Saturday, August 8, 2015
How to Choose a Pressure Washer - A buyers guide
Questions you should answer before buying a new pressure washer.
This is written for the home user of domestic grade Power Washers.
Questions:
- How often will you use the machine
- What is the longest period of time that the pressure washer will be unused
- What do you want to clean
- How long will it take to you to clean
- Do you have an electrical socket close to where you want to use the pressure washer
- Do you have a water tap close to where you want to use the pressure washer
- What will you do if the machine breaks after the warranty expires
- Will you want to buy extras and accessories for the pressure washer
Answers:
How often will you use the machine
Washing a car with a power washer only takes a few minutes because the machine is only used to remove the initial surface grit before you sponge the vehicle with chemical. The pressure washer will then be used again for rinsing (5 minute / once each week... 52x10 = 520 minutes or 8 hours per year)
Washing an average UK yard, drive or patio will depend on the size. We will estimate based on a driveway that fits 2 cars (3m wide and 10m long = 30 metres squared).
With a bi-annual clean of the driveway and we assume a medium amount of debris, moss and dirt and 1 - 2 hours cleaning time (this can be varied with the use of accessories like the Turbo Lance and the Patio Cleaner).
So lets say the average person washes their drive twice each year and the car every other weekend 4 + 4 = 8 hours per year. The basic Cheap pressure washers (£30-90) should last 20 hours and so this equates to 2 or 3 years lifespan. Medium or average pressure washers (£120-220) should last for about 50 hours. Premium power washers should last for about 80 - 120 hours and can then be serviced and used for the same period again. If your machine is serviced and looked after we have seen power washers like the KEW (see Nilfisk Alto) Hobby reach ages of 30 years in active use !
What is the longest period of time that the pressure washer will be unused
The pressure washer is a great tool but many people only use it once or twice each year for path cleaning or similar seasonal jobs. This could be 2 hours in April (spring) and another 2 hours in November (autumn)| Date | Northern hemisphere | Southern hemisphere |
| March 20 at 18:26 UTC | Vernal (Spring) equinox | Autumnal equinox |
| June 21 at 12:26 UTC | Summer solstice | Winter solstice |
| September 22 at 04:03 UTC | Autumnal equinox | Vernal (Spring) equinox |
| December 21 at 00:22 UTC | Winter solstice | Summer solstice |
This could be a potential of 6 months each year when the pressure washer is unused. We have a blog about pressure washer pump materials and this explains how different materials cope with these periods of rest. The basic summary is that Aluminium can rust (oxidise) if not anodised and is the worst for internal parts seizing because of internal oxidisation.
What do you want to clean
* We already talked about this in the first Answer*
How long will it take to you to clean
* We already talked about this in the first Answer*
Do you have an electrical socket close to where you want to use the pressure washer
This may seem like a silly question as you can extend the electrical socket with your extension flex - right ?
We see many electrical pressure washer faults and most can be traced back to the use of an electrical extension flex. Pressure Washer use a lot of electric and many machines can be 2800 watts in power. The more power you have then the thicker your cable needs to be to allow the electricity to flow unrestricted. Most people have a cheap extension reel like the JoJo reels but these are often only 1mm cables rated to 1500 watts. A 3000 watt pressure washer should be used with 2.5mm cable, nothing less.
The next issue is that you may have an electrical connection (your extension lead socket) close to where you are washing. I'm sure we don't need to mention that water and electricity don't mix ! It is a good idea to have an electrician make a 2.5mm flexible extension lead with a 16a trailing socket.
Your pressure washer will also require a 16a plug. The basic 16a plugs are rated to IP45 (basic water protection)IP rating WIKI for more information
The common faults from poor extension flexes are motor capacitors and on/off switches failing. Worst case scenario is the total failure of you motor and we know of one case where the machine actually caught fire due to the user replacing the fuse with some wire because "the fuse kept blowing"
Maybe the best solution would be to go for a Petrol Engined power washer. B&Q offer a home use pressure washer with a petrol engine for £250 appox (2013)
Do you have a water tap close to where you want to use the pressure washer
Most people have some garden hose and a coil of 30 mtrs is pretty cheap (£15-20). This allows you a good reach from your water tap to the pressure washer. It is possible for a pressure washer to suck its own water up from a tank or bowser, we made a how to video on youtube.What will you do if the machine breaks after the warranty expires
Service and backup is important for any appliance so this should be a factor next time you buy a pressure washer. Its our opinion that Karcher has the best parts availability and dealer network in the UK. Nilfisk Alto are also great but their network is a little smaller and parts are stock held in Denmark (3 days if your service agent does not have the required part on the shelf). Many of the high street multi nationals like B&Q Homebase and even Halfords have their own brand of pressure washers but who makes them and where are they ? The obvious answer is China but many pressure washers are also manufactured in Italy. SparesGiant.com offer a great selection of Trigger guns, Hoses and Spray Lances but try getting a gearbox bearing for a Halfords HP2000Will you want to buy extras and accessories for the pressure washer
You can make your pressure washer clean faster and harder or reach further by adding optional accessories to the machine. Popular extras are Turbo and Patio Cleaners. Turbo lances that focus the power giving you upto 50% more and Patio cleaners that neatly clean surfaces without all the streaking and splashing. Some pressure washer have a built in detergent feature so chemical is sucked from a bottle and mixed with the water (only when you set the spray lance to low pressure detergent setting) to assist with stubborn grime. Karcher and Nilfisk Alto have a dizzying array of chemicals and accessories for almost every cleaning job you face.
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