Recommended pressure-washers?

Cantata

Cantata

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OK, strange time of year to be asking, I know.
Any recommendations, please, for a pressure-washer that will make a good job of cleaning off boat bottoms? I have been using a borrowed 'WAP 7400 Profi' which at 130 bar actually did a pretty good job but it's leaking oil everywhere and is perhaps in terminal decline.
I've used a 100 bar machine in the past but it didn't really seem powerful enough - that was a Bosch and anyway it fell apart after a disappointingly short time. Machines up to 130 bar seem frighteningly expensive e.g. over 200 quid but perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place.
Any suggestions please?
Maybe I should just hire one when I need it.
 
I use a small Karcher, model K2.35 that I bought new on eBay for £15!! Great around the house for cleaning the car, jet washing walls, decking etc and for cleaning the boat topsides & deck in the spring. Very small so easy to carry in the car.

However, on lift out, I rent an industrial quality one from the marina for about £10 which strips all the c**p of the bottom of the boat in double quick time.
 
Our marina uses a Karcher, cleaned my bottom perfectly ;)

The marina obviously has one of the industrial range Karchers with hot cold option variable pressure etc.
 
Pressure washers

Pressure washers I have used on other people's boats have been owned by the marina (club) A formidable device running on 3 phase mains with about 5 hp electric motor on a wheeled trolley. You grasp the wand with 2 hands and hang on. The blast is fierce (if not dangerous) however it removes a lot of A/f and all the weed. They are not appropriate to by for personal use (Cost) Something similar can be bought using a largish petrol motor.
I have borrowed the little Karcher for jobs around home and found it almost useless not much pressure.

So my choice was to not buy a pressure washer. For my own boat I just use elbow grease and scotch brite scouring pad. good luck olewill
 
I had a quite expensive mid range Karcher which did the job but failed very quickly, the parts are so expensive repair is not on. Just bought a RAC one from Argos, half the Karcher price but feels pretty solid and does the job. How long it will last is another thing.
 
I found the best to be Alto (used to be KEW). They make industrial machines too. Go for one that switches off the pump when you release the trigger.
 
If you are doing some heavy work, go for a 150 bar version.

I own a Karcher and would also buy a Bosch ... if they make one.
 
I have one of these:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_372833_langId_-1_categoryId_165689

Bought about a year ago. It was half price and I see they're half price again now!

It has been reliable but not fantastic in terms of cleaning power. To get an idea of cleaning power, multiply flow rate by pressure. A lot of them can manage 115- 120 Bar but the flow rate that they quote is often at the LOWEST pressure setting (sometimes there's even more "weasle wording" than that)! Mine certainly can't shift anything LIKE the claimed 390 litres per hour at 115 Bar!

It's OK for washing the car and getting bird cr4p off the patio, but I tried it on the bottom of the boat once and it would have been quicker to drive to a hire shop, hire an "industrial" one, drive back to the boatyard, clean the boat, drive back to the hire shop and return the hried one! Also, the detergent dispensing facility takes a bit of getting used to! For £100, I can't complain, but it's no substitute for a "proper" one.

Other advice I've heard is to (a) get one with a cast iron pump, (b) shop on motor power. They are all, as far as I can tell, similarly efficient (in the DIY world), so a 3kW one will be better than a 2kW one.
 
Thanks everyone, useful stuff.
I am coming round to thinking that I'll hire one when I want to do the boat bottom, and perhaps buy a less powerful and much cheaper model for other uses.
 
I was advised by a chap who sells pressure washers for a living to steer well clear of the small Kärchers. Their industrial range is good, he said, but the wee domestic ones are very flimsy. That was after I bought a Lidl (or was it Aldi?) one, made by Kärcher, which worked fine but lasted no time.

I replaced it with a Bosch, which seemed much better made but is now peeing water out of the low pressure side somewhere, although it still works.
 
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