anyone ever repair a power washer??

I

imported_steveo3002

New member
ive got a small power washer that i use from time to time, recently its started playing up



the motor usually cuts out when i stop washing , but now when i stop washing the motor keeps giving short bursts of on/off



its a karcher brand...anyone know anything about em or point me towards someone that does?
 
My dad's does that some times, I think it is kind of like an overload kind of deal. The motor is directly connected to the turbine that pressurizes and spits out the water, and when you dont hold the trigger to spray any water, the engine is just building pressure with no release. EVentually, the pressure overcomes what the engine can fight, and it either stalls or slips or something. What I suspect is happening is the on/off bursts are this kind of thing, slippage of some kind. You may want to try playing with the idle, maybe adjusting it alittle bit will fix it enough that you can live with it. Hope this helps.
 
Hey Stevo... I have the exact same problem. When you're not squeezing the trigger the motor kinda pulses on and off. It did that for a few days, then it lost a lot of it's pressure....to the point were i can put my hand 8inches away from the gun. I bought it about a year ago when i was doing some weekend work here and there. But this summer i was using the hell out of it...guess u get what u pay for :hairpull . However, it would be great if anyone had a solution or even just an idea on how to repair the machine.
 
My electric Karcher started doing this, turned out to be a leak on the inlet spigot. A new "O" ring fixed it.
 
Yes a small trickle of water, as the water dripped, the pressure fell, switching on the pump. This took only a second or two to pressurise the hose and switched off. A couple of seconds later the pressure fell..................................and so on.
 
I got so fed up with my last electric Karcher that I literally threw it away. The nearest service place wasn't within driving distance and I wasn't gonna pay to ship it. Every Karcher I've ever had (3) ended up crapping out on me :( Hope you have better luck.
 
Buy quality: Honda motor/CAT pump. Bought mine from Home Depot. Regular price was $699, bought it on sale for $599. It has a 6.5hp Honda industrial motor and 2900 psi CAT pump.



Keep the pump oil changed regularly (first 5 hours, then 25 after) and NEVER let the unit just sit there without spraying water (even for 30 seconds). Those pumps are small and are dead heading the water and building up heat fast. You'll fry the pump packing in NO time.
 
For $160 bucks, I should of just spent another $150 on a gas powered pressure washer. But because I'm a tight wad I now have to scrub wheel wells by hand. :wall
 
SCOOBY14B said:
Keep the pump oil changed regularly (first 5 hours, then 25 after) and NEVER let the unit just sit there without spraying water (even for 30 seconds). Those pumps are small and are dead heading the water and building up heat fast. You'll fry the pump packing in NO time.
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Yep, just got a call from my small engine place on mine (Campbell Hausfeld w/ a Briggs & Stratton 4 hp). Pump is fried. Cheaper to buy a new one than to fix it. My brother in-law borrowed it and probably left it running w/o spraying. I may go electric this time just to save $$. I literally just have one project I want to do and can't see dropping $400+ on a gas model (especially since I just spent $100+ on new parts & repairs on this one). :wall
 
Accumulator said:
No idea who'd be better than Karcher. With their reputation I always wondered if I just somehow got bad ones.
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Karcher is absolute junk and they promote themselves as being the best. They are good at public relations abd marketing but horrible at building quality. I had the same problem after owning it a month and they said it wasn't a warranty issue, lol HUH! I junked it for some off brand EroPro 1600, 200 more psi for the same price and it works great!! Seriously, never buy an inexpensive Karcher!!!
 
I also have to get a new pressure washer, the excel I had from Home Depot is fried after 2 years. I think I am going to buy the excel model they sell with the 5 HP Honda engine for $388. I like Honda engines, that is what I have on my trailer and seem very durable.
 
Burlyq said:
Karcher is absolute junk and they promote themselves as being the best. They are good at public relations abd marketing but horrible at building quality. Seriously, never buy an inexpensive Karcher!!!
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Heh heh, after my experiences I'm never buying *any* Karcher. I don't care if they *did* use them to clean Mt. Rushmore ;)
 
Well my less than a year old Karcher K 3.97M (Electric ) started doing this very same thing.



You turn the water and PW on and let it build up pressure (while it's doing that everything is fine).



As soon as the PW builds up pressure the pumps starts to surge off and on but will stop when you pull the trigger. As soon as you let go of the trigger it starts again.



I called Karcher's Support Dept and they call this probelm "cycling". They said it's caused by air leaking into the system.
 
I had my karcher from Sams club for only a few months and it started having the same problem. I would just cut power to it when I wasn't using it. That lasted about a week and it died but I had an extended warranty on it from Sams club so they refunded my money.
 
I have a Husky that I received for Christmas last year. It came from Home Depot and was around $70. 1400 PSI, 20 ft hose(I ouwl dprefer about 10 ft longer), GFI, even came with a floor scrubber. I have worked this thing to death without issue. You could say that I use it for "extreme" weekend warrior duty. It has yet to fail me in any way.
 
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