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Pressure washers

iamwiz82

iamwiz82

Lifer
I'm in the market for a pressure washer and was wondering if someone could fill me on on the ins and outs of them. I would use mine to:

Clean the vinyl siding
Clean/strip the deck
wash the cars
Remove mud from Jeep
Clean the cement

along with various other chores. Is it better to get a gas-powered 2500+ PSI or stick to the less powerful electric 1500-1800 PSI washers? I have been told that the weak point in all of these is the pump, not the motor or engine, and that the pumps will fail far sooner than any of the other components.

Exactly how powerful is a 2600PSI versus a 1600PSI pressure washer?
 
Those pressures are measure directly at the output of the gun and pretty worthless IMO. While I don't own one I would like to in the future. I think you might be OK with the electric but electricity + water + you have never added up well. I don't know what the arrangement is on them but I'd check them out before deciding for sure.
 
Best thing is to get as powerful one as you can because you don't want to end up with something that won't do everything you need. And jsut because it's 2600psi doesn't mean it's always at that pressure since you get different attachments and such. If you can afford it I woudl defintely get a gas one over an electric one and get the 2500 ish ones over the 1500 ones.

But I've only used one a couple times so I don't own one yet. I normally just rent one for a day when I need to get a bunch of things done.

Here's info from Lowes:
http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=howTo&p...er.html&rn=RightNavFiles/rightNavHowTo
 
Clean the vinyl siding
Click to expand...
That will work.
Clean/strip the deck
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Have heard mixed things about this. Some people say if you go against the grain - it actually is bad for the deck...
wash the cars
Remove mud from Jeep
Click to expand...
Works nicely.

Clean the cement
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Works well for this too.

along with various other chores. Is it better to get a gas-powered 2500+ PSI or stick to the less powerful electric 1500-1800 PSI washers? I have been told that the weak point in all of these is the pump, not the motor or engine, and that the pumps will fail far sooner than any of the other components.
Click to expand...

The electric ones are like 80 bucks, the gas ones are 300 bucks or so... the electric ones are fine for mostly everything you'll ever need it for. Electric ones require no maintenance - as opposed to having yet another gas engine to maintain. I would go electric for the general chores you have in mind.


 
My Dad just bought a gas-powered one - I cleaned their vinyl siding with it, it did an awesome job. I didn't use the most powerful jet though, for fear of cracking the siding.

The pump gets VERY hot - You're not supposed to let it run without spraying for over 2 minutes also.

Personally, I'd get a gas one. That way you only have two hoses to drag around (rather than two hoses and an electrical cord)
 
Added a poll for E vs G.

I currently spend quite a bit of money at the quarter car washes whenever I take the Jeep out to get rid of the mud and the high pressure spray is about what I need, can anyone give me a rough estimate of what kind of power those have?
 
We used one for our deck a couple years ago and it was amazing how well it worked. If you have the nozzle too close you can actually gouge the deck though so you have to be careful to not use too much power. And afterwards the grain tends to be standing up from the water so we also got a floor sander and sanded the deck before we put the sealer stuff on it.
 
I just switched to an Electric.

Went through two Gas units in three years which is quite expensive.

Will see how long the Electric lasts.
 
1500 psig at 4gpm will do the job nicely for your application.

When selecting a pressure washer, more is NOT better. You can get ones with bypass regulators and set your delivery pressure but these features are typically found on more expensive commercial industrial models than homeowner types.
 
Gas.
That electric motor is going to give out some time when you can go to the lawnmower repair shop and pic up another motor for cheap for the gas one.
OH and the fact the gas one will give you more power (enough to go through your shoe and cut your toe off so be careful when useing the cutting tip)
 
I think an electric one is powerfull enough - but along with the rated PSI you should take into account the rated water use (gallons per minute or hour or something). Just that if you use a 1600 PSI unit with the largest nozzles/heads will certainly offer you a decreased PSI at the nozzles. If you really want to wash with alot of water at high pressure, then you should buy the strongest unit you find
 
I borrowed a friend's 3500 PSI 13HP Honda and it made my fence look like the day it was built. It also did a wonderful job on my driveway. My friend also has a 2200 PSI and he told me it wouldn't clean my fence nearly as well. I want to buy one of the 3500 psi models...they were on sale at Lowe's last summer for $999. You have to be very careful with it...with one of the medium strength tips, it will blow a hole right through the wood if you stay in one place too long.

Fence before washing

Fence after washing
 
<---- Craftsman 2500 PSI 2.2 GPM 6.75 HP Briggs & Stratton motor

Throw on the white nozzle and it'll blast away anything. 🙂
 
No matter what the material, powerwashing does irreparable damage, and the higher the pressure and the closer to the masonry, the worse the damage. When looking at masonry under a microscope before and after pressure cleaning, it is easy to see an alarming amount of deterioration of the surface. The correct amount of pressure when cleaning masonry varies according to the hardness of the masonry but is seldom above 800 pounds per square inch. Even at the correct amount of pressure it is essential that the nozzle used be fan shaped so the pressure is dispersed over a wider area. The use of the incorrect nozzle can cause significant damage to the masonry, and using high pressure makes it even worse.

