pressure washers

[Thermo]

Anybody got any experiance of decent pressure washers. Im looking to buy one for patio cleaning etc. I want a decent robust model, thats likely to last. Any ideas of what sort of pressure i should be aiming for? Any tips or guidance greatly appreciated

Thermo

 

[shaggy]

I've had this Alto one for a few years and chose this make because a mate of mine had one for years with no problems. One good point is the pump is metal, as some are plastic. It's 110 bar pressure but I think most are over 100 bar. The current version of mine (E5350)is 120 bar pressure.
You can store the attachments on it as well, and as you can see I keep it in my lounge(there's no woman here to complain about that though ) I think it's ok.
I bought it from MachineMart

 

[david and julie]

I have one of the small electric K'archer ones which are OK ish for home use, but no good for what I think you have in mind.

When looking around pressure doesn't mean everything though, the volume of water means more. 1000 psi at say 1/2 litre a minute will be like a needle point. whereas 1000 psi at say 5 litres a minute will clean a bigger area. For lifting on and of a van or trailer I would go for a petrol rather than diesel and preferably a Honda. You will find if you stick to cold only they will be much cheaper. They also have suction hoses for the chemicals on better ones rather than a tank. This lets you put a hose in the drum and change from one chemical to another more easily than draining tanks or judging what you need.

These may give you an idea.

http://karchershop.co.uk/Karcher/Industrial HD.htm

 

[breezer]

my Karcher cleans the patio every year, no problem

 

[masona]

I don't think I will using mine again, they seems to do more damaged to the top layer surface of the paving and brickwork. Some of the pointing may fly out as well.

I use a patio cleaner and brush it with sharp sand.

 

[david and julie]

masona... thats the effect I meant when I said like a needle. The higher volume higher pressure professional machine, lets you hold the lance further away and clean faster with less concentrated pressure.

I am not sure if I misread this as I presumed Thermo meant for cleaning patio's etc, in his line of work, thats why I said petrol models.

 

[masona]

I wasn't clear, I wouldn't be without one though but I think you have to look at the material you're blasting it off with the water to see if it can take it without damaging the surface. Like you says it's knowing how to use it.

Funnily enough, years ago, I used to do high pressure cleaning on the hairpin bundle (like a hugh filter) and the gun was set at 9000lbs pressure !!! About 5 mins is the most we could hold for. The gun even cut the scaffold board in half !

Well, what do you expect from a 6 litres engine, might be a bit too big for thermo though

 

[Thermo]

what are you trying to say???? basically im after something thats got the oomphh (is it a word? it is now) to power clean decking and patios quickly, so a broad spray is ideal. I dont want to be spending ages with a crappy little one just to do a small area.

 

[masona]

This is the one I have which maybe ideal for you but I can't say because I very rarely use it, it clean all dirts off my running no problem, see here . For the price and power it's not bad, reliable, I don't know.
Bearing in mine the more powerful one, make one hell of a mess! Go for minimum 100 bar.

To be honest, I think you need borrow one if you can because some of the gun handle don't feel right and the most powerful one can be very tiring.

I think your best bet is to hire one first and see how it goes.

 

[shaggy]

This may be worth looking at.

 

[david and julie]

Some of those petrol ones looked the business on your link shaggy. I liked this one, obviously only if we were talking about doing it as part of ones business though.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=050410282&r=2003&g=101

Can't beat them Honda's last forever if looked after.