Rinseless Pre-Spray Equipment

[Setec Astronomy]

When rinseless pre-spray became a thing, we all went out and bought cheap little pump-up sprayers from Home Depot, and that seemed fine.

Then came fancier pump-up sprayers, mostly IK, some with capability to foam, followed by people hacking them with air pumps, followed by IK factory equipping them with air pumps. Now we seem to be having a "keg party", I'm not really sure what's going on with that.

I've always thought it was inefficient to spray by compressing air, when there are liquid pumps that seem to do a good job at the pressures we are talking about. I went the route a few years ago, inspired by a YouTube video by Scott at Dallas Paint Correction, of buying a Harbor Freight airless paint sprayer.

It was about $150 (with coupon), and it works great for this purpose. The problem is, you have to plug it in, it feeds with a draw tube from a "paint" bucket, and it has a 30' hose which is not very flexible, all of which combine to make it a little less than desirable. Plus they don't have that cheap one anymore, they seem to cost hundreds of dollars more now, although there is a Wagner one with an integral reservoir that's $225-$250:

I have a Petra backpack sprayer that I use in my garden that holds 4 gallons, has a removable rechargeable battery that lasts for hours and hours, and has pretty good pressure, and I have thought many times it would be great for prespray (I never use it as a backpack, I just carry it), and have wondered why no one else has tried this.

The bad news is that Petra doesn't make that sprayer anymore...the good news is a seemingly exact one with a slightly different nozzle selection is available on Amazon...for half what I paid for the Petra one (and apparently another 5% off right now): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DQWC5WHQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A359SAK497NL63&psc=1

So my question is why would someone pay ~$250 for an IK sprayer that only has 1.5 gallons usable volume (IK e Multi Pro 12 Sprayer) when you can get the (pictured) 4 gallon sprayer for less than $90? Why are people converting beer kegs that they then have to charge up with an air compressor? The only problem I have with the garden sprayer is that if you run it dry, it sometimes takes 30 seconds or so to prime, which can seem like an eternity.

Again--just to clarify, I have not used the above pictured garden sprayer on a vehicle, but I have used it plenty on plants and I don't see why it wouldn't work perfectly for vehicles.

 

[MisterSnoop]

I've been using a Tovia garden sprayer for a few years. It was like $35. It usually has just enough to get my car done. I believe they make 1 gallon sprayers with wands for 50 or so.

 

[BLM]

So my question is why would someone pay ~$250 for an IK sprayer that only has 1.5 gallons usable volume (IK e Multi Pro 12 Sprayer) when you can get the (pictured) 4 gallon sprayer for less than $90?

I have an IK Multi Pro 12 ( modified to be charged with a compressor) and Two IK Pro Foam 12s. The price isn't even close to $250.00. The full price is $115.00. These are very good/ high quality sprayers IMO.
1.5 Gallons is enough to presoak three cars. Most times I only put 1/2 gallon in the pump sprayer. 4 gallons is enough to presoak 8 vehicles. Perhaps that would make sense to a professional mobile detailer. If one has a sprayer with 4 gallons in it that means it would weigh 150 % more than the IK with a 1.5 gallon load.
I can presoak my entire pickup truck including the cap on a single charge by the compressor. It seems to me that all the advantages belong to the IK.
The Wagner sprayer looks like it would be burden.

 

[Optimus Grime]

When rinseless pre-spray became a thing, we all went out and bought cheap little pump-up sprayers from Home Depot, and that seemed fine.

Then came fancier pump-up sprayers, mostly IK, some with capability to foam, followed by people hacking them with air pumps, followed by IK factory equipping them with air pumps. Now we seem to be having a "keg party", I'm not really sure what's going on with that.

I've always thought it was inefficient to spray by compressing air, when there are liquid pumps that seem to do a good job at the pressures we are talking about. I went the route a few years ago, inspired by a YouTube video by Scott at Dallas Paint Correction, of buying a Harbor Freight airless paint sprayer.

It was about $150 (with coupon), and it works great for this purpose. The problem is, you have to plug it in, it feeds with a draw tube from a "paint" bucket, and it has a 30' hose which is not very flexible, all of which combine to make it a little less than desirable. Plus they don't have that cheap one anymore, they seem to cost hundreds of dollars more now, although there is a Wagner one with an integral reservoir that's $225-$250:

I have a Petra backpack sprayer that I use in my garden that holds 4 gallons, has a removable rechargeable battery that lasts for hours and hours, and has pretty good pressure, and I have thought many times it would be great for prespray (I never use it as a backpack, I just carry it), and have wondered why no one else has tried this.

The bad news is that Petra doesn't make that sprayer anymore...the good news is a seemingly exact one with a slightly different nozzle selection is available on Amazon...for half what I paid for the Petra one (and apparently another 5% off right now): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DQWC5WHQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A359SAK497NL63&psc=1

So my question is why would someone pay ~$250 for an IK sprayer that only has 1.5 gallons usable volume (IK e Multi Pro 12 Sprayer) when you can get the (pictured) 4 gallon sprayer for less than $90? Why are people converting beer kegs that they then have to charge up with an air compressor? The only problem I have with the garden sprayer is that if you run it dry, it sometimes takes 30 seconds or so to prime, which can seem like an eternity.

