Petrol/Diesel High Pressure Cleaners

[DJ’s Timber]

My electric high pressure cleaner gave up the ghost the other week and after speaking to a couple of guys over the last week or so, it might pay for me to look at getting an engine powered pressure cleaner.

Advantages over electric is that they will operate anywhere and will also pump from a tank whereas most electrics need mains water to operate.

It seems from hearsay that I could pick up a 5 or 6 HP engined unit for less than $1k but for an elec in equivalent hp could cost a heap more.

So with all that in mind, do any of you have any ideas or experience with these units?

I'll be mainly using mine to keep my truck clean, so I'd be expecting it to be cleaning the bugs, mud and general road grime off, degreasing the motor and chassis as required and further down the track, if it happens, keeping an 15 to 25 ton excavator clean.

[munruben]

Yep, used petrol driven motors on the high pressure cleaners for my work as a roof painter and restorer up until last year when I gave up working for a living.
For my work, I had to have something that was reliable and most of the machines I had over the years had a Honda motor fitted. The Honda is about the most reliable motor you can buy although a bit costly compared to some of the cheaper "look alike imports"
the last machine I had was an imported machine which was cheap to buy but the motor gave me a lot of trouble.

The cheap imported motors vibrate terribly under the load of a high pressure pump when used at maximum pressure. I had the 14hp motor which shook itself to pieces over a period of 12 months.

I replaced the motor with another cheap import which went quite well for a week or two but had trouble with oil leaks within a short space of time. These cheap motors are usually only guaranteed for a month or two. Honda is guaranteed for 12 months.

I guess it all depends what you expect from a machine and how reliable you need it to be. The cost of a Spitwater pump coupled to a 13 hp Honda petrol motor is around the $3400 plus mark but you may not need something as powerful as this for the application you have in mind. For roof cleaning, I used a 45 meter long hose and needed plenty of pressure around 3000psi and needed to maintain it continually.

The cheaper machines will reach that pressure but have a limited lifespan working at those kind of pressures.

Also be aware that some of the cheaper, genuine Honda motors that you see advertised on ebay are not actually Australian Honda motors and therefore are not covered by Honda Australia. They are genuine Honda's but not backed by any Australian guarantee.

I bought the cheap imported machine because I knew I would not be working for much longer so didn't want to go to the cost of a new Honda + Spitwater combination and in all fairness if the machine was going to be used occasionally for light to moderate work then they are reasonably good value for money but if you want reliability and something that will last for years, that's another story.

If you buy a petrol motor version I would recommend you buy a key start one, well worth the extra money. I can't advise on a diesel motor because I have never had one

I point out that the biggest problem I had with the unit was the motor. The pump went quite well and gave me very little trouble. The washers packed up in the first couple of months but I replaced them with washers from one of the better brand pumps on the market ( I think they were from Aussie pumps if I remember rightly), which fit the imported pump and I had no further problems with the pump after replacing the washers. .

For one of the cheap imported machines I think I paid around $900 which includes a gun and some tips. It only came with about 20ft of hose so the hose was extra for me to buy.

[DJ’s Timber]

Thank you for that detailed report John, like yourself, I would like to look at getting something that will last.

Spitwater was the name that I couldn't recall and now that you have mentioned it, I'll do a few more searches

[DJ’s Timber]

Crikey, being looking up specs on the Spitwater W/site and the differences between electric and petrol in pressure is quite substantial.

Think I'll be doing quite a bit of investigating over the next few weeks.

[Cliff Rogers]

I also have a Honda petrol powered job, can remember the brand & I am currently 1800Kms away from it so I can't check.

It works well, once you get it started.

The motor, even though it is a Honda, doesn't like running while it is cold & it is a bit of a pain in the asre waiting for it to warm up.

I have drained the fuel, cleaned the carby but I haven't tried a new plug yet, might be all it needs 'cos it was fine while it was new.

Does a MUCH better job that the electric jobbies.

[munruben]

I also have a Honda petrol powered job, can remember the brand & I am currently 1800Kms away from it so I can't check.

It works well, once you get it started.

The motor, even though it is a Honda, doesn't like running while it is cold & it is a bit of a pain in the asre waiting for it to warm up.

I have drained the fuel, cleaned the carby but I haven't tried a new plug yet, might be all it needs 'cos it was fine while it was new.

Does a MUCH better job that the electric jobbies.

Surprised you are having a little problem with your Honda motor Cliff, A new plug would be a good idea. I had Honda on both my high pressure cleaner and my airless spray painting machines. Had the last one for 4 years and it had a recoil start and it always fired up first pull without fail in all weathers. I never had the motor sheeted over and it was on the tray of my truck in all elements. If I had to buy another machine, I would choose the "key start" they are terrific. Try a new plug Cliff.

[Cliff Rogers]

Yup, I have an older Honda on a cement mixer & it was the other way around, would start & run cold but shut down when it got hot, the hotter it got, the shorter it ran for.
I started swapping bits between the two of them & traced it to a dicky plug.

[Bob38S]

Yup, ...............

I started swapping bits between the two of them & traced it to a dicky plug.

I guess that is only marginally better than a dicky knee.