Flow Rate Explained

Flow rate explained ...

 For a given wand, if you add up the flow rates of the individual jets, you get the Total Flow or just Flow.

Flip your wand up and look at the tips of your jets. You will see the familiar numbers 8001, 95015 or 11002 etc.

The first digits specify the angle of spray, in degrees,  65°, 80°, 95° and 110° and the last digits specify the individual flow rate, 01, 015, 02, etc (in gpm @ 40psi).

Examples…

2-jet wand with 9502 jets … the angle of each jet is 95 degrees. The Total Flow is the sum of individual flows or 02 + 02 = 04.  To be cool, state the total flow as “FOUR FLOW”

For the PC Quadjet wand,  it is obviously a 4-jet with 95015 jets.  So 015 = 1.5 X 4 So it would be a “SIX FLOW” wand.

For the PC Titanium, there is 6 jets and most guys use 1.5 flow jets so it is a 9 FLOW wand.

Got it?

So we speak of Total Flow as how much water our tools put out.  You too can be super cool by stating stuff like “I’m running 12 flow on my wand” or “I step it down to like 6 flow in the winter, especially on my 1.5” tools.”     

Now realize that nobody is putting down 12 gallons per minute.  We’re speaking in relative terms where 12 flow is way more flow than 6 flow.  

Knowledge of Total Flow can help us clean more efficiently, regardless of the fiber, dirtiness or season.  We can maximize the heat of our machines and thus achieve better, faster cleaning with this knowledge.  Simple experiments will teach us what we need to know.

Connect two different tools of different total flow rates and check the resultant temps at each tool.  If you see more heat at higher total flows then you know the machine likes higher flows, so you go with higher flow jets.  On the other hand, if you experience more heat at lower flows then you know the machine heat system can’t keep up with higher flows.  We may be stuck with low flow jets or maybe we could seek the knowledge of someone who’s dealt the problems before you.