Low Pressure from flat surface cleaners

Obstructed or clogged nozzle tip.

From time to time you may experience a clog in one of the two nozzles in your flat surface cleaner.  The flat surface cleaner may shake violently due to one of the nozzles clogged or it may not work at all if both nozzles are clogged.  First you will need purchase a tip cleaner from Home Depot.  They sell for a little over $3.00 and come in a small rectangle box.  It is a good idea to turn the machine off before taking the nozzle off with a wrench.

After removing the nozzle simply unclog the nozzle by inserting the tip cleaner in the orifice of the nozzle.  You may also want to flush out the flat surface cleaner while one of the nozzles are removed.  Turn the machine back on and engage the surface cleaners handle for a minute or two.

Why do the tips get clogged in the first place?

The tips are clogged due to debris entering inbound house connected to your machine.  If you have a mobile machine that is not plumbed to a water tank and you are drawing straight from a water faucet, flush out the garden hose for a minute or two (this means the hose is not attached to your machine).  This allow insects, lizards and dirt to be removed from the hose.  It is recommended to have a filter connected to your machine where the garden hose screws in.

Many pros use water tanks.  The machine is plumbed to a tank where both tank and machine are mounted to a trailer.  A filter system is usually installed between the tank and machine.  The filter will prevent the debris from entering your machine and causing problems such as clogged nozzles.

If both nozzles are free from debris, you may have a swivel (metal cylinder attached on top of flat surface cleaner) that needs to be repaired or replaced.  Water leaking out of the swivel is an indicator that the swivel needs attention.  Furthermore check the nozzles to make sure they are the correct nozzles for the GPM (gallons per minute) of your machine.  A machine that dispenses 5 GPM will not work with nozzles that were designed for a 3.5 GPM machine.

If both nozzle and swivel are working properly then the problem could be as simple as not enough water or as complicated as a pump malfunction.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 12th, 2010 at 11:07 pm and is filed under Troubleshooting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.