Pressure Washing Advice Please

[Fishing]

I have never used a pressure washer on a car before. After reading here I am going to give it a try. I was planning on using it as a first step to remove the heavier dirt/salt from the paint and wheel wells. What type of things should I be cautious of doing ? It is 3100 psi and I was planning on using the general purpose ( medium ) spray tip. Thank you for any advice.

[nickfire20]

That seems like pretty high pressure, think most of us use ones under 2000. Check out youtube OBSESSED GARAGE. Check him out!


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[Stokdgs]

I have never used a pressure washer on a car before. After reading here I am going to give it a try. I was planning on using it as a first step to remove the heavier dirt/salt from the paint and wheel wells. What type of things should I be cautious of doing ? It is 3100 psi and I was planning on using the general purpose ( medium ) spray tip. Thank you for any advice.

Fishing,
Great that you are going to use a pressure washer!!

I have been using one for decades for all kinds of things like washing down entire houses prior to Painting them, sidewalks, driveways, engines and the compartments, and of course, a zillion vehicles..

Question for you - how many gallons per minute (gpm) does that pressure washer make? I think it may be putting out at least or more than 2.5 gpm..

What is the total length of the gun from the back of it to the end of the tip??
If it`s really short, you are going to get wet from the spray bouncing back, if too long, its harder to see what you are doing up close..

I use mine like I would be - Painting - that line as I go back and forth across it, then move down another line, and repeat..

Regarding the different Tips that can be used on a pressure washer, I only use the widest - Fan Tip - on everything I noted above..
Never, ever, use any of the pointed tips because they can drill down pretty fast on whatever you point them on, unless of course, you want to do that.. :)

Lastly, like any power tool you cannot leave it long on 1 spot, you have to keep it moving..

Never point it to any part of your body or any living thing.. It is water under 3100psi in your case, if pointed close to your skin, it will tear open skin faster than you can probably react to it happening..

How - Close - you put the Fan Tip to the vehicle is also something to be careful of..
Too close to weak paintwork will probably remove that part of the paintwork the tip is pointed at..

For cleaning the Fenderwells, etc., of vehicles, it can be placed closer of course, to hard plastic, because you are not going to damage it like paintwork..

It will always be good to - experiment - on something with it before you use it on your vehicle, so you can get the feel of it, and see how it removes things.. Say get a piece of painted wood, etc., and see at what distances, it only cleans it and how closer, it will remove the paint and even remove a layer of wood, exposing new wood..

Then think about this when you are using it on your paintwork so you don`t get too close, and slow the strokes down too much..

I have never hurt any paintwork, etc., with this tool; mine is a smaller DevilBiss 2000psi, 2gpm, 6hp engine..
Dan F

[TheMeanGreen]

I have never used a pressure washer on a car before. After reading here I am going to give it a try. I was planning on using it as a first step to remove the heavier dirt/salt from the paint and wheel wells. What type of things should I be cautious of doing ? It is 3100 psi and I was planning on using the general purpose ( medium ) spray tip. Thank you for any advice.

Well, pressure washers all depend on your pocket book. A good starting point for specifications is upwards of 1.6gpm (gallons per minute, flow) and 1,500psi (water pressure). The relationship of flow vs pressure is not linear, but is somewhat correlative. For any machine pumping out less than 2gpm, a 25 degree tip will work best in order to do a little bit more work. Over 2gpm a 40 degree tip will work best as you can cover more area.

SunJoe makes a pretty popular pressure washer that comes in many different forms, but the pump flows 1.76gpm at 2000psi. It is a pretty good consumer level pressure washer with Auto stop/auto start, which is a very important feature. You`ll find these to be around the ~$200 mark or less.

Comet and Kranzle make really good pro level pressure washers these units flow just above 2gm around the ~1400psi range, these run from the ~$600 to ~$900 range for machine only.

Then there are industrial grade pressure washers like the one I have at work (already there when hired), it flows 5gpm at 1700psi and requires its own 30amp breaker. These units start in the higher range of $1,XXX and are pretty overkill for washing cars, they sure do make cleaning quick with a 40 degree nozzle.

The most important aspect of the PW setup is your hose and gun/wand, by the setup once, and cry once. A quality hose and wand/gun setup can be hooked up to any machine with the right connectors. Tecomec makes a pretty cheap but well built gun with a built-in swivel (MV925), I prefer the looks and all stainless steel build of the MTM SGS-28. The MTM is significantly more expensive than the Tecomec. Hoses built like an UBERFLEX will be good options, don`t get a hose with a thermo-plastic cover, they are headaches. 50 foot hose is ideal. Matt over at Obsessed Garage has all the connectors you will need, I admire what he has done and the time he has spent in sourcing connectors, but you can find the connectors cheaper and with free shipping, so use the OG site as a resource if you want to save your pennies.

My current Setup:
SunJoe SPX4001
MTM PF-22 Foam Cannon
MTM M407 Spray Gun (want to upgrade to SGS-28)
Generic 50` thermo plastic hose (want to upgrade to an UBERFLEX type hose)
M22 15 to 14 I.D. coupler
M22 to 3/8 quick connectors

My Ideal Setup:
Comet Static 1700 (70` hose included)
MTM PF-22 FC
MTM SGS-28 w/ wand
3/8 quick connectors

So after re-reading your post, Fishing. Invest in a quality hose, a 50 foot 3/8" hose, go with a 40 degree tip and I would suggest a snub gun with an attachable lance. Make sure you get tips with the correct orifice size. As others have said don`t give much attention to one spot at a time and you should be fine.

