Tips & Nozzles
A nozzle or tip is what the water is forced through to create a pressurized spray pattern. Typically these tips will be attached with a ¼ Quick Connect Plug or ¼ NPT screw pattern. When connected to a pressure washer wand, water is forced through an orifice. The diameter of the orifice can vary in size, allowing or restricting GPM and PSI. Each nozzle has a PSI rating, Orifice Size, and GPM rating.
Fan Tips
The fan is a common nozzle used in pressure washing. Fan tips typically will be color coordinated, indicating their fan pattern radius.
White = 40 Degrees Green = 25 Degrees Yellow = 15 Degrees Red = 0 Degrees
Additionally, you may find other nozzles with larger orifices. This will relieve pressure and can create a siphon effect if there is a chemical injector attached to the pressure washer. These nozzles are not for creating pressure but for applying soap or rinsing.
Black = 65 Degrees with a larger orifice
Light Blue = 0 Degrees with a larger orifice
Pink = 0 Degrees with an even larger orifice
Turbo Nozzle
The turbo nozzle is a specialty piece that ejects water in a 0-degree fan pattern like the red tip, but with one key difference. The orifice is on a bearing that swivels in a conical pattern creating a cone spray pattern.
In addition to your standard pressure washing nozzles and tips, there are specialty tools that are commonly used in the industry. It would be good to familiarize yourself with the following.
J-Rod
Typically presented as a set of 4 tips; the J-Rod was invented by an industry member to solve the problem of fumbling through different nozzles. Two to four ¼ quick-connect plugs are welded together, and nozzles are threaded to give the technician access to multiple tips at once. Typically included are a wide orifice fan nozzle, a high-pressure fan nozzle, a wide orifice 0 degrees, and a high-pressure 0 degrees.
Adjustable Nozzle
Adjustable nozzles are typically not high-pressure as they have plastic and moving parts. They are intended for low-pressure rinsing or chemical application. Typically, to adjust the nozzle, there will be a twisting mechanism that adjusts flat surfaces against a 0 degree orifice giving the technician the ability to do everything from a wide fan pattern to 0-degree pattern. A popular example of an adjustable nozzle is the M5.
