Talk to me about Pressure Washers

[Gunk]

thanks for the replies. Which Nilfisk model do you have @Houthakker ?

Also, has anyone tried those patio cleaner attachments that looks like an upturned bowl. Are they a game changer or a gimmick?

Jeyes fluid and then jet it off

 

[MontyVeda]

Jeyes fluid and then jet it off

just with the standard jet or using the big round patio cleaner thing?

 

[icowden]

Also, has anyone tried those patio cleaner attachments that looks like an upturned bowl. Are they a game changer or a gimmick?

I tried the one that came with my Karcher but it was rubbish. Admittedly I have some very cheap paving stones that really like to hold onto mossy stuff.

 

[november4]

The problem with karcher is they have a plastic pump....I have had 2 fail.....never again.

I got my nilfisk from their outlet site, and got an adapter from ebay to use my x2 lots of karcher attachments

Here's the site, I has to be patient to get the model I was eyeing. It came new in plain box and looked new, wasn't expensive

https://www.nilfiskoutlet.co.uk/

 

[Tail End Charlie]

thanks for the replies. Which Nilfisk model do you have @Houthakker ?

Also, has anyone tried those patio cleaner attachments that looks like an upturned bowl. Are they a game changer or a gimmick?

I have the Aldi one which fits my Karcher and find it's brilliant. It stops all the water getting thrown up onto patio windows and other things nearby.

 

[Gwylan]

Mum's pressure washer died yesterday so we're looking to buy a new one (unless i can get the old one going again once it's cooled down).

The niggle i had with the washer when it worked was getting the water pressure right from the inlet hose; turning the tap (on the wall) full on meant the connector to the machine would fly off every time i released the trigger. Only having the wall tap part on stopped this from happening, but maybe the reduced flow of water lead to it overheating? I'm guessing since I've only played with these machines a few times.

It's a Karcher B203, probably a good 10 years old and did its job well. Don't want to spend too much but do want a machine as good as the old one. Main use is cleaning the patio paving slabs once every couple of years.

Karcher seem to be the DIY standard but now having two busted Karcher's in the garage, I'm wondering if they're really that good.

Any tips to get the most out of a pressure washer, which to buy and what to avoid would be greatly appreciated

edited to add... the budget is around £150 max

Grannie & eggs and all that.

You do not need huge input pressure. That's what the yellow box you bought is there to do.

 

[Randomnerd]

Stihl here. Cold pressure washer for getting caked-on mud off trucks, forest tractors and the like. Used every other day in winter for a decade and no problems. It's not the base model and was around £130. Just looked - they’re around £300 now. Glad I looked after this one!

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Nilfisk again. Way better built than the Karcher plastic perils. All I have left of mine is the body, so it needs carrying around not wheeling, but it won't die!

 

[Houthakker]

Just checked and I have the Nilfisk Titan 120 Pressure Washer - 1400W from Argos.
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1577941?clickSR=slp:term:nilfisk pressure washer:1:34:1
Comes with a patio cleaner and I find that OK. main benefit is that keeps a lot of the mess down, but can leave circular patterns on the patio if you are a bit brisk with it. Just re @mistyoptic comment, this year we used something called Wet and Forget. Got it from amazon and it brought the patio up really well, As a bonus we also used it on some white gravel which is not gleamingf, something you couldnt do with a pressure washer!

 

[Gunk]

just with the standard jet or using the big round patio cleaner thing?

standard jet

 

[Milzy]

I’ve got a Nilfisk. Was fairly cheap. Seems bullet proof, just needs an odd rubber o ring now and again. It’s not too highly powered so you could do a bike with it if you keep a distance away. Just dry and re-lube after.

 

[a.twiddler]

We've had several. Last one was a Karcher which my wife lent to her friend. I suspect she ran it too long before realising the water was off. When we got it back it was leaking water everywhere, probably damaged by running it dry. We've had a Parkside from Lidl for several years which has worked OK but it's quite tedious doing the paving front and rear every year or so. If I could just spray it and forget it, it would be so much easier.

 

[icowden]

Grannie & eggs and all that.
You do not need huge input pressure. That's what the yellow box you bought is there to do.

Very true. Watch out for weak shed doors when using the pressure washer. I learned about that the hard way....

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I gritted my teeth and bought a Kranzle, but it was an awful lot of dosh, even buying direct from Germany (no longer viable as VAT and fees are now added). They are even more expensive now. For context an adjustable lance for the Kranzle cost about the same as one of the cheaper Karchers! The kranzle lance is mostly brass and steel.

Anyhow it is an outstandingly good and powerful machine. Mine's their 10/122 but in retrospect I'd buy their very similar 7/122 which can use water from a container rather than needing mains pressure; not that I've so far needed this ability, but it could be handy, and the slightly reduced litres-per-minute (7 rather than 11) would be no great loss, and perhaps more manageable. You can wind back the pressure but not the volume. Mine does not have the auto-stop-start feature, which is yet more money, and appatently not a benefit for home use where you don't leave it "idling" as it were

One thing they do on cheaper washers is have a kink in the lance. This gives a sideways force which makes the user think the machine is more powerful than it is. They don't do that on pro machines as power is not in question but straight lances are easier and less tiring to hold

As with a lot of things industrial or trade level kit is usually a lot better than DIY grade, albeit sometimes a lot more money. These days some DIY grade stuff is quite poor - not maligning Karcher here, but when you see an angle grinder or whatever for a tenner it is clearly going to be crap as making something decent for such a low cost is just not feasible.

Anyhow, despite the cost, I don't regret buying my Kranzle machine, but I see they're £600 to £700 now, which is a lot

View attachment 687045

We have a Kranzle too, cost about £500 some dozen or so years ago about £950 now. It's a heavy upright one and does a fantastic job on heavy-duty tasks. Runs at 11L per minute and is very powerful - all brass fittings as per all Kranzles which makes them very long-lasting.

We also have a little cheap and cheerful Karcher K2 (about £80) that is light enough for Mrs SD to haul about to clean exterior glass, large plant tubs and the coal bunker etc. Good little piece of kit that is easily replaced if it fails which it hasn't done thus far.

 

[MontyVeda]

Grannie & eggs and all that.

You do not need huge input pressure. That's what the yellow box you bought is there to do.

Did you actually read my post? y'know.. the bit where I said reducing the pressure on the tap stopped the hose from ejecting itself