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How many believe that extreme heat is the main factor for Garage Cleaning ?

Some contractors believe that Blasting the oil with extreme high pressure is the way to remove the oil. Some others think caustic is the way to go, which may harm our environment if not contained and neutralized or people in the immediate area.

We at the Crystal Cleaning Company here in the Bay Area of California, realized 20 years ago, that in order to pressure wash and clean a Parking Garage, that extreme heat was an avenue that few had explored. Heating up to 250 to 300 degrees plus was...... enough said.

What do you think?
 

Jeff LeCours

New member
Jim do you use extreme heat & some chems or just extreme heat. I would like to see how an oily parking spot cleans up your way. Would be cool to see the difference

Does useing the extreme heat bring more oil up, meaning how of course oil goes deep into the porous cement will the heat reach in deeper basically

What about coated parking garages? Many around here the top floor which is open the the sun and elements have a painted deck and the rest are just concrete, does the extreme heat mess with the coating or do you just not see any coated garages?
 

Ken Fenner

Active member
Jim, I'd like to hear more about that. My thought process on oil has always been this.. motor oil is formulated to withstand thermal breakdown. I never really thought about the temperature at which that breakdown occurs becuase I assumed one couldn't generate water temperatures that high.

Also, what type of equipment (burners etc) is needed to sustain that high of a temperature at high flow volume?
 

John Tornabene

Member Guest
Jim--What has your experience been with using 250-300 degree heat on painted parking lines in the parking garages?? We use around 180-200 degree heat & sometimes I wonder if we did go a little hotter if the cleaning process would be quicker and more thorough.
 
We use a high PH chemical....NOT CAUSTIC !.

This chemical works hand in hand with our filtration system which is over 20 ft long. Costs us over $75,000 to build back in 1994.

We hand scrub each oil stain. We will not go over 300 degrees for obvious reasons, however, just 3 nights ago, we were only able to hit 260 degrees at 3,000 psi. The outside temp was only 46 degrees. Our sub had an All American 580,000 btu with 6 GPM. He was at 3,500 psi. He could only hit 162 degrees. His system is 3 years old. It was a well maintained machine in good condition.

Just so that everyone knows, we do not assume that just because our thermostat has a dial that we can turn up to 302 means that we must be at 302. There are many factors to heat transfer. AIR, in coming WATER TEMP, Humidity, length of coil, BTU's, pressure and GPM's.

Our boilers are semi custom made for us at 1.1 million BTU's each and they are very quite and efficient.


This is our second rig. The first we sold for $92,000 or so. This one we have invested over $120,000 and we are still not finished. Fully loaded our unit weighs in at 14,890 LBS.

spec's

2.2 million BTU's
11.8 GPM's
4,500 PSI
Hydraulic motors
Hydraulic drives
Variable GPM's from 1 GPM to 11.8 GPM
16 k AXLES with rubber ride, no springs.
3 hydraulic jacks with skates for mobility around tight corners/ columns in a Parking Garage
ENTIRE Trailer is POWDER COATED to 4 mil thick not painted.
Electric crane for lifting surface cleaners to 2nd floor. Can lift up to 1,850 LBS
3.3 LITER 4 cyl. TURBO DIESEL as the power plant. 590 lbs.


This is just a few of it's features.


If you would like to see the unit in action,

May I suggest going to the LAS VEGAS Round Table this March 28th and 29th to take a look at it.


I am driving the rig down there for Round Table to allow the ones who attend the Round Table to try a demo with the high temperatures in place. To try it out in removing gum at these high temps. Kevlar sleeves will be provided.

We may have another pressure washer there as well to show the what is the difference between the BTU's.

No Photo's of the mechanics of the rig will be allowed.



... Jim
 

Guy Blackmon

New member
Jim, I've seen only pictures of your rig, and all I can say is wow!!! Wish I could go to Vegas for the live demo. Hope someone post video of demo.
 
Jim - when you have a heavy build up of grease in a stall...do you scrap it first? And if so, what do tool do you use?


Carlos,

To answer your question, NO, we do not scrap the oil/ dirty substance off. The substance will have oil and petroleum by products in it. We use our chemical to cut through it by scrubbing the stain. The turbo's do the rest.

Please note: that we only use the Turbos for a more aggressive stance. We have found the the Steel eagle is working fine with the lighter, a more maintained usage of a garage.
 

Carlos Gonzales

New member
Carlos,

To answer your question, NO, we do not scrap the oil/ dirty substance off. The substance will have oil and petroleum by products in it. We use our chemical to cut through it by scrubbing the stain. The turbo's do the rest.

Please note: that we only use the Turbos for a more aggressive stance. We have found the the Steel eagle is working fine with the lighter, a more maintained usage of a garage.

Thanks Jim for the insight on this. Oh..thanks for lunch yesterday!! Hope you meeting in S.F. went well.
 
Meeting went very well. do have a problem with the tight turns inside the garage. We are putting a new hydraulic jack skating system on our rig. Cost.... another 12 k.

With this system, we will be able to lift the trailer and move the trailer around the corner.

for example:

If the truck made a left turn around a Column and was facing at the 9 O'clock position and the trailer was at the 6 O'clock position, normally we would be stuck. with this system we can push a button and raise the trailer up off the wheels and push the trailer to the 3 O'clock position in-line with the truck. Now the column is not an issue anymore.
 

Rob Huffman

New member
Jim,
It was a pleasure talking last week. This new system definately sounds impressive. Your rigs are beyond the norm. Let me know how that system works.
 

Jim Cooney

New member
Jim is a great guy and willing to help his fellow contractors. He's a valuable source of inventive and successful techniques, state of the art equipment and possesses a wealth of experience and knowledge.

I personally have the utmost respect for Jim as he has shown me willingness and provided knowledge to me unlike most in the industry. I also find it embarrassing to read the bashing and disrespect he has recently received over at the power trip board.
 

Jeff LeCours

New member
Jim, lets not bring problems from another Business Board here please, its just how we do things here. Please lets just keep this thread on topic

Mods may decide this shouldn't be here and if they do, they will notify you if it is removed. Actually if you would remove it, it would be better

Thanks and wish you the best and sometimes the best is to move on and move forward
 
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Carlos Gonzales

New member
Sorry to hear about the ban Jim. As Jeff mentioned and I support his sentiment when he says that it is a matter of policy here that what happens on other BBS's just need to stay there.

Hope to see you in Orlando!!
 
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