Pressure washers

kes86 · May 12, 2014

I gave the underside of the Landy a good clean off last week with my Karcher pressure washer, it's a few years old and has had little use, but it is literally spraying water out of the pump head through a crack in the top (cylinder head).

The bits are going to cost about £30 if that's all that's wrong with it.

Is it worth fixing or buying another. Tempted to avoid Karcher in future but have all the accessories.

Anybody got any recommendations on something better?

Skinny Mike · May 12, 2014

All standard karchers are now made in China under licence. Best just to find one that does what you want at the right price.
Not really worth repairing as you can get a decent one for about £60.
Mike

easye1 · May 12, 2014

agree with OP..
everyone and his dog makes pressure washers,
some are all plastic ****e some are not.
feel the weight of one you like, if its heavy chances are is a steel of some sorts pump.
have heard of pressure washers left out over winter with water left in the pump freezing and cracking the pump unit..
either run it dry for a second or two before packing away, or ensure it cant freeze.

I`m lucky in having various makes of pressure washers, 1 was a birthday gift a few years ago, the rest were gifted by bro in law as he buys in old & returned stock/damaged items and stuff.

word of caution..
not all the fittings are interchangable, the "karcher" type have the normal type of interchangable threaded parts, but some chineese ones have differing types of threaded fittings - all look the same until you try them....

my bestest current use one was a halfords labled one backed by the RAC
(owned halfords ? )
but heavy as feck, but just keeps on pushing that flow of water through my various types of outlet jet..
one even occilates under pressure and will drill a circle on concrete if you hold it close and still enough...
cracking kit to clean your chassis with - as I do on mine..

Animal88 · May 12, 2014

I have the karcher k2 and that has plenty of power and the patio head so its perfect for cleaning my landlady's drive off when the cars leak

kes86 · May 12, 2014

It has pulsed ever since I owned it anyway, and when I took it apart it has a big "R" handwritten on the electric motor possibly reject or refurbished ??? . There is a Nilfisk one in the local accessory shop which looks good, might have a hunt on Amazon. Wish we had a Halfords here but despite rumours nothings happened yet.

JMJH · May 12, 2014

I just bought a Nilfisk (mid-range E120 I think it was). I did quite a bit of looking around and while Karcher are definitely the default choice, I got the impression that unless you get a commercial quality one they are not as good as you might think. Only tried it a couple of times but it worked very well and was cheaper than the equivalent Karcher.

easye1 · May 12, 2014

kes86 said:
It has pulsed ever since I owned it anyway, and when I took it apart it has a big "R" handwritten on the electric motor possibly reject or refurbished ??? . There is a Nilfisk one in the local accessory shop which looks good, might have a hunt on Amazon. Wish we had a Halfords here but despite rumours nothings happened yet.

lol, dont get me wrong, as a store, halfrauds are crap,
but this old gifted halfords branded washer does the job..

must admit the new chinky one bought for me by a daughter carries some weight with it also, but I`m limited for different fittings for it...

years ago, err, some 35 years ago thinking about it,
I had an ex hire shop jet washer, a huge thing with a motor big enough to power most things, and a pump to match it, on its own trolley, wheels and long handle,
but it only done the same job as modern much smaller washers do now...

GINGE · May 13, 2014

there was a couple of massive threads about this in AG recently, try a search.

Think nilfisk was the out come.

kes86 · May 13, 2014

Cheers pal, I did run a search but got waylaid in AG with lots of other "interesting" threads, Karcher going to tip today. Nilfisk on Amazon is sub £100 but the usual 30 great reviews and two that slate them. I'll take a look at AG

trax · May 13, 2014

camelcamelcamel if you aren't in a rush on nilfisk

kes86 · May 13, 2014

Never knew that existed. Useful!

trax · May 13, 2014

i'm actually watching for the nilfisk to drop as well

GINGE · May 13, 2014

I got this one:

Nilfisk E140.3-9 S X-tra Pressure Washer with Home & Car Bundle - Nilfisk Domestic Pressure Washers - CleanStore

Same place but i didn't pay that much for it, was about a year ago and was on sale at the time.

I find the 90 degree bend attachment very good when I've been off road. and the patio adapter is good also.

Advise i was given; If you go for the electric plastic pump type then make are its emptied and store it in the house over winter as the biggest cause of issues is the pipes freezing with water in and them splitting. Pumps are not in the guarantee either.

trax · May 13, 2014

i'm just after a cheapy for about 65ish. i'm only ever going to use it for spraying the landy off once a month or so

.

kes86 · May 13, 2014

On Ginge's link above, the basic set without the patio cleaner etc is under £60 with free delivery mainland uk. Isle of Man postage is an extra £9.50.

Still haven't found the Anything Goes thread, got way laid again.

trax · May 13, 2014

kes86 said:
On Ginge's link above, the basic set without the patio cleaner etc is under £60 with free delivery mainland uk. Isle of Man postage is an extra £9.50.

Still haven't found the Anything Goes thread, got way laid again.

so it is! :doh:

JMJH · May 15, 2014

I paid £140 for the E120. Have tried it a couple of times now and been very impressed.

greyhair · May 16, 2014

I,m on my third karcher pressure washer
same fault with all of them in the end
the pump just keeps running on and off, then the pressure will slow then restart

Drives you mad!
Oh and word of warning, don,t kick it down the drive when its starts buzzing on off on off.
For one, don't think it helps and second it bloody hurts your foot!

Think i will be buying a different make this time

kes86 · May 16, 2014

Yep, that's what drove me up the wall too. If I knew it would end up at the tip, I would have practiced some off-roading over it. LOL

Tazz070299 · May 16, 2014

Well I got around to fixing my old dependable Karcher. £12.49 for a cylinder head and £7.75 for an inlet assembly. Good as new, no more pulsing, no discernible leaks and pressure back up to full. Here's hoping for another 20 years trouble free pressure washing.

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