Again--just to clarify, I have not used the above pictured garden sprayer on a vehicle, but I have used it plenty on plants and I don't see why it wouldn't work perfectly for vehicles.

Speak of the devil. This was in my Utoob recommendations and I already have quite a few Ego batteries. Being able to do double duty on my lawn and for rinseless washing has me intrigued. I already have a backpack sprayer but 350 PSI is quite impressive and might be enough to allow me to leave the pressure washer at home for those rare mobile jobs.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I have an IK Multi Pro 12 ( modified to be charged with a compressor) and Two IK Pro Foam 12s. The price isn't even close to $250.00. The full price is $115.00. These are very good/ high quality sprayers IMO.
1.5 Gallons is enough to presoak three cars. Most times I only put 1/2 gallon in the pump sprayer. 4 gallons is enough to presoak 8 vehicles. Perhaps that would make sense to a professional mobile detailer. If one has a sprayer with 4 gallons in it that means it would weigh 150 % more than the IK with a 1.5 gallon load.
I can presoak my entire pickup truck including the cap on a single charge by the compressor. It seems to me that all the advantages belong to the IK.
The Wagner sprayer looks like it would be burden.

The price I quoted is for the model I quoted (e Multi Pro 12), which is the battery powered version.
Just because that sprayer holds 4 gallons, doesn't mean you need to put 4 gallons in it.
The IK sprayers are limited to 50 psi, and that's if you are able to maintain that pressure by pumping or running the compressor. The Toovem (rolls eyes) sprays at 70psi continuously for hours.

 

[BTW574]

The big advantage of spraying with compressed air is not worry about what effect the chemicals are going to have on all of the seals in a pump sprayer. Most of those sprayers are designed for PH neutral products and if you spray high alkaline or acidic product you could damage the seals in them.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I've been using a Tovia garden sprayer for a few years. It was like $35. It usually has just enough to get my car done. I believe they make 1 gallon sprayers with wands for $50 or so.

The thing with those is they don't spray with much force. I don't know about you guys, but I'd prefer to blast (relatively speaking) the grit off my car rather than relying on just gravity.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

The big advantage of spraying with compressed air is not worry about what effect the chemicals are going to have on all of the seals in a pump sprayer. Most of those sprayers are designed for PH neutral products and if you spray high alkaline or acidic product you could damage the seals in them.

Yeah, if you are doing that. Many people pre-spray with rinseless wash, not 3pH solutions.

EDIT: Also, frequently you can alleviate the pH effects by promptly rinsing things out...not sure if that will work with the diaphragm pump in the Toovem (cringe), but for the cheap pump-up wand sprayers it does. Quick story I have been using vinegar on moss/algae in my driveway, I started with the concentrated vinegar you can get from Amazon, and I got a special $60 acid compatible sprayer...so I left the vinegar in there, and the seals swelled up and it wouldn't work. I called the (vinegar) company and asked what sprayer they can recommend...the guy said he's never found a good one, what he does is just gets the cheap Home Depot stain sprayer, but rinses it out after using, and it's fine. So I did that...and it was fine. And I even found out that supermarket white vinegar kills moss/algae just fine.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Speak of the devil. This was in my Utoob recommendations and I already have quite a few Ego batteries. Being able to do double duty on my lawn and for rinseless washing has me intrigued. I already have a backpack sprayer but 350 PSI is quite impressive and might be enough to allow me to leave the pressure washer at home for those rare mobile jobs.

Whoa, complete coincidence! That's pretty pricey at $299 for the bare tool, but quite the pressure output. I didn't watch far enough to see if it has adjustable pressure. But to my point above, that will certainly blast things clean. FWIW Ego has a battery actual pressure washer.

 

[Optimus Grime]

Whoa, complete coincidence! That's pretty pricey at $299 for the bare tool, but quite the pressure output. I didn't watch far enough to see if it has adjustable pressure. But to my point above, that will certainly blast things clean. FWIW Ego has a battery actual pressure washer.

My Ryobi backpack sprayer was $200 and this one looks to be of a much better build quality. In the video Keav shows that there are 35 different levels of pressure so you can fine-tune the output to exactly how you like it depending on what job you are doing, which is a very attractive feature.

As for the Ego pressure washers, they both have major flaws for me. The top of the line model is just too large and still only puts out 1.2 gallons per minute even though Matt from obsessed garage played around with different nozzles and was able to get 1.7 gallons per minute and about 1100 psi. The smaller pressure washer seems to get about 30 minutes of usage using the larger batteries and that’s just not good enough for me. The video I saw was able to squeeze out about 1.3 gallons per minute with different nozzles but at that price point without the battery the Active 2.0 is a much better deal and has much more cleaning power.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Yeah, I watched after, that it has an electronic adjustment at the handle, pretty cool.

 

[Coatingsarecrack]

Speak of the devil. This was in my Utoob recommendations and I already have quite a few Ego batteries. Being able to do double duty on my lawn and for rinseless washing has me intrigued. I already have a backpack sprayer but 350 PSI is quite impressive and might be enough to allow me to leave the pressure washer at home for those rare mobile jobs.

