Pressure washers
 

I need a pressure washer to thoroughly clean 911 tubs. That will be it's main function, just getting 40 years of grime off a car quickly.

What psi would be best? What brands are good? Don't mind going overboard for future unplanned projects and dialing it back for what I'll use it for now.

I have an older version of this, ten years old:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1508014092.jpg

Different nozzles for different spray pressures, etc.

I use it for everything on the farm...equipment, concrete, cleaning wood barns, windows, cars, the works.

It is probably the only machine I have that never gets Stabil.

It is all about the nozzles.

Local DIY car wash uses Cat pumps. 3000 PSI. If you look for one with a Cat pump it will last. Gas powered ones can go up to 4000 PSI but the car wash ones run 3000. They dont want to be responsible for people blowing the paint off the cars.

Get a heated unit. I have an Easy Kleen that has a 110v oil fired heater with a Honda clone engine and generates 4000 psi. Hotsy makes a nice unit but they get pricey. The Easy Kleen can be found at auctions for around $2000. I have had mine for about 10 years now.

If you go high pressure look into a Turbo nozzle. Those things are wicked.

I agree on going heated but you don't need anywhere near 4K psi on one. The combination of extreme heat and pressure is devastating to grease and oil. I have a 1500 psi hot pressure washer and it will remove paint in wheel wells if not careful.

I also have a good cold pressure washer that hasn't been used in a while. It's great for cleaning gutters on a house and a thousand other things but it's absolutely the wrong tool for cleaning automotive grease and oil type dirt. You can do a better job w heat and 1/3 the pressure.

Hot washers are several times more expensive than cold ones, however. :cool:

3000 PSI and a Honda engine..... I'm out .

Good info and advice, thanks. I like the idea of a heated tank. I was gong to hook up a cold washer directly to the hot water heater which is about 120F. Not super hot especially being sprayed under pressure but could make a difference. I can't imagine it would be difficult to build a propane heated tank (turkey fryer) just before the washer. Given the $400-$700 price for a good cold unit to the $2000+ for heated, making your own heated tank seems worthwhile especially since I will use the heat 4 times are year at the most.

I'm going to rent one at Home Depot tomorrow and see how it goes. Have a 76 C3 that is perfect to demonstrate if cold/hot water heater will/won't cut it. Lot of caked on oil and crud as well as something in the fender wells that doesn't seem natural and will require petroleum-based chemicals to remove.

3000 psi will be more than enough. Make sure the unit has an unloader valve or an electric clutch for the pump. Some of the cheaper units don't and when you pause to reposition something, they just keep deadheading the pump, shortening it's life. We have purchased a few homeowner units for work in the past. They just don't seem to hold up. Call one of the commercial companies. They can repair and service your unit. Money well spent.

On a hot pressure washer, everything is different and made to stand up to the heat from the pump to the gun to the hose. Running extremely hot water through a regular pressure washer wouldn't work for long. And "sort of hot" water would not do much more than cold. My hot PW makes steam when it gets really hot and no damage to anything.

If I could get a smaller one, I would. Like a tiny one for door hinge areas of nice cars, etc.

There is a high end detailer in SoCal called Dr. Detail that specializes in steam cleaning. They do show cars, (we're talking high level concours cars worth $$), and they charge a fortune. The before and after photos of undercarriages on their site are mind blowing. They use nothing but hot water, not one drop of chemicals. They get cad plated fuel lines and other parts looking new w/o removing finishes.

I fried my John Deere doing this 1 time. Cold means cold water, pump is not built for hot water.

For small jobs..these work well.
McCulloch Heavy-Duty Portable Steam Cleaner-MC1275 - The Home Depot

That would be awesome for some things but probably not under car stuff.

no pressure washing today, needed to find some vacuum leaks on the new car instead. Smoke machines are awesome, no idea why anyone would fool around with carb cleaner.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1508089043.JPG


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1508089043.JPG

Quick googling reveals that folks have used 120F successfully for years with high quality washers, read cat pumps.

So I think that will ultimately be the solution. Quality cold water washer (i only buy "assets" in terms of tools, never expense) hooked up to the hot water heater. I think I'll be running 100F through the washer by the time it goes through the hose.

I cooked my CAT pump using home hot water. It was way over 120. Probably pushing 150.

Oh, it still works fine. Seals leak and I have to have a quart of pump oil on the ready to top off every 20 minutes.

why do you have 150F water Bob? That is crazy hot. The electric/gas/oil company must love you! I'll bring my temp gun into the shower with me tomorrow morning, I set the hot water heater so that all the way hot and backed off a tiny bit is my shower temp. I don't think I'm showing in 150F though that could explain all the carrots, onions, potatoes thrown in when I take a bath.

I agree but my when my ex took a shower, I could light a cigarette off of the shower head spray.

Couple months ago I bought the Powerstroke with EA190v Subaru motor from Costco. They blew the doors off any other pricing. Longer warranty than the Honda Powerstroke, too.
Electric start.
3100psi. 2.4gpm.

$299.

Then I bought a foam gun from Amazon. Thick foam everywhere.

It's brilliant.

You might as well just run cold water through it. 100 deg water is body temp. My hot washer sprays 200 deg water.

You seem not to understand how hot pressure washers clean.

Mine has a AR Annovi Reverberi 4000 PSI pump and a 13 hp Honda, would't do what I needed so I hooked it up 1 time, no more pump. Do yourself a favor buy a used hot water one and be done with it or a steamer even better. That's what i'm going to do. Don't believe me then rent one you'll see...BTW love the smoker