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MetalMonkey
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Some pressure washers have a minimum pressure requirement for the inlet supply, some are designed to be used with tanks (popular with mobile car/patio/window cleaners etc) - you would probably be best checking the individual machine.
Agroshield
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Just to amplify this, 'fed from a tank' means the water flows under gravity from the tank not the washer can suck from a tank.
Similarly, to ensure adequate flow rate from a tank, which will have less driving pressure than the mains, use the maximum size hose possible. Most washers have 3/4" BSP inlets, so use 3/4" hose as a minimum, 1" even better. Avoid tank feeding via a standard 1/2" garden hose.
dan.taylor.1
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Yes... You're average home machine will be fed from a hosepipe, no reservoir. Where a big industrial machine will probable have a small reservoir inside filled from a hosepipe, at least the 4 or 5 hot wash ones I've used over the years have had.
We feed ours with 25mm rubber hose from an outside tap which is fed from a private supply with about one mouse pee of pressure...
We feed ours with 25mm rubber hose from an outside tap which is fed from a private supply with about one mouse pee of pressure...
carbon
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All commercial pressure washer must have a water break tank to comply with water board regulations so that it’s impossible to back contaminate the water supply if detergents are used. However domestic pressure washers don’t have to comply with this requirement. I’ve looked at a machine today that is by the manufacturer is classified as a professional machine and sold for businesses but that didn’t have a water break tank so could cause problems if the water board decided to visit
Re above
Its part of the water byelaws in Scotland that you are not permitted to connect directly to the water main unless the pump is under a certain flow rate, I cant remember what the flow rate is though. Water board can pump main and so do fire brigade when they have to but otherwise supposed to have break tank. To prevent back syphon age. I'd imagine English water bylaws will be same. If pump flow rate is low enough it should be OK. Not likely to end up with neg pressure in main.
Its part of the water byelaws in Scotland that you are not permitted to connect directly to the water main unless the pump is under a certain flow rate, I cant remember what the flow rate is though. Water board can pump main and so do fire brigade when they have to but otherwise supposed to have break tank. To prevent back syphon age. I'd imagine English water bylaws will be same. If pump flow rate is low enough it should be OK. Not likely to end up with neg pressure in main.
brightspark
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mine is an interpump and has a cold water feed tank built in with a ballcock .depending on which hosepipe i use it can suck dry with a long restricted one on . the shorter can keep up with demand
hotponyshoes
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As said, it depends on the pressure washer.
Most domestic ones need a pressurised supply from a tap.
Some of them are capable of suction as well but they are normally bigger machines and they will drain a tank at an alarming rate so you would want a tank that's so big filling it will become an issue.
Probably easier just to get a small Pressure washer and a load of hose to run to the nearest tap. 50m of garden hose is only about £30 for something half decent.
Don't get a big washer if the tap is miles away as it won't like low pressure if you get too much loss over a long hose run.
I have a Nilfisk Alto, it's probably classed as industrial rather than domestic but I got it as it's single phase (although it needs a 16a socket to run from).
I used to run this from regular 1/2" garden hose as I could position it close to the tap so only had a 2m length of hose fitted.
Recently I was trying to diagnosis an issue with it and tried sucking from a bucket and found a noticeable increase in proformance but as it does about 10lpm the bucket didn't last long. I have now changed the hose for 3/4" but you can see that sucking in slightly in use so I think it's trying to pull more than my standard garden tap can supply.
If I had somewhere convenient to put an ibc then that would be handy for a good hour of washing although the way it chucks water out on full blast I'd probably finish the jobs quicker if I could use it at its full potential.
I suppose I could make up a small tank with a ball cock in to act as an intermediate buffer tank but it's probably better to run a 15mm feed to the outside tap.
If you are looking to buy one and don't have a tap then I would look for something that has a high pressure but low flow as that will give you the most amount of cleaning for minimum water consumption.
I've seen some of the cordless pressure washers in action and they seem to do a decent job of washing off bikes and stuff but you would probably want to find one compatible with a load of batteries you already have for prolonged use.
Might also be worth looking at petrol powered ones. I've had a couple over the years and they have all had the ability to suck from a tub. They also work on high pressure/low flow and if you mounted a 305l barrel on a sack truck you could get a decent amount of hard core dirt removal done.
Or, use something like a beer keg as a portable, pressurised water supply. You can only get 50l in one but you can daisy-chain them if you want more. Only problem is you need an air compressor or gas bottle to push the water out.
Yet another option would be any old pressure washer and then mount another pump on the back of it to suck water from a tub and pump it into the machine.
Most domestic ones need a pressurised supply from a tap.
Some of them are capable of suction as well but they are normally bigger machines and they will drain a tank at an alarming rate so you would want a tank that's so big filling it will become an issue.
Probably easier just to get a small Pressure washer and a load of hose to run to the nearest tap. 50m of garden hose is only about £30 for something half decent.
Don't get a big washer if the tap is miles away as it won't like low pressure if you get too much loss over a long hose run.
I have a Nilfisk Alto, it's probably classed as industrial rather than domestic but I got it as it's single phase (although it needs a 16a socket to run from).
I used to run this from regular 1/2" garden hose as I could position it close to the tap so only had a 2m length of hose fitted.
Recently I was trying to diagnosis an issue with it and tried sucking from a bucket and found a noticeable increase in proformance but as it does about 10lpm the bucket didn't last long. I have now changed the hose for 3/4" but you can see that sucking in slightly in use so I think it's trying to pull more than my standard garden tap can supply.
If I had somewhere convenient to put an ibc then that would be handy for a good hour of washing although the way it chucks water out on full blast I'd probably finish the jobs quicker if I could use it at its full potential.
I suppose I could make up a small tank with a ball cock in to act as an intermediate buffer tank but it's probably better to run a 15mm feed to the outside tap.
If you are looking to buy one and don't have a tap then I would look for something that has a high pressure but low flow as that will give you the most amount of cleaning for minimum water consumption.
I've seen some of the cordless pressure washers in action and they seem to do a decent job of washing off bikes and stuff but you would probably want to find one compatible with a load of batteries you already have for prolonged use.
Might also be worth looking at petrol powered ones. I've had a couple over the years and they have all had the ability to suck from a tub. They also work on high pressure/low flow and if you mounted a 305l barrel on a sack truck you could get a decent amount of hard core dirt removal done.
Or, use something like a beer keg as a portable, pressurised water supply. You can only get 50l in one but you can daisy-chain them if you want more. Only problem is you need an air compressor or gas bottle to push the water out.
Yet another option would be any old pressure washer and then mount another pump on the back of it to suck water from a tub and pump it into the machine.
brightspark
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yep tfr hot
its useless on grimey oily surface when coldHere is one on FB
