Is my power washer too big to use with a foam cannon/gun?

T

Taj5944

New member
Autopia -





Glad to have finally found a group of people that care about paint surfaces as much as I do. My friends and family think I'm crazy for spending 8+ hours detailing each of my cars! Anyways, onto my question. I've been washing all of my vehicles with either Meguiars gold class (2 home depot buckets w/ grit guards) and a microfiber wash mitt or some ONR on maintenance washes. Lately, I've taken interest in purchasing a foam cannon to hook up to my power washer. I have a basically new Husky 2800PSI power washer I purchased last year. Used it a few times and it works great. My concern is, I've seen alot of guys using power washers in the 1800 PSI range. Is my power washer too large to use a foam cannon?
 
There are a lot of variable to pressure washers, but typically 1500-2000psi and 2-3gpm is ideal for cars. I personally like the 15 degree spray tip, but which you choose to use will also have an effect on the pressure. Just use common sense and you will be fine.
 
Ok, well that is good news then. Would you guys suggest foaming the entire car and letting it dwell for a few minutes? I'm assuming then you'd just use a regular garden hose with no attachments to gently rinse the foam from the vehicle?
 
Here's a couple of foam cannon vids...















Steps:



1. High pressure rinse



2. Foam layer



3. Dwell time (don't let it dry on the car)



4. High pressure rinse. You might want to consider a CRSpotless for the final rinse so you can air dry without worrying about water spots



5. Blow dry
 
Great videos SuperBee! The foam looks delicious. How close do you get to the surface @ 2800 when not foaming?



OP - Any reason why you can't back off the pressure of your PWer? 2800psi *could* be a little on the high side depending.
 
Thanks, David. :o



My PW is actually 3000 psi. I keep it cranked all the way up to max pressure constantly, but use a 40 degree angle tip. On large metal panels with no badging, trim, or other delicates, I get the tip pretty close... like around three inches if it's really dirty. Of course you want to back off quite a ways around trim, badges, etc.
 
hotrod66paul said:
Those are some serious suds you are putting out there. What soap are you using if I may ask.
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The video titles say Chemical Guys' Citrus Wash & Gloss in the first one, Zaino Z7 in the second.....
 
Thanks,I was looking at the video clip and completely missed the printed part. :thumb: You know what the say about getting old being a b**ch. LOL.
 
When I got mine, I was instructed that it actually works better on a high pressure/gpm unit. Mine is just 1.4 gpm and 1700 so I have it using very little water and almost entirely the soap mixture, but it works well that way.



 
Scooby24 said:
When I got mine, I was instructed that it actually works better on a high pressure/gpm unit. Mine is just 1.4 gpm and 1700 so I have it using very little water and almost entirely the soap mixture, but it works well that way.



Click to expand...



What soap and mixture are you using? It appears a little more clingy than mine, then again I've got a PW similar in spec to yours and have been using 3oz of soap, with the remainder filled with water.
 
mikenap said:
What soap and mixture are you using? It appears a little more clingy than mine, then again I've got a PW similar in spec to yours and have been using 3oz of soap, with the remainder filled with water.
Click to expand...



That was about 2 oz of Meguiars Hyperwash diluted with water. It was more clingy on this car because I had previously washed/clayed and touched up the week before and it was left in a garage for a week for the paint to cure, so it didn't receive a rinse, just straight foam. It doesn't cling quite as well on a wet car.
 
Scooby24 said:
That was about 2 oz of Meguiars Hyperwash diluted with water. It was more clingy on this car because I had previously washed/clayed and touched up the week before and it was left in a garage for a week for the paint to cure, so it didn't receive a rinse, just straight foam. It doesn't cling quite as well on a wet car.
Click to expand...



Huh, I gotcha. Pretty similar to what I'm seeing. Maybe I need to upgrade my PW to get that thick, fluffy foam like in Supe's videos. Mine is an AR112, I think it's rated at 1.6gpm and 1600psi.
 
mikenap said:
Huh, I gotcha. Pretty similar to what I'm seeing. Maybe I need to upgrade my PW to get that thick, fluffy foam like in Supe's videos. Mine is an AR112, I think it's rated at 1.6gpm and 1600psi.
Click to expand...



I've never regretted spending the money on the John Deere gas PW. Get a good one (Honda engine and triple piston stainless steel pump) and they'll last forever as long as you keep the oil changed in both the engine and water pump. Where I live, it's extremely dry. That's pretty much the only reason you'd really need a thick layer of foam. The thicker the layer, the longer it'll take to dry up on you, which gives you more dwell/rinsing time. As long as you're able to get the dwell/rinse time you need, thick foam isn't really needed. More of a waste of good soap, really. :)



Aside from foaming issues, the higher GPM/pressure combination does aid a *bunch* in how well you can get your car to come clean with just the pressure washer. High pressure, high gpm is a great combo for knocking stuff off your car that would ordinarily take a wash mitt to get off. Getting stuff off your car without using a wash mitt is a good thing. It also really helps to soften stuff up that *is* going to need a wash mitt to get off, meaning that you're not going to need to get as jiggy with the wash mitt to get it off. More jiggy = more marring.



Foam clinging ability is affected by several things... type of soap you use, dilution ratio, how warm the paint is, etc., but the biggest factor is your LSP. The fresher your LSP, the quicker the foam is going to slide off your car. I can usually tell just by looking at the foam layer if it's time for a new LSP application. In the videos, Greg and I had just stripped the LSP off the car, so the hang time is pretty good.



Over the passed few years, I've fielded a bunch of "you're never going to get your car clean with just a pressure washer. You're always going to need to use some sort of wash media" rebuttals to my touchless wash posts. While it is true that eventually you will have to touch the paint, if you have a high quality, high pressure PW, the right soap, and a good LSP, it is very possible to maintain your vehicle in between LSP applications without touching it. At all. If nothing touches the paint, then it can't be marred. :D Most of the time, the rebuttals are by people that don't have a high pressure/high gpm pressure washer, foam cannon, or CRSpotless. The right equipment makes a *huge* difference in how clean your car will be after a touchless wash (as does the soap and the LSP you use).



Even if you aren't able to get your car completely clean with a touchless wash, here's something you might want to consider: all the stuff that *is* removed by the pressure washer will no longer be on your paint. If it's not on your paint, the wash mitt has no opportunity to take it for a ride across your clear coat. Getting the car as clean as you can before you use a wash mitt will greatly reduce the over all amount of marring induced by the wash.
 
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