Steel Eagle problems

[jakobe]

I have a big steel eagle surface cleaner
and lately it just isnt cleaning right

I'm getting swirly patterns on the concrete
and its seems to be cleaning better on the left and right edges than on the front edge
it kind leaves a stripe with the clean part being on the left and right and the swirlys being in the middle

it never used to do this

I have adjusted the arms in every position but it does it not help

my arms arent bent
this is my second rotary union and it spins well
there are no clogs in the jets


suggestions?

I really need help ..it took me almost 7 hours to do a basic dirt double driveway yesterday , it should have taken 3.

[One Tough Pressure]

Change the tips they are probably worn and you can not see this.

[Craig]

use good chems, hot water. As Alan said, one or both tips may be worn. You can mount a pressure gauge on your machine so you know when your tips are worn (pressure drops).

[Ron Musgraves]

The nozzles tip are definitaly warn, its very possible rocks have prematurely taken them out of shape causing this type of patterns.

Rinse before you start using your surface cleane, this helps and is safer also.

[Lightning Gene]

We have all seen this question asked from alot of people......My question is what GPM machine is being used? What is the PSI? What size surfacer? What size nozzle is in the surfacer,are the nozzles aligned properly,Did they pre-wet concrete or use a cleaner? Are they walking too fast?.....I guess what I am saying is there can be alot of reasons the stripping occurs and they need to ck all of them.....

[Ron Musgraves]

Originally Posted by Lightning Gene

We have all seen this question asked from alot of people......My question is what GPM machine is being used? What is the PSI? What size surfacer? What size nozzle is in the surfacer,are the nozzles aligned properly,Did they pre-wet concrete or use a cleaner? Are they walking too fast?.....I guess what I am saying is there can be alot of reasons the stripping occurs and they need to ck all of them.....

completly agree, from what he has said above about the line. I'm pretty confident thats his problem.

Your right Gene, could actually be about 4 or 5 things.

I dont think chemical increase is always the correct cure. It will work, but often is not the real problem.

Surface cleaning should clean evenly with or with out chemicals.

[John Orr]

I would look for a possible leak in either a spray arm or possibly around a tip. Since it is cleaning better on one side, is it possible that one of the tires is low on air? or that the front wheel is bent?

[jakobe]

must be the tips then

- arms not leaking
- tires arent low
- stock arms and tips from steel eagle
- it may be set at 15 degrees although we adjust it frequently for other types of concrete

its cleaning better on the right AND left edges better than the center in case I confused yall with my previous description.

The chemicals or our procedure isnt the problem nor is water temp or "walking to fast"
we have been in business for years and this has never been an issue before.

it is definetely an issue with the surface cleaner.
as another surface cleaner works fine on the same job

and adding more 12.5 really isnt the answer in this case as this concrete is stained with red clay and sap neither are heavily affected by bleach.

and I think, since the last rotary went bad possibly before the tips wore out.
thus we never noticed any reduced performance as the tips have been "newer" the entire time this unit has been in service as the new rotary came with arms and tips.

Thanks for the help I will be swapping the arms and tips out this week.

luckily we have had a boom in business this week and most of them have been houses with very light dirt on the concrete. so the reduced performance of the SC hasnt been a problem.


I think this unit is
-25 hp
-diesel hot water
-HT-4000 psi
-8gpm

[One Tough Pressure]

No need to change arms before checking tips alone. They do not last long with constant wear. Put a gauge on there and see.

[David O'Connell Jr.]

Originally Posted by jakobe

I have a big steel eagle surface cleaner
and lately it just isnt cleaning right

I'm getting swirly patterns on the concrete
and its seems to be cleaning better on the left and right edges than on the front edge
it kind leaves a stripe with the clean part being on the left and right and the swirlys being in the middle

it never used to do this

I have adjusted the arms in every position but it does it not help

my arms arent bent
this is my second rotary union and it spins well
there are no clogs in the jets


suggestions?

I really need help ..it took me almost 7 hours to do a basic dirt double driveway yesterday , it should have taken 3.

Have you ever changed the tips?
We go thru tips like butter.

[jakobe]

swapped tips
everything was working great

It was a combination of the tips being worn and an extra dirty driveway
mainly sap

I ran the worn tips on another not so dirty driveway and it cleaned fine

I have never seen sap like this before, and living in Ga we have alot of sap

swapping the tips ressurected the steel eagle and I was sailing through the job

then


then frickin spare hose blew
dang

[Hummerbk]

My Steel Eagle leaves stripes when I'm cleaning an exceptionally dirty driveway.
The reason is when you overlap the previously cleaned section the overlapped area is cleaned twice...hence the one or two inch wide stripes on each side. Notice how the stripes are usually cleaner then the non overlapped areas.
Slowing down or increasing chemical strength can help.