pressure washers

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how blooming cool are they :cool::love:

something I have never fussed about but I see a cheap one at Homebase made cheaper with their 20% bank holiday event so I thought chuff it I shall go for it.. £35.99 paid and today I have with ease..

made the bathroom (disabled/wetroom floor and walls) spotless in 5 mins

washed the wifes car

70-80 2x2 slabs now look like new

garden furniture

guttering(we are lucky our gutting is only 8ft high)

tomorrow is bin day and chicken house cleaning so it ill be out again..

I now cannot imagine not having one.
 
I bought our first one about 18 months ago from B&Q. Used it twice.
Pulled it out of the shed a few weeks ago, bloody hose connection was broke internally, so I rang the manufacturer (2 year warranty).

They told me they only made that model specifically for B&Q and have now discontinued it....just take it back into B&Q for a full refund. Win!

So I bought a reconditioned Karcher K2-300 from the Karcher Outlet.
 
strumstrum said:
how blooming cool are they :cool::love:

something I have never fussed about but I see a cheap one at Homebase made cheaper with their 20% bank holiday event so I thought chuff it I shall go for it.. £35.99 paid and today I have with ease..

made the bathroom (disabled/wetroom floor and walls) spotless in 5 mins

washed the wifes car

70-80 2x2 slabs now look like new

garden furniture

guttering(we are lucky our gutting is only 8ft high)

tomorrow is bin day and chicken house cleaning so it ill be out again..

I now cannot imagine not having one.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you had a busy day! :lol: I have an old Karcher I use for the car, shifts those stubborn dead flies nicely! Coupled with a full detail and the car shines like never before! Afternoon well spent!
 
You not on a water meter then...:p





make sure there's no water in it when you stash it for winter, we've blown three of em up not doing that..:D
 
Spent an hour with the pressure washer today doing the wheelie bins and cleaning the drains.

Like the OP can't imagine not having one now.
 
Did my patio yesterday with my trusty Karcher. 375 slabs with cobble effects. Tedious but one of those jobs which looks good when it is finished!
 
joxby said:
You not on a water meter then...:p





make sure there's no water in it when you stash it for winter, we've blown three of em up not doing that..:D
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I have a hose that will run my karcher from a bucket of water, from a lake, from the canal...........
 
A couple who we fit some automatic gates for a few weeks ago, decided to jet wash their brick gate pillars at weekend including the intercom system/digi-keypad, £600 worth of damage. :cuckoo:
 
tiler65 said:
I have a hose that will run my karcher from a bucket of water, from a lake, from the canal...........
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I know this to be almost entirely untrue when I so wanted it to be possible....lol

Pressure washers require a minimum supply pressure, an 80 gallon barrel of rain water and the same hose you'd attach to a sink tap, cannot supply a pressure washer fast enough through gravity alone.....I know......I've tried.
It also won't pull water out of a lake or bucket......:lol:
I've tried 2inch hose which is enormous compared with ordinary garden hose to increase the flow to the washer.......snot happnin.....has to go on a cold water tap with decent pressure or throw a submersible pump in the rainwater barrel, it all starts getting a bit ott if you wanna use rainwater collected.

Anyway, I'm back in this thread so I'll chuck a whine in about Karchers, we've had 3, 1 a year for 3 years.......they all blew up, load of crap.....buy Bosch, its the future.


or a cheap thing..:D
 
joxby said:
I know this to be almost entirely untrue when I so wanted it to be possible....lol

Pressure washers require a minimum supply pressure, an 80 gallon barrel of rain water and the same hose you'd attach to a sink tap, cannot supply a pressure washer fast enough through gravity alone.....I know......I've tried.
It also won't pull water out of a lake or bucket......:lol:
I've tried 2inch hose which is enormous compared with ordinary garden hose to increase the flow to the washer.......snot happnin.....has to go on a cold water tap with decent pressure or throw a submersible pump in the rainwater barrel, it all starts getting a bit ott if you wanna use rainwater collected.

Anyway, I'm back in this thread so I'll chuck a whine in about Karchers, we've had 3, 1 a year for 3 years.......they all blew up, load of crap.....buy Bosch, its the future.


or a cheap thing..:D
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So when I wash my father in laws narrow boat, the water is not coming from the canal?

