
Re: How Much Water is Used?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Guz
I forgot to post these the other day. This is what my fresh ONR solution looked like after 5 days in a gamma seal lid. Looks fine to me.
I did put some in a pump sprayer and that one looks fine other than losing it`s blue color. It turned clear after a few days.
Thanks for the update, The Guz.
For rinseless, I would keep the solution in the gallon of distilled water, and used it as needed. If it sat for a while, the blue would go away. At that point, I wasn`t sure if it`s just discoloration, so I would feed it to the plants.
As a clay lube, the blue seems to stay about the same. Weird.
I have tightened the rim portion of the Gamma Seal, as well as the spin part of the lid as well. The solution doesn`t appear to be getting any worse, so that`s a good sign. :)