pressure washer recommendations???

My Karcher isn't working as well as when I bought it...I had it for about a year, wash 3 cars on bi-weekly basis...and I can feel the water pump is dying...I paid $160 for it at Costco...I don't want to be throwing $160 annually on PW, even though it was 1750 PSI...I seen Walmart has one for $100 which is 1500 PSI, is that enough? I am not ready for Camspray, as $800 is too much for a PW...or should I switch to gas pressure washer? How long do they last? Loud???

TIA.

 

that's the bad thing about those electric pressure washers like that. I had purchased one and it worked for all of like 10 minutes and then shut off, took it back exchanged it for another one that didn't even work at all . . . . . went back to lowes and got my money back and ever since then have ran gas pressure washers.

I have gone through a few gas ones but that's because i use them a lot. They can be a little loud at times but im use to it. They do require a little bit of maintenance such as:

spark plug changing
air filter changing (rare)
oil change

other then that though they run strong and usually will last a lot longer then that karcher pressure washer.

If you want to go electric get a heavy duty electric one . . . . . . they can be pricey but they are meant to be used on a more frequent basis.

 

I'm the type that would try and fix it myself. If my faucet leaks, I replace the stem. If the furnace isn't running right I replace the filter, and get the ducts cleaned. There is probably seals you can replace yourself and it would be as good as new. When your car is running bad you don't buy a new one do you? You replace the air filter and spark plugs, freshen it up a bit. See if you can find a schematic for the pump and see if you can fix it yourself or have a mechanically inclined friend look at it for you, it probably doesn't cost much to replace a few parts.

 

well if the pump itself is going it can cost as much as a new one especially because those electric ones are not expensive.

The gas ones well i had mine worked on as it started acting silly a couple years into having it and it ended up costing me about $200 or so bucks to fix it. For another $100 i could have had a brand new one with a warranty but i understand where you are coming from . . . .

as i mentioned the gas ones for sure require maintenance.

 

I see. If I'm going with a gas pressure washer, I again want Karcher with Honda motor in it...that's the only way to go...

I'm with you...but the thing is if it's the pump, it will cost pretty much as the new PW...I'll have to take a closer look at it...

Karcher gas with Honda engine in it is what I'm thinking...

 

If I could give everyone here just one piece of advice, when it comes to equipment, buy the very best you can afford. It'll save you money in the long run. My vacuums are $500 each but they are 14 years old, still have the original COTTON filter in them and only one has had the motor replaced. My Honda pwasher was retired last year after 10 years of daily service. Sergei, buy the Camspray or equivalent. You'll probably never have to replace it if it's only getting occasional use. I have had gas and electric. They both have pros and cons but at this point I am having another electric custom built just for the noise factor.

 

:ditto:
If your spening $160.00 every year on a pressure washer (which you will if you buy the low end models) it will cost $800.00 after 5 years anyway. Go with the high quaility stuff, its so worth it.

 

That's what I thought, but was checking my options...after all, you get what you pay for...but If I spend $800 on a PW, it better be made in Germany or Japan...

I see...hmmmmmm...I'll have to think over about Camspray...

 

From my experiance, if your are going to go with a pressure washer, go with a gas-powered one. They may be loud, and require preventitive maintance but the pros outweigh the cons. The torque produced is much greater, as well as is is a self contained unit, not needing an outside power source. Much more versitility. Also, go with a commercial duty PW. (Not a light-duty from your favorite home improvment store.) They are more expensive, but the cost savings from lack of down time from mechanical issues and overall durability of the unit will always prove to be a winner every time.

Also, there is one critical factor that one must think about, how the pump is driven. There are two types of drives. Direct and Indirect. Direct drives (both vertical and horizontal setups) have the pump housing mounted directly to the motor housing. Using this for occasional use is perfectly fine. Indirect drives on the other hand use a belt and pulley setup to drive the pump from the motor. These types of setups have proven invaluable in isolating the pump from vibrations caused by the gas motor, therefor prolonging pump life.

Another factor....which ever PW you decide to purchase, make sure it is equipped with a thermal relief valve. This keeps the pump from overheating when water is not passing through it. (ie: the trigger is not depressed for a period of time) This causes cavitation within the pump housing and can lead to a quite catastrophic pump failure. ( Not to mention....very expensive)

GPM and PSI are the last points I want to touch on. As the use for a PW in this business is primarily for automotive detailing, therefor anything over 2000 PSI is mainly overkill, and potentially dangerous to a vehicle. GPM (gallons per minute) is how PWs measure the amount of source water used. Most light-duty PW's use between 2.0 and 2.2 GPM. More heaviver-duty and commercial PW'S use between 4.0 and 4.5 GPM. The difference between the two is remarkable. Wash times are dramaticly reduced and the quality is much better than a lower GPM pressure washer.

....just some food for thought.

 

Since you bought it at Costco, why not just return it? Costco has pretty much lifetime return policy on their items (Except tvs and computers). Pressure washers being mechanical hardware will break down over time be it electrical or gas. I'm currently using the Snap-On Pressure washer that's being offered at Costco (They have the Honda gas PW available there too), but there's something to be said about the peace of mind of being able to return a broken PW 1-2-10 years down the line.

 

My karcher electric cheapo from Big Lots just died on me.... My Cam Spray is arriving today... Pretty excited about that!

 

what's their return policy? I thought it was 90 days?

 

how long did one from Big Lots last you? Was it 1500 PSI?

 

I'm pretty sure it was 1750 psi - lasted me 2 seasons

 

No, 90 days is only for televisions, projectors, computers, cameras, camcorders, iPOD / MP3 players and cellular phones. Everything else is lifetime, or until they change their policy, but you get grandfathered in anyways if they do that. Before they added televisions to that list, I knew people who would swap out their tvs every 5 years for new ones. Kinda shady, but if it's legit broken, I don't see why not take advantage of their return policy. That's why you can take the whole durability of PW issue and throw it out the window as you will get your full at time of purchase money back if you develop problems (which everything mechanical eventually will). The current Snap-On one seems to be of fairly good quality and connects up directly to my camspray without having to buy any extra adapters. It's electrical, but you can always buy the pricier Honda one they sell there.

 

I know this is probably a stupid question, but how many washes do you think you did in those two seasons??

 

What is the minimum input water pressure needed to run the cam spray?

 

I'd love a cam spray unit, but the 20 amp input is killer. Not everyone has 20 amp outlets in their garages. Karchers are cheap and break and gas powered ones are too big for some of us to lug around.

 

Keep in mind the GPM ratings on the PW if you're using a water filter with it.

 

That's why I'm looking at electric PW's since they don't have as high flow. I forget what the max GPM you can push through a DIC-20 CRSpotless is, but I think the Cam Spray 1500A is where it's at.. though as I stated the 20A power might be a 'killer' on that one.