Our test drives almost always focus on machines that you guys use every day to earn your living. I mean that is the most important thing to you, right? Of course it is but there is the other side of the ledger too, maintenance. Our machines need to perform every day, whenever we need them, but how much effort do we put into keeping them in good working order? Probably, not as much as we should! So with this in mind, let’s look at something different for a change – a machine that is used to keep really big machinery clean, a pressure cleaner with a difference, a fully portable, petrol-powered hot and cold water pressure cleaner – a state of the art machine by Spitwater.
At first glance, we get the picture. This is not a toy, not something that you’d get at a local hardware store for a couple of hundred bucks – this is serious gear! When we talk about this pressure cleaner, we are talking about the machine used to clean-up big excavators used in mining for example, we are talking about a machine that weight in excess of 200 kg and takes roughly one cubic metre of space, a tool, not a toy!
You would be hard pressed to find somebody that owns an earthmover or a truck that doesn’t own a pressure cleaner. This pressure cleaner is recommended for people who have a fleet of excavators, a fleet of trucks – this is a pressure cleaner that will clean up a lot of machines, in a hurry…
The machine we looked at is the Spitwater Model SW2015A – a skid mounted, petrol engine powered unit with a Diesel powered boiler, which offers total versatility of a portable hot and cold water pressure cleaner. The machine has a water flow of 15 L/min with the pressure of 200 Bar, 3000 psi in the old money. Add the fact that the water can be heated by the machine to up to approximately 95ºC after being pressurised and you have one of the most powerful cleaning units for earthmoving equipment that money can buy.
When considering the right machine to use for the application, there are many different factors that need to be considered and they are all equally important. This particular model boasts a 13 hp Honda, Model GX390 engine, with electric start. The GX series engines are the industrial range or the ‘red’ Hondas and you can see this just by looking at them. They are a full metal engine and are ridiculously easy to service. They simply last forever! The other advantage of the Honda engine that there are literally hundreds of Honda service centres around the country so parts and warranty repairs are never a problem. And have I mentioned this, Honda GX engines now offer a 3-year warranty! That is real belief in your product!
This particular Spitwater model is mounted on a robust steel skid and is fitted with an equally strong roll-over steel frame. Both are zinc-annealed and powder-coated with the base in black and the roll-frame in the Spitwater signature, red colour. The layout of the machine is really well thought-out with all the filling points and components that operator needs to access, all on the same side of the machine. There is integrated space for the water cooling tank, 10 Litre detergent injection tank and a rest for the gun and lance.
The heart of any pressure cleaner is the pump. Spitwater pressure cleaners use Interpump pumps. They are Italian made and are really serious, heavy duty, high quality pumps! Interpump is the largest manufacturer of high pressure pumps in the world and their pumps are reputedly the most technologically advanced pumps available.
The pumps have a solid brass head and a very sturdy alloy casing. When you open the pumps up, not that you ever should, you’ll see smooth, hardened, ceramic pistons and heavy duty seals. In the head of the pump, the valve seats are stainless steel, which not many other pumps can claim.
This model has a stand-alone unloader valve which offers full, 100% water by-pass back to the water cooling tank in trigger closed mode, protecting the pump from overheating. A lot of machines don’t have this feature but this is something that is absolutely essential in the type of machine that SW2015A is and it is a feature that is absolutely necessary so that the machine can work all day, every day.
Our test machine came standard with a larger, 20-metre long, 3/8 inch diameter, double wire braided hose which is another mandatory accessory in an industrial application. The gun had a nice soft trigger so it would be easy to use for extended periods of time.
The hot water is ideal for removing grease
The dual stainless steel lance felt strong and the high and low pressure valve was easy to open and close. The high and low pressure valve is used in low pressure mode for detergent application and allows water to feed through both pipes of a dual lance, sucking detergent from the 10 L container, through an adjustable venturi.
A simple flick of the switch activated the Diesel-fired burner, giving the operator instant hot water at high pressure. If you have ever used a normal cold water pressure cleaner, you will know how difficult it can be to remove grease and really heavy grime off things, with or without detergent and degreaser. Well, using hot water makes this work an absolute breeze! The cleaner cut through the dirt and grease on the large excavator we were cleaning with an ease of a knife cutting through butter. It was awesome. As we were cleaning, we could see the clouds of steam rising off the pressurised jet of water, coming out of our dual lance. The machine was doing its job and doing it well.
This Spitwater is near enough to the best machine I have ever used but it has some isues that can be improved. I’m not sure of the extra cost but I would probably upgrade the equipment to include a frame mounted hose reel. At 20 metres, the hose was long enough to clean a large size excavator but it was hard to put away at the end. It was no big deal, it was just an inconvenience. The hose reel is definitely a good investment. Another minus to me was the sheer size of the machine. It is large, I mean really large. At approximately 1 m long by 1 m wide and 1 m high, the machine takes up almost an entire 6 x 4 trailer. As it is self contained and only needs water, it would be great to be able to combine it with a large, say 600 L water tank for total portability. If the machine was slightly more compact and there is plenty of room within the frame to make it smaller, it would be better, I guess. This aside, it was just great to use.
All in all, with the combination of the Honda GX engine, the brass head Interpump and the Spitwater made Diesel boiler, I have to say, this is a top end machine and perfect for washing down machinery on site…
