Pressure Washers - Latest and Greatest

[Get Shirts]

It's time to replace the pressure washer.

Anyone recently purchase a pressure washer that they love? Or using one for an extended time that you would buy again?

[Flash Ink]

We have been using the NorthStar Electric Cold Water Pressure Washer — 1700 PSI, 1.5 GPM, 120 Volt from Northern Tool for about 4 years now. Had to replace the pump a little while back because we have hard water here and it was all coroded. But the pump was only $170 if I remember right. Its a good runner and I would defiantly buy it again.

[Zelko-4-EVA]

for reference we run about 60-100 screens per day in reclaim.

Landa belt drive.  ours is a SEA model, not sure if its made anymore. all parts are replaceable...  ive replaced the switch more times than i can remember. ive replaced the pump once and the motor once in the past 15 years.   

208v
5 GPM pump
1000 psi

belt drive runs the pump slower which equals longer life on the pump.

high GPM and lower PSI = more water to wash away the emulsion and less psi to damage screen.

the psi is changed by the nozzle orifice size and not by the unloader.   

its important to use a high flow (ours is 20gpm) water filter before the pressure washer to remove sediment so it dosent damage the pump.

[ffokazak]

We bought the MiT-M choirmaster 1400, because I didn't want to run 220V to the washout booth.

Does a good job,  and it is four years old and cleans about 100 screens a day.

Workhorse and cheap!

ChoreMaster Series 1400 PSI Cold Water Pressure Washer

[mk162]

We bought the MiT-M choirmaster 1400, because I didn't want to run 220V to the washout booth.

Does a good job,  and it is four years old and cleans about 100 screens a day.

Workhorse and cheap!

ChoreMaster Series 1400 PSI Cold Water Pressure Washer

That looks IDENTICAL to the CamSpray 1500a that we have.  It's a great little unit.  We've had ours for about 10 years now and we had it rebuilt once and it's a little champ.  We just had to replace the wand and handle finally as well.  For the money you can't beat it.  I recommend a fixed angle tip from Northern Tool.  I think ours is 45 degrees.

[tonypep]

Northern Tool is a great resource. They support their products and give great advise without overselling. If you go the Home Depot route expect fairly quick fails and no help. They used to simply replace the units for free but pretty sure they got wise to that. Works for some but most not meant for daily production use.

[Doug S]

We also have a North Star.  It's a 2500 psi cold water electric.  I bought it new roughly 4 years ago and haven't had any issues except the little glass filter kept breaking and spewing water out on my legs so after about 4 replacements, I just cut a piece of chemical hose that length and it's been running strong every since.  If I remember right, it was a little over $700.

[Nation03]

I bought a Sun Joe 2030psi power washer on Amazon about 2-3 years ago for $150. Still going strong. I usually expect no more than 2 years out of these cheaper ones, but I've been pleasantly surprised by this one.

[RICK STEFANICK]

Still can't beat the hydro blaster 3000 psi

[blue moon]

We bought the MiT-M choirmaster 1400, because I didn't want to run 220V to the washout booth.

Does a good job,  and it is four years old and cleans about 100 screens a day.

Workhorse and cheap!

ChoreMaster Series 1400 PSI Cold Water Pressure Washer

That looks IDENTICAL to the CamSpray 1500a that we have.  It's a great little unit.  We've had ours for about 10 years now and we had it rebuilt once and it's a little champ.  We just had to replace the wand and handle finally as well.  For the money you can't beat it.  I recommend a fixed angle tip from Northern Tool.  I think ours is 45 degrees.

our CamSpray 1500a lasted 6 months. Sent it out and had it rebuilt just to go bad within a year again.
pierre

[ZooCity]

Avoid the camspray and any unit that has a combined pump/motor or something that prevents separate work on either.  There's a local in your locale that can fix press washers if these parts are separate units in an overall assy.

