pressure washer question

[fivestring]

We bought a 1400 psi unit from Karcher for under $100.
We wash the vehicles, deck, siding, gutters, etc. and have had no problems. We bought an extra tip that concentrates the blast for asphalt and concrete.
It works great! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[dmccarty]

Paul,

I bought a Karcher electric something like 1.9 GPM. It works for me. My tractor sits in the woods. For 4.5 years the only washing it got was when it rained. I bought the Karcher to clean off our new house's concrete slab, to clean up around the house, and to clean tractor/vehicles.

It works for me. Not much money into the thing and it gets the job done. It cleaned the gunk off my tractor without a problem. Lots of tree sap like stuff on it and it washed right off. Looks as good as new. I had to get the head of the wand real close but it cleaned right up. The dirt and grease washed off real easy. It paid for itself with cleaning up the tractor and house slab. For light duty chores I think the thing is worth the money.

I don't like the water/power mix but I put the washer on a concrete block to keep it off of the slab/ground and did the same for the power cord. And it was plugged into a GFI circuit.

Later,
Dan

 

[TCowner]

Rat, my well pump has plenty of capacity, it pumps 25 gpm. When we drilled the new well I installed a 1" line that goes to an outside hydrant. THis baby will supply more than 15 gpm.

However, living in rural SE Minnesota with a well that is 435 feet deep in most cases we have a lot of iron which requires treating. My outside hydrant is not treated so the water is "rusty" but I use it for watering trees or blasting of the big chunks of mud of the tractor, 4 wheeler, before I get close to the garage.

I didn't want to run the untreated/rusty water in the pressure washer pump. I figured the pump would last longer this way.

The other problem is not related to the pump/well capacity, it is the size of the plumbing supply lines that run from the pressure tank in the basement to garage faucets. I'm sure if the supply lines from the water treatment tanks to the garage faucets were at least 3/4" and the faucet didn't restrict the water flow I would be just fine.

Does anyone know if there are high flow faucets that can be installed the remedy this problem?

 

[PaulieD]

Gus,

I greatly appreciate all your help and advice on this topic. After reading your responses and doing a little self awareness check, I decided to get a gas unit. Buying an electric model was really tempting, and I suspect I would have been fine with one. But I know that in the past, I've ended up trying to do things I didn't originally expect to do with my tool purchases and it turned out that lack of power, or lack of features, made the unanticipated tasks more difficult.

So, I went out and bought a Karcher unit. Tecumseh 6hp engine, 2500 PSI and 2.4 GPH. It only cost me 300 at Sam's club. I'm planning to assemble it this weekend and try it out on a couple of small tasks.

I've checked my water pressure and should have no problem supplying the volume of water needed to run this unit. Thanks for the heads up on this requirement.

Thanks again for all the help,

Paul

 

[PaulieD]

I don't edit my e-mails very well. I meant to address that last not to:

Guys..........not Gus.

So if you're looking back up through the thread trying to figure out who Gus is, this note should help shorten that effort.

Paul

 

[Freds]

I'm sure you'll be happy with the gas powered unit, unless you plan on using it inside....
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[fractal]

I have both a small electric and a small (5hp) gas washer.

The electric is fine, and in many ways better, for washing cars and equipment. The gas will peel paint if you are not careful but you have to be real stupid to peel paint with the electric. The gas model will do fences, decks, side of house ... large areas, MUCH better than an electric. It is also a little more portable. I say a little since you must run a hose to it and I have a LOT of large guage (I run #10 for runs more than 100 ft) extension cord that is easier to drag around than my 100 ft garden hose.

I used the gas unit to wash the cars this past weekend. I used it with the detergent nozel to spray simple green all over the car. and the widest angle nozle from a minimum of 2 ft to wash it off after using a mit on them. I still peeled paint off the old 91 caravan that was already peeling. I peel paint off the lawn mower every time I wash it with the gas powered cleaner even with the widest nozle and I have a fairly low powered consumer model.

So, it depends on what you are trying to do. Your cleaning sites will tell you that cleaning power is PSI * GPM, and it is easier to get PSI than GPM so you have machines that crank up the pressure. Problem is that can damage what you want to clean. Your best choice is to get reasonable PSI with decent GPM so you can get things clean without damaging them.

Decks, btw, are very susceptable to damage from high powered pressure washers..

 

[goodoleboy]

We bought a used 3500 psi ,13hp honda, 4 gpm for $265 and i had to purchase some tips for $20.
It is ugly and has had seen some use, but it runs strong. I would stay away from electric , had one and it took forever to sell it at a loss.