Please help me decide on new PW

[Tbone530]

Hello! I've been 'lurking' on this site for a while, and I've come to respect all of your professional opinions regarding power washing.

I'm purchasing a new PW for residential use. It will be used to clean vinyl siding, sidewalks and vehicles. My criteria for selection are the following:

1. 2.5 GPM minumum (I'd like more, but my budget will not allow)
2. Honda motor (quiet operation)
3. High-quality pump. (AR, General or CAT)

After searching extensively on the 'net, I've narrowed my search down to two units, below:

Porter-Cable

Hydro Force

The Porter-Cable unit matches my criteria, except that it has a Devilbiss pump. Is this pump of similar quality to the A/R?

I like the Hydro Force unit for it's A/R pump, but I believe that the GC160 Honda motor does not have a cast iron cylinder insert (it's aluminum). I'm leaning toward buying this unit, but I'm concerned about engine durability.

I can buy either of these units for ~$500 including shipping. Any suggestions of other units in a similar price/performance range are welcome.

TIA for your opinions.

Tbone

 

[ron]

if your going LOW END

Get yourself a home depot credit card and pay no interest for 6 month's.
They have a $1000 unit that is far better then the junk your looking at.[no offence intended]
With this better unit you can make more money faster.
It take's money to make money.

 

[Tbone530]

Ron,

Note from my original post that this PW will be used for RESIDENTIAL purposes, not commercial. I will not be making ANY money with this unit.

If I were buying a unit for business, I certainly wouldn't be looking at this "junk".

Tbone

 

[Mark]

Either of those units would be adequate for personal use.

The Honda GC engine is a reliable engine for "non commercial" usage.

We have several comparable models in the same price range.

Feel free to give us a call.

 

[ron]

sorry, not used to home owner's posting.

 

[Tbone530]

No problem, Ron.

I know as a residential PW user that I'm rather out of place here, but I figure that professional users like yourself are the most knowledgeable people on this subject. That's why I'm seeking your advice.

Mark--

Actually, your site is one of the ones I have been shopping around on. That Honda powered 2000psi, 2.5 gpm model (PE-2005HWCOMXE) looks to be just what I'm looking for at a great price. Is the Comet pump on that model a durable unit? I noticed on their website that the AXD line of Comet pumps only have a 1 year warranty.

If you would like to take this discussion offline, please email me at TboneZX3@yahoo_dot_com. (replace _dot_ with ".")

Thanks,

Tbone

 

[Tbone530]

No problem, Ron.

I know as a residential PW user that I'm rather out of place here, but I figure that professional users like yourself are the most knowledgeable people on this subject. That's why I'm seeking your advice.

Mark--

Actually, your site is one of the ones I have been shopping around on. That Honda powered 2000psi, 2.5 gpm model (PE-2005HWCOMXE) looks to be just what I'm looking for at a great price. Is the Comet pump on that model a durable unit? I noticed on their website that the AXD line of Comet pumps only have a 1 year warranty.

If you would like to take this discussion offline, please email me at TboneZX3@yahoo_dot_com. (replace _dot_ with ".")

Thanks,

Tbone

 

[ron]

tbone buy a TURBO tip with your wash unit and learn how to use professional chem's and you'll be slow but do a good job.

 

[pauluk]

t-bone

Originally posted by ron
sorry, not used to home owner's posting.

you said you have been lurking around these boards for awhile so....when you wrote...."I'm purchasing a new PW for residential use. It will be used to clean vinyl siding, sidewalks and vehicles.".....

this means to us that you want to do the residential side of the business.

the next time you want something for "private use" say so....the likes of the people who answer you scan 5 or 6 boards and go out of thier way to help .

the next time you open your mouth and SHOUT on these boards...make sure your brain is in gear.

 

[harveymasons]

Hi T-bone,

I was in your same shoes recently. I went w/ a Briggs and stratton brand w/ and A/R pump,10 hp briggs intek engine 3400 psi @ 4.0 GPM. Came w/ 50 ft 3/8th hose and 5 tips 4 high pressure and 1 low pressure for chemicals.

I have been told that thosae specs may be alittle bit inflated for a 10 hp motor. Either way I think I bought a decent machine for home use.

Good luck w/ your purchase. I like yourself wanted to get one of the better pumps A/R,Comet,CAT so when I found this machine I went for it. The price was right and it had everyting I needed and even a bit more.

Good luck,
HArvey

This unit cost me 800.00 no tax free shipping

 

[Tbone530]

Harvey--

That's quite a PW you have there for home use, and at a good price too. That's exactly what I would have been looking for if my budget would have allowed. Unfortunately my budget was in the $500 range and that limited me to ~2.5 gpm.

I ordered a Pressure Pro PW last night. It has a 5 hp Honda GC160 and an A/R 2.5 gpm/2400 psi pump. Comes with a 25' Gates brand hose, 4 QC tips, and aluminum frame. 5 year warranty on the pump and a 10 year warranty on the frame.

Ron, thanks for the advice on the turbo tip-- I will probably buy one for the high pressure jobs like cleaning the sidewalks and driveway.

Paul, try breathing deeply and counting to 10. I didn't mean to insult anyone's intelligence...

Now that I've taken care of the purchase, I look forward to learning how to use chemicals to improve cleaning around the house.

Thanks to all...

Tbone

 

[oguard]

GET YOURSELF A 50' HOSE NOW!!!!

25' WILL tick you off, no one ever buys a 25' garden hose to clean their car because it is too short to be effective. The same applies to a high pressure hose.

Remember that warranties are skewed to the advantage of the manufacturer so there will be all kinds of whereas and wherefores that will let them get out from offering warranty.