I keep having to talk myself out of this… it’s overkill… right?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Setec Astronomy]

I keep having to talk myself out of this… it’s overkill… right?

I am probably 180° from Optimus on this--I wouldn't want to use the same sprayer for my lawn/garden as my car stuff, I don't have any EGO stuff here at home--I was happy I found that sprayer I linked for $90. I just went searching to see what the price on the EGO is with a battery and charger but didn't find it listed that way, however I see Clean Garage has it on their site already (not available yet), so I guess this is going to be a "thing" in the detailing world.

I find this to be a bizarre coincidence that I have been thinking about this topic for some time (why a garden sprayer can't be a good rinseless pre-sprayer) but finally got around to posting it, just before, unbeknownst to me, it was going to become "a thing".

But back to your question of whether it's overkill, which I know was half joking, if a 765 CFM blower isn't overkill, than this isn't, either.

 

[BLM]

The IK sprayers are limited to 50 psi, and that's if you are able to maintain that pressure by pumping or running the compressor. The Toovem (rolls eyes) sprays at 70psi continuously for hours.

Agreed but if i can prespray my entire vehicle via my IK pro 12 with only one charge from my compressor then i dont need 70 PSI for hours.

Also if i can prespray my entire vehicle on one charge from the compressor i dont need the battery powered pump sprayer.

By filling the IK 12 with 1/2 or 3/4 gallons ( ill do 3/4 gallon if im going to use rinseless on my wheels) it leaves more capacity for the air charge.
Personally i think the IK 12s are ideal for foaming or prespraying my vehicles. I have a compressor right in my garage where im doing the washes. Sometimes simplicity is the way to go.

 

[Optimus Grime]

I keep having to talk myself out of this… it’s overkill… right?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Optimus Grime]

I am probably 180° from Optimus on this--I wouldn't want to use the same sprayer for my lawn/garden as my car stuff, I don't have any EGO stuff here at home--I was happy I found that sprayer I linked for $90. I just went searching to see what the price on the EGO is with a battery and charger but didn't find it listed that way, however I see Clean Garage has it on their site already (not available yet), so I guess this is going to be a "thing" in the detailing world.

I find this to be a bizarre coincidence that I have been thinking about this topic for some time (why a garden sprayer can't be a good rinseless pre-sprayer) but finally got around to posting it, just before, unbeknownst to me, it was going to become "a thing".

But back to your question of whether it's overkill, which I know was half joking, if a 765 CFM blower isn't overkill, than this isn't, either.

You’re not different on this issue. My wallet says sell the Ryobi and use the money to buy the Ego but my brain says keep the Ryobi for lawn chemicals and make the Ego strictly for RW, if I decide to take the plunge.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

You’re not different on this issue. My wallet says sell the Ryobi and use the money to buy the Ego but my brain says keep the Ryobi for lawn chemicals and make the Ego strictly for RW, if I decide to take the plunge.

I'll probably do nothing, but I do have Ryobi tools, so I might look at that...hard for me to not jump on that $89 Toovem since that's a known quantity to me, but I already have my other sprayers (oddly the Petra has a 21V 2Ah battery, while the Toovem has an 18V 4Ah...I'm presuming the motor/pump is
the same). I mostly posted this to check if this was a crazy idea, but apparently it isn't.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Agreed but if i can prespray my entire vehicle via my IK pro 12 with only one charge from my compressor then i dont need 70 PSI for hours.

Also if i can prespray my entire vehicle on one charge from the compressor i dont need the battery powered pump sprayer.

By filling the IK 12 with 1/2 or 3/4 gallons ( ill do 3/4 gallon if im going to use rinseless on my wheels) it leaves more capacity for the air charge.
Personally i think the IK 12s are ideal for foaming or prespraying my vehicles. I have a compressor right in my garage where im doing the washes. Sometimes simplicity is the way to go.

I don't have a (good) compressor setup like you do, so, I look at it differently. It's all different ways to skin a cat, there's no right way, we're just crowd-sourcing this to maybe get to some best practices. I was never a big pre-rinser when doing rinseless, so I think the takeaway here is to do it, using one of the ways.

PS Again, this is what I meant when I said "everything has changed in the last 20 years, but nothing has changed". The consensus is pre-rinsing is the thing to do, but there are 14 different ways to do it, and here we are splitting hairs over them, just like we've always done on these forums.

 

[BLM]

Yes if one doesn't have an air compressor then the battery powered equipment would definately be a benefit. Everyone has different challenges. Some live in an apartment where washing ones vehicles presents obstacles others dont have.
For someone that has the access to hose/ pressure washer/garage/etc the battery powered stuff seems like overkill.

 

[MisterSnoop]

The thing with those is they don't spray with much force. I don't know about you guys, but I'd prefer to blast (relatively speaking) the grit off my car rather than relying on just gravity.

If that's the case, there are other options as well like the DeWalt Power Cleaner. They can be hose or bucket fed. The 550 psi version is around 200 with a battery, I believe. The 1000 psi version is more expensive. Worx makes them as well.