What is the Most Common Problem with High Pressure Washers?
“I have a tool for that!” Have you ever had a neighbour who is equipped to take on any DIY project you might be undertaking? He will saunter over to the dividing wall and yell out, “Oi! I have a tool for that!” And, invariably, he does, but the specific tool is usually a hand-me-down from his grandfather and hasn’t been used for years. This results in you spending a large amount of time cleaning, servicing or fixing the machine in question before the project can even begin. This is no different with high pressure washers.
When all you want to do is power clean your driveway and adjacent walkways, but instead you spend half your morning reviving the neighbour’s heirloom. The fact is when it comes to high pressure washers, very little can go wrong if it has been fairly well maintained. If you had invested in a quality product in the last decade or so, you wouldn’t have to rely on the neighbour’s antiquated machine.
Troubleshoot Your High Pressure Washers All You Want
When switching on a well-maintained machine, especially high pressure washers, whether it’s a gas or an electric model, the basic functions of the machine will work. The motor will hum to life and all the correct valves will induce the sucking and whooshing noises you would expect. More pedantic users might check gas and oil levels and the condition of the carburettor, or the electric connections and the wall socket plug just because the owner’s manual advises these steps should be followed. Even on well-maintained machines, however, the most common problem with high pressure washers is user negligence or, more commonly, user ignorance. Let’s investigate why.
Checking the Oil Doesn’t Fix This
A common problem you might have to endure is constrictive water flow. This could be something as simple as a kink in the hosepipe feed, a hosepipe that has too small a diameter or an airlock in the system, but it could also be a calcium build-up in your home’s plumbing, commonly found in hard water areas. This might also block valves and nozzles in the machine.
More issues that might occur could be 100% strangulation, loss of power after a few seconds, pulsating spurts or spiking. This is usually from incorrectly adjusted unloader or pump inlet valves, or a build-up of dirt in the inlet manifold. While this is not always a user fault issue, it is easy enough to fix.
Still, the single most common problem with high pressure washers is either the size of the “gun” or spray wand or the size of the nozzles selected for the project. Using the incorrect nozzle for an application can cause high pressure washers to malfunction. The instruction manual is there for a reason. Consult it before selecting a nozzle and if that still doesn’t help, contact the manufacturer directly before tackling a more demanding project.
When it Comes to Pressure Washers, Choose the Professionals in the Field
For more than 50 years, Bestline Manufacturing has been proudly supplying customers with pump solutions, dependent on industry-specific needs. From your home DIY project and your local carwash facility through to the dirt and grime resulting from the mining industry, we have successfully distributed our range of CAT high pressure pumps with a promise of only the best quality, most reliable products and best aftersales service. Contact us for more information.