Looking to buy one of these to clean my car (i saw one in action today and was amazed at how fast it cleaned my car - even if it was just with water)

http://www.bunnings.com.au/site/awdepfour....09&depnum=10873

Anything one should be aware of before buying one of these?

Can we connect these to our hoses (for those of us in NSW) or must it run thru a bucket?

Should be able to run it off your hose as you'll actually use less water than what you would using the hose to wash your car. Look for one with brass fittings and stainless steel pipes etc. The steel made pumps corrode quickly and will stuff up in a matter of months.

out of curiousity - is using a bucket to wash your car thing a NSW thing or a Australia wide thing?

Ok ...

Firstly ... High pressure cleaners are awesome .. ( any excuse and mines ready to go .. )

I have one like this ..[attachmentid=2104]

One of the most usefull things that I own !!! .. and well worth purchasing ... but only if you know that you are not buying to it wash your car .. coz ....................

Secondly ... The water restriction rule still applies in NSW even for High pressure systems... (as the hose is still directly running through it )

and we cant use it on any "Hard surfaces" including cars.

They use so little water ...

I was washing my bin with it .. and I was very suprised how slowly the water filling up ..

" Level 3 mandatory water restrictions now apply across Sydney, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains.

The Level 3 restrictions are:Hand-held hosing of lawns and gardens and drip irrigation is now allowed only on Wednesdays and Sundays before 10 am and after 4 pm
No other watering systems or sprinklers are to be used at any time
A permit from Sydney Water is required to fill new or renovated pools bigger than 10,000 litres
No hosing of hard surfaces including vehicles at any time
No hoses or taps to be left running unattended, except when filling pools or containers
Fire hoses must only be used for fire fighting purposes – not for cleaning.


EXCEPTIONS

All exemptions are subject to change, following regular reviews as the drought progresses. The following are still permitted at any time:

Using a bucket or watering can to wash and rinse vehicles or water lawns and gardens.
Topping up any existing swimming pool.
Filling a pool less than 10,000L capacity.
Using water from a rainwater tank, as long as it is not connected to or topped up from Sydney Water mains.
Using a hose with a trigger nozzle or high pressure cleaning device to clean boat bilges and boat trailer brakes and wheels. DOH !!! if only cars were included....
Using a hose to flush boat engines.
Cleaning garbage bins using a hose fitted with a trigger nozzle or with an on/off switch. This should be done within an official bin wash area or on grass.

Seeing we can use a bucket to wash ours, what if........

We had the water from the tap going into the bucket.
Then had the high pressure water cleaner sucking the water FROM the bucket.

Technically speaking we are filling up a bucket, and connecting the high pressure hose to it, isnt that legal?

hahah .. thats funny ...

but not possible ...

the hose has to be directly connected to the high pressure machine ..

As it also relies on the pressure from your tap to be at a certain flow rate ...

the pressure cleaner dosent suck water ....

so there is a slight flaw in that idea ...

Try it and tell us how you go !

With my pressure washer it doesent work.

I connected it up to our water tank and there wasent enough back pressure to make it go.

Mind you it was only a cheap water pressure washer from The Warehouse.

actually, its not impossible.
If you have a look at the bunnings link
http://www.bunnings.com.au/site/awdepfour....09&depnum=10873

All the high pressure machines (other than the GMC ones) have the ability to draw from a bucket!

" Capable of drawing water from a tank or a bucket rather than just a hose outlet. 2-year standard warranty."



ahh crap.

So you're saying your pressure washer was designed to use either water from a tap or water from a bucket. (or did you mod it so it could take water from the tank?)
Yet when you connected to the water tank/bucket, there was insufficient pressure for it to function properly?

Thats the point I was making before ..

There has to be a minimum flow rate plus a level of pressure ..

now if you have a Huge rain tank that is full and you are drawing water from the bottom ... then there maybe suffecient pressure ..

from a bucket ???? no way .... flow rate wont be suffecient ...

the unit uses 5 liters per min .. and generally requires a min of 10-12 liter per min supply pressure ... (well thats what it says in my manual..)


so not really worth the effort ..

if you are going to do all that youd midas well take it to a car wash ...

kinda spending apound to save a penny .. if you know what I mean

I suggest just sticking with a Bucket & Water. High pressure water can actually damage your paint & really aren't very effective are removing small particles of dirt. They are great for off road vehicles that get caked in mud.

I would also recommend a Meguairs Lambs Wool cleaning mit instead of a sponge. If you really want to look after the paint work I would have one mit for the top half of the car & another for the bootom half of the car & perhaps a sponge just for the wheels.

For anyone that wants to connect a high pressure cleaner to a tank of water you will need to purchase a small pump to connect between the tank & the cleaner to create enough pressure for the cleaner to work properly. If you don't do this the Cleaner will cavitate & over heat as there won't be enough water going into it.

I'd have to disagree with you on using a high pressure cleaner on cars. Being a car detailer for more than 10 years they are prolly the best way to reduce scratching your car as they remove the majority of grit and grime before you have to put a sponge to the paintwork. Most of the cheaper machines don't have enough pressure to do any damage and pressure up to @1500psi is safe to use. Any thing over this can and will do damage if used incorrectly.

Depending on the machine they may run off a non tap supply but gravity feed to the machine is the key. I used to sponsor a rally car and at every service point we would once the service was completed pressure wash the car down and chamois off ready for the next stage. I would have a 25lt plastic drum with water in it with a click on hose fitting in where you would put a tap and place the drum on the top of the roof rack of the service truck. I would then let the water flow down to the machine and open the trigger and wait until all the air had bled out. Then I turn the machine on clean the car. 25lt of water lasted for just on 4 mins holding the trigger open for that time. Different machines have different flow rates so check that first.

It can be done but you just have to do it the right way. As I am a business I can pretty much wash my car whenever it's needed. If someone stops and asks I tell them it's a company car(which it is) and needs to stay clean...

True story about the rally car washing story. We were the first to do it and got laughed at as a rally car was supposed to be "dirty". But how do the sponsors get seen on the car if it's dirty??? Well at the major service break on the rally Qld the crew chief from Possum Bourne's team came over to me as I was on my way to get food and asked about the car washing thing. Told him how we did it and he thought it was great and a damm side easier than using a bucket and sponge. When we did the rally the following year Possum's crew had a pressure cleaner set up so did Neal Bates' crew as well as some of the bigger privateer teams. I got a letter from CAMS congratulating the car that I was involved with for our professional attitude for a small privateer team and for our results rally wise and the amount of comments they got about the immaculate presentation of the Civic I sponsored.

Necessity is the mother of invention.......

what was my job when i used to service for dad when i was little?

wash the windscreen, door plate number, and all the sponsors stickers, the rest of the car stayed covered in mud lol. nice work with the idea though, very clever. Just a local team im guessing?

Don't buy the GMC one. I got one and it was great ...... for a while. Then the trigger started to leak. Pulled it apart new seals silicon grease etc. etc. still leaks and is hopeless unless you want a shower when you use it.

Save your money and purchase a Gernie. Stainless steel pump and internals never sh!t themselves.
Even Karcher use some plastic internals and does not last as long as a Gernie.
If you get a Gernie for around the home, it will last forever.

how much are those roughly?

500, like I said save up

anything under $500 is going to only give you a minimal amount of trouble free usage.


Yeah it was a local team competing in PRC1. We were running a 1976 Honda Civic up against later model cars with big sponsors and beating them lol.Mind you we rebuild the Civic and had only a handfull of change out of $30 000. Love that Proflex suspension!!!!$6k for 4 coilovers. Now that's expensive but unbreakable.