Forgot to Winterize Pressure Washing Setup?

So today's post is more for DIY customers and other Exterior Cleaning Professionals. We can't all live in year-round warm climates like, for instance, Florida. So, it is essential to watch the weather as it gets colder. If you have a wash job on Tuesday and just did one on Monday, should you winterize your setup on Monday evening? That depends on how cold it is going to get Monday night into Tuesday morning. If the temperature is set to stay comfortably above freezing, you can avoid winterizing. I always like to play it safe and winterize if it is predicted to drop below 40 degrees. Deciding when to winterize is your decision, but be warned that severe damage can occur if you fail to do so and your setup freezes.

Ok, so onto the main topic: what do you do if you forget to or just plain decide not to winterize your setup and it freezes? To start with, you need to determine the severity of the situation. Are the hoses completely frozen solid from end to end? Is it frozen inside of your Softwash Pump? Is the blend manifold (sometimes referred to as mixing valves or proportioner) frozen? What about your actual delivery hoses on your hose reels? Once you have determined how severe of a situation you have on your hands, it's time to get to work. My suggestions are to use heat lamps on the pump and blend manifold. You can use a heat gun on the hoses, but start on the ends, work your way to the middle of the hose, and go slow. Be careful not to damage anything as you thaw your lines and resist the urge to try and disconnect a frozen hose from the pump or manifold or your hose reels. You will likely damage the fittings or the hoses by attempting to disconnect them while they are frozen. Once you have at least a few inches of the hoses thawed by the fittings, you can loosen the hose clamps and let it drain a bit. One thing that will help tremendously is to park your rig in a location where the Sun is able to shine on it and help you in the process if possible. Take your time and make sure that everything is completely thawed before turning on your pump to test the system. On that note, make sure you test your system before heading to your next job. You don't want to go to a job site and find that your system has cracks in it and is spraying water in all the wrong places or sucking air into the system, causing poor performance or failure. Replace any parts that have cracked or broken, and tighten any hose clamps you may have loosened. Hopefully, this helps give you some direction, and if this does happen to you, I hope it only happens once! The obvious solution to avoiding all this aggravation is always to be cautious and winterize! A little bit of work at the end of the day can save a lot of work, aggravation, and money the next morning.