Pressure Washer

Trox

Trox

Trox

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,257
Location
Fife, Scotland
I'm looking at buying a pressure washer for the car, im setting a budget of £100.

The washer that's sticking out the most for me is the Karcher K254MR but hunting out a foam lance is proving to be a bitch.

Anyone got anything to say about this washer?

My car would appreciate any help on this matter :D

Cheers!
 
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Just a word of caution, a mate of mine had a Peugeot 405 (a few years ago now) and used a pressure washer on it, he stripped the laquer off the bonnet from holding it too close, it was a right mess.
 
I've got the heavy duty version of the Autobrite lance, and it's superb. :)

Karcher power washers are fairly good value with a decent range of accessories. Try and get one that can pump as many litres an hour as you can afford, with a minimum hose length of 8m. For £100, don't expect it to last forever.
 
If you want a foam lance go for the auto-rae chem one on the auction site - I bought one of those for my karcher and it's great. It came with 5 litres of snow foam.
 
chipperhead said:
Just a word of caution, a mate of mine had a Peugeot 405 (a few years ago now) and used a pressure washer on it, he stripped the laquer off the bonnet from holding it too close, it was a right mess.
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Was the bonnet chipped? My dad did the same on a painted bumper. My Karcher is not too powerful.

On a different level, I used mine on a week day recently and could not believe the extra pressure I was getting the lance was actually hard to hold compared to my usual weekend wash.

So a tip if you car is extra filthy take a day off in the week to clean it :D
 
I don't reckon much to the build quality of Karcher washers, just about everything in mine is broken now, its latest fault is that the high pressure outlet hose keeps blowing off even when screwed on very tight, kind of useless now :(
 
Snow foam is generally used as a pre wash, clings to dirt and drags it off without causing *OMG* micro swirls ;)

It also makes your car look like a white blob for a while, so your neighbours will think you are ultra cool.

That Karcher should be fine as long as it accepts generic Karcher additional attachments.

In my opinion, there is too much: "you need 300,000 lph, and 400,000 bar" on other forums.

No need to get a £500 kranzle, get an el cheapo that does the job.
 
thepharcyde said:
Was the bonnet chipped? My dad did the same on a painted bumper. My Karcher is not too powerful.

On a different level, I used mine on a week day recently and could not believe the extra pressure I was getting the lance was actually hard to hold compared to my usual weekend wash.

So a tip if you car is extra filthy take a day off in the week to clean it :D
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Aye could well have been, I've always been very cautious after this happened.
 
Clarkey said:
I don't reckon much to the build quality of Karcher washers, (
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The cheap highstreet Karchers aren't very good, nor are any cheap washers. As mentioned they tend not to last and if you live in a hard water area with limescale a cheap one is unlikely to last 12 months.

Karchers went all plastic years ago whereas before they had proper metal frames etc.

If you can avoid aluminium heads and ones with cheapo motor/valve cut offs as they can trip your mains very easily.
 
EddScott said:
The cheap highstreet Karchers aren't very good, nor are any cheap washers. As mentioned they tend not to last and if you live in a hard water area with limescale a cheap one is unlikely to last 12 months.

Karchers went all plastic years ago whereas before they had proper metal frames etc.

If you can avoid aluminium heads and ones with cheapo motor/valve cut offs as they can trip your mains very easily.
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I live in a hard water area, my £29.99 B&Q washer is still going strong, 4 years & countless uses later, and never had an issue with the mains (yet!)
 
My neighbour lent me his £100 Karcher (he had just finished washing his motor so it saved me getting mine out) and I can't say it did the job any better or worse than my £14.99 Woolworths special :o

After 2 years the trigger on the lance went on the woolies one so I really splashed out on a Tesco one for £30, put the hose on my old one and I've got a spare pressure washer sat in the garage :p
 
Wicksta said:
If you want a foam lance go for the auto-rae chem one on the auction site - I bought one of those for my karcher and it's great. It came with 5 litres of snow foam.
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Hey mate picked mine up today. Do you have to hold your lance sideways? When you lock it in the bottle is to the side and not underneath. On my 3 bottle broke the other two when it came out and split on the thread because I could not get it to lock in the lance
 
thepharcyde said:
Hey mate picked mine up today. Do you have to hold your lance sideways? When you lock it in the bottle is to the side and not underneath. On my 3 bottle broke the other two when it came out and split on the thread because I could not get it to lock in the lance
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The bottle is at the bottom on mine, it's harder to twist and lock than the normal karcher lance but it goes in ok. You should be able to move the bottle I guess as I think there are only compression joints on the pipes, so maybe try loosening off and moving the bottle round?
 
Wicksta said:
The bottle is at the bottom on mine, it's harder to twist and lock than the normal karcher lance but it goes in ok. You should be able to move the bottle I guess as I think there are only compression joints on the pipes, so maybe try loosening off and moving the bottle round?
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cheers will try my wrench
 
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