Making a cleaning unit

Hi guys,

I looking to make a cleaning unit by combining these things on a cart.

container for clean water
Shop vac
Pressure washer
Electric pump to spay water.

The unit will serve 2 purposes.

1. to lightly spay water to be immediately sucked up by the vac. Like an upholstery cleaner but for walls I just scrubed.

2. an indoor pressure washer to be immediately sucked up by the vac. That pressure washer puts out 1.5 gpm.
Is a regular shop vac going to handle that? I realize I'll have to put the spray tip in the front of the hood, so that it bounces off the floor and directly into the vacuum has to help with the pickup.

I already have all but the electric sprayer to make a prototype.



1. Do vacs have suction rates?

2. Do they make vac tops heads that can be attached to a 10 gallon steel barrel lid?

Thanks



http://bayimg.com/kAdFeAaGN

Hi GT. Yes shop vac have suction (CFM) rates. I remember when I first started I used a shop vac and pressure washer to clean tile and grout

How many feet of hose will you be using?

You probably want to add a ball valve to the pressure washer to reduce the PSI to use as a sprayer to spray the walls. That 10 gallon barrel is going to fill up pretty fast.

It probably just would have been easier to mount mounted vac motor directly on the barrel and you wouldn't have needed the shop vac.

Not sure if its too late but It might have been better just to buy a portable carpet cleaner. But we'll help you build this puppy.

Got to take off be back later others will chime in

I'm pretty sure by the time you're done buying all the necessary parts, you'd be able to find a used portable machine for less on Craigslist, I don't know much about technicality and such but if Mo can help you move this thread to "ask the TM mechanic", Eddy will definitely be able to chime in and give you valuable suggestions.
BTW what's your name and what state are you from ?

Thinking the same as DP. A used dual vac, 100 psi unit would serve your purpose better.

Then all there would be to do is get tool/hose/solution line to your liking.

Ok I'm not sure what you are pressure washing inside. But as for the other the ten gal barrel with a three stage 7.2 in vac on top would work. The five gal jug should be replaced with a bucket it's stronger. Then just screw a 100 psi pump to the top and wire it up and plumb.
But like the others said if you look around you can find a portable used for what you this home made unit will cost. And look more professional to your customer.

Wow such a huge response, this is awesome. My names Steve I'm from Orlando Florida. I'm responding from my phone. I'll try to fill out my profile more completely when I get home

10 or 15 foot for hose it wouldn't need much. Just enough to get around with comfortably.

I'm just the custodian even though there a multi million dollar company, I doubt they're going to spend much money on me. If the thing works as planned and I can prove its usefulness I can probably get them to spring for some heavy dutier equipment.

I already have all of these things in the picture but the electric sprayer. I have a pump sprayer that I was going to use in the prototype in place of electric sprayer.

You said ball valve to lower the pressure on the AR 383 if I did that, then I wouldn't need the electric sprayer.

I was going to use a smaller scale sprayer because at first I was only planning on using the water as a vehicle I would scrub and follow up with the rinse by the machine. But if the components workout work out correctly and I can use a pressure washer inside on the walls, I would much rather do that than scrub. It's all about saving time.

The prototype will just have a shop vac, it has a hose connection on the bottom for continuous emptying.

The 10 gallon steel drum would be modified with a cone and a hose connection on the bottom, for easy emptying. And of course if I were to run the pressure washer it would empty through the hose and I wouldn't have to worry about the thing filling up. Also I assume that only drains by gravity, so if they give me a budget in the end I might get a sump pump so I can pump it right into the sink.

After the prototype im going to have to pitch it to them. I figure they would rather piece it out so if a component goes bad we can just replace it.

All I really need is to keep the bathroom walls cleaner. But decided to add the pressure washer for extra usefulness. I wouldn't mind if it was carpet cleaner worthy so ill price it out also.

In the end i personally would like a carpet cleaner in the mix (maybe a hot water heater too)

Thanks Steve

Is this what you are trying to engineer?

http://www.parish-supply.com/kaivac-1750-cleaning-machine.aspx

"I'm just the custodian even though there a multi million dollar company, I doubt they're going to spend much money on me."

One more friendly piece of advice, never sell yourself short at anything that you do. There are billions of people on this planet, but only one of them is you...carry that mantle proudly!

Facilities Managers just want the job done in an inexpensive manner, so if you have a method that can get them results in a very efficient manner....they will gladly listen. They will even spend the extra money as well.

I would spend your time pitching the benefits of the no-touch cleaning systems that are already out there instead of spending your own money trying to reverse engineer one....let them spend the money, you provide the expertise and insight.

Good luck and keep us posted how things go....

Thanks for the advice. Hmm don't feel like i was selling myself short. I just know how things work here. I definitely won't be spending any of my own money.

Yes the Kaivack looks cool but since they didn't name a price I'll bet it's extremely expensive.
also all the parts are probably proprietary and also very expensive to replace.

I'll just gather up the equipment I have for now put it all together and see how it goes.

Ill keep you posted

I was confused. My thinking was to reduce the flow on the pressure washer so that you would fill your waste tank so quickly and reduse PSI so that you can use the pressure washer t also spray your cleaning solution on the wall.

The auto dump on the shop vac I had was not reliable and if the place that your dumping to wasn't within the recommended distance it wouldn't work at all.

If your going to use the shop vac, pressure washer, and auto dump your probably need three separate 110 outlets, They'll be cords, vac hose, solution hoses all over the place

Get a portable and a hand held spinner and be done with it. It will be quicker, easier, more productive and will probably cost less.

What's your budget?

I think you are making a mistake by spending your own money or using tools you own yourself. The company is not likely paying you to provide the equipment to do the work they own.

While a Kaivac seems expensive to you, it is a minor expense to a company. seriously, it is a minor expense. They get to write it off their taxes anyway. If they won't buy something to do the work they own (equipment to get the job done) then the work is not really a priority to them. They may be having you do this work, because it is LOW priority to them, and they have you do it to fill your time on the clock.

While I applaud your efforts to be innovative AND please your employer, I truly think you will be unhappy with the response you get from them in the end.

And the truth is, you are making this complicated. This is like using a spoon to dig a trench, when you need a backhoe. There already exists equipment that will do the work you want to do.

For what it's worth.

Good luck.

Thanks for all the advice I really do appreciate it. But I suppose I need to make this extremely clear

I WILL NOT BE SPENDING ANY OF MY OWN MONEY

I'm not sure how this rumor got started. But I hope it ends here.

Again my main purpose is not floors, but walls. I do not think a spinner is going to work very well on the wall. The cart will have its own main power with a power strip. there will only be one power cord coming from the unit. The parts crib already contains these supplies.

Next week I think I'll just mess around with the vac and the pump sprayer and see if I can get it the way I want.

Get to work Gt. Let us know how and goes and were here if you need us