Brand and specs of power washers you own

[NorCalDiscoII]

Just bought the electric 1650psi Kartcher from Sam's Club today. Got it specifically to clean off the shitload of tire marks in my driveway left by some moron earlier this week. Ended up powerwashing the entire driveway to get it looking like new. Overall this thing has plenty enough power for work around the house. Definitely more than enough power to clean the truck, if that's what you're after. $160 is a good price for this tool. Oh yeah, and it's small, light, quiet, clean.

 

[rmuller]

I got a nice little powerwasher from Home Depot about a year ago for around $100.. I'll have to check the brand/model.. but it works great for the disco.. I spent about $20 at a carwash using one of their powerwashers, and afterwards I was still left real muddy.. used this and got it nice and clean.. It was even powerful enough to almost cut off my pinky (dont ask...)

 

[KEJ]

I was just in Wal-Mart and saw a few different models. Trouble was, there was very little info on the boxes. PSI was listed, and whether it was gas or electric, hose length, etc., but little else of value. If you buy a more powerful unit, can you dial it down to less PSI? I know you can concentrate the spray pattern, which should up the power, but beyond broadening the spray, can you lessen the power? Maybe some units can and some can't, but the ones I saw, from 1500-2200 PSI, didn't indicate if it was adjustable. I want a look at the couplings and that sort of thing, too, so I guess I'll have to ask to open some boxes where ever I end up buying. At least at a place like Loew's the units are on the floor to look at.

KJ

 

[bshinn]

On mine you can, I looked & it's a Troy-Built. I spent some cash on mine it's 3400psi @ 4gpm. Any good gas powered model should be able to be fitted with a pressure reducer if it's not installed from the factory.

 

[agro1]

Most of the better units (gas powered) come with multiple nozzles that act as pressure reducers, essentially lowering the PSI while changing the spray pattern. Usually the nozzles that wident he patter are less PSI and cover a larger area.
That's what is really nice about the 3500 PSI units as oppsoed to the 1500 PSI electric ones. Witht he 1500 PSI unit, when you change the nozzle to cover a wide area, you are reducing the output to about 750-800 PSI. On the 3500 PSI unit, when you use the wide spray pattern nozzel, you are reducing the PSI to something like 2800PSI - still very very powerful and it allows you to clean large surface areas (driveways) very quickly.

 

[nickb857]

I am in the process of getting one formyself aswell. It will have to be gas since my driveway is far from the house and i hate dragging extension cords around. So that being said and i have a giftcertificate i will probably look into getting a gas one from Tool Crib of the North more commonly known as the tool section of Amazon.com. The Porter Cable ones look pretty good and i have some other tools from them and have had no problems with them whatsoever, although they are a little more money than some others.

 

[DIIdude]

On mine you can, I looked & it's a Troy-Built. I spent some cash on mine it's 3400psi @ 4gpm. Any good gas powered model should be able to be fitted with a pressure reducer if it's not installed from the factory.

Holy shit I guess. That?s a little beyond most homeowner needs.

At Sears they were rated by a number, I looked at one that was 2500 psi @ 2.5 gps. I believe it rated a 4000. The one I bought was 2700 @ 2.3 and rated a 3640 cleaning power. But it had some features I liked so I went with it.

Get the most powerful one you can afford. Yes the nozzles allow you to reduce the output; you can also just hold the wand further away thus reducing the affect. There are ways to get around to much power, but no way to make an underpowered unit produce more.

 

[KEJ]

Thanks again to everyone for providing wisdom and experience. Hubby had a rain day today, so we went out hunting and gathering. We went to Lowes, Home Depot and Sears. We ended up buying a Troy-Bilt 2200 PSI with a 4.5 HP Briggs and Stratton motor. It has five nozzles to adjust power, brass couplings and a stainless steel wand (no jokes about THAT, boyz!). Very decent frame and biggish tires, similar to larger lawn mower tires. We were tempted by the sexy 5 HP Honda motor attached to the 2600 PSI unit with the lovely, fully pneumatic tires, but we refrained. Ours seemed a decent buy at $274.00. BTW, the Sears warranty on Craftsman products (lifetime) is only good for non-motorized hand tools according to the salesman, so no apparent benefit buying there. Sears had a nearly identical model to ours that they were selling as a floor model for $209.00 (normally $299.99), but it looked a little used. The tag SAID used, but the salesman insisted it wasn't. We passed. Anyone who cares, that unit is at the Waldorf, MD Sears store near the Enchanted Land of Van Tassel It's still raining, but hope to get this machine operational this weekend. I'll let you know if I break anything using it!

KJ

 

[KEJ]

Well about four hours of near-continuous use today and I crapped out before the new machine did. Pleased with the performance, easy enough to use. I think we made a good choice in terms of power for our anticipated usage. So far, so good, and no severed appendages to report! Thanks again guys, your input was very valuable and truly helped me find my way.

KJ

 

[Str0ud]

Cool. Sounds like a good unit. Running those things for extended periods can get a little physically tedious.

 

[KEJ]

HA, funny you say that, I was feeling it a little today. Pretty awkward using the machine, seems you're always reaching up or stooped over looking down. Then, I got on a tear and decided to clean my entire tackroom, cabinets, etc. today. That was all by hand, and six hours of that and the tackroom looks great, and I'm sitting here waiting for the aspirin to kick in! At least today's cleaning was quiet!

KJ P.S. To anyone looking for a power washer, the 2200 was PLENTY of power. In fact, I had to power down the nozzle I was using for the deck because it was splintering the wood! Once more, the advice given here was very, very helpful. Set on the right track here first, I feel we made a good choice.