Pressure Washers

[martynwhiteley]

I know we all look for 'magic' ways to clean our boats without any more effort than it takes to lift the beer bottle, and like many I suppose, I bought a small cheap pressure washer hoping that it would work wonders.

However, unless you hold it 1mm from the surface, and clean a square cm every minute, it's of little use other than to shift off the surface sand, salt, (and cement drop out in my case mooring at S Ferriby!)

But my PW was the cheapest ever known to a Yorkshireman, and now you see these yellow monsters in Halfords that started life at £350, going for £180 etc.

They are about 140 bar, not the 100 bar of my own.

Are they worth it for boat cleaning?

Or is there no escape from good old-fashioned elbow grease?

(No suggestions please about paying someone else to do it, it's against the Yorkie (and Scotty) codes of conduct, and we'd be struck off!)



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[studgies]

I bought one of the very yellow monsters you refer to, I managed to con the free spinny brush attatchment off of the for free, the pressure washer on its own only realy doeas as you mentioned, unless you add lots and lots of the detergent but it does kinda work. My mooring dries out so I can pressure wash the bottom and legs from time to time, that seems to work well on max pressure. The spinning brush looked like a complete gimmic but was free so being a Scotty, it would have been rude not to. Much to my amazement....it works, even has an adjustable head making cleaning the hull just above the waterline much easier.

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[Moose]

"add lots and lots of the detergent "

Erm, that's not a good idea cos' it sort of dissolves your gelcoat!

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L' Moose

 

[Happy1]

I would suggest 110 bar minimum, but at the moment there is a special offer on in Makro with a 120 bar for I think £80, and I think it is JCB. I didn't take too much notice so be wary of this, a phone call to your local Makro asking about the 120 bar one on their special offer will get you the answer /forums/images/icons/wink.gif I do know however that it was much cheaper than my Karcher 110 one. Hope this helps. I am sure there is someone with a Makro card that can help you if you don't have one. Whilst on the subject they are also doing a battery booster pack with a 1,000 watt invertor clamped on to it for £43, it looks a bit cheaply finished e.g. plastic that would crack if given a knock, but may be of interest to some who will not bash it about. The standard booster is £29 with 400amps.

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[studgies]

Doh, new plan required!

I think it is just aswell I put sooo much wax on! That is my job for tommorrow, more polishing to stop the duck poo marking the deck, I hate that duck!

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[Moose]

So you've spent hours and hours putting all the wax on, just so you can wash it away with your pressure washer/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

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L' Moose

 

[stefan]

Always buy the most powerful Pressure washer you can afford. 3 kw connected power is the best, 2,5 kw will do.
With this power you get 130-150 bar and 8-9 l/min flow.
You also need a "turbo nozzle". The rotating pulsating flow
removes dirt very effectively. Dont use it on teak.
Remember that the washing lance isn't a magic stick. Its can
just rinse with water. Like in all cleaning you need a suitable detergent. If you have hot water, even better. The Mickey Mouse unit you bought is probably 1,3-1,5 kw, which means
real power is abt 60 bar and flow 5-6 l/min. www.clen.fi

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[byron]

I'm not a boat washer, never have been, hated the job and it only got done once a year (unless it rained) I bought a pressure washer to save time and trouble. Never used it. By the time one gets it out of a locker, assembles it, clean about 4" at a time etc. etc. It was easier to just point a hose and get a mop out.

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[Moose]

"suitable detergent"
Feast your eyes upon my post/forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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L' Moose

 

[gjgm]

just a word of warning.. the very powerful ones will remove paint from your car and blast the finish of your patio if used on full power, so I d go a little easy to start with on your hull... just in case !

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[martynwhiteley]

Thanks for the advice.

Another problem I did think about was the size of the marina power supply.

I'm pretty sure that much over 2KW will trip the RCD!

Perhaps I could run a few leads in parallel!



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[Freebee]

A word of caution I cut grooves in the mahogany fittings of my last boat with a pressure washer and always remember they dont clean they just redistribute the dirt. You can really upset the neighbours without even trying Ive found!

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[martynwhiteley]

Yes I bet you get a fair wake from a 140 bar Karcher !!

Pity they're not diesel powered, great auxiliary engine potential!



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[sfh]

As with all pressure systems you need a combination of flow and presure, most washers are around the same presure the bigger they go they up the flow

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[oldgit]

Re: And while we are on the subject.

Purchased one of those largish vibrating polisher things in the vain hope it would save time and effort vis. a bit of rag.However much presure is applied you simply cannot get enough weight on the thing to get it to remove the polish once applied.Waste of time of cabin roofs and as for hull sides,forget it.

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[sfh]

does detergent disolve your gel coat

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[Moose]

Oui!!!

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L' Moose

 

[boatone]

Please stop your Moose from oui-ing all over the place........


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[andy_wilson]

In my experience (last one used blonged to Dart Harbourmaster - hand cranked, diesel powered, nearly threw you over board when you pulled the trigger), they are useless without soap.

With soap they are a bit better.

Best of all, thoroughly wet everything down, then mop lightly with a good strong solution of a detergent made for the job. Important - don't use too much elbow grease for this or you will be put off, just make sure you cover everywhere.

Then blast it to smithereenes with the jet wash.

The addition of just a little agitation on the surface with a mop makes a world of difference.

Andy

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[asteven221]

Beware what you're doing with these things. I once had a Moody yacht and like you held the jet a few cm from the gelcoat and it burst the gelcoat. This was probably an air void in the coachroof, but nevertheless I now spread the jet rather than make it to pointed. Incidentally there is no substitute for blood sweat & tears as far as I know. All these "wipe it on and rub it off" wonder potions are useless as far as I can see. "Wipe Out" is by far the best cleaner I 've used.

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