*** Car Wash / Valet / Detailing Thread ***

My c. 10 year old Nilfisk pressure washer has given up the ghost, what’s the equivalent of this (metal internals etc) these days? Prices seem to have gone through the roof from what I can see.

It was the base model Nilfisk we had before, perhaps the 100 or 110?

Thanks for any help :)
 
Cleisthenes said:
My c. 10 year old Nilfisk pressure washer has given up the ghost, what’s the equivalent of this (metal internals etc) these days? Prices seem to have gone through the roof from what I can see.

It was the base model Nilfisk we had before, perhaps the 100 or 110?

Thanks for any help :)
Click to expand...

I've had the Nilfisk C110 for around 10 years. It suddenly stopped working two weeks ago. I stumbled upon this and decided to take it apart last weekend and check the micro switch. It's all working fine again now so maybe worth a shot before you purchase anything?

If you scroll down through the questions, you'll find a few asking about the C110 and the need to change the start stop valve which is a 10 minute job too.

northwestpowerwashers.co.uk

Nilfisk not working? - North West Power Washers Ltd

Nilfisk not working? Is your Nilfisk pressure washer not working? Is it leaking, pulsing, start stopping? How do you fix it? Help, advice & troubleshooting.
northwestpowerwashers.co.uk northwestpowerwashers.co.uk
 
GJF47 said:
I've had the Nilfisk C110 for around 10 years. It suddenly stopped working two weeks ago. I stumbled upon this and decided to take it apart last weekend and check the micro switch. It's all working fine again now so maybe worth a shot before you purchase anything?

If you scroll down through the questions, you'll find a few asking about the C110 and the need to change the start stop valve which is a 10 minute job too.

northwestpowerwashers.co.uk

Nilfisk not working? - North West Power Washers Ltd

Nilfisk not working? Is your Nilfisk pressure washer not working? Is it leaking, pulsing, start stopping? How do you fix it? Help, advice & troubleshooting.
northwestpowerwashers.co.uk northwestpowerwashers.co.uk
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Thank you, will certainly have a look
 
Cleisthenes said:
My c. 10 year old Nilfisk pressure washer has given up the ghost, what’s the equivalent of this (metal internals etc) these days? Prices seem to have gone through the roof from what I can see.

It was the base model Nilfisk we had before, perhaps the 100 or 110?

Thanks for any help :)
Click to expand...

Try repairing, otherwise Ava stuff is decent with 10 year warranty on the smart range.
 
Preparing to put my car up for sale this weekend and I want it to look really good. This is my plan - just wondering what you guys think:
  • Give it a quick wash at the Morrison's pressure washer thing. Pre-wash and pre-wash on the wheels (already done this)
  • Next, take it to the local car wash so that they can do the interior as I despise that, and then they can get some of the stuff I didn't like the wheel wells. Specify them not to polish the car
  • Bought an orbit polisher - polish the car then wax it, then do the windows
  • Photograph and sell.
Seem like a sensible order? I hate washing my car so this is a bit of a mix.

Edit: I need to touch up a tiny spot of paint that was gouged out. Should I do this before or after polishing? It’s too deep to polish out.
 
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dirtychinchilla said:
Preparing to put my car up for sale this weekend and I want it to look really good. This is my plan - just wondering what you guys think:
  • Give it a quick wash at the Morrison's pressure washer thing. Pre-wash and pre-wash on the wheels (already done this)
  • Next, take it to the local car wash so that they can do the interior as I despise that, and then they can get some of the stuff I didn't like the wheel wells. Specify them not to polish the car
  • Bought an orbit polisher - polish the car then wax it, then do the windows
  • Photograph and sell.
Seem like a sensible order? I hate washing my car so this is a bit of a mix.
Click to expand...

What car is it?

I ask as if it’s a £3000 focus, it might not be worth it.

If it’s a £50000 BMW, it might be a little underprepared.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
£21.5k Audi Q2
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Sounds like a decent process.


That being said, I reckon for the cost of the polisher you bought, plus the cost of the interior, you could get someone to do a decent clean and polish on it :-)


Then you wouldn’t have to do any work yourself ;)



You don’t need to rush polishing it for photos - in photos, cars always come up well. If you really want to polish it, then you could do so once you start getting interest.



Does it need polishing do you think? Or would a decent high gloss wax, such as fusso coat do the job?
 
MrRockliffe said:
Sounds like a decent process.


That being said, I reckon for the cost of the polisher you bought, plus the cost of the interior, you could get someone to do a decent clean and polish on it :)


Then you wouldn’t have to do any work yourself ;)



You don’t need to rush polishing it for photos - in photos, cars always come up well. If you really want to polish it, then you could do so once you start getting interest.



Does it need polishing do you think? Or would a decent high gloss wax, such as fusso coat do the job?
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That’s probably true, but I need to polish some scratches out of my wife’s car so it’ll be worth keeping.

