Karcher High pressure...Which one

[HeyZeus]

Hi guys

Could someone please tell me which of the Karcher high pressure cleaners would be best to clean cars?
There are so many to choose from and I have no idea which one would best suit my needs

Cheers

HZ

[Nero Diablo]

To clean a car once a week or to clean a car once every 15minutes? Are you drawing from still water or do you have main pressure. You probably want one with a low pressure setting for delicate things like radiators and bearings and one that can inject detergent.

[rod]

I went through the same agony a year or so ago and got the cheapest Ryobi from Bunnings. I think it was $89.00. You tend to pay more for more pressure, which mostly doesn't equate to better cleaning - grease and muck requires cleaning products and some agitation with a sponge or brush or whatever (not sitting there blasting with high pressure water). Here in Melbourne we had to use one to wash cars (and bikes) and now that we've had so much rain and our water restrictions have been relaxed to us having to use a trigger nozzle on a hose I don't think I'll be using the high pressure machine much. Why? Because it's more work to set it up and if you're washing cleaning solution off, you want more water to dilute the stuff and get rid of it and mains water has more than enough pressure to deliver a nice volume of water so it won't take long to rinse. The one saving grace of a lot of the pressure washers if you're in Perth is that you can draw water from a bucket so you can rinse with rain water (not retic or hard water) so you don't get water spotting.

[Corona White]

If you have the option of one with a longer hose get it. Pain in the ass being tethered to the cleaner with only a couple of meters range.

[Sprint]

I have one of these... it's not too bad - but there's simply insufficient pressure to do what i intended for it (cleaning down our dirt bikes).

Karcher Domestic Pressure Cleaners 1600psi #K2.180

It's ok to wash the car and streetbike though...

S.

[Rhino]

Look for something with good litres per minute. But not too much for your plumbing to handle. You'll damage your machine if it isn't getting enough water.

Run a tap in a bucket for a minute and see how many litres you have. Work from that.

Get a filter straight up to keep your pump clean. They're usually with the Karcher and Gerni products on the shelf.

My washer has a detergent injector but I wouldn't bother with them. Just get some decent wash and a foam gun for more flexibility and a much better result (foam).

Washing isn't just about high pressure OR agitation. Good chemicals and the right combination of brush and pressure are the way to go.

Check out some detailing websites for more detailed info.