Posts
1829
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Worldwide, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
1/27/2012 1:31am
The old one took a shit. Need to get a new one.
What does everyone use/recommend?
Id prefer gas powered. And one that has a somewhat flexible hose.
thx.
What does everyone use/recommend?
Id prefer gas powered. And one that has a somewhat flexible hose.
thx.
I say try an electric one....
i prefer quality over cheap. i dont wanna be buying one every 6 months. both me and my roommate have bikes, and ride most days of the week between the two of us. so this thing is going to get used A LOT.
The Shop
http://bepressure.com/items?a=1&category=44&subcategory=3&item=44
im kinda suprised that the tracks dont have pressure washing stations that you could pay for to wash ur bike right there at the track.
i wish i wouldve put bubba's or pourcel's or ddavis' name in the title of this thread. wouldve gotten some more views and thus suggestions probably.
I have an electric Karcher from Wal-Mart that had to be replaced under warranty. It quit again after about two months. Ended up chopping off the circuit breaker plug and replacing it with a regular plug. Now it works fine. I do have a Craftsman that I bought on sale and got a warranty for $100. It's been back to Sears twice. I just keep renewing the warranty. The two Karcher "fans" work great though.
I picked up this Karcher Gas Model from them earlier this year after my Craftsman went bad on me after 3 years (Pump went bad...not sure why as I always weather proofed it come winter time). That Karcher I got is a little overkill for bikes but I use it for cleaning decks and other surfaces on a pretty regular basis also. It's been great thus far.
My 1600 Husky electric works great for bike washing and wasn't expensive, It is going on about 8-10 years too. I hate the inflexible hose though.
Well M.K.(my astute buddy
I've had the Gas powered Karcher, it lasted about five years but is was a bit heavy and more importantly, a bit more powerful than necessary for cleaning the bike - it forced water into places I didn't want it to be and cut short the life of bearings etc. Since we take a generator with us everywhere anyway, we now use the cheapest electric washer I can get. It does the job just fine, the bearings last much longer, it weighs less, is smaller and beig less powerfull used water more slowly. The cheap electric tend to last about 18 months, but at a tenth of the cost of the gas Karcher thats still a better deal.
im kinda interested in the electric ones from the sounds of things.
Pit Row
Then I said screw it and bought a Snap-on from Costco and same thing! I plugged the fugger in and no pressure, I was like wtf. I was on the verge of completely giving up on electrics and biting the bullet and spending the money on a gas model and decided to try one more electric model. I bought one of these and it has been working fine for about 2 years now.
http://www.pressurewashersdirect.com/Powerwasher-PWS1850-E-Pressure-Washer/p6538.html
One thing to keep in mind about electric washers is that they are not designed for continuous duty. I have been told by the people in the link i posted that you should only use an electric for no more than 30 min at a time. That's what ruins most of them they said.
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Karcher-K-3.98-1750-PSI-Electric-P…
I believe I bought it at Walmart but cannot remember for sure. I have burned up the pumps on a couple of gas models and then went cheap and bought this one. So far it's the best one I've ever had. Although it is a lower end model it has washed many bikes, probably about a dozen deck washings and I've power washed the side of the house (vinyl) a half dozen times. It works as good today as it did when I bought it. I assume I have just been lucky on this one.
Cat pumps are also very good.
For the track I use the gas/electric (built in generator) Karcher with a hose/reel that comes out the small door under the BIG S of the truck.
Snap on Electric, had it over a year, so far so good, has a nice detergent tank on it you can pour like simple green or somethin and wash without the pressure with the detergent and water, then turn the pressure on and blast it all off, works pretty good for sure, used it at the races too just plugged it into the trailer. Got it from Costco around 150 bucks I think. Nice unit for sure.
Bought a gasoline powered Honda/Craftsman at Sears. Works great. Much more press too-which comes in handy around the house too. One thing I do now is...let water run through hose, pump cavity before I even start the engine. THEN...after I start the Honda (vanilla, "dept store" eng-I realize it's not a geniune issue-sort of like the Home Depot, or Lowes John Deeres w/ Briggs engs, not the geniune issue, only available at JD dealers w/ Kawa engs-this Honda was produced on the cheap for low end power eqpt)..anyway, I immediately put my finger on the throttle lever (that auto linkage puts eng to full throttle at cold start up-which I don't like)let warm up a bit before I let that thing go full throttle. So far, so good.
I think it's largely luck of the draw...unless you go top shelf eqpt. Just remember, you may spend more on the front end for good eqpt, but save yourself headaches, bitchfest days-for years. :-)
Take care.
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