I have no idea exactly what it needs. I bought Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound Colour & Clairty Restorer. May have been excessive, I don’t know. But for a few quid I just would rather not have the detractor of some tiny scratches.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
That’s probably true, but I need to polish some scratches out of my wife’s car so it’ll be worth keeping.

I have no idea exactly what it needs. I bought Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound Colour & Clairty Restorer. May have been excessive, I don’t know. But for a few quid I just would rather not have the detractor of some tiny scratches.
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If you’re happy with the stuff you have, definitely give it a go.


I’ve found that a really good single stage setup is Scholl Concepts S20 Black (the polishing compound) and their navy blue Spyder pad.



I would say that if you have the energy and desire, a proper decontamination before polishing will really help.


This means getting rid of any contamination on the paint before going at it with a polisher.


This can be a key step, as you don’t want to embed any debris into your polishing pad as you’re moving it over the car.




You’ve probably got a headache by now from reading this, but if you want a chat about it then feel free to send me a message :-)
 
MrRockliffe said:
If you’re happy with the stuff you have, definitely give it a go.


I’ve found that a really good single stage setup is Scholl Concepts S20 Black (the polishing compound) and their navy blue Spyder pad.



I would say that if you have the energy and desire, a proper decontamination before polishing will really help.


This means getting rid of any contamination on the paint before going at it with a polisher.


This can be a key step, as you don’t want to embed any debris into your polishing pad as you’re moving it over the car.




You’ve probably got a headache by now from reading this, but if you want a chat about it then feel free to send me a message :)
Click to expand...

I was thinking about doing that, though there are few things more tedious that claying your car, which I’m assuming is what you’re meaning by decontaminating. I will probably do it as you’re right, I don’t want to rub any **** into the paint.

What about the touch up paint? When should I apply that?

Thanks bud!
 
Cleisthenes said:
My c. 10 year old Nilfisk pressure washer has given up the ghost, what’s the equivalent of this (metal internals etc) these days? Prices seem to have gone through the roof from what I can see.

It was the base model Nilfisk we had before, perhaps the 100 or 110?

Thanks for any help :)
Click to expand...

I have had my E130 for 12 years and it is still going strong and I even managed to drop it off a garage roof!

Wouldn't touch Karcher with a barge pole. Although from what I have seen the more modern ones are a little better compared to when I got mine but go into any form of industry and you will see Nilfisk there for a reason.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
I was thinking about doing that, though there are few things more tedious that claying your car, which I’m assuming is what you’re meaning by decontaminating. I will probably do it as you’re right, I don’t want to rub any **** into the paint.

What about the touch up paint? When should I apply that?

Thanks bud!
Click to expand...

If I were to go at it myself, I’d do:

Decon wash (fallout remover, tar remover)
Clay bar
Touch up paint (then if you’re applying clear coat, I’d wait a day until next step)
Quick wash to remove dust
Machine polish
Photos



Because of the time of year, you won’t get all this done in a day unfortunately.
 
MrRockliffe said:
If I were to go at it myself, I’d do:

Decon wash (fallout remover, tar remover)
Clay bar
Touch up paint (then if you’re applying clear coat, I’d wait a day until next step)
Quick wash to remove dust
Machine polish
Photos



Because of the time of year, you won’t get all this done in a day unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Hopefully I can do the claying and touch ups tomorrow and then the rest on Saturday, including the slightly more professional washing
 
Guys can I sanity check something...

So my old Bosch pressure washer has died and I'm looking at new ones, probably a Karcher K4. However I have an aftermarket 'non twist' rubber hose from Direct hoses and a trigger gun that I believe will only work with the Bosch fitting. Is that the case, am I going to need a new hose and gun if I go with the Karcher?
 
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V_R said:
Guys can I sanity check something...

So my old Bosch pressure washer has died and I'm looking at new ones, probably a Karcher K4. However I have an aftermarket 'non twist' rubber hose from Direct hoses and a trigger gun that I believe will only work with the Bosch fitting. Is that the case, am I going to need a new hose and gun if I go with the Karcher?
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t go for a K4. Pretty sure it uses a plastic pump and they’re not very robust.


But to answer your question you’ll either have to get a new hose and gun, or use an adapter.
 
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dirtychinchilla said:
I've seen lots of clips of people using tiny brushes on their interiors combined with something that foams up. What is the foaming up stuff?!
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Most interior cleaners foam up pretty well, especially the ones from brands such as Autoglym, since most people think more foam = more better :)

5L Surfex HD, diluted down to 2% is all the interior cleaner you’ll need*

At 2%, 5L will give you 250L of cleaner for ~20 quid.

You can even increase the concentration to 5 or 10% for exterior. I use 10% and 15% on wheels/tyres depending on how dirty.



*not for leather though.
 
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