Pressure washing

Hmm…

Tell me about pressure washers?

Karcher all the way? Or “what’s in a name”?

Buy small, buy twice? Or small is beautiful?

Tell me about pressure?

And types of detergent dispenser?

*Feel free to move this to a better location @Octoberon

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Nilfisk all the way for me bud. The important bit is the quality of the internals, plastic pumps tend to fail quickly. I have the Nilfisk Centennial which I don’t think is made anymore and has lasted me for years.
Always make sure you fully drain the washer when you are finished with it to avoid internal problems.
The other bonus for me is that the jet is not too strong so bike safe.
This one seems to be on a par with my one :wink:
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1577941?clickPR=plp:1:6

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I’m not a fan of Kartcher, I’ve had 2 fail on me, a K2 and a K5 which I fixed and then it failed again so that was 3 fails in the space of about 5-6 years. I recently bought another Kartcher :rofl: this time its a professional one though with a metal pump instead of plastic. It’s pretty much the bottom rung of the pro series (gray, not yellow) and I found it around the same price as the yellow K5-K7 prices. Time will tell but it certainly feels a a lot more substantial and heavier than the yellow ones. Quite a few folk here are saying the Nilfisk are good. I would defently go that direction before getting another yellow Kartcher.

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This site is the dogs dodaas…thank you!

I am googling Nilfisk

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Another one for Nilfisk, had a Karcher, gave it away as it would often die half way through a job. The Nilfisk weighs a ton in comparison, quality.

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I live 100 meters from where my bike lives so water supply is an issue. I am currently using one of these.

I didn’t pay anything like they are asking on their website and so far I have been impressed.

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I am still happy with my Muc-Off pressure washer for cleaning the bikes. :+1:

I’vd had Nilkisks for years. As Helmut has said pump it dry after use to avoid problems caused by freezing up. I have one with a induction motor, not cheap but very reliable. I’d say buy the best you can afford and get one with a Auto nozzle as that gives a finer softer spray. Get one with this nozzle included but don’t bother with the patio cleaner as it’s shoite. I got mine from cleanstore

I personally don’t bother with snowfoam but prefer to use Powermaxed TFR at 9:1 applied via a garden sprayer then blast it off with the jetwash after it’s
soaked for a while but before it dries avoiding directing the jet at the sensitive areas like wheel bearings and switchgear but other methods work too, it’s just a question of personal choice. Whatever method you use don’t wash your bike while it’s still hot or in direct sunlight as you’ll get water marks.

The key is get as much crap off before you even touch the bike then use the 2 bucket method with a decent microfibre washmit. I also dry my bike with a blower again so I touch it as little as possible to limit the chances of getting swirl marks.

I buy the TFR in bulk as I use it on my cars too but you can get it 5L sizes as well

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As with most other stuff, you get what you pay for. My experience is that the manufacturers have cheap and flimsy washers and also more expensive and substantial ones. An eye opener for me was when a repairman once told me that the cheapest of the Kärchers was designed to last 20 hours use. ‘For the person using it to wash the small balcony every spring that’s good enough’, he explained. ‘If you were using it it would fail the first year, but you shouldn’t use that experience to judge Kärcher as a brand.’

My K7 is heavily used and has given me good service for nearly ten years now.

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I’m on my second Karcher. The first one is still going strong in the hands of one of my sons. Got to be well over 10 years old now.

I now have the K7 for increased max pressure in the order of 180 bar and it has the Bluetooth gun that allows you to dial the pressure up or down from the gun.

Mainly used for cleaning algae off of paving (the reason for getting the K7) and cleaning the car with the gun to get most of the crud off followed by SnowFoam.

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Just seen in my inbox an email from Karcher advising 20% discount on K5 and K7 using the discount code PAYDAY20. Offer Valid until 11:59pm 28th Feb 2023.

So get Yer skates on.

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Another email from Karcher. This time offering £50 off of a K3 with the code KARCHER20. No end date shown but it’s a while stock is available jobbie.

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I’m currently using a LAVOR Rio hot water system. Always wanted a semi professional diesel heated cleaner. First LAVOR was cheap as chips and just so hard working but twenty years old. Time will tell how good this one will be.