u/Charmlessgamer

I am UK based and currently in the process of kitting out a van for mobile pressure washing, but I'm not sure which route to go down for the pressure washer itself. I will be doing multiple things like car washes, driveway cleaning, etc but ideally want one pressure washer that can do it all to save space and weight. I was originally planning on fitting solar with a split charger, and going fully electric (I will be running other things which will require plug sockets), but google recommends 2,500 to 3,000psi for driveway cleaning and I can't find any off the shelf electric pressure washers which will be powerful enough.

I have done a small amount of research and I THINK it would be possible to make my own. I found a 4,000psi water pump that requires a 13hp motor, and there seems to be plenty of options for 13hp electric motors (mating the two together may not be so easy). Obviously I'd have to make the pressure adjustable for when less power is required. So my question is, would this be a good route to go down? And would it even be possible to run a motor like that from solar/an inverter?

I see that most of the higher psi pressure washers are petrol/gas powered. Which is of course another option. But is there a specific reason for this? In an ideal world I don't really want a petrol powered pressure washer, then have to run a separate generator or solar power for the other things I need to power. It would save a lot of space and weight (I only have a small van) if it could all be powered by electricity.

I am not an electrician but maybe one of you can help because I'm completely lost here. I have just started renting a unit/workshop, but the electricity is currently switched off...I assume it's because the previous tenant left £347 of debt which I wasn't aware of, and the owner is not willing to cover it so I have been left to sort it out. If I absolutely have to then I will pay the debt out of my own pocket, but I have never seen the electricity working so I haven't got any guarantees that it will work!! And I have my doubts.

But first, just for context, there is a second unit, 5 static caravans, and a house all on the same site.

I have been trying to contact the energy provider which the owner tells me is OVO Energy, to see what my options are in terms of clearing the debt. However OVO are telling me that the meter does not exist on their network. I have since contacted the DNO who have confirmed that OVO are 100% the energy supplier HOWEVER it's showing that my meter was removed and replaced with a different meter 1 year ago. I was given the serial number for this replacement meter, which I have found on site, but that meter is powering one of the static caravans!! So it seems that OVO have messed something up on their system somehow, because the meter I have in my unit is 100% still in place and has not been removed like it says.

OVO are willing to replace the meter and solve the problem if I can provide them with an MPAN. But again the owner is no help and I have a feeling I'm going to struggle finding the correct one through the DNO because apparently there is 7 different MPAN's at this one address (I am only aware of 6 meters on site). Plus I have absolutely no idea if there is any mains power going to the key meter to begin with. The meter is lighting up and I can read the screen, so does that mean there is mains power going to it?

The unit has been left empty for a while before I moved in, so I have no idea when the electricity was working last and I cannot use the unit for it's intended use until I get this problem sorted. I have a key so I can top the meter up, but again, there is no guarantees that it will work since the meter supposedly doesn't exist. TIA

I have just bought myself a budget/hobby Aixz AIT250P tig welder to mess around with and hopefully make myself some custom boost pipes. I have mig welded a lot in the past (although I am no expert), but tig welding is completely new to me. I looked at many reviews before making a purchase, and this welder seemed to be very good value for money. I have also seen people creating some very very nice welds with this welder. So I purchased one for myself, along with the foot pedal.

I got it all set up for the first time using 2.4mm blue tungsten (2% lanthanated) and a 5mm cup. I switched the welder over to AC, randomly set the amps to 175a, and didn't really touch any of the other settings as I'm not 100% sure what to set it all to. The gas (pure argon) was set to around 14psi on the regulator.

I do not have a dedicated welding table set up at the moment (future upgrade), so I put the earth clamp directly on to a scrap piece of aluminium that I had laying around to practice on. Sometimes when I press the foot pedal it makes all the right noises, but the arc doesn't start. I have to do it a few times to get it going. Then when I do get it going something just isn't right. Annoyingly I didn't take any pictures, but I did a couple of passes without filler rod and the best way I can describe it is that it's just deforming the aluminium rather than creating a nice pool. It isn't completely burning through but it is leaving shallow holes and bumps in the metal. Then when I add the filler rod it's not melting in to the metal at all. Just puddling up on top.

Is there possibly something wrong with the scrap aluminium that I'm welding? Or maybe I have set something up wrong. Can anybody help with the welder settings? TIA