High pressure Cleaners??

I bought a $140 dollar job from Mitre 10 and used it and decided it was crap not even as good as the hose. Put it away for a few months and decided to make sure it was crap and it still was so I put it away for another while until I forgot it was crap and tried it again - it didnt work at all so when I get time I will chuck it in the bin .
Moral of the story unless you can justify an expensive one I am happy to spend 10 - 20 dollars at the car lovers high pressure cleaning place and finish it off with the hose. And in the meantime I try and avoid mud (to much darn hard work ) although with the winter we have had in the goldfields it has been a bit hard at times

g day bibo i own a karacher it cost me around 800 dollars but it has a swirlon brush atachment 4 foot long lance handy for cleaning under cars and being a plumber i bought a drain cleaning hose attachment this i found very good for feeding up the chassi and removng sand dirt ectfrom inside the chassi which any one who does beach work is a god send. i also have concretor mates who own spitfires but they cost a hell of a lot more .my advice is if you buy sh*t that is what you get. good hunting

Hi Bilbo, We have a small Alto here on the farm. Cost about $500. I'm quite happy with it. You wouldn't clean a dozer with it, but it's great for the ute and tractors.It weighs about 20 kg. I think pumps made of brass or bronze will way out last pumps (probably the cheap ones) made of die cast bleep alloy stuff. They will corode out too easily. My dad borrows it to clean moss and grime off his pergola tiles.
I have seen the Staun set-up and it would be too slow for me. Rus.

I have a mate with a Massojet, its light duty but does the job, slowly. I have a Karcher and its faster and more flexible, i.e. can do other things than just a slow job on the car. YMMV

Hi Bilbo,
The truth of the matter is you get what you pay for,like anything there's a multitude of pumps...machines out there,I used to own and operate a high pressure water blasting buisness and the pumps I used were called General, I found these pumps to be reliable in the toughtest of conditions,but not cheap...its said you havent got a blaster unless its 3000 psi,mine was 20 Ltrs per min,but they start at 10 ltr per min, A pump this size would do anything you wanted from clean mud of your 4by if you were'nt carefull probably your paint aswell,clean cement down,rip lichen of your tiles...and with help of Hcl it will clean the brickwork of your house aswell..you can also buy a wet sandblasting nozzle and wet sandblast.theres heaps of things you can use the write machine for..but it comes down to you get what you pay for,Take care though these machines can be dangerous,....this my opinion only, there is enought machines on the market to have you spinning in circles weighing up which is the best way to go.
All The Best In Health And Wealth
Jeffrey (AKA JD)

Bilbo,

I have a Stihl, yeah I know it won't cut trees down but it gets the mud off the car, cleans the path, washes down the house prior to painting etc. There are heaps of attachments for it but I have only the basics and am happy.

It cost about $800 and was money well spent. It is about 9l per min and I wouldn't want anything less, can't remeber the pressure off hand .

Duncs

As has been said look for a bronze pump as alloy ones corrode and the plastic (yes plastic!!) ones distort and change shape from the heat if used extensively.
stick to the better known/more expensive models such as Gerni, Karcher (top end models), you get what you pay for but a cheapy may do the job for few years if all you want it for is cleaning the 4wd.
If you live somewhere with water restrictions and you aren't allowed to use pressure washers connected to the mains (as in sydney currently) make sure that whatever you get will run from a drum (some cheapies won't). I use one of those blue 120l plastic drums with a tap and hose fitting fitted near the bottom to feed my Gerni. It will run ok with a full drum and will use the whole lot but will not start from less than half full so needs a few lbs of pressure to get it going.
A pressure washer also uses a lot less water than a hose to clean mud off a vehicle.

Thanks guys,

Once again this forum comesup with the goods. The general vibes I'm getting here is tbat cheapies are just hopeless. So it's spee up big or don't bother.

I might just go with the Mussojet thing. I've got timeon my hands these days and a quick job is not really a criteria. I don't wanna cut the Cruiser in half with it so perhaps a light duty but quality thingy like the Musso will do me. I need to wash down heap of exterior paintwork as well.

I know how dangerous these things can be. Having worked in oil refineries, high pressure water jetting is used a lot. I remember one case in Karratha where a guy actually cut his foot off with one!!

I have mains water supply as well as my own water bore. So if we do get water restrictions I can still use the cleaner.

Thanks guys,

Bilbo

Had a Karcher, it is now on the tip, despite 2 attempts to get repaired. Too many cheap and weak components to make them worth the effort.

The variety of chaep and nasties on the market are testiment to how simple it is to built a crap pressure cleaer.

I spent the extra and boaught a Gerni Crown, what a great bit of kit. Great pressure, goes forever, has out lasted the Karcher.

It has had a hard life. Imagine how much cleaning there was returning from a weekend of barra fishing in the NT and getting the red mud and dust off the 4bie, boat and trailer....

There are Ryobi cleaners which are apparently a Gerni at a discount price.

All the Massojets are great but you need a compressor to get any cleaning ability out of one. You can use a Gerni to clean more than just the car...

Wizard
Gold Coast

I have the non air connected massojet, does a very good job getting rid of mud, sand, road base out of the chassis rails and under the lips of wheel arches etc, and getting into hard to treach places, can only assume the air powered one is a bit better.
With power jet cleaners, assess what you want to do with them.
Just blast mud/ sand etc from the 4x4? or remove paint/ graffitti from concrete.
If light cleaning is what you want the "cheaper" one are adequate without blasting paint off your panels and water into seals, if on the other hand really heavy duty is required then spend the $$ and get a good one, and make sure its has an adjustable output so you can go from merely drench to amputute limbs as required :)).
Short answer as everyone has noted, "you get what you pay for".....

Bilbo,

Some clarification for you mate.

The Staun Massojet is available in two distinct models.

The Underbody Buddy which is a water gun.
The Air & Water Gun which, as its name suggests, uses air to increase the water pressure.

Personaly, I find the straight "Underbody Buddy" to be sufficient for my needs and I don't need to staff about with a compressor. Perhaps it depends on the mains water pressure you have at home.

I got mine from TJM for just under $50, which is not a big outlay. I'm sure most of the 4WD outlets would stock them.

He is the web site for further information:- Staun Products

Hi Bilbo,As member jeffrey says,u get what yu pay for. Have been detailing cars ,trucks and heavy equipment for about 14 years.
A good starter should have a brass pump,ceramic pistons,deliver at least 9lt per min. two horsepower. Pressure figures can be deceiving ,(smaller nozzle, higher pressure) I use a 11 ltr unit on a daily basis but this needs 3hp,a bit much for the household fuses.Most outlets that services pumps can make a unit to your specs,
that way yu wont get all the useless trim, eg ,driving lights ,disc brakes and crappy plastic u get on your average Bunnings/supercheap brand....Cheers Syd.