We have a pair of these and they are freaking tanks:
https://www.pressurewashersdirect.com/Pressure-Pro-WM-EE2015G-AS-Pressure-Washer/p10086.html

Everything is fairly modular and oil is easy to check and add.  4yrs with zero issues save for an o ring replacement here and there.  Wand triggers the auto start/stop.  You do need a true 20a circuit for something like this if running them on 120v.

[Atownsend]

We have been through two of the the MIT-M 1400s. First one we ran for 3 years. Had to replace the switch, then the capacitor before the pump went out (probably my reclaim guy's negligence). It is a good unit. Bought another one that is still running  2.5 yrs later. Both wands have leaked hard with the seasonal temp changes. O ring replacements didn't help, so we replaced wands x2. Overall a great unit for the $$. Really happy with them, they are workhorses 100-125 screens / week though exposure and reclaim. Had the bypass valve jam last week and give us a scare, but we unscrewed it, reset it the it and it was great again.

I would like to upgrade to something more substantial, without putting holes in the thin thread mesh that we run. Bigger GPM seems like where its at. If thats the path to speed up reclaim i'm all about it. It takes way too long to thoroughly rinse a screen to avoid post reclaim fisheyes. The SEA belts drive unit sounds really awesome, but i really dont want to run more 220V power here as we are out of room and will need to move soon. But if it is really a big speed difference it sounds like its worth the $$ & effort.

[Zelko-4-EVA]

We have been through two of the the MIT-M 1400s. First one we ran for 3 years. Had to replace the switch, then the capacitor before the pump went out (probably my reclaim guy's negligence). It is a good unit. Bought another one that is still running  2.5 yrs later. Both wands have leaked hard with the seasonal temp changes. O ring replacements didn't help, so we replaced wands x2. Overall a great unit for the $$. Really happy with them, they are workhorses 100-125 screens / week though exposure and reclaim. Had the bypass valve jam last week and give us a scare, but we unscrewed it, reset it the it and it was great again.

I would like to upgrade to something more substantial, without putting holes in the thin thread mesh that we run. Bigger GPM seems like where its at. If thats the path to speed up reclaim i'm all about it. It takes way too long to thoroughly rinse a screen to avoid post reclaim fisheyes. The SEA belts drive unit sounds really awesome, but i really dont want to run more 220V power here as we are out of room and will need to move soon. But if it is really a big speed difference it sounds like its worth the $$ & effort.

you should be able to find a belt drive pressure washer in 120v  the SEA3-11024D model is a 120v model...   i dont know much about the pump - its a different than the ones on the 208-460v models. 

the PE3-11024D uses the same pump as the SEA3-11024D and is a belt drive, 120v....  might be less expensive - but without a cover it might get overspray on it...

[Atownsend]

No joke, end of day today our Mi T M 1400 stopped building pressure. Went down to the local pressure washer repair / service / dealer place. Since I needed one today, options were kinda limited. They only had 3 units, no belt drive which I'm sure is the way to go. I picked up a near identical version of the unit Zoo City linked too. Branded as "Marathon". Ours is rated @ 2GPM and 1200 PSI. 110V. They did have a bigger version that was 220 and 3GPM which would have been great, but I need this up today for reclaim and have no time to run power. 1200 PSI doesnt sound like much, but we noticed a huge difference. The Mi T M 1400 is only 1.5GPM, the new unit bing 2GPM seems about 30% quicker. It has a noticeable kick when you trigger the wand, which we didn't really get with the other unit. The motor is much more substantial and quieter as well. The best thing is, the pump and motor have a warranty, and they do in house repairs and usually have one or two units in stock that they rent out so we wont have downtime. This unit, wand, hose, quick disconnects, nozzles etc cost me $900 total. And its on wheels which is nice if you need to move it.

When I pulled the hose off the M I TM, I noticed that the inlet screen was rusty and broken up. So at some point the metal and who knows what else made it into the pump which could be the cause of failure. Not running a filter... thought we were good since we were on city water. Filter research up next.

[kingscreen]

This is what we have: https://northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200350514_200350514

Years of use without issue. You’re welcome to come test drive it if you like.