Pressure washer question

[Syke]

I have a Karcher KB502 pressure washer. It's kept in the garage. Last year when I tried to use it in the spring, water poured out near the trigger. I discovered that the equivalent spare part (gun) for the Macallister washer (B&Q's own brand) fitted OK so bought one. Now this week when I switched on, another flood of water from the trigger. I had a look and discovered there are FIVE different sizes of O ring inside the gun. Bought some O rings in B&Q today but after changing them all- no luck, still leaking. Any suggestions?

Regards

Syke

[Bob Minchin]

Try and learn from your previous mistakes! Don't keep the next one in the garage over winter. Pop it under the bed instead!

Bob

[Andrew Gabriel]

Sounds like some residual water left in there might have frozen, if your garage can get that cold. I imagine it could do much worse if the same thing happened inside the pressure washer.

[The Medway Handyman]

Exacly where? Could you post a picky with an arrow pointing at the leak?

Hmmm. Karcher is the worlds number one, by a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) margin. Everthing is made to fit them, not the small time bit player B&Q (taken on a world wide view).

Yes, forget B&Q, they don't know their base from their apex when it comes to pressure washers. Google for Karcher spares, but you have to identify exactly where the leak is.

[Vernon]

stealing the thread slightly, my father has today broken his karcher 220H, the gun and hose are a one piece assembly. Took it apart and found that he has broken a small piece of plastic off the end of the pipe, it is the part that the attachments seal to, just behind the spring. I cannot find a replacement part on any drawings etc, so is it a lost cause? seems silly as it is a seperate component.

[Calvin Sambrook]

I always have problems finding homes for things which shouldn't be kept in the garage over the winter, I'll see what my partner thinks to the idea of keeping the pressure washer under the bed :-)

Seriously though it helps a lot if you drain the hose before storage. Do this by squeezing the trigger and keeping it squeezed while you go along the length of the hose lifting it to create a moving high spot if you see what I mean. You'll know when you're doing it right because you'll see the water draining out as you go.

[The Medway Handyman]

Its quite common for manufacturers not to offer a big range of spares for low end machines. The cost of stocking them is too high compared to the machine cost. Pressure washers have a pretty large number of individual parts, compared to say power tools.

The real low end cheapies have no spares availability, if they break down under warranty its cheaper for the manufacturer to give you a new one.

[Syke]

Thanks for taking the time everybody. The funny thing is, the Macallister gun has what look to be Karcher part numbers but if it's a copy then that would explain it (probably). I think I'll buy a new Macallister gun (£21!!!) and look after it a bit better, as advised, although I'll not be keeping it under the bed, I keep other things there!

Regards

Syke