Pressure washer problem

[JasonB]

Anyone know anything about pressure washers? My dad gave me his old one that he gave up on and I'm trying to get it going. It's a 5hp (Briggs) model from Harbor Freight I think. The engine runs like a top, but squeezing the triger bogs/kills it. You can play with the trigger and get it to spray eventually, but it takes forever. I do know he had a habit of using this sprayer pulling water from a barrel instead of a positive pressure source like a hose, so I'm guessing pump issue. Are these pumps rebuildable if that's the problem?

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Pressure washer problem

It.s usually the seals that go and yes they can be replaced.

 

[JasonB]

Re: Pressure washer problem

Ok, did some looking and Dad actually gave me two pumps, no details except the one on it was to replace the one in the box. Decided to have a look at the one in the box. I really need to ask dad how long he ran it wihout oil or something. It is a model with two pistons and when I opened the crankcase of the water pump, large chunks of metal fell out. The connecting rods were destroyed and the crank looks like it was run dry. Could a stuck unloader cause this? I'm betting the water manifold off this one ois ok and maybe I can mix the two pumps together to get one good one, but I would like to know why this one failed so horribly and make dure it didn't go because there was too much pressure.

 

[tomatolord]

Re: Pressure washer problem

Not usually <br /><br />Power washers need to be used or the O rings dry out and get smaller and will NOT resume their original size.<br /><br />Just go to the web site of the mfg of the power washer and they will have a new seal kit - just buy it and replace all the seals.<br /><br />They now sell a pressure washer oil that you can put into the pump itself to keep the rings from drying out when you dont use it<br /><br />I know a guy who charges $100 bucks to "fix" a pressure washer all he does is tear down the pump and put in new o rings <br /><br />That is if the problem is not engine related.

 

[lakelivin]

Re: Pressure washer problem

Mine cautions you not to run the engine longer than a minute or so without using the spray pump. Otherwise you'll burn something up in the pump. Wonder if that might be it?

 

[tomatolord]

Re: Pressure washer problem

The low end units do NOT have a true pressure relief valve - so if you do not run the sprayer then there is no place for the water to go.<br /><br />What they have is usually a 1 time wax plug that blows out and then you have to replace.<br /><br />Higher end units have a relief valve that keeps this from happening.