Soap and Foam Nozzle Tips

That little black tip is the reason your downstream injector pulls chemical, and the wrong one is the reason it does not. Sun Brite Supply carries soap nozzles, foam tips, shooter tips, and X-Jet soapers in the orifice sizes that match real pump outputs. If your injector quit drawing, call 301-519-9274 before you buy a new injector. It is usually a five dollar tip problem.

How a Soap Nozzle Makes Your Injector Work

A downstream injector is a venturi. It only siphons chemical when pressure in the hose drops low enough for suction to form. Your high pressure tips have small orifices that keep the system at full pressure, which holds the injector's check ball shut. A soap tip has a much larger orifice. Water flows through with little restriction, line pressure falls, and the injector starts to draw. That is the whole trick. No soap tip, no suction, no chemical. The orifice has to be sized to your pump too. A tip sized for a 4 GPM machine will not drop pressure far enough on an 8 GPM rig.

Reading Soaper Nozzle Numbers

Soap tips carry a four digit number. The first two digits are the fan angle and the last two are the orifice size. A 6540 sprays a 65 degree fan through a number 40 orifice, which covers most 3.5 to 5.5 GPM machines. Bigger pumps step up to a 60 orifice. The 65 degree angle is standard for chemical work because it lays product across a wide band instead of blasting it into one stripe. You will find these as snap-in quick connect tips and as threaded 1/8" or 1/4" MPT nozzles for dual lances and fixed soap ports.

Foam Tips, Shooter Tips, and X-Jets

Standard soap tips wet the surface. Foam nozzles like the Suttner ST-75 mix air into the chemical stream and lay down clinging suds that extend dwell time on vertical surfaces, with food grade versions for kitchen hood and food plant work. Soap shooter tips throw chemical 30 feet and higher for second and third story siding without a ladder. An X-Jet goes a step further and draws chemical at the gun through its own hose, skipping the downstream injector entirely, which lets you run stronger mixes than an injector can deliver.

Soap and Foam Tip Lookup

Availability changes through the season. Call and we will confirm what is on hand or match a substitute in the right orifice.

From the Field

Most of the injector trouble that walks through our door is not the injector. The usual order of blame: a high pressure tip left on the gun, a clogged strainer on the chemical pickup hose, dried soap gumming the check ball, or a hose run past 150 feet where the suction just gives out. Work that list before spending injector money. Two more counter notes. First, rinse your injector and soap line with clean water at the end of every chemical day, because dried sodium hypochlorite is what kills check balls. Second, the crews doing kitchen hood work buy the food grade ST-75 foamers for a reason, since standard foamers are not built for that service and inspectors notice.

Related Collections

• Downstream chemical injectors
• All nozzles and quick connect tips
• Foam nozzles and foam cannons and foamers
• X-Jets, X-Jet kits, and M5 X-Jets
• Soft wash equipment
• House washing chemicals
• Sizing help in person at our Gaithersburg store

Frequently Asked Questions

Why will my pressure washer not pull soap?

Check the tip first. Only a large orifice soap nozzle drops pressure enough for the injector to siphon. After that, look for a clogged strainer on the pickup hose, dried chemical around the injector check ball, an air leak at a fitting, or a hose run longer than about 150 feet.

Why are soap nozzles black?

Black is the industry color for the low pressure chemical tip, usually a 65 degree fan. Red, yellow, green, and white mark the high pressure angles from 0 to 40 degrees. The color coding keeps you from grabbing a stripping tip when you meant to soap.

What orifice size soap tip do I need?

A number 40 orifice covers most machines from 3.5 to 5.5 GPM. Pumps flowing 6 GPM or more draw better through a number 60. If your injector pulls weakly with a fresh tip, the orifice is likely too small for your flow.

What does a foam nozzle do that a soap tip does not?

A foam nozzle aerates the chemical into thick suds that cling to vertical surfaces, so the product keeps working instead of running off. Soap tips are fine for flat work and quick house wash coverage. Foam earns its cost on walls, trucks, and hood work.

Is an X-Jet better than a downstream injector?

Different tool. An X-Jet draws chemical at the gun through its own pickup hose, so nothing corrosive passes through your hose or injector, and it can deliver stronger mixes. A downstream injector is cheaper and simpler for everyday soap. Plenty of rigs carry both.

Do soap tips wear out?

Yes, the orifice erodes over time like any nozzle, and chemical speeds it up. When your fan pattern turns ragged or draw weakens with a clean system, swap the tip. At around five dollars, replace it before it costs you a callback.