The following excerpt is from the Brick Institute of America?s technical notes on Brick Construction. This can be found on their website at www.bia.org. To cut labor costs, many cleaning contractors utilize pressurized water. Some pressure systems feature a pressure gun and nozzle equipped with a control switch. This setup permits the operator to apply solutions to a wall over 100 ft. (30.5 m) from the base unit. Other systems have two separate hoses - one with plain water and the other with a cleaning solution. Low pressure has been defined as 100 to 300 psi (700 to 2100 kPa), medium pressure as 300 to 700 psi (2100 to 4850 kPa) and high pressure as 700 psi (4850 kPa) or greater. A sand finish or a surface coating may be removed by pressurized water cleaning, resulting in a different appearance. Nozzle pressure in excess of 700 psi (4850 kPa) may damage brick units and erode mortar joints.

I recall walking into a Southern States store to buy some yard working equipment, and there inside the front door were three new power washing machines on display. The prices started at $399, with 2000 PSI! and 3000 PSI! proclaimed boldly on the display sign. This is scary. Anyone can buy these machines and be in the cleaning business immediately, which means that your decks, sidewalks, building, historic gravestones, etc., etc., could be in serious trouble. The folks operating these machines have usually not received any training or information about the potential damage they can cause. High pressure cleaning deteriorates the surface of whatever is being cleaned, which means it will get dirty faster because high pressure washing exposes more surface area. It is a downward spiral.
 
Originally posted by: sharkeeper
High pressure cleaning deteriorates the surface of whatever is being cleaned, which means it will get dirty faster because high pressure washing exposes more surface area. It is a downward spiral.
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My fence is already 10 years old, has a fresh coat of stain, and looks beautiful. In another 10 years, I will blast/stain it again. After another 10 years, I won't give a damn because I will be retired/moved or dead. I think you might be overreacting a tad but that's just me.
 
Originally posted by: sharkeeper
No matter what the material, powerwashing does irreparable damage, and the higher the pressure and the closer to the masonry, the worse the damage. When looking at masonry under a microscope before and after pressure cleaning, it is easy to see an alarming amount of deterioration of the surface. The correct amount of pressure when cleaning masonry varies according to the hardness of the masonry but is seldom above 800 pounds per square inch. Even at the correct amount of pressure it is essential that the nozzle used be fan shaped so the pressure is dispersed over a wider area. The use of the incorrect nozzle can cause significant damage to the masonry, and using high pressure makes it even worse.

The following excerpt is from the Brick Institute of America?s technical notes on Brick Construction. This can be found on their website at www.bia.org. To cut labor costs, many cleaning contractors utilize pressurized water. Some pressure systems feature a pressure gun and nozzle equipped with a control switch. This setup permits the operator to apply solutions to a wall over 100 ft. (30.5 m) from the base unit. Other systems have two separate hoses - one with plain water and the other with a cleaning solution. Low pressure has been defined as 100 to 300 psi (700 to 2100 kPa), medium pressure as 300 to 700 psi (2100 to 4850 kPa) and high pressure as 700 psi (4850 kPa) or greater. A sand finish or a surface coating may be removed by pressurized water cleaning, resulting in a different appearance. Nozzle pressure in excess of 700 psi (4850 kPa) may damage brick units and erode mortar joints.

I recall walking into a Southern States store to buy some yard working equipment, and there inside the front door were three new power washing machines on display. The prices started at $399, with 2000 PSI! and 3000 PSI! proclaimed boldly on the display sign. This is scary. Anyone can buy these machines and be in the cleaning business immediately, which means that your decks, sidewalks, building, historic gravestones, etc., etc., could be in serious trouble. The folks operating these machines have usually not received any training or information about the potential damage they can cause. High pressure cleaning deteriorates the surface of whatever is being cleaned, which means it will get dirty faster because high pressure washing exposes more surface area. It is a downward spiral.
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I was not planning on etching my foundation with it 😛. Obviously full power is not needed all the time, but is nice to have it.

 
..what ever you get don't use the wrong nozzle. I saw a neighbour who rented one..he used the wrong nozzle and gouged up the side of the house..it got all the paint of alright..but the side of the house looks like it was beat wit a chain.
 
I rented a gas powered one several years ago to strip the peeling paint off of my house before painting. It was a lot easier than scraping.
Last year I needed to repaint a small deck on my house (differnt house) and I used an electric one that a friend loaned me. It did not work as wel as a gas powered one, I still ended up having to scrape some, but it was a small area, so it was okay. I actually ended up buying an electric one for odd jobs like cleaning cement stairs, drive way and stuff like that. The electric work fine for that. I only paid something like $60 as opposed to $400-500+ for a gas powered unit.

btw, the PSI is realy not a good measurement. You'll find that some say 1800 psi... yeah, for one inch from the sprayhead, not several ffet away....

 
Gas?
How powerful? Most ratings are BS. At least the ones you find at Home Depot. GPM is where it is at.

For your needs except concrete any crappy one will work.

To properly clean concrete 4000psi w/ ~ 13hp Honda engine.

Best way is just to rent one unless you want to pay ~$1300 for a good one.
 
get the 2600 PSI gas model.

BTW, sam's club has some great prices on pressure washers. I'm getting my dad one for father's day. 2650 PSI w/ a 5 hp honda motor for ~$280. my grandfather has one and it's nice.
 
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