Pressure Washer Question

[Involute]

Do you guys think 1400 PSI is good enough pressure for general purpose use like cleaning aluminum siding and decks? Any of you have experience with the cheapo electric models in this range that Home Depot and Lowe's carry? Clean siding is not worth over $200 to me. :oops:

[Northman]

1400 is definitely enough pressure, but you have to watch the quality of those cheap washers.

I have Karcher - 1200psi or so, and it's done me well. Pressure washed my whole house with it, as well as various jobs around my house & the neighbor's - still works great.

We bought a Simoniz pressure washer for work (same price as my Karcher was), and it was fucked within a couple of weeks of light use.

[John01XX]

I have alot of experience with pressure washers. For around the house 1400 psi is fine. What really makes the difference is the GPM rather than the PSI.

Gallons Per Minute is what gives you the real cleaning power. You can have 5000 PSI but if only 1GPM, all you get is high pressure mist. On the other hand 1000 psi at 3.5 gpm will remove molding off cars with ease. I hear of it happening in the Car Wash business almost daily.

I wouldn't buy anything under 2.5 gpm IMHO. Forget the PSI and look for the GPM rating. Usually you won't see the gpm listed on the outside of the box. PSI is cheap and easy to create but costly if you want the higher flow rate to get the job done quickly and easily.

[Guest]

I just purchased a 2400 PSI 2.0 GPM gas from Lowe's a few weeks back. Works great, like night and day compared to my Karcher 1400 electric. Think it was around $300 or so.

The electric just wouldn't clean my muddy dirtbike. This new one is adjustable with the flick of a wrist, so you can really blast the mud then lower the pressure to clean the wife's car :wink:

[EVLXX]

John is correct....

I reccently purchased a 4000psi. unit for work that pumps 6 gpm. ,holly sheep do-do is that thing powerfully. It'll take paint off of.......... anything.

But back to the point, it's the gallons per minute that's really important. How much water do you have to wash / carry the dirt away?

I can regulate that new pressure washer down to 1500 psi. and it still nock the sh-t out of heavy clay mud on a loader.

I got it go out to the side of your house and through a cup of water at it....

... then go get a five gallon bucket...

...which one works better.

You get the picture.

[Involute]

Thanks for enlightening me gentlemen. I've got to put the purchase off for a bit now as I found out the hard way my roof fucking leaks and I need to replace it pronto. :cry:

[EVLXX]

I found out the hard way my roof fucking leaks and I need to replace it pronto. :cry:

If you can afford it, go with a steal roof.... costly, but you will never have to replace it.

[StPeteXX]

You might want to invest in a surface cleaner. If you do any significant amount of flat surfaces such as decking, driveways, walkways, ect. it will cut your more than in half. On average, I can do a two car driveway that's 40ft long in about 15-20 min with my surface cleaner. With a wand/gun that would take atleast 60-90 min. I have also used the same surface cleaner to do tile roofs as well.

On average, I can strip 3 homes of paint and do the driveway and sidewalk area in a 10 hour workday, including travel time. I am running a 13hp Kohler motor with a Cat pump at 3200psi/4GPM.

Rich

[XXMAN]

I had a 2250psi pressure washer and decided to clean siding. I started to spray and it was taking oxidation off. The only problem is it wouldn't take it all off so it looked like I vandalized my home. Over time it returned to mathching color. This is something you may want to think about with metal siding.