Looking at buying a Lavor Hotbox with issues

[JOEPRO]

There must be no damage to the coated part of the pistons for them to be serviceable

I ordered all the parts. The Italian website was a nightmare but got there in the end.

The springs are not available on their own. It has to be a set of 3x pistons with springs.

The parts may be small but they are expensive! £138 inc tax and international shipping for all new parts including seals & valves etc.

Parts will take a couple of weeks to get here so I'll let it sit until then and a half day will have it running again.

 

[JOEPRO]

I call these 5 minute pumps Ok for the sunday morning driveway blast but dont even consider this type of pump for industrial use. My 21L Interpumps and Cat pumps work 8 hours a day non stop sometimes on roof cleans without a single complaint. Look on Ebay for spares or repair Karcher washers, the place is flooded with them and any other pump/motor integral type. If it was me i would put it back together and get it pumping then move it on as "needs looking at" type of sale.

Yes I would not use this for any more than car or engine block cleaning. For my driveway I have a Kranzle or a large interpump Honda petrol washer.

I don't know the history of this particular washer but it is a high end machine. It has possibly been run dry for too long and overheated who knows.

So I am fixing it and will keep it. If it gives trouble again then I will need to re think that but I don't think it will if used as intended and with care as I will. My Kranzle has the same type of pump and its fantastic never misses a beat.

 

[roofman]

Yes I would not use this for any more than car or engine block cleaning. For my driveway I have a Kranzle or a large interpump Honda petrol washer.

I don't know the history of this particular washer but it is a high end machine. It has possibly been run dry for too long and overheated who knows.

So I am fixing it and will keep it. If it gives trouble again then I will need to re think that but I don't think it will if used as intended and with care as I will. My Kranzle has the same type of pump and its fantastic never misses a beat.

Anything is fixable, just depends on how much you want to be into it for. Good Luck anyway mate and hope it comes good for you

 

[Turbo]

That oil looks to have some metallic content! Thoroughly check the thrust bearing & motor bearing for wear/damage.

Did you try Cleantec for the parts? They are generally fairly well priced for genuine parts. I'm not sure what oil that pump uses, try asking Cleantec or maybe @carbon could advise? Some of those types of pump used an hydraulic oil instead of an engine or gear oil.

Looks like there's no filler hole either, maybe no level glass. So you'll have to tip the washer on its side, fill the exact quantity then try to screw the piston housing & head on together.

To make it easier to get the housing on against the spring pressure make up a set of puller bolts from 2 bits of threaded bar & 2 nuts/washers. You can add 2 more bits of threaded rod to act as guides - helps stop the head twisting as you tighten the nuts.

The parts may be small but they are expensive! £138 inc tax and international shipping for all new parts including seals & valves etc.

That's actually not too bad. The equivalent Karcher set would be 2 or 3x that price!

The easiest way to remove the valve seats from the head is to use a fine thread spiral easy out or a taper tap. I used to have a special pair of Karcher pliers for the job but they've long since broken!

 

[carbon]

The easiest way to remove the valve seats from the head is to use a fine thread spiral easy out or a taper tap. I used to have a special pair of Karcher pliers for the job but they've long since broken!

Because I don’t work on these pumps much I’ve never bothered with any special tool to remove the valve seats, instead I have a couple of different size round files that work.

 

[JOEPRO]

That oil looks to have some metallic content! Thoroughly check the thrust bearing & motor bearing for wear/damage.

Did you try Cleantec for the parts? They are generally fairly well priced for genuine parts. I'm not sure what oil that pump uses, try asking Cleantec or maybe @carbon could advise? Some of those types of pump used an hydraulic oil instead of an engine or gear oil.

Looks like there's no filler hole either, maybe no level glass. So you'll have to tip the washer on its side, fill the exact quantity then try to screw the piston housing & head on together.

To make it easier to get the housing on against the spring pressure make up a set of puller bolts from 2 bits of threaded bar & 2 nuts/washers. You can add 2 more bits of threaded rod to act as guides - helps stop the head twisting as you tighten the nuts.



That's actually not too bad. The equivalent Karcher set would be 2 or 3x that price!

The easiest way to remove the valve seats from the head is to use a fine thread spiral easy out or a taper tap. I used to have a special pair of Karcher pliers for the job but they've long since broken!

The grey oil is a strange one, it had just been running so it was foamed up in the photos. It is more of a brown oil when the foam goes out of it. Very light grey tinge but no metal. I think there is definitely water contamination in the oil and that may make it appear grey.

In any case there is no damage to the parts inside the case its all in nice condition without a scratch



Re the oil they recommend various weights including 15w40 SAE so I bought this specialist oil:



Yes there is no fill or drain plug on the casing.

The manual says very little about oil changes but the next one won't be due for 500 hours!



The question is, how much oil should I add before I seal it? I presume there should be enough to fill the casing about 45% up?

 

[JOEPRO]

Ps Karcher domestic stuff is terrible. Not sure about their professional stuff but I've had Karchers before that gave nothing but trouble with plastic heads cracking every few months etc until I gave up and dumped pressure washers with only a couple of hours on them.

Never ever again will I buy any Karcher products.

Kranzles and this Lavor have brass heads on them so they tend to give good service although obviously this particular one had suffered pump Spring failure which is being addressed now.

 

[carbon]

Ps Karcher domestic stuff is terrible. Not sure about their professional stuff

I don't find them easy machines to work on nearly all the parts are karcher only and they seem to charge what they like. A couple of years ago I had to replace a burner fan on one., The fan is a injection molded plastic thing with a metal centre hub, I think I had to pay £120 for it. The machines I deal with all have steel fans and in the last 30 years I've only had to replace one or two, the last one cost me £25

In my experience these pumps are ok for low use machines. I don't like the high speed motors

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

Ps Karcher domestic stuff is terrible. Not sure about their professional stuff but I've had Karchers before that gave nothing but trouble with plastic heads cracking every few months etc until I gave up and dumped pressure washers with only a couple of hours on them.