The GC engine (motors require an external fuel supply, engines are self supplied) is limited to non-commercial use as defined by Honda and they will void warranty. The expected lifecycle is less than 500 hours of use; a lot less.

If the AR pump is an axial pump it is good for less than 300 hours; the Comet AXD pump is superior especially in that price range.

Even using the wildly optimistic calculation for performance of (Flow X Pressure) / 1100 you still arrive at 5.45 hp or a lot more than that GC engine is able to produce.

Instead of learning how to use chemicals, many you will not be able to buy unless a verifiable professional, you should have looked at net net costs and you may have discovered that if you factor in your time and the quality of the end result it would have been cheaper to hire a local professional contract cleaner.

One other thing, who covers the warranty on your new purchase? Who covers service? Who supplies you with parts? et al

Hope this helps? Cheers.

 

[Tbone530]

"25' WILL tick you off, no one ever buys a 25' garden hose to clean their car because it is too short to be effective. The same applies to a high pressure hose."

I agree, to an extent. A garden hose must be considerably longer than 25' because it has to reach from the valve to the car. A high pressure hose only has to reach from the PW around the car. Regardless, a 50' hose will probably be one of my next purchases.

As for your durability estimates, well, I am aware of that. I am using this pressure washer around the house, and I have calculated that I will be using this washer less than 50 hours per year. At that rate, according to your estimate, the unit will last 6 years (pump being the weak link). From what money I save from not taking my vehicles to the local car wash I will have paid for this unit in 3 years.

"Even using the wildly optimistic calculation for performance of (Flow X Pressure) / 1100 you still arrive at 5.45 hp or a lot more than that GC engine is able to produce. "

I admit I don't know much about this. If this is true, why does AR specify 4.5 BHP for this pump?

"you should have looked at net net costs and you may have discovered that if you factor in your time and the quality of the end result it would have been cheaper to hire a local professional contract cleaner."

Not even close IMHO. I spend about 6-7 hours each spring pressure washing my siding with a cheap Karcher 1800 psi PW with great results. Let's say that a professional would take 2-3 hours to do the same job. What would that cost me? $200? more? If so, with the money I've paid the professional, I have paid for nearly half of the pressure washer that I will be using for that job and many others for 5 or 6 years.

I actually enjoy maintaining my property, and would have a very difficult time paying someone else to do it. I often wonder what people are thinking when they pay someone to mow their lawn.

"One other thing, who covers the warranty on your new purchase? Who covers service? Who supplies you with parts? et al"

Honda covers the warranty on the engine. AR covers the warranty on the pump. Pressure Pro covers the warranty on the frame. There are plenty of small engine places that will cover the service on the engine during the warranty period. As far as the pump, in the rare event that the pump fails during the warranty period, I may have to send it off somewhere. So what? I'm not using this unit day in and out like most of you are.

I am a mechanic and I already have full service manuals on all parts of this washer. I've read through them, and I don't see much that I can't handle in my workshop at home after the warranty expires. I have never had to take any of my small-engine powered equipment anywhere for service, and I do not expect to do that with my pressure washer.

Tbone

 

[harveymasons]

T-bone,

I believe you made a very wise investment,as I did also. I had 2 quotes to have my brick and aluminum sided house pressure washed and both were right around 300.00. That is almost half the cost of my unit. like you said the money you save in not going to the carwash will pay for the unit in 3 yrs, not to mention all the other uses around the house IE. blacktop, sidewalks,patio, lawnmower, etc.... Likeyourself I like to maintain my own property and gives me alot of satisfaction being able to do it my self while saving money.

Did your washer come with a pressure regulator?? That was one feature I definitely wanted so I can wash my car, lawnmower, hose my deck w/ out worrying. Although I believe the pressure is aloso controlled by which tip you use, I still like being able to control the pressure manually.

BEst regards,
Harvey

 

[Tbone530]

Harvey,

Thanks for the vote of confidence. It's refreshing to hear something positive around here. I agree with you fully about the satisfaction gained from these jobs.

My washer does come with a pressure regulator. That was one thing I was also looking for also and found that many of the Comet and DeVilbiss pumps did not have one in this price range. I might be wrong, but I believe you can add an adjustable or regulating unloader to many of these units. I'm sure that if I'm wrong about that, someone will correct me.

For the units that do not have adjustable pressure, I've seen a couple of suggestions for lowering pressure:

The first is using a low-pressure tip (or wider angle) as you mention. The wider angle tip would not decrease overall pressure, but decrease pressure at any given point that water impacts the surface of the object being washed.

The second suggestion is to lower the rpm of the engine (BTW, an engine, by definition, is a motor, distinguished by its use of a fuel. Other motors, i.e. electric, spring-driven, hydraulic do not use fuel). I wouldn't think this is a good idea, as it would reduce the amount of water moving through the pump to cool it. Then again, the pump wouldn't be rotating as fast and may not require as much cooling. Also, it would reduce the amount of air cooling the engine just the same.

Could someone elaborate on this subject?

Thanks,

Tbone

 

[BigPete]

What is meant by reducing pressure with different tips is using tips with a larger diameter orifice not a just a wider pattern.

using a different pattern tip gives you just that - a different pattern, not less pressure. But you are correct in saying the impact is spread out over a wider area.

Using a larger orifice, on the other hand, decreases the overall pressure without decreasing the flow rate. This is the best way to decrease pressure and still be able to clean efficiently.

Turning the screw on the unloader decreases pressure, but it also decreases flow rate. If you wanted to turn it down to less than 1000 psi for a wood deck, for example, your flow rate would be so low that your machine would be essentially worthless.

The same thing goes for turning the motor speed down. And there is also the problem with engine cooling as you mentioned.

hope this helped clear things up.[pqweee]

Good luck guys,
BigPete