Recommend A Power Washer?

[jyl]

Son broke the one we have at home. Yeah he should have been more careful, but maybe the fitting between hose connection and pump shouldn’t be plastic. Cheap little thing.

So I want to get a good power washer. A consumer model. Electric, suitable for use around the house and driveway/sidewalk, not going to be doing parking lots or commercial work with it. But I’d like it to be pretty robust.

Recs?

[Bill Douglas]

Around here everyone seems to use a Kacher washer. Lots of different models depending on how much you want to pay and it's intended use of course. Nice and common and as they say the crowd is not usually wrong. GF has one and she thinks it's good.

[ramonesfreak]

I have an Adam’s Pressure Washer 3.0. Had it 5 months and have used it a lot but I use it for detailing my vehicles although I recently used it to clean my siding and patio furniture and it’s fine for that too. I would buy it again

https://adamspolishes.com/

[Seahawk]

^^^ I have something very similar and it works great. I don't have water at the equipment barns so I tow a 30 gallon water tank and get busy on battery power,

I haven't used the gas powered sprayer in years.

[greglepore]

I know folks will scoff, but my Harbor Freight unit is 8-9 yrs old and still going strong. I did have to cut off the integral gci on the cord as it failed, and recently the adjustable wand clogged to the point of uselessness. However, they've fixed the largest issue, the proprietary wand. You can now buy a $7 adaptor that allows the use of standard 1/4 heads and surface cleaners and real foam cannons. They're often on sale for $80 or so.
For home use in electric, they're a steal. Vevor has some similar stuff.
I suspect most of the light electric stuff is very similar.

[p911dad]

We got a Karcher K3 earlier in the spring, works great, on wheels. It has a good, long hose, etc., well made. I think this model is still made in Germany (or was). It came off Amazon. It replaced an old Karcher model that finally died after an extended power washing session.

[berettafan]

I have the dewalt that is about the size of a carry on bag. been using it for a couple years now iirc. main use is car washing, small areas of sidewalk and siding touch up along with deck cleaning are secondary uses. it is not strong enough for high volume sidewalk and is marginal for large areas of siding.

all that said I don't think I'll ever own a gas power washer again. Actually looking casually at garage wall mounted units. really no reason I couldn't use the dewalt for that I guess. main pita is the hose to the wand. just not terribly easy to store.

[911 Rod]

If you want any real power you need a gas one, but I'm sure you know that.

[LWJ]

I picked up a Honda powered PW at a garage sale. It is still somewhat anemic. All the dirtbike guys love the 120v powered washers because they are NOT too powerful. I think there are power graduations. Mine is middle of the pack. Electric is bottom. Big gassers are top. Match the power to the job. I don't think "robust" and 120v PW exist together. I think they are mostly consumable.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by greglepore

I know folks will scoff, but my Harbor Freight unit is 8-9 yrs old and still going strong. I did have to cut off the integral gci on the cord as it failed, and recently the adjustable wand clogged to the point of uselessness. However, they've fixed the largest issue, the proprietary wand. You can now buy a $7 adaptor that allows the use of standard 1/4 heads and surface cleaners and real foam cannons. They're often on sale for $80 or so.
For home use in electric, they're a steal. Vevor has some similar stuff.
I suspect most of the light electric stuff is very similar.

I must admit I have one of those $79 HF power washers too. Couple years old and still works. I also have a gas powered pressure washer when I need a bit more power.

[stevej37]

I bought an electric Sun Joe from Amazon about 5 years ago.
Works great

[dad911]

I've been happy with Karcher k1700 electric.

I also picked up a Bauer 20v from HF. Only 300 pounds of pressure, but it's great for car mats, wheel wells, and my decking.

Gas power washer and my other gas tools (chainsaw, blowers, trimmers) have been sitting idle for years. Time to marketplace them....

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

^^^ I have something very similar and it works great. I don't have water at the equipment barns so I tow a 30 gallon water tank and get busy on battery power,

I haven't used the gas powered sprayer in years.

hmmmm...I've put off buying one as I don't want to over burden my well pump. Having a tank is a great idea as I can fill it from the pond.

