Pressure washer buggered

[Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot]

Got a bloody crack in its innards. Is it fixable? Araldite?

[John]

Did it freeze?

[Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot]

Don't know really. One day I was using it and it just stopped working. I didn't notice any leaks at that time but we just dragged it out of the shed to see if it 'reset' itself and although the pump works now there's water piddling out of that crack.

Si

[The Medway Handyman]

Looks like frost damage to me :-(

Looks like a cast alluminium head? What make & model is it?

[The Wanderer]

I'd agree and I doubt there's any diy fix. Might be worth trying the manufacturer, see if they will supply a replacement part (although the price of PWs has come down quite a lot in recent years so it might not even be economically viable to try and repair it).

[Tim S]

Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot wibbled:

A good rough up, degrease and stick a metal patch over it with metal-loaded epoxy (try Halfords) *might* do it. Worse it will do is fall off and not work(!).

Obviously welding the metal would be better, but if it's a case of try something simple or chuck it, 5 quid for a tube of epoxy and a bit of scrap metal is what I'd try...

Cheers

Tim

[Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot]

Bum.

I think it is aluminium. It was a Freecycle special, originally from Homebase I think. Made in China. Not the best start in life!

Thanks chaps, I might try some metal epoxy gubbins. There again I might not :-)

Si

[Andy Dingley]

I wouldn't use heat on aluminium that has the sort of criticality for dimensions.

Then if I had to, I'd go with a low-temperature process like Lumiweld, rather than welding it.

I would expect Dremel work to widen the crack a little, degreasing and then a filled epoxy (JB Weld etc.) would be enough. It's not rocket surgery.

[Tim S]

Andy Dingley wibbled:

That sounds like a better plan.

That's what I was thinking of - thanks for reminding me.

[Alang]

Depends on the pressure it's handling. I once made a permanent repair to an aluminium thermostat housing on a car using araldite. Slow cured on a heater overnight. But that was only about 8lb pressure and the cracks were hairline. If your washer is handling high pressures like

10 Bar up it needs welding for a proper fix. No filler is going to be safe.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Of course there is - this is a classic case for chemical metal or JBweld or car body filler.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Water under extreme pressure is not unsafe.

Because it is virtually incompressible, there is piss all energy in it.

[Tim Downie]

Rather misleading. In a situation where the pressure (say in a sealed vessel) isn't being maintained, the the pressure & flow will drop rapidly in the event of a leak. From a pumped source however, high pressure water can be very dangerous indeed.

You wouldn't want to stick your finger (or any part of your body for that matter) in the firing line of a jet washer.

Tim

[The Medway Handyman]

Gonna be more like 100 bar, more for a brief period when the trigger is closed.

[Alang]

I once saw an air compressor cylinder head burst when water got into the system

The bit shown cracked does not have enough detail to say whether it is under any pressure from anything.

[The Medway Handyman]

Generally agree, but. DIY machines have piss poor flow rates & don't generate much power. Anything more than about 6" from the nozzle won't do much harm.

[The Medway Handyman]

Badge engineered Chinese jobby? You simply won't get any spares.

[The Medway Handyman]

You aint gonna get any parts, so you might as well try it.

[Tim S]

The Natural Philosopher coughed up some electrons that declared:

Yep. OTOH don't attempt to bodge your traction engine's boiler with JB Weld.

hehe

[The Medway Handyman]

The crack is in the pressure manifold, thats under pressure all the time.

Hence "now there's water piddling out of that crack".