Power washers

[gavuk]

I've been spoilt at work with huge diesel steam cleaners,i'm after a pressure washer for home ,cheaper the better,prefer less than £100 will be used for usual type of jobs ,engine/car cleaning and patio cleaning etc...Domestic versions i've used seem to have minute nozzles ,ideally i want something with adjustable fan but good pressure ,.Karcher seems like a good bet but which one?,i assume being karcher spares can be purchased?..links ,experiences and recommendations appreciated........many thanks

 

[Mikey D]

Snap , could do with a decent machine at a good price . I used to have one i got from aldi and to be fair it wasnt bad for the money . I did leave it out in the frost tho wasnt the same afterwards for some reason
cheers Mike

 

[sleepygit]

If your used to having the luxury of a Karcher industrial steam cleaner, going back to one of the domestic ones will be like ******* into the wind

The difference is the flow rate, the pressure means nothing, the industrial ones have a much bigger nozzle that lets much more water out and washes stuff away.

We have a big industrial one on the farm (about 1500 quid) and it will fill a 5 gallon bucket in about 30 seconds or so, try doing the same thing with the little 150 quid B&Q special and you are still waiting for the bucket to fill up 10 minutes later!

 

[Tigman]

Dont get the RAC one the hose connection snapped off mine after 2nd use , have to machine another , cos spares aint available , had it more than a year so no gaurentee !

washes ok tho

 

[pedrobedro]

They can't fill anything faster than the mains water supply unless they have a storage tank or there will be a vacuum in the inflowing pipe. There are sometimes offers like the little Karcher in Tesco for £50 or Argos have offers occasionally if you don't want one immediately. I have a Clarke washer which came out of a skip, I fitted a new capacitor and it runs fine now.

 

[Robotstar5]

I've had one of Wickes own brand for a few years, does the usual cars, patios etc, even ran for best part of 2 hours cleaning stable walls without any problems.

 

[gavuk]

wickes seem to have good reviews,nilfisk also seems reasonable for the money not sure on spares though

 

[SC_BK]

Aye got a wickes pressure washer here aswell, seems ok

 

[Shox Dr]

Bought and quickly returned a few 100quid jobs, before I settled with a £150 Karcher.

I've had it about 10yrs, has seen alot of work, always make sure there's no water left in it when put away, works every time.

If/when that one fails I'll be buying another one.

 

[Jon]

Karcher are pretty good for general use, I've got one at home and it does the job... if you're after something with a bit more punch though Stihl do a good range from £100-£350, you can't buy Stihl online though so you'll need to find a dealer near to you to collect from.

Above the Stihl range we stock the Hilti Pressure Washers, but then you're up into the £800+ regions...

 

[rtcosic]

cheaper the better, prefer less than £100

Therein lies your problem I'm afraid.


I have one old Karcher which now lives in the shed permanently 'plumbed in', just for cleaning the lawn mower and garden tools.
Bought a new 'cheap' Karcher and found the quality of the 'domestic' range is not as high as it used to be.

Now got a Nilfisk ALTO P150 1-10 B X-tra Pressure Washer 150bar 2.9kW and 610 litres per hour. MUCH better quality, long hose, reel and swivel coupling. Starting current is so high used to keep blowing the fuse in the plug until I bought some named brand fuses.
Super tool but nearer £400!

Check pressure and FLOW specifications. Cheapies will be 100-120 bar and as low as 250 litres per hour.

 

[rtcosic]

Just received the Lidl flier, they have one from Thursday that sounds very good for the price:

Pressure Cleaner PHD 150 A1
Max. pressure (bar): 150 perfectly adequate
Flow rate (l/h): 450 not too shabby
2100 watt seems consistent with that flowrate and pressure
6m high-pressure hose with crick (sic) protection connector - I assume that means a swivel connector. Photo shows it has a hose reel too. 6 metres is a decent length
£ 79.99

Usual Lidl 3 year warranty which they are very good meeting in my experience.

 

[stormin]

My advice avoid the cheaper end Karchers. I've had a few I've bought and sold recently and the pumps are rubbish. All plastic no metal!
I've got a Netto cheapy in bits at the moment, burnt out motor, but at least the pump is a much better quality.
My old Gerni Steam cleaner set me back less than a Hundred quid off Ebay. Not the tidiest thing, but does the job and far more heavy duty than the DIY cleaners.

 

[gavuk]

Nicely spotted thank you ,just recieved email for new machine mart ,if i add the patio cleaner and pipe cleaner attachment which is the better machine ?...nilfisk

 

[Jon]

Look up the Stihl RE 98... new model for this year, and a really nice machine.

 

[pedrobedro]

Bringing this back up to the top, I've just noticed Netto are doing the pressure washer at £29.99 again from today and a nifty looking oscillating cutter tool for £24.99. I'm off up there tomorrow as I want one of those to take a couple of window frames out. Netto offer.

 

[chunkolini]

Typical
I recently saw a mention of refurbished Karchers with some keen prices, might have been in The Independents financial pages last weekend. I think it referred to a page on Karchers website.

Yes it did, this breaks my heart, I bought one last year at the ful price.
http://www.karcheroutlet.co.uk/prod...urce=googlebase&utm_medium=comparsionshopping

Chunko'.

 

[gavuk]

Chunko ,which model did you buy ,and what are your thoughts ,what do you use it for?.....

 

[ghound]

I bought this off gumtree for £70. It was advertised as running but not pumping water.
A few o rings later and it's going well. It's one of the copy honda engines, and parts are plenty on ebay.
It may last days or years who knows

 

[chunkolini]

whar model?
Cant remember.yellow and black, looks the second one in the link.
I use it mostly for cleaning the motor bike in the winter, leav eit connected up and give the thing a blast over when I get home, I played about with the pation cleaner thingy, it seems to work but I am not scrubing my carpark.
I cant stand the stupid stiff hose, bloody thing drives me mad. But every pressure I have ever seen uses the same stuff. I think I paid about £100 three years back.

Chunko'.