[cabmandone]

First thing to look at is nozzle availability for the unit you're considering. Electric pressure washers use a lot of voodoo magic to come up with their pressure and GPM ratings. If you buy some generic nozzle without knowing what size it originally came with, you'll be disappointed in the pressure washer.

I have a Ryobi from Home Depot that uses some really small orifice size for the nozzle and can't find any that will allow the machine to produce the pressure of the factory nozzle. I'll be selling that unit.

https://www.homedepot.com/pep/RYOBI-2500-PSI-1-2-GPM-High-Performance-Cold-Water-Electric-Pressure-Washer-RY142500/327680926?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&pla&utm_source=google&utm_medium=vantage&utm_campaign=52290&utm_content=54570&mtc=SHOPPING-RM-RMP-GGL-D25P-Multi-NA-RYOBI_D28I-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-MK894709001-52290-NBR-2574-NA-VNT-FY25_FY_TTI_Ryobi_RIDGID_OPE_55531_D25P_AON_RYOBI_ OPE_Defend_BAU_Opportunity_Blowers_Trimmers_Pressu re_Wash&cm_mmc=SHOPPING-RM-RMP-GGL-D25P-Multi-NA-RYOBI_D28I-NA-PMAX-NA-NA-MK894709001-52290-NBR-2574-NA-VNT-FY25_FY_TTI_Ryobi_RIDGID_OPE_55531_D25P_AON_RYOBI_ OPE_Defend_BAU_Opportunity_Blowers_Trimmers_Pressu re_Wash-22202308011--&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22202333412&gbraid=0AAAAAolLu99vsMkeeGyAAgXNc1rZrgG36&gclid=CjwKCAjw9uPCBhATEiwABHN9K0lUTxElEu8PH5lPVYTq C2jANJZAPTRLms5QyJi2TemrIJynWDEneBoCPhAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

My son recently bought a unit from Menards that is very nice. I don't recall who he said makes the exact same unit in another brand name but I'll ask and edit this post when I find out.
https://www.menards.com/main/outdoors/outdoor-power-equipment/pressure-washers/masterforce-reg-3000-max-psi-2-0-max-gpm-14-amp-corded-electric-pressure-washer/5100094vt/p-10834816302692462-c-10113.htm?exp=false

[faverymi]

I would get the brand from who offers the best replacement policy.

nowadays they are all kind of crappy cheaply made.

Can't beat 80 bucks though....

[911 Rod]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

hmmmm...I've put off buying one as I don't want to over burden my well pump. Having a tank is a great idea as I can fill it from the pond.

Careful. I blew my pump when it got clogged from lake water

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Careful. I blew my pump when it got clogged from lake water

Good tip, thanks.

[jyl]

Looking at this one. Electric, claimed 3000 psi and 2.0 GPM. It seems as close as one can get to gas-powered specs and what I can see of the hose connection points looks like metal. Spendy but the last one cost $100 and lasted less than two years . . .

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Greenworks-Pro-Greenworks-3000-Pressure-Washer/5001554495

[juanbenae]

I've got one of the $80 amazon specials called an Arksen. Works good going on 5 or 6 years.

The other thing that will kill them is not priming them prior to turning the pump on. Pull the handle to flush the air with the water source pressure and only when the air is flushed do you then turn the pump on. My old neighbor burnt his up that way...

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by jyl

Looking at this one. Electric, claimed 3000 psi and 2.0 GPM. It seems as close as one can get to gas-powered specs and what I can see of the hose connection points looks like metal. Spendy but the last one cost $100 and lasted less than two years . . .

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Greenworks-Pro-Greenworks-3000-Pressure-Washer/5001554495

That's the electric one I have. Absolutely love it. I use the hell out of it. Runs my surface cleaner perfectly.

I've had Karcher's before, wasn't thrilled at all with them.

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