electric pressure washer

[rjc77]

Thinking about purchasing this pressure washer any opinions on this attached to a foam lance?

 

Shop Karcher 1800 PSI 1.5 GPM Electric Pressure Washer at Lowes.com

 

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Foam-Lance-Adjustable-Bottle/dp/B004GNZYY4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342644933&sr=8-1&keywords=foam+lance]Amazon.com: Professional Foam Lance Adjustable with 32 oz. Bottle: Patio, Lawn & Garden[/ame]

 

Also will the foam lance attach to this washer?

 

thanks in advance.

[Z71_Denali]

i own a Karcher X series, 2000psi, 1.5 GPM. their X Series washers are their top of the line electric series. it'll last longer than the one you listed... and its only $30 more here:

Karcher K5.740 - X Series 2000 PSI (Electric-Cold Water) Pressure Washer

 

but one fall back to it is it's top heavy with the hose reel on top. they do make an 1800 psi x-series washer without the hose reel and its the same price as the one you listed:

Karcher K3.740 - X Series 1800 PSI (Electric-Cold Water) Pressure Washer

 

karcher is a great brand, one of the best consumer grade electric washers on the market. enough power to knock all the dirt off a pressure washer safely can without physically touching the paint

 

to get that foam lance to work, you'll need to get a karcher k-series fitting for it like this:

Karcher K Foam Lance MPW002, Karcher Foam Cannon HP Foam Lancer for Karcher pressure washer machine

 

also, you might want to look into getting this quick disconnect for it, if you use the adam's QD's. the one that comes with the karcher washers doesn't fit the standard brass QDs out there. and its an odd female to male QD adapter:

Powerwasher 81K030SH - Universal Garden Hose Quick-Connect Kit

the all brass fitting is what you would need, the other 2 are junk.

Edited July 18, 2012 by 2010TexasEdition

[BlueGenCoupe]

I was never a fan of electric power washers.

 

I had to use some air compressor attachments to set up my lance to my pressure washer. you might also need this attachment to attach the lance to the wand(the one in the middle)

 

http://www.eshine.ca/prodimages/attachmentsfoam.jpg

[rjc77]

Ryan...i got a gift card from Lowe's and thats the only karcher series they sell. Do you know where i can buy a foam lance with the k series adapter in the US? So thats all I would need to purchase and the quick connect from the link you posted in order to make this setup work?

 

I'm limited in only purchasing a washer from lowe's is there one you think might be better than the one i posted?

[BlueGenCoupe]

I think the geeks sell it

[Z71_Denali]

are you limited to electric only? gas powered washers are more powerful

 

there isn't a US made pressure washer foam lance i'm aware of. there is one nearly identical to the MTM you posted sold at auto geek but its $100 and "made in italy" IIRC

[johns85mcss]

i have this one. its great.

1,800 psi 1.5 GPM Axial Cam Heavy-Duty Electric Pressure Washer-CF1800HD at The Home Depot

[MAYBEN]

Sub'd, will be buying a pw soon

[GXPaycheck]

I found a 15mm-14mm ID adapter for my hose.

 

http://www.adamsforums.com/forums/wash-dry-clay-bar/18534.htm

[Chris@Adams]

Is 1800 psi too much pressure for a car? I think that most car washes are 1400 psi.

Just a thought.......

[Luken10]

Is 1800 psi too much pressure for a car? I think that most car washes are 1400 psi.

Just a thought.......

 

I have an 1800 psi Greenworks electric pressure washer from Lowes. I think you will be fine. It won't do anything to the paint on your car, even from a few inches away with the 40 degree nozzle. Just try to not focus on any cracks or rock chips. Even then though it took the 0 degree nozzle to take the paint off a buddies spray painted hub caps.

[Nezil]

I'd personally be worried too about a pressure washer with more than about a 2000 psi rating. Gas powered washers are indeed more powerful, and have a greater flow rate, neither of which are particularly necessary for washing a vehicle, and can be bad news if you get too close.

 

The MTM Hydro Foam Lance that's listed in the first post of this thread will work fine with an 1800 psi electric washer, and that is what I use (Karcher K3.740). As has been previously stated, the pressure that the foam comes out at will be fairly low, but that's not a bad thing.

 

I believe that the MTM Hydro Lance has a 1.5mm orifice, that is 'tuned' to work with a 2600 psi washer with a higher flow rate if my memory serves me correctly. What this means is that for lower pressure units, we'll be outputting foam at a lower pressure than the lance could work at, and probably using less wash soap as well!

 

The MTM Hydro Lance, and gas pressure washers in general are both designed for cleaning hard surfaces such as the sides of a house, wooden fences, and concrete / paved surfaces. Higher flow rates and higher pressures make these tasks quicker, and more effective. For a car wash, an electric is probably better suited, and will work fine with the foam lance.

[Nezil]

Another point regarding pressure...

 

For washing the car, as others have said, you really shouldn't be using the power of the pressure washer to do any cleaning. Your wash mitt and two bucket wash is used for that.

 

A foam pre-wash and rinse, to remove loose particles is good, followed by another blast of foam and then a two bucket wash. You could then use the pressure washer to rinse, but the sheeting method with a hose is probably better for most people.

 

I personally use my pressure washer to draw de-ionised water from 5 gallon water bottles. I do this because I find it very difficult to wash a vehicle in the California sun without getting water spots, particularly with my hose water being at ~400ppm TDS (that's super hard). I then just leave my car to dry in the garage overnight, and don't towel dry at all. I'm therefore using the pressure washer as a form of pump to get the DI water over the car, and so I do use it for a final rinse.

 

DI water also has the side effect of producing a lot more foam from the same concentration of wash soap!

 

I could have used a CR Spotless system, but felt it was too expensive both to buy, and to run, so I developed my own cheaper system [please ask if you're interested, and I'll make a new thread about it].