Power Washers and repair of

[kach22i]

Power Washer Repair .......because I did not buy the best.

Who knows how to repair a $99 Karcher power washer?

It worked great the first year I had it, but like the silicone caulk stored in my basement (would not cure) I think it froze in the winter.

I was expecting to find a plastic storage tank of some sort which had a crack in it. I opened it up and there is nothing like that in there, it's just a motor and a pump.

The O-Ring and three round rubber grommets look fine.

I did find a pinched clear vinyl vent line, it somehow got caught under an internal case flange. I 'm not sure when this happened, it seems to have been pinched for a while because it took some working to squeeze it back open.

The part I suspect is leaking has a metal bracket over plastic parts. There is a locking nut I cannot get to, but it looks fine. The part which appears to be two plastic parts force fit has a pretty good joint all the way around it. That is the part I glued with "Seal-All'.

Before I put this thing back together, is there anything else I should be looking at?

The power washer seems to spray/leak almost as much water out of it's bottom as is delivered at the nozzle. I take a shower every time I use it and roll into puddles trying to work under the car. The exposed connections are not the problem, it's something behind the outer yellow case.

The pinched vent line:

The inside of the inner case - if you ever wondered:

Did glue/seal job at arrows:

No water in the greasy O-Ring bearing/spring area of pump:

I need to get this fixed so I can adjust valves on a clean car engine.

 

[wineslob]

Most of the pumps I work on are Italian makes. We had a Karcher, but tossed it. The design was so bad it was obvious that it was disposable.

OK, the "vent" is probaby a soap suction line and has nothing much to do with the operation of the unit. If the unit froze you probably have a cracked valve manifold. If it is, the pump is junk. It'll cost almost as much as a new pump to fix.

 

[amirm]

The pump is the weak link in these. I researched these extensively and even expensive ones use cheap pump. Only a few were highly rated and wouldn't self destruct.

I had to throw out my Karcher which looked like yours after the first season of use. Then I got a Husky brand unit from Home Depot. We have two of them and they have lasted a few years. The quality of construction is far higher even though this is still a low cost unit.

 

[rblnr]

I have nothing to add to this thread other the fact that I'm perversely thrilled that we can have one on power washer repair, and with pictures!

 

[kach22i]

Follow-up: I found several suspect plastic pipe connections at the discharge area. I coated these joints with two-part plastic repair epoxy as others glues like "Seal-All" would not stick.

It still leaked, but not as much.

I mostly used the power washer to clean my car engine before adjusting the valves (a vintage Porsche). However after understanding the car's design better and seeing where water can rest just inside the valve cover in an adjacent chamber I'm going to stick with using a hose from now on.

Research on-line regarding the Karcher line has given me a "I'm not alone" feeling about this brand. Stay away from Karcher, and learn from my experience.