Recommend A Power Washer?

[HobieMarty]

We have an AR Blue Clean electric pressure washer and it seems to be a decent pressure washer so far.

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[911boost]

I have this Ryobi that works great, use it for washing cars and my side x side. Have washed floor mats, door mats etc.

I needed something without a ton of pressure to use on my Azek decking once a year. I scrub it with a brush and spray off with this, works well.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-1900-PSI-1-2-GPM-Cold-Water-Wheeled-Corded-Electric-Pressure-Washer-RY1419MT/311223300

[redpheonix]

I also have AR Blue Clean electric pressure washer and so far it is still good

[911 Rod]

An option these all need is self draining pumps to prevent frost damage.

[zakthor]

Electric pressure washers??

The few I've used are not much better than a squirt gun. These are these small things powered with regular household current? You can easily carry them in one hand? 1 gpm?

Sincerely: what exactly is being pressure washed where they will be useful? At least the ones I've used were useless trash when new. Scrubbing with a brush was more productive. Isn't the fundamental limit that 15 amps of house current is < 2hp?

I pressure wash all sorts of stuff and own a gas thing for my regular small jobs like fences before spraying stain. Mine is ~4.5hp and it can do 2.5gpm at 3000psi but I wouldn't bother to use it on a mossy patio.

Big jobs I go rent a commercial one that weighs ~300lbs but does > 4 gpm. Big wide spray pattern that gets the work done very quickly.

I despise maintaining gas motors but pressure washer and concrete saw are two cases where you just need to deal with the inconvenience.

Most important thing with pressure washer is to wear a mask and eye protection.

[HobieMarty]

Our Blue Clean is 1650 psi and handles what I need it to. I recently replaced the spray wand with one that is more robust and has different tips for different spray patterns. Now I just need to find a soap dispenser that will work with it as the original one has a different type of push, twist, and lock fitting and the new spray wand uses a quick-connect coupler.

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[greglepore]

Originally Posted by HobieMarty

Our Blue Clean is 1650 psi and handles what I need it to. I recently replaced the spray wand with one that is more robust and has different tips for different spray patterns. Now I just need to find a soap dispenser that will work with it as the original one has a different type of push, twist, and lock fitting and the new spray wand uses a quick-connect coupler.

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Harbor Freight has a nice foam cannon, around $25

[cabmandone]

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

Forgot to ask my son, but that's the one that is identical to the one my son bought at Menards. I'll tell ya, my kid is picky about this kind of stuff but he has had nothing but praise for the Masterforce branded machine that is identical to the Greenworks machine. He did say "it doesn't have 3000psi" but that's the only negative. Reason he said that, he has used my gas powered hot water pressure washer that I put a gauge on. He knows what 3000 psi feels like. His machine came with various spray pattern nozzles that are stamped with the orifice size which makes finding replacement orifices easier.

Word of advice no matter what direction you go, switch to quick connects for the garden hose and pressure washer hose. I'm not gonna say it's life changing, but it's pretty sweet.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by greglepore

Harbor Freight has a nice foam cannon, around $25

Thanks, I will check that out.

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[speeder]

I've owned quite a few power washers of different spec, hot/cold/big/small/etc. Whoever said that you need to match the machine to the job above has it right. I've seen machines that would not do the job at hand because they were too weak and I've seen people do enormous damage with machines that were too powerful. An example would be someone destroying a smooth cement floor, (actually lifting the top finish), but there are many others involving wood and other materials.

For automotive or other greasy industrial applications, heat is a force multiplier to pressure but the machines are several times more expensive for a given PSI rating. For general household use, (decks/siding/driveways), cold is the way to go. For automotive use, you want relatively low pressure with heat. For things like door jam/hinge areas, you need a tiny sprayer that you can control the overspray of.

Here is my current hot machine, 1500psi electric motor with diesel-fired furnace:



I also have a couple of these little tiny ones around that I haven't gotten around to using yet:

[greglepore]

Those little electric ones "are" the hf pressure washer. Identical.

[gregpark]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

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

Agree. I have many battery powered tools but for bigger jobs i feel like I'm wasting my time if I'm not going gas. Especially my blowers. Battery powered is good for quick blows but my gas powered Stihl 800 backpack puts the electric to shame.