Looking To Purchase Electric Pressure Washer

G

garyo

New member
Looking to purchase a electric pressure washer. Looking for opinions on a good washer. I'm would like to buy the best consumer washer possible. They have comercial ones but they are too expensive. I would appreciate any help. I hear horror stories and am very confused.
 
Cam Spray or North Star is your friend. Except for occasional use, the consumer ones are junk IMO. Course, I use 3 Honda powered commercial models, so it just may seem that way to me lol.
 
Before you begin, you need to know there are 2 main types of Pressure washers.



1. Commercial Pressure Washers



2. Consumer Pressure Washers



Now, you can assume all you want of what is commercial and what is consumer... wars rage on about what is and is not a "commercial" pressure washer.



What you use it for is important. But not the most important!!!!!



How long you expect it to last. <--- MOST important!



If you only expect it to last 2-3 years under normal use, get a Karcher or Husky or anything in the sub ~$180 range.



If you want to use those often, OR have it last 6 years, make sure you spend the money on an extended warranty and have it replaced at 3 years, cuz it won't last much further.



Maybe you would like a good tool to last 15 years? Thats not too much to ask! Spend the ~$500+ on a brand new one!



Or $200 on a used quality unit.





Those are Consumer IMHO. Commercial starts at about $500-$600, and goes up to $1000+.



I own a $600 1200psi Electric, Comet Pump, 120v 1.5hp AC motor.. And its plenty... And is already 4 years old and works like new.. I'd bet money it won't break down for 10-15 years, and I use it 80+ times per year when I'm NOT detailing cars! Add in the possibility of doing friends and family cars, and you can nearly double that...



If you can afford $200, save up and afford $600.





OR

_______________________________________________________________



Buy a quality used unit... For less than half the price, and 90% the quality.
 
Thank you for the replies. O will be using it for misc chores driveway, garage floor, tractor ect. Will probably be using it an hour at a time. More than likely 2-3 hours a year. I'm not able to spend 600.00. I'm looking for the best in the 300.00 range.

Thank You.
 
Craigslist is your friend. If you are using it on a tractor, you will be severely dissapointed by the consumer electrics. I promise.
 
Buy it somewhere where you can return it a year or two later. Like it has been mentioned, they only last about two years with moderate use.
 
All we are saying is that if you are planning on using it for floors, driveway, tractor etc (heavy duty jobs) you may want to re-think your choice on PW's. I have a commercial electric North Star with a 1.7gpm General Pump, and it is not near enough power for any of those tasks.



I'd put out a want add for a nice electric. I know that a cheap-o electric may seem like a good idea, but I promise you will end up dissapointed.
 
I've had bad luck with electric pressure washers. I had two die within the first few days of using them.



I ended up buying a gas powered Honda from HD for $299 a few years ago and haven't looked back. 2600-2700 psi I believe.



Is there any reason you wouldn't consider a gas powered over an electric one?



Sometimes HD or Lowes has good sales on pressure washers.
 
Thanks for the reply's. I might have to reconsider my purchase. It looks like it's hit and miss on the electrics. Some guy's have good luck and ome have no luck.

Thank You
 
I have one of the little Husky wall mount units in my garage that is primarily used for washing off my garage floor during winter when salt/sand gets built up. I've used it on other tasks as well, however, it's not nearly powerful enough to do a decent job at cleaning concrete, mowers, etc... For $80, however, it's cheap and handy to have. I also decided to bite the bullet and go with something that is a bit overkill but should last me a lifetime so I recently purchased a 3400psi unit from pressurerwashersdirect.com Great price and awesome service. Here is the one I got Briggs & Stratton 1988 - Prosumer 3400 PSI (Gas-Cold Water) Pressure Washer It will make short work of any task thrown at it. The big seller for me was the Italian built pump which is rebuildable. I'm not a Briggs fan, but the Vangard is a great commercial engine and runs extremely quiet for a 9hp. All in all, I'd highly recommend it.
 
If you're going to go electric go commercial grade. You're going to spend quite a bit more than your $300 limit. (heck the hose on mine alone is more than $300) but it's a one time purchase. My landa cost about $3400 new. I got it refurbed about about half that cost. It's a heated electric PW that run's on Desiel for the heat. If you go cheap like the ones you find at Home Depot or Lowes and such go gas and then upgrade the hose. it's the single weakest link on consumer grade PW's I bought my Karcher gas for mobile use set ups for just under $300 and within a month the hose blew and I said screw it and went a put a Commercial grade steel braided enforced hose on it for another $150. 2 years later it hasn't given me a single problem since. In fact I just sold it to lighten my load when I move. Seriously thinking about selling off the Landa now as well.



But point being... If you have to stay electric plunk down the cash for commercial grade... Otherwise go gas. the consumer grade electrics are almost all plastic usually and just don't last worth a crap.
 
One more thing:



If you buy electric, make sure you don't get some plastic POS. Like was said.



What to look for in an Electric Pressure Washer:



Motor

Pump





Now, that is all you should see. No plastic shrouds, decals, anything like that. Less is better. Less to go wrong!



My electric only cost me $600, and it is an electric motor attached to a pump, attached to a metal base. Thats it. No hoses, no couplers, nothing like that.



I attach the hose, plug it in, and it works. Has for almost 5 years now. And I don't see it dying any time soon.



The one thing I DID cheap out on, was the hose. Now, don't get me wrong, I didnt go CHEAP, but I did get the "all-in-one" package at Princess Auto. WRONG!



So my nozzle leaks now, every time it gets me wet I remember why I don't cheap out on tools.
 
If you're only using it a few times per year and don't have big bucks to spend, I'd look for a cheapy electric at HD or even on Craig's List.
 
Brandon1 said:
Cam Spray or North Star is your friend. Except for occasional use, the consumer ones are junk IMO. Course, I use 3 Honda powered commercial models, so it just may seem that way to me lol.
Click to expand...





I have burned up 2-3 electric models. I bought a non-comercial Honda gas-powered PW. The pump blew apart after a year of light use. I fixed it with a better (comet) pump.





Buy a good one once. Or buy many cheap ones, which will cost way more in the long run.:2thumbs:
 
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