Dockside Chat - pressure washer - opinions whichone

I want to buy a electric pressure washer for home use - nothing fancyl and don't need more than 1750 PSI - just to clean walks, brick, cars and the like. I see one at Lowes made by Karcher - opinions?

i have never used an electric one , but i have seen them pretty cheap at sams club

GlenE:

You will regret the electric one....I had one it lasted a year.. 1750 Karcher...I went to Lowe's and bought a Troy-Bilt 2600 (PSI) 5 Hp, Honda motor...

Cleans everything I need a great machine... ;) ;cool;

TB Hawks - 1/7/2007 5:01 AM

GlenE:

You will regret the electric one....I had one it lasted a year.. 1750 Karcher...I went to Lowe's and bought a Troy-Bilt 2600 (PSI) 5 Hp, Honda motor...

Cleans everything I need a great machine... ;) ;cool;

yikes - that's the one I was looking at..I will wait....

I agree with TB on the electric washers.
Couple of friends bought them and they didn't last.
I have a Sears 2200 PSI unit I got as a gift years ago. Briggs and Stratton 5 HP. Still starts on the first pull. Of course I don't use it every day.
My suggestion is a gas powered washer. If you think the pressure is too high just back up a bit.

I've had a gas-powered unit for 8 or 9 years, that I bought in Sams Club. It still works good, but the nozzle needs to be replaced. Last summer, I had to clean up the mud left behind from a flooded basement in my daughters house, and couldn't use the gas pw being indoors. So I bought an electric pw, also in Sams, and thought of it as a one-time use machine for a hundred bucks.

It did a fine job (actually it dod the job twice, and the basement flooded a second time 2 weeks later. :mad: But we have used it about 7 or 8 times since then, and it does a decent job. My wife likes it because, to her, it's more convenient, which means she'll do more work around here. :grin:
I don't know how long the thing will last, but I still like the Honda gas pw for the big jobs.

Honda engines and Cat pumps.

Glen E - 1/7/2007 12:30 AM

I want to buy a electric pressure washer for home use - nothing fancyl and don't need more than 1750 PSI - just to clean walks, brick, cars and the like. I see one at Lowes made by Karcher - opinions?

In my opinion, all the electric models are low grade junk. I would also recommend at least 3,000 - 3,500 PSI

Karcher more or less invented modern pressuring washing. That’s what they do, pressure sprayers, they don’t make lawnmowers and weed whackers, not that it matters because anything you buy will be made in China anyways.

We have a small electric Karcher that we bought at Costco several years ago, use it occasionally around the house and more recently it is being targeted to degrease the bilge. The seals are replacable but I haven't had to, yet. I don’t have any particular love of the thing but when/if it breaks I will probably replace with another Karcher only because of the smorgasbord of optional attachments we have acquired over the years that only fit on a Karcher. Karcher makes a perfect little hook end for getting under the motor in the bilge. That’s something you might want to consider, what optional sprayer gizmos do you think you will want/need and then buy that brand because at the end of the day I doubt there is any significant different between the low-end electric sprayers.

I disagree with what most have said. A small electric sprayer is fine for light duty work. That’s what they are for. They are not intended to degrease the undercarriage of a semi tractor or operate a weekend carwash for a high school fundraiser. We use it to wash down lawn furniture, clean sidewalks, gutters, wash cars, ambush the neighbor’s cat, strip paint from planters. And like I said it’s small and easily portable so I just got a new attachment that allows it to reach into the bilge under the boat’s engine. I don’t need to be maintaining another internal combustion engine. If/when I need a bigger sprayer for a bigger job I will rent it. Hasn’t happened yet.

Well once again I'm going against the grain... I have 2 pressure washers, a 2500psi with a Honda, which works great. I also have a 1750PSI electric I bought at Home Depot 3 years ago. Haven't used the big one since. I haven't found a job around my house that the 2500lb machine was necessarily better at yet. The electric has all the power needed to clean decks, boat bottoms, siding around the house. It is mucho quieter than the 4stroke Honda (which BTW lost a camshaft at one week old)... When I release the wond to answer my cellphone the pressure washer shuts off. Smaller, lighter, quieter easier to deal with.

Bought the Karcher electric at Costco about 5 years ago. No problems, does the job & not too powerful. Not too powerful is an important feature if you are like me and have the attention span of a gnat (am I done yet ? how about now ?).

Has to be one of the most useful tools for home maintenance

Thanks - have been using a borrowed Husky elelctric 1700 psi unit this weekend and it does everything I want..and for reasons listed above, is perfect. I have ordered a Sistema 1600 elelctric from pressurewasherdirect.com. Heaviest thing we do around here is spray out the garage or the wheels on the cars..

don't buy an electric. I had one kept breaking finally returned it and it was a 1500 electric.. The electrics are nice but really don't clean well. I would go with a gas. Bought a 3000 psi with a 6.5hp briggs at sears for $400. So happy now after 10 years of electric. Electrics are nice because the $59-100 price but you spend so much time using them to clean etc...

