Pressure washer a necessity?

I just recently bought a Troy-Bilt PW with the Honda engine, and it's great. It's 2400psi, but it comes with three different nozzles ranging from gentle (Wide fan shaped spray) to aggressive (Would never use this on a car) which is like a laser beam. It has made cleaning cars so much easier...especially engines and wheels/tires. I was using an electric Karcher and that thing doesn't even come close to this one.
 
That nozzle is LETHAL!!! I rotate between the gentle (White nozzle) and the medium (Yellow).



How long have you had yours? Has it been pretty reliable? I've only had mine for a few weeks.





weekendwarrior said:
^^^ I have that same model, and actually accidentally chipped some concrete off of my garage floor with that "Laser Nozzle" (as you call it).
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EisenHulk said:
That nozzle is LETHAL!!! I rotate between the gentle (White nozzle) and the medium (Yellow).



How long have you had yours? Has it been pretty reliable? I've only had mine for a few weeks.
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I have had mine for about 4 months, but have only used it once to pressure wash my in-laws' house that they just built (to get rid of the red mud / clay).



Regarding reliability, I have a Honda mower with the same engine, and have had it for 5 years now. It still starts on the first or second pull every time.
 
Good to know. Thanks. I got a really good deal on it. I think it retails for around $350 (Don't quote me on this) and I got mine for $150. Couldn't pass that up.





weekendwarrior said:
I have had mine for about 4 months, but have only used it once to pressure wash my in-laws' house that they just built (to get rid of the red mud / clay).



Regarding reliability, I have a Honda mower with the same engine, and have had it for 5 years now. It still starts on the first or second pull every time.
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My heated PW gets a little over 220*F It basically steams all the grime and crud off works great on nasty floormats as well. To give a funny idea of it here' a a pic of my son using it last winter to get some floor matts clean. (no it dosen't normally do this it just happen to be the perfect blend of humidty and temp in the bay) But tell me that dosen't work better than cold water or a bucket?



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Being just an enthusiast I added an electric Karcher to my wash routine; it's great for heavily soiled lower panels, wheel wells, etc. Having to maintain 3 black vehicles I need all the help I can get come wash day!
 
Jakerooni said:
And Dave I must just clean dirtier cars than you're used to. For one yes the engine bay is a must for heat. It saves time and engery. It also melts away all the road tar and road film on the car. Having used both a garden hose a regular cold water PW and a heated powerwasher if you seriosuly can't tell the difference then something dosen't sit right. It's night and day at the difference. How must faster and more effective cleaning out the wheel wells, The rocker panels, the engine bays Truck frames, door jambs, Bugs,... I mean it's seriously a huge difference between the 3 ways of doing it. A couple of buckets and a garden hose would take me well over an hour to just prep the car. A regular Powerwasher (cold water) probably about 30-40 minutes the heated power washer I can have the entire car prepped and ready in 15-20 minutes. And when you don;t get paid by the hour but rather by the job time is money... Not to mention I just hate doing things the long way when I know there's just much easier much faster ways of doing it correctly.
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Just for friendly discussion's sake, I tend to disagree with the importance of heated water washing for a detail shop application. I’ve cleaned 1000’s of dirty vehicles with both a heated and non-heated system and I can honestly say hot water doesn’t save time. If anything, if you’re attempting/relying on heat to melt off road grime/oil and tar, you’re actually wasting more time going slower with your wand. Heated water (even with chemicals) won’t clean a car 100% anyways and you’ll still need to hand wash. I can’t see any time savings with heat when you’re concentrating more effort making sure your hot water is working the surface instead of a quicker rinse. Cold water cleans door jambs, hinges and wheel wells just as good too, especially if you’re doing an APC pre-soak. Heats is nice to have on 1995 and older engines that are caked with grime and oil spills. And yes, probably on rusty truck frames when you’re trying to blast off the surface rust to do a re-spray. Is it “a must�, I disagree. If I were building a state-of-the-art shop and money wasn’t an issue, I might not even consider it. I’d be more worried about my guys burning their hands on the wand. It's also got to be kinda pricey to keep a hot tank boiling all day too. Maybe not?
 
Dave I compeltely agree with you on the "is it a must have" issue. Absoultly not. There is nothing you can't do without it. I just love having it because it does save me a tremendous amount of time (maybe I'm just different that way) But no there's nothing out there saying you have to have one. You can do it just fine without. And you were from Michigan you have to remember how most people tend to treat their cars around here. The "Fast" oil changes cakes door jambs with gobs of grease and lube. Dirt and mud flying around everywhere. (just look at the engine bays on my site for example and those are relitively newer engine bays nothing older than 2002 I beleive, have to double check but most of them are only a couple years old at most). Just the nature of the beast up here.
 
I bought the Cam Spray 1500A a few months back, but was afraid to use it 'til about two weeks ago. Now, I love it, and I believe it saves water too as I see less of it on my driveway and on the street. With anything, when learned how to use properly, it will serve its purpose or better. The foam cannon is next on my list.
 
well you guys with hi PSI PW's can get different tips the flow different GPM and PSI. the tip is what controls everything in a PW. not the amount of max PSI it produces. you can effectively lower the psi output by changing the nozzle and get some where in the 1000 to 1500 range which is great for washing cars. i havent used a bucket in months, but i use a PW/foam cannon combo. with some CWG it provides enough foam to where i dont have to agitate very much and then the PW rinses it off thoroughly. i asked my buddy today who has an awesome mobile detail van to help me make a video for utube that shows the effectiveness of a pw/foam cannon. we might be able to do it sunday.
 
milani said:
I have a 2000psi Power washer, and I would never think of hitting paint with it. I don't see any value or time saved by using it. I actually think it would be worse to use high-pressure water to rinse dirt off paint.
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i have a 1750psi power washer. i believe i can achieve a quicker wash with more pressure (less time over a particular area).



depending on the the tip your using, i dont believe using a PW is harmful to your paint.



unless your spraying your 2000psi washer an inch away from the paint...
 
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