Electric Pressure Washer input

[Bucko]

Pretty much recovered from Shoulder surgery and slowly have replaced pull start Push Lawn Mower / Snow Blower  with Electric Start and now after using the pull start Pressure Washer twice so far this Spring Season around the House I’m curious and wanting to know if the Electric Versions are of quality to replace use of my pull start gasoline version. 
 Any input of information of recommendations for pro or con on the Electrical Version of Pressure Washers I’d be much appreciated as at 64 years of Age I respect experience input. Thanks all.

[Willyou]

I replaced my gas pull start pressure washer with an electric a couple of years ago and I'm satisfied. The electric is not as powerful in terms of both pressure and volume. However, I think most pressure washers for home use are over kill and frequently do more harm than good. So, it depends on what you need it to do. For deck, house, walk, and driveway cleaning, etc, I find it works very well. When I was using the gas powered one, I actually did some damage to the deck.

[fredhargis]

My only experience with an electric PW was with a Karcher. When you see them on the shelf, walk past them to whatever is next in line. My new one failed immediately, and they sentb a replacement fairly quickly...it also failed fairly quickly. I then got a 3rd one and it actually lasted a few years. I found mine (when it worked) was adequate for the smaller jobs I had, but for larger jobs it would take a very long time to complete.

[Bucko]

Thanks for the helpful replies, I use Pressure Washer for composite decking and same furniture

[jteneyck]

Thanks for the helpful replies, I use Pressure Washer for composite decking and same furniture

An electric PW should meet your needs just fine.  That's all I've owned; first the ill fated Kaercher, and now some brand that I can't recall.  The newer one is something like 1.6 gpm at 1700 psi.  It's several years old and does a good job cleaning my deck and concrete patio.  I used it to help strip flaky paint off my garage floor, too.  The soap sucker died after a year or two, the only bummer.  Other than that, it's been great.  Easy to use, easy to store.  

People think higher flow and higher pressure is the solution to all PW shortcomings.  But as pointed out, high pressure can cause damage to soft materials, including wood.  And high gpm is not a good thing if working indoors like a garage.  I've found that finding the right chemical for the job is more important than trying to use brute force. 

John

[goaliedad]

I have a Karcher, I had a catalog I could order from from work. I think it was around $100 value. It is powerful enough for what I need, but it is limited in tip options and such. I was looking to add a way to use a soap gun for washing cars and did not find a way

[MstrCarpenter]

A manufacturing plant needed a replacement high pressure pump ASAP. Their solution was purchasing a powerful electric pressure washer locally and removing the pump. I bought the new pressure washer with all the accessories (minus the pump) for $20. It was expensive, but I bought one of the best pumps I could find that would bolt right onto the 5hp cap start/cap run motor. It's still factory wired for 120v so I have to run at reduced pressure on a 30a breaker. It's still a lot more powerful than any 5-6 hp gas unit I've used. I just scored 150' of 10/4 sooj cord, so I'll be wiring it 240v. That'll draw around 15a with less voltage drop.

B.T.W., here's a link to a detergent pick-up attachment similar to what came with mine.
https://www.amazon.com/Raincovo-Downstre...1817&psc=1

[Snipe Hunter]

We've had 2 inexpensive pressure washers. !st was Karcher. It lasted about 3 years. It wasn't really good for much unless you got the tip up close to whatever you're washing. The 2nd one is a Sun Joe. It's worse. Dead now after 3 years. It suffered from some sort of vapor lock right from the get go. It would work for a few minutes than loose pressure. Turn it off and on and it would work a while again. It's also about 3 years old. Been meaning to open it up and try to figure it out. We really didn't use these things much. I'd wash the boat and trailer a few times a year. Maybe clean the garage door but neither were worked hard. The Karcher was the better of the two.

[Bucko]

Thanks for the input ,much appreciated.

[Snipe Hunter]

I mentioned the SunJoe was worse than the Karcher. It was never right from day one and hasn't worked since last year.
Had some time last night to open it up and look inside. I fixed it and it was an easy fix.

There are two containers on top of it to feed soap or whatever into it. From the containers are 2 hoses that run to a selector valve that switches from "off" to select one container or the other. From the selector valve, a small hose runs into the housing to the pump.

When the machine was assembled the hose got pinched and it must have cracked. Air was getting into the pump making the pump lose it's prime. It was intermittent from day. Last year it just quit pumping.

I replaced the hose this morning and it works like a top. I was sure the pump was shot from running dry but it seems fine. It works better than the day it came out of the box.