The gas are easy to use and you can use on the bottom of your boat which teh electric will never do... Spend the extra money and be happy...

Depends on what you expect from the pressure washer.
If you want to simply help cleaning up a really dirty boat without punching a hole through it, an eclectic might well suffice, but if the boat has barnacles all over the bottom I'd vote for something with more pressure.
The Home Depot electrics by Husky have great customer reviews, but the Lowe's Karcher reviews aren't as good.

I have some Home Depot brand electric jobber. I don't know the brand name, but it's 1750 psi & red. That lil sucker has worked flawlessly for the past 4 years. I have done my entire home twice, my neighbors twice, my boats & cars monthly, lawn mowers, decks, sidewalks... All for $60.

get the karcher 4000 psi honda motor from costco, $699 or so.

this unit is amazing, adjustable pressure from 100 to 4000 psi.
50 ft hose.

cant beat it, costco and bj's have it.

thanks guys...but as I said above, I bought a electric to be delivered this thursday. According to everyone here, it'll either be broke by sunday or last unitl 2010..so we'll see....

I have a Karcher 2600 psi with a 5 hp Honda engine. I have owned it for 4 years and it has never given me any problems. Parts, such as nozzles and hoses are all interchangable. I clean my homes, patios, boats and trucks and it does just fine. I thought Karcher was made in India, and not China, but I could be wrong.

Glen...hopefully your electrical system is up to the task...

I bought a 1750 electric from HD...hooked it up and started pressure washing the boat. Was about 1/3 way through when the admiral came out and asked me why half the house was in the dark, and would I please fix it in time for her to watch Entertainment Tonight :grin:

The electrics have a fairly substantial current draw, and in my 40+ year old house, it took only a couple surges from the motor to start popping circuit breakers.

Needless to say, it went right back to HD, and was exchanged for a nice fancy 2500 PSI Husky with a 6.5 hp Honda. Works great now :)

Stop screwin around Glen........you know that this bad boy is the THT minimum forresidential pressure washing applications. ../images/emoticons/biggrin.gif../images/emoticons/biggrin.gif

http://www.alliedpressurewashers.com/Alliedpressurewashers/Big_images/STANDARD_st%20.jpg

Johnnie27 - 1/9/2007 4:19 PM

get the karcher 4000 psi honda motor from costco, $699 or so.

this unit is amazing, adjustable pressure from 100 to 4000 psi.
50 ft hose.

cant beat it, costco and bj's have it.

Ditto,

I started with the 2400 psi Honda powered and stepped up to a Honda 13hp 3800 psi 4gpm machine because I was spending too much time standing there holding the trigger. Now it takes a fraction of the time and I can also run a much wider spray pattern. When it comes to sensitive stuff, just turn down the pump pressure. Now I can clean my boat from 3 docks away.

D- ;)

I have a Karcher electric i use on my motocross bike weekly, along with other assorted things around the house. It does all I could ask, plus sit only weighs about 4 lbs. I also use it on the boat at the end of the year and it gets everything including barnacles off. Every pressure washer has its place, for the light stuff I do I would hate to have to lug around a big gas unit. All though Andy's above looks nice! :thumbsup: Does that thing make popcorm too?

SIM - 1/9/2007 5:56 PM



Stop screwin around Glen........you know that this bad boy is the THT minimum for residential pressure washing applications. ../images/emoticons/biggrin.gif../images/emoticons/biggrin.gif

http://www.alliedpressurewashers.com/Alliedpressurewashers/Big_images/STANDARD_st%20.jpg

Hey, that's a Mi-T-M hot water 3000 PSI unit, very good needless to say, but way overkill for most homeowner type jobs.

I've got access to free pressure washers (I work for a major equipment rental company), yet my favorite is still my el cheapo electric unit. No, it doesn't compare to a big gas model, but d@mn, typically I am cleaning it, not cutting it into chunks with water. If you want to clean stuff on a regular basis, the light duty electrics are tough to beat.

i had the husky and karcher. I must say I still have the karcher and after my 3rd 1500 psi husky i returned it to HD. worst unit ever. I used teh electric for many years, but I think glen will be happy with the electric until he tries the gas powered jobbies... You will never go back to electric. Plus I was always worried about the electric line and water....

Can't speak for the big Army, but every unit I've been in has had a contract with Karcher. We beat the crap out of these things -- they work extremely well. I've personally had 2 others. The first was my Father-in-Laws and he failed to properly maintain it during the colder months and the water left inside damaged the guts of the system. I currently have a no name with a Briggs and Stratton engine my Dad gave me and it works just fine. BLUF: before you put it up for the winter/off-season, ensure you conduct the necessary maintenance.