Convince me to (or not to) buy a better pressure washer

[DCSP John]

spend as much as you can afford, spend it once, and never look back.
Penny pinching on a washer makes no sense. Been there, done that.

John

[bimmridder]

Just replaced a part on my pressure washer. It's a good industrial unit that we paid about a grand for. about 7 years old now. I can take care of most repairs myself, and is puts out a solid 2000 PSI (new gauge was just put on also) I like knowing I have the power I need.

[mimosatexas]

Can someone who has spent a bunch on a pressure washer post a video of them reclaiming with it?  Bonus points if you are using a diazo emulsion and it is actually taking off 6-8" wide strips in a single pass.  My greenworks does about a 2-3" strip and needs the occasional second pass depending on eom.  Would love to be able to really power through it in one and much wider, but having watched a bunch of vids online of reclaim it doesnt seem like many are actually able to do that...

[Screen Dan]

We replaced our pitiful little 1000psi 1.4GPM Mi-T-M we use for developing with a Annovi Reverberi AR630 "Blue Clean" 1500psi 2.1GPM unit.  Man that thing kicks. 

Sometimes when we have a giant pile of screens we double-team the de-stencil duty.  I never would have put myself through that torment with the last one...but it isn't even a struggle.  I'm moving just as fast as the guy with the 3000psi 2.5GPM 3-phase Hydro Engineering HydroBlaster...which is an absolute monster.

However the AR630 didn't take 2 months for assembly and delivery, I got it the next day with free shipping for a little over $600.  If that HydroBlaster ever dies (which I highly doubt) I'm just getting another AR630 and calling it a day.

[mimosatexas]

post a video!!!!

[jsheridan]

Can someone who has spent a bunch on a pressure washer post a video of them reclaiming with it?  Bonus points if you are using a diazo emulsion and it is actually

good chemicals and soft emusion and you should easily get that 6-8 pass. You may find getting a better trigger, wand and tip angle can help. It seems the most popular are the 15 and 25 degree quick change nozzles.. you can actually get just about any angle you want from mcmaster and then opt for the screw in vs the quick change. 20 degree will get you your 6-8 pass.

or.. you can make a double tipped head if you're crafty.. then you can make a 10-12 wide pass each time.

[Screen Dan]

I don't have the time today, I'm stuck in my office doing buyer stuff all day.  I'll probably be able to do that tomorrow though.  There's no de-stenciling going on at the moment since our drying room is absolutely maxed out.  The presses are on huge runs right now so I told my reclaim guys to work in big batches to clear the dirty screen rack off by the end of the day.

I'd say it's more like 4-5" strips at a time with the HydroBlaster...we scrub on ER-2, so depending on how long and how hard you scrub I could probably pull off 6-8" in one pass.  The AR630 works in 3" strips or so...but once you get going with the pressure washers taking the entire coat off doesn't usually take more than 20 or 30 seconds if you've scrubbed enough....not counting the pooled edges of emulsion on the side, especially on base plates.

[jsheridan]

you can adjust your tips on the hydro and with 3k pressure.. you can use two even three tips on a wand and get really wide passes.

[Screen Dan]

you can adjust your tips on the hydro and with 3k pressure.. you can use two even three tips on a wand and get really wide passes.

Yeah, the gun this thing comes with is completely absurd...and boy does it have kick.  That thing could definitely take skin off if you weren't careful...the polypropylene washout boot has plenty of scars from slow days when I tell them to clean the emulsion bits off the back with the pressure washer.

It actually has two tips.  I always thought that one of them was for soap or chemical, but it sure looks like it's coming out of both at once...especially when you use the adjuster on the gun.

[mimosatexas]

Can someone who has spent a bunch on a pressure washer post a video of them reclaiming with it?  Bonus points if you are using a diazo emulsion and it is actually

good chemicals and soft emusion and you should easily get that 6-8 pass. You may find getting a better trigger, wand and tip angle can help. It seems the most popular are the 15 and 25 degree quick change nozzles.. you can actually get just about any angle you want from mcmaster and then opt for the screw in vs the quick change. 20 degree will get you your 6-8 pass.

or.. you can make a double tipped head if you're crafty.. then you can make a 10-12 wide pass each time.

On the greenworks I "upgraded" the end and have tested a bunch of angles, and no matter what it is not going to strip wider than 3" at a time in a single pass.  It just doesnt output enough pressure or volume.  Even in Kitson's reclaim vids they are doing little tiny strips and I know he has a nicer pressure washer.  I have seen a video of people doing 6-8" wide from a foot or two back with no issues, but can't find it at the moment and I have no clue on their setup.  Would love to be able to do that, but I can't see the value in spending 5x-10x as much to get the same reclaim speed (2-3" passes) that I currently have with my $100 unit...

[GaryG]

As Judge Judy puts it- the cheap comes out expensive.

As many times as I have heard the wimpy unit is replaced over and over and over.
The time spent going to get another along with downtime, ugg. Our Northstar ($700) is well over
12 years old humming along. Find the funds, save for the funds, or spend time waddling back to the store.

Swaths of intense spray 4-5" are standard and enough for the largest of shops going gangbusters.

[mimosatexas]

My experience is probably not the norm, but I have had 3 total pressure washers in about 6 years, all $100 greenworks, and 2 are still humming along fine. 

[mk162]

I've also found the cheaper units to be WAY over rated.  Either they are not putting out what they say they are or the nicer ones are putting out more than they say.

You clean faster with more pressure and water.  So it's also a time saver in that end.

For a hobbyist, the cheapies are fine, when you're paying a person to reclaim, it doesn't make sense.

[Screen Dan]

I was banned from Home Depot and Lowes.  Not even kidding.  Cheaping it out didn't work for long at all.  usually three days, max.  Return it?  Yeah, after the 10th one they start to get salty.

These are industrial purposes, you need industrial units.