Pictures of the new truck mount I built

[Loren Egland]

Definately an interesting truck mount. Nothing to be ashamed of. Good looking componants.

 

[John Watson]

Kevin, You have had your home built running for a lil better than a year now,

Have you had any problems with the componets you chose??

Has your pump worked ok with out the clutch??

Did you ever get any complaints about the loudness with your night running??

Many here are still drooling with envy over you building such a great looking, well planed and put together machine.

The proof is in the pudding that you spent many hours planing this unit out. You spent time with Les and Greenie and others while planing this labor of love.

What if any changes would you have made or modified or have made now in the hindsight??

 

[KBRENNY]

I have not had any problems thatere serious. Here is a list

1. The increased air flow through the 4ht heater was pulling the pilot light away from the
thermocouple and causing the burner to shut off.

This was easily fixed by modifying the distance between the pilot and thermocouple and
opening up the pilot orifice just a little.

2. There was a "check valve" in the pressure regulator that was not needed for my application
This was causing the system to build up enough pressure to force steam back into the
pump which in turn would cause it to loose it's prime.

Easily fixed by removing a cap, removing "check valve" and replacing cap.

3. Had a small chemical draw problem which was very hard to find because the hose clamp on
the hose from the solution tank to the metering valve had broken on the bottom side where
it could not be seen.

Solution was easy, I just replaced all the hose clamps on the unit with higher quality ones.
Also, since the hose barbs where there were hose clamps were long enough I placed 2 hose
clamps on each location.

Those are all the problems I have had so far. I am still running the original belts with no signs of abnormal wear (still keep a spare set on the truck).

As far as the noise level, I was concerned at first that it would be a problem. After running it next to another unit with a 24 hp Honda and a 4mp I was actually impressed that it was not as loud. I have only had one complaint from a grouchy neighbor and the home owner said he complained if he mowed his lawn after 7:30 pm.

If I had to do anything different other than the 3 problems listed above I would have built the heat exchange sooner. I ran out of propane on a job Wednesday and I was pleased to see that I was still getting constant 160 deg at the wand with just the heat exchanger. That was with 5 #4 jets and running at 600 psi.

I also plan on putting something on my dump valve outlet pipe. Every time the unit is running and the dump tank valve is open when I walk by it grabs the terry cotton towel out of my pocket and sucks it all the way to the last elbow before the tank and it is a PITA to get back out.

 

[TimP]

How many hours so far??? Have you done any dual wanding with it??

 

[KBRENNY]

400 hrs as of friday, dual wanded once but now I have a 24" wand that greenie pimped out and should not need to dual wand.

 

[TimP]

400 hrs as of friday, dual wanded once but now I have a 24" wand that greenie pimped out and should not need to dual wand.

24" wand may be nice for residential (a nightmare in tight places if you ask me) but CGD you're going to find spots where the 24" wand wont suck properly due to crowning or bowing in the floor.

glad it's working out good....400 hours is a good milestone.

 

[Ron Werner]

what kind of HX did you put on it?

DO you find you like the HX or the propane for heat?

 

[TimP]

Ron he build an engine exhaust exchanger. He built it by building a chamber for water to go in and out and I believe 4 tubes for the exhaust to flow through the center of the chamber. It fits in the exhaust system..... Very simple and crude yet takes the chill out for the LP burner (which he uses all the time, as long as he don't run out of LP) as to not need to use as much LP. There are pictures posted in another thread. Like he said he gets 160 ATW with just the exhanger. Not bad for a crude system. The bad thing is there is no exchanger diverter so sitting there leaving it alone could be dangerous but I don't know if he has a safety system in place or not, or if he really needs one with the way he built it.

 

[KBRENNY]

The outer shell of the heat exchanger is made from 4" id schedule 80 seamless 304 stainless steel. There are 5 passages that are made from 3/4" id sched 80 304 stainless steel, the end plates were water jet cut out of stainless steel at 5/16" thick and I had them welded by a certified welder.

The exchanger would be a serious saftey issue if the machine was running for an extended period of time with using any water. I put two safety valves on the system, one will release pressure if it ever reaches 1100 psi or higher and the other will release if it ever reaches 280 deg or higher. Both are connected to the same manifold which routes the released water on the ground under the van.