Pressure Washer - Advice?

netwhizkid

I am thinking of getting myself a pressure washer as I am getting sick of the constant muck that is thrown on my car.

To add insult to injury everytime I wash it at my local garage the bell in the jet wash goes so fast I'd have P*ssed onto the car quicker.

Do anyone here use one for washing there car? I have used them often before for doing the footpaths during the summer etc; ideally I want to get one which is just weak enough to do the car nicely yet powerful enough to do the footpaths in the summer saving the tool-hire fee.

I have been looking at this one in the Argos Catalogue and it seems to be a nice middle of the road one.

Do anyone here use a pressure washer to keep the car sparkly? If so post up your make model and its pressure rating.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

maidhc

netwhizkid wrote:

Do anyone here use a pressure washer to keep the car sparkly? If so post up your make model and its pressure rating.

CAT Pumps model 323 on a single phase Brooks motor.

No idea of the PSI, but it can blow paint off, has a massive flow and a very wide pattern at max pressure (unlike the DIY ones). Not cheap, this one was about £600 second hand (IIRC). The motor was another few hundred. It has given 12yrs of flawless service though.

Euroquipe in Cork have a decent selection of good quality stuff.

peasant

Yepp ...bog standard 230V, unheated water models from your friendly DIY supplier will always slightly dissapoint.

You'll get the worst muck off the car ...but its spongue time after that.

As for pathways ...the so called "dirt lance" attachment will do it ...eventually ...so bring enough time and waterproof trousers as you will have to have the "lance" thingy just above the ground and get a lot of splash that way.

My pressure washer allegedly has 140 bar, in reality probably half that (cost 120,-- @ Lidl) but it's at least twice as powerful as the dinky Karcher that I had before.

unkel

peasant wrote:

Yepp ...bog standard 230V, unheated water models from your friendly DIY supplier will always slightly dissapoint.

You'll get the worst muck off the car ...but its spongue time after that.

As for pathways ...the so called "dirt lance" attachment will do it ...eventually ...so bring enough time and waterproof trousers as you will have to have the "lance" thingy just above the ground and get a lot of splash that way

Yup, same experience here

Alun

If you're going to do driveways with it get one of those patio cleaner thingamabobs its a circular thing with brush bristles around the outside and a rotating nozzle inside .. kinda hovers like a hovercraft and keeps all the **** from spraying around all over the place. The Karcher one is called a "T-Racer". Or alternatively they also do a simple Splash Guard that fits around the nozzle of the dirt blaster. Believe me it helps a LOT!!

netwhizkid

I actually went and bought that pressure washer yesterday and tested it out today. It was pretty much as peasant has said, it removed all the clingy bits and external gunk and I got enough from under the wheel arches to grow spuds between the two cars I done.

I used a soft rag and bucket after that as there was a sort of greasy build up that it would not remove. It came with a rotating soft brush head which is powered by the water pressure. The rotating head removed about 50% of this greasy type stuff and the rest came off with a little elbow grease and my 3 series looks as good as the day I drove it out of the show room, and then I went to buy a newspaper only to see 3 and half hours work* partially undone.:mad:

*Well between washing the car and letting it dry to see where I missed and watching the France Ireland rugby time, about 1 hour actually washing.

overdriver

For anyone else considering this, I bought the cheapest one from B&Q, having owned one of the dearer ones for a while, and it's grand. 38 yoyos - absolute bargain.

euroquipe

Unfortunately there is no substitute for hot water when it comes to washing cars particularly with the muck generated by the Irish climate. A domestic cold water machine will take away the lose surface dirt and clean inside the wheel arches but for the remainder you either need access to a hot water machine or a bucket of hot water and a sponge. Also don't forget car shampoo. It might be stating the obvious but water won't do it on it's own. Domestic hot water pressure washers are available. They're not cheap but they speed up the washing time considerably and give a great wash for a lot less effort. Eur799 will buy a nice one.