Where is it coming from?
 
joxby said:
I know this to be almost entirely untrue when I so wanted it to be possible....lol

Pressure washers require a minimum supply pressure, an 80 gallon barrel of rain water and the same hose you'd attach to a sink tap, cannot supply a pressure washer fast enough through gravity alone.....I know......I've tried.
It also won't pull water out of a lake or bucket......:lol:
I've tried 2inch hose which is enormous compared with ordinary garden hose to increase the flow to the washer.......snot happnin.....has to go on a cold water tap with decent pressure or throw a submersible pump in the rainwater barrel, it all starts getting a bit ott if you wanna use rainwater collected.

Anyway, I'm back in this thread so I'll chuck a whine in about Karchers, we've had 3, 1 a year for 3 years.......they all blew up, load of crap.....buy Bosch, its the future.

or a cheap thing..:D
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Actually there are models that run from a water butt. Advertised on the tele and everything :)
 
neil_g said:
Actually there are models that run from a water butt. Advertised on the tele and everything :)
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There karchers.....

I was discussing with my dad how many people will be wrongly fined during the next hose pipe ban because of them lol
 
Rightly or wrongly, a hosepipe ban applies to any hose, even one that's being used to syphon bathwater to irrigate the borders. Makes it easier for the water companies to drop on "offenders" without the need to prove where the water's coming from!

Many years ago, we used to use a pressure washer that drew water from the canal to clear the barnacles off the bottoms of boats - worked a treat! The important thing is to use non collapsible hose if there's no pressure behind the feed - there are quite a few space saving typoe hoses that store flat and need some pressure behind them to keep them round - start sucking like a pressure washer does and they revert to flat...
 
Many pressure washers will draw their own water, trouble is, the lower end Karcher's use mainly plastic internals that can overheat and fail with the stress of doing so. Later and the high end ones with metal internals cope better, but even better would be to look at the Nilfisk range. Pressure washers are great if you're on a meter, if used properly you should use less water overall thanks to the more efficient delivery of the water you are using. As far as I'm aware, in our area at least, during a hosepipe ban you can't be connected to a mains water source using a hose, but you can draw from a standalone source using a hose. How you got that standalone source is what you'd have to defend (ridiculous as it sounds, you can fill a bucket from the tap not using a hose, then run the washer from the bucket, but use a hose to fill the bucket and you'd be breaking the rules!). A drought order would be somewhat different and may well ban use of the pressure washer altogether. Thanks to commercial use I wasn't limited by any of the orders last year, but it could happen.

I have a machine called a Kranzle pressure washer that is specifically for drawing its own water from a tank, the pump is brass with ceramic coated pistons, meaning it would safely run dry for up to 8 hours without damage (not that I'm going to test it).
 
Just to add, I have had my Karcher for 13 years, it has all metal working parts and I even have a sand blaster attachment for it too.

Some folk spout absolute drivel just because they have had a poor experience, usually brought on by user error!
 
did some more slabs yesterday and stripped the green off the back gate ready for a re-varnish.. absolutely chuffed worth the £35.99 paid already IMO, I walked into the kitchen last night looked up at the window and thought 'what is that glow coming from outside' and it was the white-grey of the slabs shining :D

now I know how useful a PW is for me I will happily pay extra for a 'more reliable' brand once this one has given up the ghost as reliability is my main concern with a cheapo, power is not as it is doing everything I want with ease..

as pressure washers in general go I am now a big fan.
 
Dave
I might just leave my old banger parked outside your house.....so you can practice on that...for free

Toonie

Ps The tripod is doing ok still :thumbs:
 
tiler65 said:
Just to add, I have had my Karcher for 13 years, it has all metal working parts and I even have a sand blaster attachment for it too.

Some folk spout absolute drivel just because they have had a poor experience, usually brought on by user error!
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Yep the machine you have is how they got the name - the machines that are sold today are nowt like it:thumbsdown:

Ive had 2 and would never buy again - I successfully got ALL my money back along with an apology - Bought a cheapo from ALDI - and what do you know its internals are alli and its made by Karcher for Aldi - 5 year warranty - when machines 4 x the price had a 1 year warranty:bonk: its been hammered too and does not miss a beat.

Adi one was 70 notes and is 3 year old now
 
Having had many various brands of pressure washers which all seemed to die within 18 months I purchased a Kranzle, quite simply the best.
 
