Power Washing and Roof Cleaning Forum

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Fat Boy Pump Question

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I learned a few things last week between PW Mall and Delavan. First, when you take the heads apart, the new pumps now have stainless steel parts on the valve assembly housing. It used to be some kind of white rubber. I am rebuilding all the pumps I have with good motors with new valve assembly housings and lower housing for around $30.00 each. The old rubber valve assembly will work in the newer pumps that have caused problems since they changed them.

With that over with... when we used the 12V a lot, I always removed the relay and went with an automotive solenoid. That always worked once dialed in.

Here is Barry Landis' pictures for wiring.

I may not have answered the question but I hope this helps.

Patrick G · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Two new pumps went down from PW mall in two months and at the worst time......fool me once.

I have Bobs pump since...no problems

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Patrick G wrote:
Two new pumps went down from PW mall in two months and at the worst time......fool me once.

I have Bobs pump since...no problems

They are all made by Delavan so I don't know any difference except Bob puts his own sticker on them and they cost more. Maybe he is replacing the new valve assembly with the older style. The only way to know is take them apart.

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

BlueRidge wrote:
Patrick G wrote:
Two new pumps went down from PW mall in two months and at the worst time......fool me once.

I have Bobs pump since...no problems
They are all made by Delavan so I don't know any difference except Bob puts his own sticker on them and they cost more. Maybe he is replacing the new valve assembly with the older style. The only way to know is take them apart.

No Brett, Bob's pump's are made by the original inventor of the pump. He broke away from Delavan and still make's his own pump' They look alike, but not the same. I'm going back to Bobs pump. These new Delavans SUCK!

When you see Bob this week ask him

Diamond Roof Cleaning · Approved Exterior Cleaner

That is why we switched to booster pumps and only use 12 volt when we have to which is very rare.

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I just got a Fat Boy 2 that I had in my shop working that was cycling and had a bad relay. I adjusted it as Brett recommended and its working fine with a snow plow Soleniod. I also talked to Delavan and they are testing with Soleniods. He said they definitely work better and last longer. Maybe we will get a fix on this problem that we have had for years. PW Mall said nobody else is having a problem with the pumps but me. He's full of S hit and I'm not buying his pumps anymore

.

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Art O wrote:
I just got a Fat Boy 2 that I had in my shop working that was cycling and had a bad relay. I adjusted it as Brett recommended and its working fine with a snow plow Soleniod. I also talked to Delavan and they are testing with Soleniods. He said they definitely work better and last longer. Maybe we will get a fix on this problem that we have had for years. PW Mall said nobody else is having a problem with the pumps but me. He's full of S hit and I'm not buying his pumps anymore
.

He knows I am having some issues because we talked about it this past week.

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

BlueRidge wrote:
Art O wrote:
I just got a Fat Boy 2 that I had in my shop working that was cycling and had a bad relay. I adjusted it as Brett recommended and its working fine with a snow plow Soleniod. I also talked to Delavan and they are testing with Soleniods. He said they definitely work better and last longer. Maybe we will get a fix on this problem that we have had for years. PW Mall said nobody else is having a problem with the pumps but me. He's full of S hit and I'm not buying his pumps anymore
.
He knows I am having some issues because we talked about it this past week.

I'm sending another pump back. This time direct to Delavan. The minute i Fired it up it was grinding. 3 roofs later it was done. I could fix it with the Soleniod, but I will let them go through it.

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

New winter project in the works. How to add a Soleniod directly to the pump. Not going to be hard to do.

Art O · Approved Exterior Cleaner

BlueRidge wrote:
Art O wrote:
I just got a Fat Boy 2 that I had in my shop working that was cycling and had a bad relay. I adjusted it as Brett recommended and its working fine with a snow plow Soleniod. I also talked to Delavan and they are testing with Soleniods. He said they definitely work better and last longer. Maybe we will get a fix on this problem that we have had for years. PW Mall said nobody else is having a problem with the pumps but me. He's full of S hit and I'm not buying his pumps anymore
.
He knows I am having some issues because we talked about it this past week.

Been thinking about these Fat Boys. If they have been changing the Fat Boy 3 around, Maybe the Fat Boy 2 is a better pump.

Zach Maynard · Approved Exterior Cleaner

I had a delavan for about 6 hours and it started grinding, it sounded awful. I sent it in a Delavan said it worked fine.... I did not pay to have it shipped back.
I have another one that has been going strong for 5 months now, go figure...

Maverick Contracting · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Same here, some pumps fail in no time, others identical last years.

FB2 on 2nd yr ( moderate use) but had one fail 1 week out .

DirtyRoofcom · Approved Exterior Cleaner

i have been through 3 pumps from PWmall and have since stopped getting them from there and went back to pressure tek. I was breaking head bolts on every pump, the pumps from pw mall are not the same as as pressure tek...not even close

Patrick G · Approved Exterior Cleaner

PWmall not worth the headache...pumps suk'

Chris · Exterior Cleaner

I know this is an older thread but when you guys say the relay, is that what some other people are calling the pressure switch?

