Thoughts on a new electric pressure washer

[MillCreek]

So after many years of good service, my Karcher electric pressure washer has gone kaput.  I had earlier given my gasoline Karcher pressure washer to my son.  This leaves me without a pressure washer.

Any thoughts from the Collective on a good electric pressure washer?  I am not going back to Karcher due to the proprietary wand and nozzles.  I want to get a unit with standard M22 connections so I can mix and match hoses, wands and nozzles.  I have been eyeballing a 2000 psi model from Sun Joe, a brand unfamiliar to me, and it is not sold locally, so I would have to order it via Amazon or Sears.  Because of our downsizing in progress in preparation for moving in a couple of years, I am going to go with electric as opposed to gas.

[roo_ster]

Always wanted a PW but never got one.  Interested in the collected wisdom of the board on this.  Also of electric vs gasoline.

[RocketMan]

Listening in here, too.  Need one for the new place.

[JonnyB]

Oooh, ooooh. Me, too!

A cow-orker suggested that these generally only work with cold water, as the water keeps the pump cooled. I have a wood-fired boiler, so hot water is easy to find for 7 or 8 months a year. Hooking a hot water line to the washer would be uber-cool, but may not be healthy for the washer. :-(

jb

[never_retreat]

I don't have one personally but I will put in a bit of wisdom.
They call it cleaning power if I remember correctly.
A pressure washer that is 2000psi and 1 gpm will clean the same as one the 1000psi and 2 gpm.
So either of those 2 would have a cleaning power of 2.
Make sense?

[MillCreek]

I ended up buying this: http://www.snowjoe.com/Sun-Joe-Pressure-Joe-2030-PSI-14.5-Amp-Electric-Pressure-Washer-SPX3000 based upon the good reviews at Amazon, Home Depot, and some pressure washer review sites.  No one in the Seattle area carries these locally, so I bought it online from Sears, who was $ 20 cheaper than anyone else.  I wanted to buy it from a bricks/mortar store in case I needed to take it back.  The washer is rated at 2030 psi and 1.7 GPM, which is at the top end of electric pressure washers.

The AR Blue 383 also gets very good reviews but it does not take the standard M22 connections, and that was a very important point for me.  I also looked long and hard at the Ryobi 1700 psi model at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-1700-PSI-1-2-GPM-Electric-Pressure-Washer-RY14122/203800590?N=5yc1vZbxdjZ1z0zy83 and the Greenworks 1700 PSI model at Lowes: http://www.lowes.com/pd_336396-53393-51012_0__?productId=3295400&Ntt=electric+pressure+washers&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Delectric%2Bpressure%2Bwashers&facetInfo= and the new Briggs and Stratton 1800 PSI model at Lowes: http://www.lowes.com/pd_516781-348-020559_0__?productId=50119639&Ntt=electric+pressure+washers&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Delectric%2Bpressure%2Bwashers&facetInfo= . The Briggs and Stratton is apparently new on the market and it is not actually in stock anywhere yet nor are there any reviews.  They had a shelf space for it at Lowe's but it was empty.  I also could not tell from the websites if it takes M22 connections or not.

I will report back on the Sun Joe after I get a chance to use it.  It should arrive at the end of next week.

[Tallpine]

What - no Harbor Freight near Lynnwood 

[MillCreek]

What - no Harbor Freight near Lynnwood 

The HF pressure washers got crappy reviews, which is consistent with my experience with power tools from HF.

[Tallpine]

The HF pressure washers got crappy reviews, which is consistent with my experience with power tools from HF.

Orange you glad you checked into them, then?   

I would have never guessed 

[MillCreek]

One thing did bum me out: the number of poor reviews for the Craftsman pressure washers.    I also went to the local store and eyeballed the stock and was not impressed.  I need to let go of my youth, in which the Sears and Craftsman name really stood for quality.  Not so much anymore.