Never ever again will I buy any Karcher products.

Kranzles and this Lavor have brass heads on them so they tend to give good service although obviously this particular one had suffered pump Spring failure which is being addressed now.

I sold a lot of Karcher sinks in the late 90's for professional use. Well made equipment, brass housings. But there were weak points (literally stupid ones). Some kind of electrical contact to open with poor waterproofing, etc. things. The Karcher dealer catalog of those times showed a huge range of special equipment for the Bundeswehr, including field kitchens, huge water purification stations, equipment for decontamination, washing the bottoms of ships at docks, with high productivity, and so on. In those days, spare parts had to be found on microfiche.

As I remember, the founder Karcher was the inventor of this type of pressure washer in the 50s. It would be interesting to look at these devices from 80 years ago.

 

[JOEPRO]

Re my question on how much oil to use, I see that people in videos set the motor end up and fill it nearly to the top before installing the pump. Which would leave it about half full of oil when put back in horizontal position so I'll do that. I'll pull the motor tomorrow and have all waiting in garage for when the parts turn up in a couple of weeks.

You tube examples of people servicing similar pumps and where they filled the oil to:

 

[Bluemotion]

Are we any nearer to a working unit? I also have a LAVOR although it’s a Rio 1108 and runs beautifully hence the fact I’ve been reading this thread.
I’ve been using different eBay nozzles too as it gives a higher end pressure.

 

[JOEPRO]

Are we any nearer to a working unit? I also have a LAVOR although it’s a Rio 1108 and runs beautifully hence the fact I’ve been reading this thread.
I’ve been using different eBay nozzles too as it gives a higher end pressure.

The place I ordered the parts from in italy still have not shipped the parts citing floods or issues at the Lavor factory causing delays.

Beginning to sound suspect to be honest but I paid using PayPal so I can get my £ back which I may have to do this week

 

[Bluemotion]

Jetwash Direct Ltd in Huddersfield, Kirklees HD1 1RL

This place is in Huddersfield nr me if it’s any good. It’s a LAVOR dealer and I think they service too so possibly get parts through them.

 

[carbon]

I’ve been using different eBay nozzles too as it gives a higher end pressure.

Which can cause motor issues if you use to small a nozzle for a prolonged time

 

[Bluemotion]

I’m aware although thank you for your thoughts as always every thing in small doses policy here.

 

[JOEPRO]

The parts were finally dispatched so I'll have them on Friday going by the tracking. I'll have all sitting ready to go so it will be running again on Saturday morning all being well.

 

[JOEPRO]

Update, the parts finally arrived from Italy yesterday nearly 2 months after ordering them!

The new pistons appear upgraded with more ceramic coating treatment (Genuine Lavor parts so this is something they have upgraded)



I cleaned both parts of the pump body in my ultrasonic cleaner. Then very carefully put just a very light smear of red rubber grease within the bores using a cotton bud and installed the new seals & pistons/ springs.



I put the motor end up and re filled with the correct pressure washer oil.

Working great. Lots of pressure, smooth quiet and the hot water really does make a difference to the cleaning power. With cold water it wasn't taking off the green on this wall. But with the boiler on it very quicky got up to temp in seconds and ate through the green easily.



Very pleased with this washer and it fits nicely in my front garage. It's almost equal power to my older Lavor was which is a pleasant surprise as I thought it would be a downgrade. But feels just as capable albeit not quite as hot as the other one could get. With the various nozzle attachments this will make light work of engine degreasing etc. Very good for cleaning external walls prior to paint also and I have alot of those to paint in Spring!

 

[JOEPRO]

Final upgrades I will do next are a longer pressure hose and replacing the plastic like power cable with a new quality rubber cable so it hangs on the hook at the back of the machine. Currently it holds its shape and kinks.



(Cover not on yet until I replace the power cable which can be seen above is a bit annoying)

 

[Bluemotion]

Well done, I think it was worth the wait as it’s satisfying to do and also it’s a cheap fix when you include the initial price of the unit. Yes I know what you mean about hard cheap power cables, some are really soft, nice and don’t have memory effect. I happen to have an airline also that rock hard translucent nylon and horrible and I’ve also got a very soft ‘rubbery’ also translucent that’s too soft and flips up and hits my paintwork as I’m painting so that’s too far the opposite way. Luckily I’ve a third ‘in betweener’ that’s used most.

What’s the heat problem or is it just not designed to get as hot?

 

[JOEPRO]

Well done, I think it was worth the wait as it’s satisfying to do and also it’s a cheap fix when you include the initial price of the unit. Yes I know what you mean about hard cheap power cables, some are really soft, nice and don’t have memory effect. I happen to have an airline also that rock hard translucent nylon and horrible and I’ve also got a very soft ‘rubbery’ also translucent that’s too soft and flips up and hits my paintwork as I’m painting so that’s too far the opposite way. Luckily I’ve a third ‘in betweener’ that’s used most.

What’s the heat problem or is it just not designed to get as hot?

Yes the older unit I had was a large pro sized one and about 20 years old. It had a top setting of 120 or 140c IIRC. So it put out actual steam on full tilt which could remove paint from engine blocks.

It appears that the newer ones don't go as high temperature wise. This one is 90c approx. Currently on Kerosene I may switch to diesel if I find anywhere selling red diesel at the pump.