I saw that video where they bypass the pressure switch and use the snow plow relay and say this helps them last much longer (fatboy pumps) but Mr. Sullivan says he replaces the pump at the end of every season just so he has a new one ready to go for the new season.

Just wondering how many have done this and if it really helps the pumps last a lot longer.

Thank you.

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Chris wrote:
I know this is an older thread but when you guys say the relay, is that what some other people are calling the pressure switch?

I saw that video where they bypass the pressure switch and use the snow plow relay and say this helps them last much longer (fatboy pumps) but Mr. Sullivan says he replaces the pump at the end of every season just so he has a new one ready to go for the new season.

Just wondering how many have done this and if it really helps the pumps last a lot longer.

Thank you.

I'll bet they are newbies. On the Fat Boy there is an adjustable pressure switch and a relay. Many years ago Barry Landis figured out the relay problem and started using a solenoid from older Ford trucks. I always remove the factory relay and install the Ford relay.

If it's the same Mr. Sullivan I'm thinking of. It took all day and six phone calls for him to get the first one wired, then made a lonely video taking claim and the expert for those relays.

Jeff Wible · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Hey Brett,..I've seen seen so much recycled info here that the wrong people take credit for. Doesn't have to be always mentioned who the originator was,.but it is bad if it's made to sound like they founded it. Truth be told,..it's hard to tell where most of the ideas came from,..I think even the ones that claim to be theirs as "Original",..is likely derived derived from someone elses idea or old postings from years ago. I'm like you,..I try to give credit where credit is due. I see alot of stuff get recirculated over the years,..just like it's new, Ha, Ha,...

*Nothing wrong with tweaking others' ideas,..

Jeff

Chris · Exterior Cleaner

I think it was Bruce Sullivan's video. I don't know if he was taking credit for it but was showing how he removes the pressure switch or the relay (I forgot which, he just cuts the wires to it and runs them to the solenoid) and then wires up the solenoid.

It seems like it would help the pump last longer but I have not used one of the FatBoy pumps so I don't know for sure.

How many of you that use 12 volt pumps use the solenoid on them? Do you think it helps the pump last longer?

Thank you.

BlueRidge · Approved Exterior Cleaner

Chris wrote:
I think it was Bruce Sullivan's video. I don't know if he was taking credit for it but was showing how he removes the pressure switch or the relay (I forgot which, he just cuts the wires to it and runs them to the solenoid) and then wires up the solenoid.

It seems like it would help the pump last longer but I have not used one of the FatBoy pumps so I don't know for sure.

How many of you that use 12 volt pumps use the solenoid on them? Do you think it helps the pump last longer?

Thank you.

I don't know about making the pump last logner but certainly the solenoid vs the relay. I have used Fat Boys for years. The older ones lasted 1 - 1.5 years. The newer ones I think have finally had the kinks worked out but we don't use them that much.

Bruce's video really pissed me off. Yes, he was taking credit! I am not exaggerating, he call at least six times the day he was making the change. He even tried switching the negative and positive and wondered why he kept blowing fuses! Once I saw the picture and told him what was wrong it all worked. Tweaking other's ideas, saying what you did to THEIR idea is the right thing to do. Taking someones idea, making a video without mention that person... WRONG! I will always call someone out for that crap! Bruce knew how I felt and pulled the video. Surprisingly!

Chris · Exterior Cleaner

Wow, I did not know about all of that Brett, That sucks.

There are many guys in the facebook groups, one guy in particular who is really bad about this, named Marc Carraro, he learns something new then the next week he is bashing others and acting like he knew this for a long time, he has only been washing like 2 or 3 years maybe.

The guy was not getting water to his pump......because he had the tank on top of the supply hose, yes, the tank was on top of the hose so many of us told him to get the hose out from under the tank and the water will flow. He tried to say the tank is empty and would not matter but you could see water or chemical in the tank. He is such an imposter. I would call him out on his lies and B.S. then he blocked me so I don't know what lies and other crap he is saying.

That is the same guy that collected money for some equipment but did not ship it for over 4 weeks and was trying to sell it to other guys at the same time. He got called out on it and finally shipped the stuff out and it was partially broken before shipped. Tried the same thing to someone else later on. It sucks that there are people out there like that.

Sorry about the rant.

Thanks for the information.

waxman18324 · Founding Member Rest in Peace

Chris,

Marc is from Florida correct? I cut him off about three years ago.

Hank

Chris · Exterior Cleaner

waxman18324 wrote:
Chris,

Marc is from Florida correct? I cut him off about three years ago.

Hank

Yes Hank, he is from Florida, he is also a scuba diver I think.