As everyone would be aware, there are SO many different brands of pressure washers out on market these days and the Australian market is unfortunately being overwhelmed with imported machines that can’t be repaired as there are no parts available. They are coming in with Honda copy engines and Italian pump copies as well. Unless the pressure washer is of a brand that has been known in Australia for some time or the business that you purchase it from keeps spare parts in for those machines, I would highly recommend NOT purchasing the pressure washer.
Although the pressure washer may be cheaper than other brands of pressure washers that you can purchase, there is nothing worse then saving yourself a few hundred dollars or more when you first purchase the machine but you will find it to be a headache when it comes to repairing the pressure washer. You may also find that the pressure washer doesn’t last as long as you have wanted it to and you end up having to purchase a new machine within a short time frame.
Another problem that we have found with the imported pressure washers is the pressure and water flow of the machines. A lot of imported pressure washers will state a pressure and water flow on the label or in the description of the goods on line. Please be careful when viewing these specifications as although it states a pressure water flow, these specifications will most likely be the MAX pressure and water flow that the pressure pump on the machine does but ISN’T what the actual machine produces.
This can also be tricky when trying to get the correct pressure washer for the job. For example; a petrol pressure washer that is a 6.5HP Engine and states that it does 4500psi may seem to be a very high pressure for the machine and is what you are looking for and you would be correct 4500psi is a lot of pressure, BUT it isn’t just the pressure of the water coming out that does the cleaning, it is the combination of the pressure and water flow of the pressure washer that does the cleaning.
We also find that the machines come with a VERY small nozzle which reduces the water flow of the pressure washer so you get a higher pressure. This in turns also wears out the unloader / bypass valve on the pressure washer as it is bypassing too much water.
If you have a pressure washer that produces 4500psi (310bar) but only delivers 5 to 7 litres per minute, it isn’t going to clean very well at all.
There is a calculation that I like to supply our customers, so they are able to figure out the cleaning efficiency of the pressure washer so they can compare machines. I have given you this combination below: –
BAR (times) water flow divided by 600 = the cleaning efficiency.
200bar x 15 litres per minute = 3000 divided by 600 = 5kw of cleaning efficiency.
To convert PSI of the machine to BAR is very simple. Just take the PSI and divide it by 14.5 and this will give you the BAR pressure of the machine.
So, when comparing machines don’t go just by the pressure that the pressure washer produces but use the above calculation on all of the pressure washers that you are comparing it you will be able to figure out which pressure washer is going to give you the best and highest cleaning efficiency.
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