We need to pressure wash the walls inside of a water tank - just wondering if anyone has mounted a pressure washer spray wand/nozzle onto an ROV before? Other option is divers doing the pressure washing.
This is a type of HP water blaster you would normally install on an ROV: https://www.caviblaster.com/caviblaster-1030-rov
You need to power this with hydraulics.
The BR2 can’t handle it.
The only option I can think of is a surface unit with a balanced gun so you don’t get pushed off the wall.
You could try and rig a pressure washer you get in a hardware store. Some people have done it. Not sure how BR2 would handle this.
Cavitation cleaning is by far the best way.
Many thanks for the reply. From what you have said it sounds like putting one of these on the end of a surface unit and then mounting securely on the BlueROV might work with a bit of practice and adjustment.
Yeah and you would also not point it straight. Angle it about 30 degrees. This will also divert the back flow away from the ROV.
I would personally get the hand grip / trigger off and put a swivel fitting instead. Then you just build a simple bracket.
You’ll be limited by the amount of hose from the surface unit VS output pressure.
Thanks for the tip about mounting it at 30 degrees - one less bit of trial and error to solve.
Certainly would be removing the hand grip/trigger unit and putting a swivel fitting on - will make things much simpler.
We can get 20hp 4800 psi pressure washers with 30 metres of hose quite easily - hopefully the pressure loss through 30 metres of hose won’t drop the pressure lower than the minimum required to operate the cavit nozzle
I think you need about 1800psi at the nozzle.
I higher hose ID will help you. Ensure it is rated to your operated pressure.
I would have the hose end up and nozzle pointing down and outward with a bracket secured at the top of the ROV. This way you can see what you’re doing.
Has any one had success with fitting a pressure washer with retrojet to the vehicle? I am looking to clean so steel piles. I was think to use a lightweight high-pressure Eaton R8 for the pressure washer hose to the ROV. Or does the ROV not have enough power to maintain position?
Many Thanks
Laurie
Hi @Laurie, welcome to the forum 
I’ve moved your post here, because it was on the same topic.
As discussed above, this would generally need to be done with a balanced output to avoid excessive forces that the vehicle needs to overcome.
There’s some additional discussion in this other post on cavitation cleaners specifically
I’m also interested in this and thought I might re-awaken the thread.
I think the cavitation systems appeal to me though they are approx. 10x the capital cost of a pressure washer. For sensitive structures like old masonary, I think cavitation will have an advantage over power washers which could damage grout.
Speaking to a commercial diver, it’s the cost that puts them off cavitation systems. They thought that the result of cavitation vs. power washer was the same. That said, they’ve never used a cavitation system.
Reading Eliot’s comments on the head height to a pump, it would seem to me that the unit would need to be kept at water level on a surface vessel rather than on top of a pier to mitigate this.
I’ve watched a few videos of ROV’s staggering clumsily around a pile. I’ve also watched videos of divers doing the same job far more elegantly. Looking into the cavitation cleaning mechanism, it’s clear that the nozzle needs to get to the surface to be cleaned. The cleaned area is not so large unless the material comes off in large chunks.
Could a DVL be a good addition to a cleaning system mounted on an ROV? It may help with position holding. Has anyone tried that? Does anyone have any estimates on the square area that could be cleaned per hour when mounted to an ROV?
I have one concern that debris could become entrained into the thrusters. Anyone else think the same? A longer lance might help with this.
For a thorough engineering inspection, I believe a clean surface is needed and I think cavitation cleaning seems the most promising.
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Stinger Technology has done work with a pressure washer equipped micro ROV (although water pressure fed from topside).
https://www.ffu.no/artikkelside/high-pressure-cleaning-mini-rov/
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