Friday, April 30, 2021

Unique Alkota Coil

 Alkota Pressure Washers are long-lasting, American Made and dependable pressure washers. They have been an American based company for over 55 years originating in Alcester, South Dakota. Alkota's coils are made in South Dakota and are used in the entire family of hot water pressure washer.

 

Our machines see a wide range of different situations. From air that may contain airborne chemicals, like in a truck wash with high sodium levels found in hog operations. Dust and debris from a grain harvest to grinding dust and welding gases in a manufacturing facility. Construction environments, both on site and in shop getting tough messes taken care of in a timely manner to get back to the job needing to be done. 

Even with all those challenges, there are two factors to face: Water and condensation from the environment. It creates quite a challenge.

Running cold water through a heated pipe creates sweat on the outside of the pipe, as well as inside the combustion chamber. The more efficient the heating is, the more condensation will happen, which will create a bigger issue. The air intake can become an obstacle as well, becoming wet and dirty, preventing efficient transfer of energy from the combustion chamber to the high-pressure water traveling through the pipe.

Alkota has found the solution. While most hot pressure washers use a horizontal spiral design, looking like a water hose coiled up. This configuration typically has many layers of the coil on top of each other. The problem is, the transfer of heat to the coil has inadequate ventilation and airflow around the pipe. The problem is that the coils on these washers are too tight. 

Alkota's design is a helical configuration; it looks like a stretched spring. This spring or helical design is pictured as a large spring on the outside of multiple progressively smaller springs inside. This creates the heat absorbing while allowing for proper air flow in the combustion chamber.

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Alkota has maintained the highest combustion efficiency in the industry. Other machines use a pancake coil; this condensed version has to have the circumference insulated because the design is over fired and has smaller gaps for the exhaust portion of the chamber. 

1st: The outer wrapper of the unit can exceed 400 degrees creating a safety concern for machine operators.

Second, lack of proper ventilation for the exhaust. As the machine sees daily use, small air gaps in the coil will become smaller, and the accumulation of soot makes proper ventilation even harder. Aefficient heated pressure washer needs three things: fuel, ignition, and free-flowing air, which is the critical variant here.

Safety

The outside of Alkota machines are cool to the touch, give it a touch! Typically, only 15-25 degrees above the outside temperature. Benefits are key here; operator safety is first and foremost when working with heat and pressure.

Combustion Efficiency

Our machines are designed to transfer heat with the high-pressure flow of water efficiently as possible.  Using a helix coil design, we can keep cool on the outside but move BTU (heat) to focus on the temperature rise of the water, consuming most of the combustion gases, keeping things efficient.

Dependability

With our properly vented chambers and proper diesel or #1 fuel, soot build up is not an issue, thus, coil burn out is rare. The helix design is what creates efficiently, and dependability. EXP and Alkota back our coils with a 100% replacement in the first five years, and a prorated 50% replacement cost in the 6th and 7th years.

Express Pressure Washers has proudly sold and serviced Alkota Pressure Washers for over 35 years. We sell Alkotas because we know they are a great machine and built for the elements and hard work. Check out our website, give us a call at 507-583-2703 or come check out our Blooming Prairie showroom and see which Alkota will be best for your cleaning jobs. Express Pressure Washers: Driven by Service, Supported by Sales.

Monday, April 26, 2021

Choosing the Right Tip for your Pressure Washer

 If your business relies on a pressure washer, having the right pressure washing accessories ensures you are completing the job as efficiently as possible. The nozzles that you use on the gun are some of the most significant, as they come in a range of sizes and angles to help you customize the cleaning. Using the right style will improve your workflow, while the wrong one can cause expensive problems. Here are suggestions for what tip to use for your cleaning job.

How Do Improper Pressure Washing Accessories Affect Your Washing?


1. Common Sizes

The 15 degree nozzle tip size is a commonly used tip spray pattern. This is because it can cut through tough jobs and still be gentle on painted or treated surfaces. Other tip spray patterns are 0 Degree, 25 Degree, and 40. The 25 and 40 degrees are a wider spray pattern. 0 Degree is your straight high pressure stream of water, this will remove paint, seals or treatment from surfaces. Lastly, there is the Black soap tip that is used for low pressure soap application. If you're applying soap, this tip, or another low pressure soap applicator/attachment is needed.

2.Rotary

The rotary nozzle is a great power attachment with the digging power of a 0 degree and with a wider spray pattern. This tip can cut through grease, build up and soil quickly and effectively. This attachment type is popular among livestock farmers because it is able to clean up and cut through build up quickly. This is also a great attachment for cement if you're cleaning a large area.  

3. Washer Malfunctions

 Knowing the correct tip size is very important, because while the 15 in the tip number is important for knowing your spray pattern, that is NOT the number that is meant for your machine. There is another set of numbers listed with that. Such as a 15055, 15040 or 15065. These all represent a 15 degree spray pattern but the last 2 numbers represent the tip number for your specific machine. 

Using a small pressure washing accessory that doesn't fit your settings on the machine restricts the amount of water that can come out. This increases pressure inside the device and strains the motor, as it is trying to produce more water than it can expel. With repeated use, this can overload the motor, burn out fuses, and wear out the washer quickly. This increases your maintenance costs and shortens the life span of your equipment.

Express Pressure Washers Inc. has been serving the needs of farmers, factories, construction companies and more in the Blooming Prairie, MN, area, since 1984. They provide commercial pressure washers, accessories, and repair equipment. Their friendly and knowledgeable team will be happy to advise you on which pressure washing tools suit your needs. View their products online, and call (507) 583-2703 for questions.

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

BLACK SMOKE FROM YOUR PRESSURE WASHER, WHY?

 Express Pressure Washers knows your investment into a Pressure Washer is a big one, we want to help make sure you’re confident in that investment. There may be times that your pressure washer is not running quite the way it should though, let us try and help you figure out why.

If there comes a time when black smoke starts to appear while running you’re machine, that means it is time to call Express Pressure Washers, so we can help diagnose and fix the problem. 


BLACK SMOKE, WHY?

If and when you notice black smoke coming from your pressure washer that is an indication that your fuel isn’t burning correctly. There are a couple different methods as to how you can fix that. 

Air flow. On occasion machines can pump more fuel than air should burn. Adjust your air flow until the smoke clears up. Soot build up can cause improper air flow as well. So making sure your coil isn’t plugged up with soot can help to further diagnose the problem.

Bad Fuel Nozzles. It could be the fuel nozzle.  When was the last time you replaced the fuel nozzle? Let us know at EXP, we can ship you a new one and if needed to have our shop manager walk you through replacement. 
 Not enough fuel. Check your fuel in the machine or the fuel filter to be sure there isn't build up somewhere.

 Semi-enclosed areas. If you are in a semi-enclosed working area sometimes there is not enough air flow coming in to the trailer. Adjusting that will help significantly. 

Overall, if you are seeing black smoke coming from your machine think this: BLACK SMOKE means NOT ENOUGH AIR FLOW. Let us know at Express Pressure Washers of these problems, whether it's Alkota or another commercial pressure washer brand, we can help diagnose what’s going on with your machine and walk you through a repair, repair it in our Blooming Prairie Showroom or on-site. Check us out online to see what all we have to offer.