Does anyone have one of these. http://pressuretek.com/fatboybandit.html I am wanting to get one of these or some kind of soft wash system. Any reviews would be helpful
1 Like
That’s a great system, especially to get started with. Many of those are in use and have been for years with extremely few complaints. Bob’s bandit is top of the line.
1 Like
I just got mine put together. I ordered the elements and put together everything my self.
I think they are at $1400 for the basic one. I put all my stuff together on a hand truck that carries the battery, pump and hose for less then a grand. Has worked well so far.
The pump is one of the best in the industry.
The Battery for that thing weighs a ton! I always try and leave it in the truck bed if I can but having it on the hand truck has been really handy. I don’t have any good pics at the moment but it is pretty compact.
I’ll see if I can post later.
My set up. Saved me a few bucks but also took half day to figure it all out. The bandit system is pretty much plug and play, but this is working out pretty well for me.
2 Likes
All of Bob’s products are top notch and he will take care of you.
Over the years I’ve had many of his pumps connected to his bandit rig, you wont be dissapointed
1 Like
@ClearSummit Nice simple set up. Looks like an easy way to get started in roof cleaning. Could you provide any details on you are obtaining and transporting your SH mixture? That has been my hold up to this point.
great piece of equipment and Bob’s customer service is as great as WCR’s. Highly recommend it.
Thanks for the info guys
@Casey_A happy to help out another Casey 
So a pool store is the place to go for supply. You need to find a place that has 12.5%. If no pool store try and find a commercial janitorial supply store they might have it. Even at a pool store you should check their time out if they need to order. This time of year they don’t carry much on hand because not a huge demand and the stuff has a self life of a month. I can get up to 15 gallons next day pretty much. Because of the shelf life you don’t want to over buy so you want to plan ahead, buy in smaller sizes as needed, although the larger is a better deal per gallon. They come in there own little barrel or bottle.
I mix and pump out of a Brute trash can from Home Depot. A little cheesy but it works really well. The plastic holds up to the bleach. You can try and find an old Barrel on Craigslist usually less than $50. I thought about that route but decided against because the are akward to lift and move especially if they have mix in them and it is hard to see how much you have in there. Also much easier to dump chem into a trash can then a tiny little bung hole in the top.
I mix on site and try not to mix more than I need. I over mixed the other day but let it sit a day and used it the next. You can also water it down for a house wash.
For mixing there is a range of info on how what to mix and it can be a bit confusing. When they talk about %'s you’ll hear 50% 40% 4% 5%??? It sounds confusing but it as actually pretty easy when you know what they are talking about.
Look up dilution formula to calculate dilution percentages and do the math.
(12.5.%)(X amount of SH) = (X%)(X Amount of final solution)
Most are saying anywhere from 4%-6% for final strength of solution depending on what you are shooting. 6% is pretty hot…
Pump paid for in a couple of jobs, already have a bunch more lined up.
1 Like
how many gallons of wash do you use on an average house
Still pretty green so I’m learning. And I’m not doing the entire roof just the section that needs it. About half the house. The first I did wasn’t hot enough so had to spray twice. Used all twenty. The next batch was hotter, one and done. Only started with 15gal and had extra. Burned it on another job so not a big deal. Sneak up on it until you get a feel. If you have two jobs in one week then you have some leeway. If you are using the right surfactant then it should stay fresh.
You can always mix more.
Also remember that when you have 200ft of hose there is a lot in the system. So if you run out in the tank but are close don’t mix more just fill with water to push that last bit of mix out of the hose. Actually quite a bit in there, plus you want to flush the system anyway.
Seems like it is going further then I expected, I thought I would be mixing 40-50 gals on a typical job. Most of what we have up here though is just one or two sides so only half the house.
Just what I’m finding so far.
1 Like
@ClearSummit Thanks for info! The SH has always been the hang up for us. We just grab a case or two of gallon bottles when we do house washes and mix on site. Is your pool store selling it to you in larger containers? I’ll have to ask ours if they will do that. It would be nice to do away with the bottles.
We actually have a chemical company locally that manufactures SH that said they could deliver 200 gallons to us. Unfortunately we just do not do enough pressure washing business to justify having that much on hand at one time. If it did not go bad, it would be a no brainer.
Yeah I can get 4 singles, 5, 15, and I think even 50.
Can you wash houses with this equipment
yes, but you are better off downstreaming or x-jetting with a pressure washer. those 12v pumps aren’t built to handle that kind of workload for very long.
Good to know
I ended up getting a Dewalt 4200psi 4 gpm pressure washer for a job. If I get a down stream kit and correct tips, can I was roofs with it
no. you can’t downstream a high enough concentration of mix. a typical downstream injector dilutes chemical 10:1 or so. so straight 12% bleach downstreamed leaves you with around 1.2% bleach hitting the surface. you need more like 4%-5% hitting a roof to properly clean it.
need a dedicated pump system to shoot straight pre-mixed solution for roof cleaning.
Can I do house washes with it
yes, downstreaming is perfect for house washing. you need this
3-5gpm kit
1 Like