My old Karcher has just died so I bought a new K4 (5 year warranty, water cooled motor etc), the patio cleaning tool is unbelievably good. Hope it lasts as long as the last one, approx 20 years, possiby more, but I doubt it somehow.

Matt
 
strumstrum said:
how blooming cool are they :cool::love:

something I have never fussed about but I see a cheap one at Homebase made cheaper with their 20% bank holiday event so I thought chuff it I shall go for it.. £35.99 paid and today I have with ease..

made the bathroom (disabled/wetroom floor and walls) spotless in 5 mins

washed the wifes car

70-80 2x2 slabs now look like new

garden furniture

guttering(we are lucky our gutting is only 8ft high)

tomorrow is bin day and chicken house cleaning so it ill be out again..

I now cannot imagine not having one.
Click to expand...

Been looking into this.. nightmare not knowing what spec and they seemed to be hundreds of pounds for top end?

wife wants one.. what can anyone reccomend.. dont want to spend hundreds.. wanna do same as OP but he doesnt specify what he bought.. size blah blah?
 
less than 100 quid... hopefully from ebay then i can use paypal... any reccomendations... ? from experience? of the washer not the seller or ebay ? :)
 
KIPAX said:
Been looking into this.. nightmare not knowing what spec and they seemed to be hundreds of pounds for top end?

wife wants one.. what can anyone reccomend.. dont want to spend hundreds.. wanna do same as OP but he doesnt specify what he bought.. size blah blah?
Click to expand...

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wc...ay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=445259

that one..

still using it 1-2 times a week on the chicken coop/run and go over the garden bits n bobs why its out.. love it does the job well enough for what we need.
 
strumstrum said:
if your'e not desperate Homebase seem to be have 15-20% weekends every other week or so at the mo.. also if you need a patio cleaner and bottle option look at the Nilfisk range, well respected raved about brand.
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I do need all the flags cleaning out back :)
 
KIPAX said:
less than 100 quid... hopefully from ebay then i can use paypal... any reccomendations... ? from experience? of the washer not the seller or ebay ? :)
Click to expand...

Have a look for the Nilfisk ones. Argos sell them and the positive reviews were quite staggering when I got mine (which is still doing well after a year or two).
 
Tony, Screwfix sell a very good quality Nilfisk machine for £90 that would be well worth your attention. Properly made, good back up, and excellent value for money.
 
strumstrum said:
if your'e not desperate Homebase seem to be have 15-20% weekends every other week or so at the mo.. also if you need a patio cleaner and bottle option look at the Nilfisk range, well respected raved about brand.
Click to expand...

I've got the patio cleaner attachment for my Nilfisk and don't find it particularly good - just using the normal hose is much more successful for me.
 
As I'm into detailing, I have a Nilfisk c120 that I use for washing the car. Snowfoaming is good fun but is only ever useful as a prewash (think of it as the equivalent of soaking your left over dishes from the night before so it's easier to clean them).

I use the "powerball" lance to blast clean walls, driveway and concrete area of the backyard.
 
tdodd said:
Auto Express test results published....
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Take with a huge dose of salt - AE are practically clueless when it comes to pressure washers.
This is the same bunch of "journalists" who use snow foam in the low pressure detergent tank, when the product requires high pressure, and should be applied via a foam lance.
Notice not one of those individual reviews mentioned anything about flow rates or pump types - not surprising since they are clueless about such matters.
Talk about the blind leading the blind?
And they preface the reviews by looking for adjustable pressure so as not to damage paint or tyres?
Variable pressure comes from the distance you point the lance at anything and the nozzle setting for wide–narrow fan.

And for butt/well usage, you ideally want a PW with a low rpm pump speed - 1400, as opposed to the consumer 2500-2800, for longevity.
 
PJ S said:
Take with a huge dose of salt - AE are practically clueless when it comes to pressure washers.
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They're clueless when it comes to other things. They once did a group test which involved polishes and waxes. Given that the products do entirely different things, I was surprised when it turned out that they couldn't tell the difference. After that, I don't trust a word of what they write.
 
Thanks for the feedback about AE. FWIW I bought my Karcher a couple of years ago and didn't bother to read the article. I just assumed it might be useful to others. Clearly not.
 
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