Thinking of buying a cold pressure washer

I recall discussions over a year ago that mentioned to go for at/above 3 gpm? My recall is going to pot however. Use would be for under chassis cleaning of caked grease/oil/dirt combo. Any hands on experience- likes/dislikes/brands/models would be sincerely appreciated. Respectfully submitted,

Loren Knighton Woodland, CA.

Under the hood since 1964 Member TRNI IATN

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BACKNCARDR
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I just used my Thunder Gun to clean very heavy grime from my tractor so I could work on a leak, it did a good job for a $30 gadget. It mixed faucet water with compressed air. A high pressure job might be better but the Thunder Gun is pretty good. I'd like to use hot water with it sometimes.

Reply to
Nick Hull

most of that thread s/b online, try google. but if gas is okay, there are almost limitless choices and used is getting to be ridiculously cheap here (DFW). electric is a different deal and i would only recommend Karcher (Canadian). --Loren

ps. google on "horse snot" + rcm + pressure washer

Reply to
Loren Coe

-- Visit my website: Remove nospam for correct address http:// snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com Contents: foundry and general metal working and lots of related projects. Regards Roy aka Chipmaker // Foxeye Opinions are strictly those of my wife....I have had no input whatsoever. Remove nospam from email address

Reply to
Roy

About 8 years ago I bought one of the Karcher 1750psi electric units for about $150. Works ok for what it is, a cheap, weak-ass pressure washer. It will clean anything given enough time.

I was in HD one day when they were selling their demo/floor models for a reasonable amount of money and got an 11HP Honda with AR pump. The hose and nozzles were missing, but I got it for $500 and went down the road 2 miles and got nozzles for $40 and 2 complete 50' hoses for $100. This is a nice size, probably more than most people need, but when called upon, you just throttle up, turn up the pressure regulator and hang on!!!!

I estimate that I can do 6-8 times the work as with the electric. So the 'cleaning units' or whatever that they refer to, GPM x PSI, is pretty accurate.

1750 x 1.5 = 2625 3200 x 4 = 12800 12800/2625 = 4.87 times the work

I think you get more than the because you have to pay attention with the bigger unit, have to keep moving, and because it is usually kicking back sand, rocks, and crap at you.

Reply to
nic

yes, the oscillating pencil (0deg) tip really makes the difference. oth, that fan nozzle is a pos, useless except for washing cars. lose it and find another head and some decent tips, this will be a huge improvment, too. good luck, --Loren

Reply to
Loren Coe

On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 19:03:55 GMT, nic wrote something ......and in reply I say!:

Just BTW. With the bigger units (I have a Karcher electric 1650

7.5L/min pisser), this may not help. But I have found that to minimise the stuff coming right back at ya' you should point the water flow directly away from you. I found I was tending to have it off to one side a bit, so I couls see where it hit. But then it was simply reflecting stuff straight back to me.

****************************************************************************************** Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. The rest sit around and make snide comments.

Nick White --- HEAD:Hertz Music Please remove ns from my header address to reply via email !!

Reply to
Old Nick

At work I use an 11 HP Honda powered Vanguard so when my wife brought home the 1750 psi Karcher from Costco, I figured it would be a POS. But it works just fine for cleaning my truck chassis, ball joints, etc, even with no degreaser. Add some degreaser and there's not that much on a truck that you can't clean.

Reply to
ATP

I purchased one of the larger 1750 psi electrically driven Karcher units from Lowes, and was somewhat surprised to find it works just fine for all but the most difficult cleaning jobs. The turbo nozzle does help on many applications. While it doesn't have the 'Oomph' of the big 3000 psi gas powered units, it's just fine for occasional use around the house or for cleaning vehicles. It's also a lot less work to maintain than a gas powered unit. I'm pleased.

Dan Mitchell ==========

ATP wrote:

Reply to
Daniel A. Mitchell

Mine is the larger of the two 'yellow' Karcher units that Lowes carries ... it's an upright two wheeled cart form, and looks rather like an upright vacuum cleaner. It's 1750 PSI and, IIRC, 1.6 gpm. I chose this one as offering the 'most bang for the buck'. It's the largest of the

110 VAC units I've found. It does what I bought it to do, at a reasonable price.

There are some substantially larger electric powered pressure washers that give well over 2000 psi at maybe 2 plus gpm, ... pretty much in the same league as the medium sized gas units, some even will handle hot water, but they're horribly expensive, and they all require 220 VAC at

20 plus amps. Some of the big washers may require more input water (gpm) than some water faucets are likely to deliver.