[MillCreek]

So I have had the opportunity to use the Sun Joe SPX-3000 pressure washer several times now.  This is the best electric pressure washer I have ever used, with the PSI and GPM rating.  It is solidly-constructed with an induction motor and uses standard connections (M22 metric for hoses and gun and 0.25 quick-connects for nozzles).  I have discovered that in going to Lowe's and Home Depot, you can get just about any connection of M22 and 3/8" quick connectors and adapters.  I now have a couple of extension wands with quick connects, a MTM foam cannon, and best of all, an EZ Clean 15" hard surface cleaner from Home Depot.  It makes cleaning the porch, driveway and sidewalks easy and quick.  It used to take me most of a day to clean my 16x24 driveway, using the high pressure needle spray nozzle with my 1300 PSI Karcher.  Now, using the surface cleaner with the higher PSI and GPM washer, I can do it in 90 minutes.  The seven month rainy season of Seattle causes quite the mold and mildew buildup on the driveway and sidewalks.

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, depending on the weather, I am going to use the foam cannon to wash down the vinyl siding of my two story house without having to get out the ladders.  I have some ZEP siding wash that is supposed to take out the dirt and mildew.  I will report back on how that goes.

[RevDisk]

Cost and any other impressions?

[MillCreek]

Cost and any other impressions?

It costs $ 199 at most places; I got it at online Sears for $ 179, and it was drop-shipped from the manufacturer in New Jersey.  My initial impressions are positive, and the best source of info is reading the Amazon and Home Depot reviews.  The other thing that I immediately did was buy a 50 foot hose, since I thought the 20 foot hose was too short, and I was having to roll it around too much.  I also put a quick connect on the hose/gun connection so I could disconnect and coil the hose easier.  It was really awkward coiling the hose with a 4 foot long gun and wand on the end.

[HankB]

One thing did bum me out: the number of poor reviews for the Craftsman pressure washers.    I also went to the local store and eyeballed the stock and was not impressed.  I need to let go of my youth, in which the Sears and Craftsman name really stood for quality.  Not so much anymore.

I had - briefly! - a Craftsman gas pressure washer. Returned it, since it could NOT be restarted when hot. Common problem in the Craftsman forum, but the customer service people at the Sears "pressure washer hotline" (a direct line to Briggs & Stratton, the pw's maker) consistently denied ANY knowledge of a problem, despite many complaints. Gave me the run-around, so I returned the pressure washer & got my money back.

[Boomhauer]

One thing did bum me out: the number of poor reviews for the Craftsman pressure washers.    I also went to the local store and eyeballed the stock and was not impressed.  I need to let go of my youth, in which the Sears and Craftsman name really stood for quality.  Not so much anymore.

Sears/Craftsman went to *expletive deleted* years ago. Kenmore appliances, not nearly what they used to be. Craftsman power tools and equipment have been pathetic for a long while. Craftsman hand tools went on a steady decline of quality and now finally Craftsman hand tools have gone nearly all Chinese made. Their customer service has sucked for a long time.

Sears/Kmart can go to hell. It used to be a brand where you could order anything and be assured it was quality (my parents have a Kenmore side by side fridge that's going on 25 years old, no problem. A stove that lasted for 18 years. Dishwasher that lasted for 15. Washer and dryers that lasted for 14. Hell my washer is an '80s Kenmore)

[HankB]

Sears/Craftsman went to *expletive deleted* years ago. Kenmore appliances, not nearly what they used to be . . .

Here's a small sampling of engineer's experiences with recent Sears Kenmore appliances, from the Made By Monkeys column at Design News magazine.

http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1367&doc_id=244324
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1367&doc_id=233265
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1367&doc_id=212432

[Tallpine]

...It makes cleaning the porch, driveway and sidewalks easy and quick.  It used to take me most of a day to clean my 16x24 driveway, using the high pressure needle spray nozzle with my 1300 PSI Karcher.  Now, using the surface cleaner with the higher PSI and GPM washer, I can do it in 90 minutes.  The seven month rainy season of Seattle causes quite the mold and mildew buildup on the driveway and sidewalks.

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, depending on the weather, I am going to use the foam cannon to wash down the vinyl siding of my two story house without having to get out the ladders.  I have some ZEP siding wash that is supposed to take out the dirt and mildew.  I will report back on how that goes.

So what do you have against nature and ecology, anyway? 

[MillCreek]

So what do you have against nature and ecology, anyway? 

