Threw together a short vid of plumbing my buffer tank for my PW trailer. Might help a few people who are planning on setting up their own trailer on a budget.
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That’s great. Thanks for that video. What size GPM are you using??
What’s size tank is that ?
Didn’t look back to see if you what your using
Pressure-pro 4GPM 4000psi. The tank is 65Gal I actually got it from tractor supply company.
Do you live In An area with well water ?
I use a 4 gallon, an hook up to people’s water source.
Or are you just concerned with cavitation , or with using someone’s water ?
Yeah a lot of wells where we are, I ran into a few instances where a couple of customers didn’t have efficient water pressure.
Technically speaking it’s gravity fed but the type of pressure washer I have is a belt drive Cat pump. Belt drive or gear reduction units can pull water from tanks typically without an issue.
Thanks for sharing this. Perfect timing for me 
Hopefully this won’t be need attention very often, but that inline filter coming off the tank looks like it might be a hassle to clean out.
Also wondering, do you plan on installing a low water shutdown switch? I think Michael Kreisle has a video on youtube showing his. I’m wondering how exactly I need to wire that in to the machine. Apparently those reed float switches are very sensitive to current, and they’re supposed to be used with a relay, otherwise they can burn out and get stuck on/closed. As familiar as I am with circuitry, relays are a bit foreign to me. And I have a rather limited knowledge of small engines.
One other question: what do you think is your ‘bottle neck’ in regards to output? What part of the assembly do you think is limiting the flow to 5.5-6gpm? I’ve got a 5.5gpm pressure pro machine arriving any day now, and I want to make sure I have plenty of flow for it.
Hey Alex, in regards to the inline filter the other trailer set up I have rarely needs to be cleaned but I did think about getting a different kind to make it easier to remove.
I have not used a low water kill switch before but they are a pretty simple system I believe. The switch when triggered kills the engine just the same way an of off switch would on a weedwacker. When the switch is engaged it either grounds out the current to the spark plug on the engine via coil or it interrupts the circuit to the fuel pump on larger engines.
In regards to getting a better flow there are a few things you could do-
-Larger tank would increase the gravity feed (pressure).
-Elevating the tank higher than the pump.
-Starting with a larger Banjo fitting out of the tank. My hose is only 3/4" ID line wich is adequate for my 4gpm unit.
Always make sure your tank is vented- the tank fill line should take care of that but we also loosen the tank cap whenever operating.
Lookin’ good 
Alex, you probably won’t ever need a low water shut down switch. If I were you I would set up without it to begin with, then add it later if you have to. I’ve found that I can usually see the water level in my tank very easily from 3 sides of most houses, and if it looks low, you can wait a minute or two before you move on.
As far as plumbing goes, if you use 1" pipe for as much of the plumbing as you can you’ll never have a problem. The important thing is to make sure you get a 1" filter that’s easy to clean out and put it online too so you can throw out the restrictive filter that will come with the unit, which will be your most likely bottle neck. Banjo makes a really nice (not cheap but NICE and super easy to access and clean) y-trap filter.
Also, don’t forget to plumb in your anti-freeze system or you’ll be cursing yourself while running scrambling like mad to add one in late October. (Or, in your neck of the woods, early August…LOL)
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Do you mean like this one? Amazon.com
Looks pretty reasonably priced to me 
How do you have your winterizing kit setup? Why couldn’t I just dump a couple of gallons of straight methanol in my buffer tank along with a few gallons of water and run it through the whole system for a few minutes? I honestly haven’t given winterizing much thought up until now, lol.
That’s the filter, and that’s a great price! If you can though, try to find one that’s not more than 50 mesh, 80 will be way too restrictive.
As far as running methanol through your buffer tank, that may work, but it would probably be too diluted and I don’t know how the pump’s seals, etc would react to the methanol. Most pump manufacturers recommend green antifreeze, but lots of guys (myself included) just use RV antifreeze. That may have methanol in it, but I don’t think it does. I’ll take some pictures of my setup and post them in the next few days, but there are pictures of other guys’ setups on PWRA, PTSate and TGS, in case you want to get some ideas sooner.
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Good catch, Buzz. Definitely one of the bigger advantages of having a buffer tank.
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Great advice, I will be doing that!
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@evanwindows, did you go with ‘full port’ ball valves? Wondering if that might make a difference on my setup.
Yes to help with less restriction.
