Pressure washer

E

efnfast

New member
When buying a pressure washer (For automotive cleaning), what do you typically look at/want from it?



I've been thinking of buying an electric one (I know, electric isn't as good as gas, but this one gets good reviews for longevity, plus I'm not trying to etch concrete with it, heh), but no idea if there's somethign specific I Should look at for specs?
 
I just bought a karcher electric from Northern Tools, it's remanufactured and costs 179.99, 1850psi, 1.5gpm. Nice enough unit but only 1 month warranty so I'm returning it and buying the one from Lowes; 179.99, 2000psi, 1.5gpm, looks nice imo.
 
Ya know how most all of us detailers have a shelf (or two) of "what was I thinking when i bought this?" products that never get used? My gas pressure washer *isn't* on that shelf. ;)



It turns out that having good psi and good gpm (which are really the two most important things you need in a pressure washer) takes a lot of energy. The most powerful standard 110 Volt pressure washer I've seen is made by Cam Spray, and it requires a 20 amp circuit. Most homes have only 15 amp breakers, so even using the Cam Spray electric isn't as easy as plug n play. A pressure washer that falls within the normal electrical capacity of your home's breakers just isn't going to muster up the power needed for good PSI and GPM; you need gas to do it.



But if you're going to stay with an electric, gallons per minute, IMO, is the most important, followed by PSI.
 
If you were going with a gas one, would 2500psi/2.4gpm be "good"?



I keep rotating back and forth between gas and electric. As I said, I just want this for cleaning cars (garden hose isn't cutting it anymore for dirt removal), not etching conrete....but I don't want to spend $200 on something that's going to do a half-assed job and be blowing circuit breakers, as opposed to $400 on something that will do the proper job.





Oh, btw, are there any special settings or nozzels or something that you need to use when using it on a car. When I was researching I was reading lots of comments like 'Pressure washer will strip paint/clearcoat on your vehicle' which just left me :think: .... but then again, we all know how muhc most people know about car care, lol
 
reading opinions on here about pressure washers (gas powered) is now scaring me :scared:



I'm afraid that even standing a few feet back and using a 60* nossel I'm going to strip paint/clearcoat off my cars :scared::scared::scared:
 
Nah, nothing to fear at all! My PW is 3,000 psi and 2.8 gpm. I would definitely take GPM over PSI, though. Imagine trying to spray off your car with a 32 oz hand sprayer. Low GPM is the same. The stats you listed of 2500 PSI and 2.4 GPM isn't bad. You do want to make sure you use the wide angle wand attachment. The widest one I have is 40 degrees. My car is covered in vinyl stickers (The SuperBee package includes a lot of black vinyl stickers all over the car), and I have yet to even lift a vinyl sticker on my car with 3000 psi. I have also used it on numerous cars with clear bras and have never lifted an edge.



To me, a PW just isn't optional when it comes to washing cars.
 
I bought it 2500psi/2.4gpm/$250 (briggs&straton) .



WOW



Can't believe I used to wash with just the regular gardon hose. This thing kicks *** :cool:
 
Being a former 25 year welder, I never liked water around electric. It was a Shock Hazzard for me in that profession. So when I started my Detailing business, gas was my choice. Also since I'm mobile and go to sometime remote areas. I prefere gas. Noise is a factor, but I don't show up to early. This time of year people are cutting their grass too. So a pressure washer or generator fit right in.
 
if you think those are impressive... Now this is a Powerwasher LOL.



BD051.jpg




Heated up to 212* makes my life so much easier... However a bit more pricey than the gas powered ones.
 
I must say as a followup, now that I have a pressure washer I LOVE my CRSpotless unit.



To be honest, with a garden hose it was a knightmare trying to get the 'best' flow for it. Killed my first set of resin after 2 washes, and when I saw how slow it flowed out of the hose at 2gpm, and how much water/time it would take to rinse, I said forget this.



But I hooked it up to the pressure washer today and was thoroughly impressed with it - zero water spots, probably 1 or 2 minutes to do a total rinse, and I didn't kill the resin for once :woot2:
 
efnfast said:
I must say as a followup, now that I have a pressure washer I LOVE my CRSpotless unit.



To be honest, with a garden hose it was a knightmare trying to get the 'best' flow for it. Killed my first set of resin after 2 washes, and when I saw how slow it flowed out of the hose at 2gpm, and how much water/time it would take to rinse, I said forget this.



But I hooked it up to the pressure washer today and was thoroughly impressed with it - zero water spots, probably 1 or 2 minutes to do a total rinse, and I didn't kill the resin for once :woot2:
Click to expand...



Great to hear :)



Now you just need to get your hoses set up for maximum convenience. Here's how you do it...



Put one of these on your hose bib...



IMG_0964.jpg




Attach two hoses, and run one to your CRSpotless, then from the CRSpotless to this:



IMG_0965.jpg




Run the other hose straight to the splitter in the above pic.



Attach quick disconnects to the PW and the splitter, and you're done. Now you can instantly change water sources to your PW right there at the splitter. I use regular water most of the time, then just switch to the CRSpotless for the final rinse. Just close one valve on the splitter and open the other.



Oh, you'll also need two male-to-male hose couplings to attach the hoses to the splitter. They're shown in the above pic.
 
Systemtek said:
Is it possible that a pressure washer could force dirt/contaminates into the clear-coat?
Click to expand...



Nope.



Believe it or not, but your wash mitt is delivering more kinetic energy to the dirt particles on your paint than a pressure washer does. That's why it's easy to get dirt off with a mitt, and hard to get dirt off with a PW.
 
Already done Dave... It was just the only pic I had of the PW alone.. Shortly after I bought it. But I got rid of the double wand set up a long time ago. It's actually due for it's maintence service here soon... Hopefully now that I'm running much better water through it I won't have to get it serviced so much. well water is the debble for PW's
 
I use the Electric Snap-on power washer. 1750 PSI and 1.6 GPM. No where near the best, BUT it gets the job done just fine, its light, quiet and easily portable. Paid $130 for it at Costco.
 
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