[JohnZ3MC]

Here`s a little tip you`ll want to become a habit really quickly: every time you change/alter the spray tip, point the wand AWAY from the car or anything fragile before you pull the trigger.
So, no car, no windows, no dog, no shoe.
Once in a blue moon that new tip isn`t going to be locked into the wand and you`re going to launch it into orbit but at least the car will be safe.

[Fishroes]

It’s the only way to go in my opinion. Get a short wand. It works better for me for cars. The wand I use is around 20” long from tip to triggerhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190227/500acae7185d6d587e33f9f7eef0f24a.jpg
This wand was only $24 plus the 2 fittings and spray tip

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[mobiledynamics]

I can`t say if tip or proximity is overrated, but 50% of the time I am washing the car, when using the 15 degree tip on the wheels, I`ll just continue onto paint - I generally use the hose post car washing/mitt and PW is primarily for the initial CRUD blaster. I`m pretty close to the paint too. Just careful about the ~angle of approach~ around trim, the stuff that surrounds the window pillars, etc.

Less PSI, more GPM. That`s the secret sauce to anything PW related. Most people ~buy~ into the PSI factor.
I would use the unloader and a bigger tip to downsize the output though on that 3100psi machine you have

[showbbq]

Here`s a little tip you`ll want to become a habit really quickly: every time you change/alter the spray tip, point the wand AWAY from the car or anything fragile before you pull the trigger.
So, no car, no windows, no dog, no shoe.
Once in a blue moon that new tip isn`t going to be locked into the wand and you`re going to launch it into orbit but at least the car will be safe.

Why would you point it at your shoe?

[Accumulator]

I too use a pressure washer for every wash. But note that I do *not* use if for some things where I prioritize volume over pressure (e.g., rinsing off shampoo).

Though I used higher-spec units in the past, I now use a very low-powered one with a low GPM rating. Perfectly satisfactory, zero need for anything more potent. Even with its low power I`m a little careful around the more fragile areas of certain vehicles, but it`s not a biggie and my vehicles are perhaps more fragile than most. BUT...with specs a lot higher I`d sure dial it back and err on the side of caution.

[Accumulator]

I am a bit curious why somebody would want more power than my (literally) bottom-end AR. I sure do wish it had some of the attachments I used on my Karchers, but I sure *don`t* miss the Karchers` added potency...well, not for Detailing use.

I`d always read the "buy a high-GPM unit"/etc. advice and wondered why I never felt the need to dial my better ones up to even half capacity. It just wasn`t ever necessary and our vehicles get "what color is that thing?"-dirty between washes. Anything more potent would be far too likely to do damage (blow off trim/etc. hey, they`re older cars) and even if that weren`t an issue I`ve just never wished for anything better. I`ll eventually buy a potent unit for other tasks, but I`d never have any reason to use it on the vehicles (so I`ll probably just get a gas one for that).

SO...I`m curious (not arguing!) why people want greater capacity for Detailing. I get it for household/etc. use, but for vehicles? Why? Never takes much to blow all the "big stuff" right off, don`t even have to get very close or adjust the pattern to a concentrated setting.

Is this a Pro Thing where you`re dealing with vehicles in utterly hideous condition?

[PearTree]

Accumulator I prefer the highest gpm possible because I’ve found the more water coming out of the pressure washer the more cleaning I get. Gpm doesn’t effect paint, too high of a psi does. I prefer a psi of around 1100-1200 with a high gpm. This cleans far better than 2000 psi low gpm pressure washers and is much safer for the paint.


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[Accumulator]

PearTree- Huh, I just never found my better pressure washers did anything more for me than my little AR. Guess I`ll just count my blessings. I mean..I rinse the vehicle off and before I even start washing any non-Autopian would say it`s clean.

[mobiledynamics]

In general, you take a lower PSI higher GPM vs HIGH UBER HIGH PSI less GPM - the more GPM will clean better IMO. Moreso on the spectrum of the post winter/spring cleaning the exteriors of the house, crete, etc. Just wanted to post to say for those reading/looking at PW, focus on the GPM and don`t get caught up on the PSI

[mobiledynamics]

I cannot recall the thread, but there was one where I forgot someone was promoting a rotary nozzle for car washing.....not that is SOMETHING I would definitely advise as a BIG NO.

[Dan]

I cannot recall the thread, but there was one where I forgot someone was promoting a rotary nozzle for car washing.....not that is SOMETHING I would definitely advise as a BIG NO.

I have one of those turbo nozzles, and while it makes some really cool sounds, I do not feel it cleans anything any faster. One accessory I could not do without now is a 45 degree angle adapter, it is awesome for under the car and wheel wells.

IMO the key to being safe with a pressure washer is keeping the wand far enough away from the car. I like to bring my hand in from very far away to the spray and get to the point where I feel pain. I use that as a reference point for how far away I can wash. If its not ripping skin, its not going to damage paint in decent shape. Note, don`t be an idiot and point your nozzle into the palm of your hand unless you want to visit a hospital and pay stupid amounds of money for hand repair.