Winter and water can be a lethal combination in the pressure-washing industry. When water freezes the pressure it exerts can be around 10,000 psi inside your equipment. That type of pressure most of the time will lead to damage to weaker components, busted coils and thousands of dollars of damage. So what is the best way to prevent damage to your equipment when the temperature drops?

There are a number of ways to prevent damage to your equipment. Not one way will suit every situation and some work better than others. We are going to mention a few here.

1. Pump Saver Squeeze Bottle (Part # AW-4070-0004S, 85.490.046S)
2. Antifreeze tank reservoir
3. Blowout Valve (Part # AW-4070-0005, BOV-BE, BOV-ASSM, BOV-2PK)

The first way to help prevent equipment damage is using an antifreeze-based product like Pump Saver or Pump Protector. It is an RV-style antifreeze that is normally squeezed through a bottle or forced with an aerosol can. We recommend the pump-saver bottles in most cases. Using an aerosol can is a one and while the pump saver bottles can be refilled a70—-4gain and again. We usually tell our customers to buy the bottle and then go purchase larger quantities of RV antifreeze and keep refilling. The nice thing about the bottle is it will screw into the inlet of the pressure washer pump and all you will need to do is open the valve and squeeze the bottle until you see the pump saver come out the outlet of the pump.

The downside of using the squeeze bottle though is when you are trying to displace water from your pump and burner system. It is next to impossible to force the pump saver through the pump, jumper hose, and 5 miles of coil (exaggeration). In this case,e we recommend using a blowout valve or a separate tank filled with antifreeze depending on the system you have.

If you have a belt-driven pump we recommend having a separate tank hooked up by a 3-way ball valve or hooked directly to the pump. In this scenario, you will just crank the engine and have the pump draw the pump-saver antifreeze into and out of the pump and burner. Once you see antifreeze come out of the burner you are good to go.

If you have a direct drive pump with a burner we recommend setting up a blowout valve that will be set up inline before the pump or just screwed into the inlet. In this case, you will just need an air compressor to hook to the blowout valve and force compressed air through the system pushing the water out of the pump and burner. Always note that using a smaller compressor with low SCFM will leave a small amount of water in the system but not enough to damage components.

So here you have it. These are three of the most common ways to winterize your pump and burner coils. Whichever way you choose will depend on you. Just make sure you do it.

Any questions or comments please feel free to email us.