Dan Mitchell ==========

SteveB wrote:

Reply to
Daniel A. Mitchell

Here is my experience. I have two washers. One is a approximately

2000 psi 2 gpm cold-water unit and the other is a 1500 psi 2 gpm hot-water unit. The hot-water unit blows away the cold-water unit on anything that contains oil or grease. There is no comparison in performance. Cold-water units tend to just push grease around to the back side of the piece you are cleaning. Usually the side you can't get to. With the hot-water unit I can turn the pressure way down and can still clean delicate parts better than with the cold water unit at high pressures.

I would be very careful of falling into the trap that bigger is better. It depends on your application. If you are cleaning huge easily-accessed areas with large lumps of dirt, more pressure and volume is better. If you are cleaning smaller areas where access is tight, a smaller unit may be better. Remember, if you are cleaning an automobile chassis, too much pressure may tear rubber parts and drive water into areas that you don't want it. I don't have a lift so when I clean my vehicles I put them on jack stands and roll underneath them with a creeper. In this instance a lower pressure/volume unit with a smaller wand is more convenient.

If you do go with a cold water unit, make sure that the pump will at least handle the temperature produced by your hot water heater. Using hot water substantially improves the performance of a cold-water washer. If you do use this procedure, a smaller unit is better, because it doesn't empty the hot water from your heater as fast.

I find these smaller units best suited for my needs. If your applications are similar to mine, and you only occasionally need a big unit, you can always rent one.

Reply to
Ron Leap

do you have problems with crud from the heater blocking the washer intake filter? sounds like a good reason to plumb in a hot tap somewhere handy... --Loren

Reply to
Loren Coe

I have an old but still serviceable hot water heater, gas fired, as well as an old but serviceable electric water heater that I had p;lans on using to heat water for the pressure washer for those times when Hot water is needed. I am ok to use hot water up to 160 deg on the unit I have, so it should be of some help. The pump instructions state not to use water hotter than 160 deg in it. While it may not be equal to a steam cleaner, its still bound to cut grease and crud better at 150-160 deg than regular old cold water.

My pump also says not to use chlor>x->x-> Here is my experience. I have two washers. One is a approximately

-- Visit my website: Remove nospam for correct address http:// snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com Contents: foundry and general metal working and lots of related projects. Regards Roy aka Chipmaker // Foxeye Opinions are strictly those of my wife....I have had no input whatsoever. Remove nospam from email address

Reply to
Roy

Loren,

I did not have problems with crud blocking the washer intake filter. Where I live we have relatively soft water so we don't get much buildup that would migrate through the hot water system. I think it would take a pretty nasty water source to present a problem.

Now that I have a hot-water washer I no longer need to run hot water through my cold-water washer so my information is dated. A caution - at 2gpm it only takes 20 minutes to empty the standard 40 gallon water heater and the water cools substantially even before you use the full

40 gallons. That is the advantage to a hot-water washer. It is essentially an instantaneous water heater.
Reply to
Ron Leap

Sounds like you need to hook up a hose to the drain faucet on your water heater and flush it once a year (or more if your water is really hard)to get rid of any crud that is building up. It makes a nice insulating layer that reduces the efficiency of the electical heating element, making it run hotter and longer to get the same water temp, which cuts the lifetime of the heater. I don't think it hurts gas heaters as much, but it's still good maintenance.

-- Regards, Carl Ijames snipped-for-privacy@verizon.net

Reply to
Carl Ijames

My dear wife hired a land management team to clear brush and do odd jobs while I was away. I came back to a driveway that had exposed stone and gouges here and there.

I got - They pressure cleaned the moss and mildew off it dear - All I could do was smile.

The top cream surface was blasted right off.

Martin

Reply to
Eastburn

Chorine makes brass brittle. The little bit that is in drinking water isn't a problem, but the more concentrated amount in bleach might be.

Gary

Reply to
Gary Coffman

Thanks - that sounds like a good option. Better than replacing a driveway that is on a 40 degree down slope. That must have been thick concrete to hang in there. Likely lots of rebar as well.

During the earthquake here in '89 the ''''San Francisco'''' one - They are 75 miles away - I'm 4 miles away, San Jose is 25 miles away..... Anyway - the slab rotated slightly as the upper road moved to the north-west more than the house in 8' piers.

Martin

Reply to
Eastburn

siding yes, but concrete? must be rotten. a solid slab with a good paint covering won't be flaked by any pressure washer i have seen/used. if you had bare concrete i suppose you could, with time, wear a hole in the finish.

i did not see the prior post to yours, so maybe i missed something? --Loren

Reply to
Loren Coe

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