Karcher - Rubbish? - Is there a better alternative?
- Thread starter csquire4
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I dont know if its interchangeable (my guess is not but maybe there are adapters) but I do know that a good rubber hose makes a night and day difference to the usual hoses that come with cheap pressurewashers.csquire4 said:
(Thats why I also have a nilfisk e140. The version I bought came with a good rubber hose)
A quote from Ruskin:-
It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. ... When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can't be done.
It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. ... When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can't be done.
My father in law bought me a Vax one a couple of years ago and that has been superb. I am not a big fan if pressure washers. Especially on wheels, I have removed some big chunks of paint at times.
Give me a reasonable pressure mains, two lambswool mitts and two buckets anyday.
Give me a reasonable pressure mains, two lambswool mitts and two buckets anyday.
Havard said:
I dont think a pressure washer is an alternative for hand washing the car, its a supplement.
Its very good at cleaning the underside of the car and for instance inner wheel arches, getting the dirt out of there. Dirt stays moist.
Thats why a 90deg nozzle is a must imho
You can also remove accumulated salt after the winter pretty effectively with a pressure washer, especially if you use it with warm water.
So its a very good aid in keeping your car technically clean for the preservation of your car.
For keeping it optically clean it's indeed not super effective, maybe blowing the dirt off better out of little areas and maybe it washes out algae better out of seams, but you cant really use it up close.
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The Screwfix own brand Titan was her for around £80 gets very good reviews and “pisses” on the branded ones..pun intended...
I got one and works very well with it’s own detergent tank....
I got one and works very well with it’s own detergent tank....
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Pbondar said:The Screwfix own brand Titan works very well for around £80 gets very good reviews and “pisses” on the branded ones..pun intended...
I got one and works very well with it’s own detergent tank....
I have used one of these Karcher K4 units for the last 2 years, works fine and on offer on Amazon today as a "deal of the day".
I'm happy if the unit lasts 3 years, IMO nothing at the £100-£200 range is built to last for years, they all have built-in lifespans
I'm happy if the unit lasts 3 years, IMO nothing at the £100-£200 range is built to last for years, they all have built-in lifespans
I use a stanley petrol unit which cost not far off what some of the upper end Karcher's cost - blows them away quite literally.
The K4 gets about 290 psi, the petrol is 2500 (you have to use the right nozzle to dial down the power) but it delivers an additional 150 or so litres per hour - making cleaning and applying snow foam very effective.
like guidok mentioned, its not an alternative to washing, you still need to agitate the dirt for a proper clean, but it does let you lay thick layers of foam to strip things down, and get a thorough rinse on after you wash
The K4 gets about 290 psi, the petrol is 2500 (you have to use the right nozzle to dial down the power) but it delivers an additional 150 or so litres per hour - making cleaning and applying snow foam very effective.
like guidok mentioned, its not an alternative to washing, you still need to agitate the dirt for a proper clean, but it does let you lay thick layers of foam to strip things down, and get a thorough rinse on after you wash
Also its better to look at the power of the pump and how its constructed internally (all metal or cheap plastic) than to look at the given pressures it has listed.
The amount of pressure is purely a nozzle matter, the smaller the nozzle, the higher the pressure, but the power of the pump, output of the pump (litres) and construction of the pump give more an indication if you're dealing with a quality unit or a cheap one.
A good independent reseller that also repairs units can give valuable advice.
And of course what comes with it: a good quality flexible rubber hose, an extension for the lance to get under the car and a 90deg nozzle are must haves to keep the underside of your car clean.
And always run the unit for about 30sec without water with the lance detached (not longer; stop when no more water is coming out of the hose) when you're done so it can pump itself dry on the inside. If water sits in there it can freeze or it can chalk up. You'll get more life out of it.
The amount of pressure is purely a nozzle matter, the smaller the nozzle, the higher the pressure, but the power of the pump, output of the pump (litres) and construction of the pump give more an indication if you're dealing with a quality unit or a cheap one.
A good independent reseller that also repairs units can give valuable advice.
And of course what comes with it: a good quality flexible rubber hose, an extension for the lance to get under the car and a 90deg nozzle are must haves to keep the underside of your car clean.
And always run the unit for about 30sec without water with the lance detached (not longer; stop when no more water is coming out of the hose) when you're done so it can pump itself dry on the inside. If water sits in there it can freeze or it can chalk up. You'll get more life out of it.
I think this is the best advice (about the hose). I had the bottom line Karcher - bought with a voucher for some work done about 10 years ago, but I also bought the extension hose - good quality strong material. The Karcher went for about 10 years without any problems, working on the cars, blasting the driveway, even cleaning the sides of the house every couple of years. Never had any problems with it, and gave it to a friend last year when I 'upgraded' to a K2. The K2 just 'feels' cheaper. I don't know what it is exactly, it feels lighter, not as well constructed. But the main thing is that it came with a long hose, which I thought was a good thing, but the hose is so thin, kinks easily and constantly coils around itself. Never had any problem with the 'old' extension hose, so might have to shell out for another one (they're not cheap) to make the new K2 more usable.GuidoK said:
Very true was going to go on to say - it's also metal internals as opposed to plastic - generally speaking, petrol ones will be - and it comes with a high pressure braided line as opposed to a longer one, not to mention metal fittings where the hose attaches (meaning it's less prone to crack etc) and typically repairable components as far as mounts and nozzles go. Also having different nozzles and jets makes it much more versatile, I use a finer mist nozzle for vehicles, the lethal pencil jet nozzle carves dirt off the patio.GuidoK said:
Pressure in a way is indicative in a similar way of bhp in that a nozzle will denote a higher pressure but with the same nozzle and higher flow you will get more pressure etc.
At the end of the day though it also depends - if you're only going to use it once a month or less, the cheapest of Karcher units do the job. I opted for a bit more robust as I'm cleaning at least 5 cars every week or two so the faster and more reliable, the better.
