Snow foam applicator

[Zip]

I've been running one of these for several years:

http://consumer.nilfisk.co.uk/Produc...roduction.aspx

Been excellent - very robust, did lots of research. Wish I'd spent a bit more and got the roll up hose version. Great for patio as well....even the upturned frying pan attachment...

Apparently it's all about the flow rate - ignore the kW rating of the motors. Nilfisk all seem to have good flow. I read lots of stories about poor reliabilty of Karcher (may just have been internet scare-mongering)

Comes with a foam blower thing, which is adequate for my needs but I'm sure the flashy brass ones out there are better.

Zip

[ainarssems]

The biggest difference between budget and professional washers is that budget ones use metal pump which will wear out and professionals use ceramic pump which will last forever unless you use dirty water. Then there is obviously pressure and flowrate as well as general quality.

As far as the Karcher goes budget versions are quite crappy and professional are quite good. I use to work in farms in Denmark where had use of variety of professional grade cold and diesel heated washers. Karcher and KEW seemed to most favoured there. They also had some less known Danish made washers that I do not remember make off they were good too but quite expensive.

I recently bought this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nilfisk-C1...item4ac2b35717 which includes variable spray head, rotating blaster head, patio cleaner, pipe/drain cleaner hose and foam sprayer.

Got it with £80 Best Offer and is is quite good for the money I paid. Only complaint would be that in patio washer mode it's quite short so you need to bend down but I am sure there must be extension available.

Also I recommend using filter for water intake so that rust or limescale particles does not get in pump and damage it.

[tintin]

I'd also go with Nilfisk over Karcher - I had two of the latter, and both failed weeks after the guarantee expired . The Nilfisk seems better, but it's not out of it's guarantee yet...

[David's8]

Originally Posted by notorious

Better earlier than later

Whilst I support the view that if you buy cheap you end up buying twice, there has to be compromise - which doent need to involve getting rid of SWMBO . Karcher dont have such a good name on many internet reviews by buyers. Nilfisk, Bosch and Stihl all seem to produce reasonable quality washers and though I havent read reviews of Stihl i would put my money on them IF the gear is produced in Germany. I have a Stihl chainsaw and headgecutter and they are the best. ( I have tried others). The mid range power washer RE118 looks to be OK by the tech description.

[Adrian E]

+1 on Nilfisk at the cheaper end - I've got one with the roll up hose and it does allow you to get round the '8 without moving the pressure washer around. You need to budget for the car spraying nossle so it's not too high a pressure. I also have the angled head which is great for cleaning the underside of the car. The wheel cleaning brush is a waste of time. Patio attachment is OK.

Note that the cheaper the Nilfisk you buy the shorter the spray arm is and the more flimsy it feels. My dad has a really cheap one from a Screwfix offer and it works pretty well but you can feel and see why it's that bit cheaper than mine.

I'm very happy with my snow foam attachment from here:

http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalo..._Lance_1L.html

I use one of the Valet Pro 5l snow foams and it seems to work really well.

ETA - this is mine:

http://consumer.nilfisk.co.uk/Produc...roduction.aspx

Don't bother with their 'pro' consumer range - it uses the attachments for their proper hot water washers which cost a fortune but don't otherwise offer any benefit over the Excellent range

[PsYcHe]

+1 for the Karcher dirtbuster lance...

Though, half the time I pop down to my mate's yard who has a heated pressure washer

[The_Laird]

Now here's a real basic question: what's the water supply? Is it a hose or a reservoir?

[notorious]

Depends if your current water supply can deliver liters/minute that your pressure washer needs. You will kill your pressure washer if water supply is not performant enough. Serious pressure washers come with 'auto stop' system that will switch pressure washer off if it detects shortage in water supply.

I have 650 liter tank.

[The_Laird]

Now I think about it, if your water supply delivered water at the flow rate required, you wouldn't need a pressure washer would you?

[notorious]

If your water supply is the pressure washer itself -- of course

It is not just the flow rate in litters/minute, which you can think of as 'mass'. It is also the 'speed' of water. Both mass **and** speed matters.