Road Wave Pressure Washer
RV Washing Just Got Easier
Article Date: June, 2013
Article by Mark Quasius, Photography by Manufacturer
An RV tends to turn into a bug magnet when driving down the road. With 8 feet of width and a high frontal area,
there's a ton of surface area just waiting to collect a sample of every insect known to mankind by the end of the day's drive. Motorhome
drivers in particular have to deal with this safety issue when their massive windshields get gunked up and visibility suffers. No one
looks forward to arriving in camp, setting up the RV, and spending an hour or two trying to get the gunk off before the sun bakes it on
with the consistency of hardened epoxy.
Bugs, road grime, and plain old dirt build up on that nice shiny RV and the only way to get it cleaned up is to
spend some time with it or take it to a car or truck wash. Unfortunately, car washes that are large enough to handle your RV are far and
few between and truck washes are costly and use high-pressure jets that can allow water to penetrate window seals and enter the RV's
interior. Wouldn't it be nice if a pressure washer was always available so that you could keep your RV clean?
The Birth of the Road Wave
That's the same idea that Wayde Whitmire and Todd Green had. Wayde had just delivered a freshly detailed coach to
a customer in Montana. After hitting the grasshopper season, the 90-mile drive made a big mess to the front of the coach and there was
no place to stop and clean it before delivering to the customer. That began the brainstorming session, and Wayde and Todd launched the
Road Wave one year later.
The Road Wave is a pressure washer that is designed for the unique requirements of an RV. With 40 years of combined
experience in the RV industry, Wayde and Todd knew what they needed to create. The unit needed to be compact enough to fit into the
limited storage space of an RV. It needed to have a compact hose reel that was able to be mounted in a variety of configurations. It also
needed to be frugal on its water consumption and able to run off the RV's onboard water system. The Road Wave easily meets these criteria.
Construction
The Road Wave begins with a compact steel frame that measures 10 inches high by 13 inches wide. Inside this frame
is a 1.9-horsepower electric motor, high-pressure pump, unloader valve, and other necessary controls. The pump puts out 1,350 psi of
pressure, which is more than enough to remove bugs, dirt, and road grime. The pump moves 1.9 gallons per minute (gpm) of water, which is
less than the typical 3 to 4 gpm of residential pressure washers. This ensures that you won't be wasting excessive water and depleting
your fresh-water tank unnecessarily. A typical RV wash with the Road Wave only uses about 20 gallons of water.
The 120V AC motor comes with a 35-foot cord with GFCI plug, which plugs into an available 15-amp electrical outlet
on your RV. The compact hose reel measures only 13 inches in height but contains 50 feet of high-pressure hose. For those applications
where you do not have 23 inches of total height, the hose reel can be removed and mounted next to the Road Wave. The trigger-control
gun and wand are fitted with a push-pull nozzle holder that lets you switch between high-pressure washing and low-pressure soap application
quickly and easily. A soap-injection tube is attached to the Road Wave to apply any soaps or detergents as desired.
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The Road Wave makes quick work of removing bugs from the day's drive before they harden and
bake onto the windshield.
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The Road Wave is very compact and can be mounted in a motorhome's basement compartments. The hose reel can be
removed and relocated if necessary.
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The combination wand allows for easy low-pressure application of soap or detergents by simply
pushing or pulling on the nozzle holders.
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Installation
The Road Wave is super compact and can be installed in any RV that has a minimum of 10 inches of vertical space.
You will want to choose a location where you can tap into your existing water line, but the Road Wave is supplied with a T-fitting and
plenty of PEX tubing so that the unit doesn't need to be located in a compartment that has existing water lines. You'll also need to
plug its 35-foot power cord into an available electrical outlet so that it can run from either shore power or generator power. The
50-foot hose reel gives you the ability to reach both ends of most RVs without requiring an extension hose. It is also recommended to
mount the Road Wave on the curbside of the RV, away from any traffic, for safety reasons. The pump motor is thermally protected but
was designed to be installed into a compact area. The Road Wave was actually tested for 1,000 hours of continuous use in a 6-cubic-foot
enclosed compartment with no problems.
The hose reel is normally mounted to the top of the Road Wave and can be rotated 90 degrees to the desired
orientation. The Road Wave with hose reel attached measures 23 inches in height. If you don't have enough headroom, the hose reel can
be relocated and mounted to the floor, close to the Road Wave in a location better suited to your particular application. Once the
Road Wave is mounted, you'll want to tap into a cold-water line to supply the Road Wave.
The power cord is then plugged into an available electrical outlet. The Road Wave requires a 15-amp circuit, so
choose a circuit that is not going to be in use when operating the Road Wave to ensure that you have the full 15 amps available. The
cord is equipped with a GFCI plug so it can be plugged into any standard non-GFCI outlet. The pump is shipped with a full reservoir
of oil, but a plug is used in the dipstick hole during shipping. Remove the shipping plug and insert the dipstick. You are ready to
begin using your Road Wave once the unit is mounted, connected to a water supply, and plugged into a suitable receptacle.
Operation
The Road Wave does a great job of blasting away bugs from windshields, yet its pressure is not so high that it
will be destructive to paint. The Road Wave is thrifty on water usage, and using an average of 20 gallons of water won't deplete your
fresh-water tank during the typical wash. The Road Wave is also great for cleaning off tow or towed vehicles. If you have a toy
hauler, you'll use the Road Wave to clean your ATVs, keeping your garage space nice and clean.
The Road Wave can also be easily winterized. Just pump some RV antifreeze through the unit when you winterize
your RV and your Road Wave will be ready to go come spring. Various accessories are also available to assist with your cleaning chores.
A powered windshield brush is available to help scrub baked-on bugs and utilizes the water pressure to rotate the scrubbing bristles.
A 25-foot extension hose can be added if you need to reach farther than the 50-foot hose reel allows. A soft body bristle brush is also
powered by water pressure but has soft bristles designed to aid in washing the exterior of your RV. For any RVer who appreciates a clean
RV with little hassle, the Road Wave is the perfect solution.
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The Road Wave easily fits into fifth-wheel storage compartments.
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Toy haulers in particular benefit from the Road Wave. After a day of hard riding, the mud
can be easily washed off of your ATV before storing in the garage.
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Tow vehicles will also benefit from the Road Wave.
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Source
Road Wave
(406) 549-9283
www.theroadwave.com
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