Pressure Washer

[George]

Eh! Whats your bumper made of alluminium?

[Steven Campbell]

That's not surprising considering special jet washers are used to cut masonry etc.

Steven.

[Steven Campbell]

Plastic like most cars. Its not so much a dent but rather a big gouge.

Steven.

[The Medway Handyman]

Yes, at 5000 bar they do.

[The Medway Handyman]

I agree George, urban myth. I sold them for close on 25 years, spent most of my time demonstrating them. I've sold Warwick, Karcher, KEW (now Nilfisk Alto) WAP & Gerni. I must have washed thousands of vehicles.

Only one single incident of paint damage in that time - a Lada Riva that had been hand painted.

Properly applied paint cannot be damaged by a pressure washer. If a pressure washer removes loose or flakey paint it was going to come off anyway.

[Steven Campbell]

Dave, you will know your job better than anyone but surely you would be demonstrating how effective these machines can be not how destructive they could be? I'm sure the power output had dramatically increased in the 25 years you sold them, when did you give it up? The machine I bought from Lidl came with 2 lances. One of them was in a cardboard sleeve with the warning that this lance was not to be used on vehicles as it could do permanent damage and it had a disclaimer etc. I certainly wouldn't chance putting that nozzle half an inch from my car when on full power after seeing the bumper incident. However used properly these machines are great and I wouldn't be without one.

Steven.

[Mark]

Dead, are you absolutely sure

Have you checked the start capacitor?

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[Mark]

Hmm

That depends how clean your water supply is

Have you ever seen the effects of aquablasting on aluminium.

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[The Natural Philosopher]

Not.

I have stripped paint with one.

Now I am not saying the paint was in good condition, but it was sure nuff stripped.

The grit that is on the car is perfectly capable of mixing with the water and giving a very nice liquid sandpaper sort of action.

[The Natural Philosopher]

I have not found it effective in removing shit from wheel arches and lichen from around window frames. Or in panel lines. Here a pressure washer used judiciously works far better.

Otherwise I agree.

[The Medway Handyman]

True enough, but we used to use a 'pencil' jet to cut marks in wooden pallets to impress the punters. You wouldn't use that on a car mind you, a fan jet is more appropriate.

Two years ago prior to handymanning. The power output has actually decreased since the DIY machines came out in the 1980's. They are little more than toys compared to proper industrial units. e.g 100 bar @ 6 litres/min compared to say 200 bar @ 20 litres/min

The would be a rotating pencil jet. The sleeve is arse covering in the main. I'd happily use one on wheel arches etc, but simply no point on paintwork.

Pressure washers on their own aren't much good for removing the road film (traffic film) from vehicle paintwork. No ammount of pressure will shift that, it needs a specific detergent - Traffic Film Remover (TFR). The film has a strong bond to paintwork which needs to be broken by the chemical action.

The pressure washer is simply a fast & convenient way to apply water & chemical, rinse off & remove squashed flies & mud.

[Simon Davis]

No Dave I havent a clue what one is tbh. Thanks any info would be appreciated

[John]

I was thinking of water getting down window seals and into locks - more that what the car is designed to cope with. Just seems a bit unnecessary.

[Clot]

Wheel arches - a hose once a year. Plantlife - unless I go back to the days of Minis where moss used to grow in the window tracks, had not been a problem until recently.I bought my wife a new little toy car - the last of the 206ccs - and we kept her previous 4 door as a pool car and particular her use if transporting more than one passenger or elderlies about. It has little use and recently begun developing a green tint. T'was the very devil to remove! You've reminded me that I meant to remove the rear light clusters to remove the residual bit. Thanks.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Mine is a cheap Woolworth's one, 8 years ago, under £50 IIRC. It's a Deltajet Pro 1200, made by Lavorwash (made in Italy). Hasn't given any trouble yet. Used for washing car, cycle, and during drought years, for watering the front lawn (just edging borders around the drive). It's always fed from the water butt and I thought the sandy water would knacker it quickly which is why I bought a cheap one, but it's survived OK so far.

Probably not a model which is still available, but just shows you don't need to spend a fortune.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Fan the jet, or they can take the paint off. Apparently this is worse with the modern water based paints which are now used on cars.

[Dave]

I was always advised to give the hydraulic systems I worked on a wide birth, (270 bar) as it could cut off a finger or arm, if you were that slow.

Dave

[Dave]

Do B&Q sell them ;-)

Dave

[Mark]

What happens when you try and turn it on, does it by any chance make a buzzing noise?

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[The Medway Handyman]

Nice one! Try here if you want one for cleaning the patio

psi should shift the algae :-) Don't use it on the car though :-)