Time to start spiffing the place up to sell in a year or two.  Just like I need to repaint and re-carpet the house, but I am waiting for the cat to die before doing that; otherwise she will just crap it up again.

[Tallpine]

Time to start spiffing the place up to sell in a year or two.  Just like I need to repaint and re-carpet the house, but I am waiting for the cat to die before doing that; otherwise she will just crap it up again.

If you wait a little while, it will be old growth mold, and federally protected 

[Boomhauer]

Here's a small sampling of engineer's experiences with recent Sears Kenmore appliances, from the Made By Monkeys column at Design News magazine.

http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1367&doc_id=244324
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1367&doc_id=233265
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1367&doc_id=212432

Yep. Many of my relatives who purchased Sears appliances over the past few years have really had "fun" experiences.

The last Sears items I brought were a set of Craftsman wrenches back in 2012. This was shortly before Craftsman went full Chinese. Even the US produced wrenches are crap. Very poor finish, not to mention poor metallurgy...within a few months of purchase metal was being chipped out of the wrenches. Not good.

I relegated them to truck toolbox duty...they sit in a cardboard box at the bottom of the toolbox in case I ever need them in an emergency.

I seriously wish that instead of going to production in the PRC Sears had gone to Taiwan instead. The Taiwanese produced tools I have from various brands (Harbor freight, Kobalt, and others) have all been rather satisfactory and priced well.

[MillCreek]

An update in terms of washing the house:

I have a two-story house covered in vinyl siding.  Because of a slight slope, one end of my house is effectively three stories. I had earlier bought a two-story nozzle kit http://www.amazon.com/Briggs-Stratton-6177-Second-Nozzle/dp/B004Q08KMU/ref=pd_sim_lg_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1TMRCNXXPKKGAES3JNH9 but I was still unable to reach the top ten feet or so of the house, even with a 36" extension wand. 

So after more research, I bought an extension pole http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008BOVQGO/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&tag=libraryextension-20&camp=211189&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B008BOVQGO and in conjunction with the two-story nozzle kit, can easily reach the peaks of my house while standing on the ground.

Using a soap shooter http://www.amazon.com/NorthStar-High-Pressure-Soap-Shooter/dp/B002R6C8VE/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1402155979&sr=1-1&keywords=general+pump+soap+shooter allows me to wash down the less-elevated sides of the house using one of the pressure washer detergents from Lowe's or Home Depot, usually Zep.  It did quite a job on removing the mold and mildew, especially from the north side of the house.

And of course there is the general pressure washer fun to be had in cleaning the driveway, the deck and miscellaneous pieces of equipment.  As of this point in time, I am pretty happy with the Sun Joe pressure washer.

[Tallpine]

The pressure stream doesn't damage the vinyl 

[MillCreek]

The pressure stream doesn't damage the vinyl 

No.  I am careful to choose the appropriate pressure tip and keep it the right distance away from the siding.

[Ben]

Reviving Millcreek's thread because I need to get one. Among other things I'll be using it for, I need it to remove the webs of an unknown spider that shows up whenever the corn around my folks house matures. The spiders make round little webs, almost like nests, all around the exterior walls, and especially the underside of the eves of the two story stucco house. In the past I've gotten on a ladder and used a stiff broom attached to an extension handle to remove them, but it's a ridiculous pain in the ass.

It seems like a pressure washer would be the ticket, but I'm concerned about stripping paint or stucco from the house. Does anyone use a pressure washer on their stucco house? Do I need to be concerned about getting too powerful of one, or do I need to make sure I get one of at least "X" power? What would the correct attachment be to use? I don't care if the washer is electric or gas, as long as it can handle that particular job along with other stuff I would use it for. It would also be used to wash the exterior walls of the house, as well as the deck and surrounding concrete a couple of times a year after the new crops are planted, as prepping the ground leaves a thick layer of dust (including manure dust once a year) over every freakin' thing.

Thoughts and recommendations appreciated. Pic of the spider webs below. I'm looking at pulling the trigger at the local Lowes while I'm up here this week.

[Ben]

I see the Briggs & Stratton that Millcreek linked to is available at the local Lowes. The two pressure modes and 4GPM sound good for versatility. Don't know if that means anything in real life.