Pressure Washer Maintenance

Maintenance for your pressure washer

Once you have decided to invest in a pressure washer, your top concern before even thinking about ROI, is how to give proper maintenance to your pressure washer.

Okay, now that you have decided to do some maintenance on your pressure washer. There are a couple of things you need to keep in mind when conducting your service.

What you need to know when conducting maintenance?

Checking your Oil:

• Check your oil level, and refill if its under the level mark. All pump will have either an arrow or dot, to indicate the necessary amount of oil required

• When the time comes to replace your oil, you have to do so when the oil is warm, and make sure you do not overfill. 

• If it has been a while since your last oil change, take advantage and test your oil by placing a viscosity strip inside, let it absorb some of the oil. Take it out and analyze the oil, you want to make sure you see nothing white mixed in. 

• Also compare it to new oil, the more thinner, clearer looking the better its condition. If you deem the difference greater than 65%, then you should flush it out and replace with new oil  

• Check your water inlet screen, even though its purpose it to prevent dirt/debris from passing, over time the water itself will break the dirt down to the point that it will pass through. 
• It is also possible you do not have the inlet screen anymore, as it is not uncommon for it to fall out when disconnecting your hose. If missing, replace as soon as possible. You can use your pressure washer meanwhile, but put an emphasis on flushing out your water hose before connecting it
• When inspecting spark plugs, clean around before removing the plug to ensure no debris gets inside the engine combustion chamber
• Check the air filter, if you have a foam filter, it can be clean to be used again. After 6 month, you should replace with a new air filter

• Be extra cautious when adding gas to ensure no debris gets inside

• Try to avoid generic gas from regular gas station pumps, that gas degrades over time and can cause corrosion. You want to use a fuel stabilizer that prevents engine corrosion. This is important especially if you keep your pressure washer sitting for a long time without use.

• Pump protector product, flush pump after every use, prevents mineral build up and corrosion, attach it to the hose inlet and shoot for about two seconds until the water and lube shoot out to the other port

There are a couple of other small tips that may be small in the time required to complete them, but can save you a whole lot of time, by not waiting for a repair,  and of course money.

Dealing with the Small Kinks:

• Lubricating the connections will help protect your seals from getting damaged or moved around. This will also help keep corrosion away from your tips.

• If you start to see your hose connection tip starting to corrode due to rust, or just very rusty looking, keep it a quick shine with some grind paper. It will not only make it look more visually appealing, but also extends its life.

• Inspected muffler and spark arrestor 

In order to keep your pressure water running correctly, let us take a look at a few things before turning it on next time.

Quick inspection prior to operating

• First and foremost, the big rookie mistake in cars, please check the oil level, this requirement alone can kill your pressure washer

• The next one is not as noticeable as in cars, since there is no gauge meter to read. Check the fuel level, while one or two shut off due to lack of gas may not break your pressure washer. For each time it does occur the chance it may break increases.

• The most dangerous thing for your pressure washer is debris passing through the intake, so make sure to check the water inlet screen. Most pressure washer repairs are due to this, 1 little piece of debri can easily shred your pump.

• For your safety it is extremely important that you make sure connection are connected properly. The pressure that builds up inside can cause the connected part to fly and potentially harming the user or someone nearby

• Checking your water seals, this will help prevent pressure loss, and help your engine not overstress

• A quick visual inspection of all hoses, this can be done as you extend your hose. As you extend it out, have one of your hands slide on it, and feel for any deformities. Be careful not to cut your hand, since the hose have a steel wire layer, sometimes these can poke out.

• Check any possible broken pieces which you have noticed previously, make sure there are no further developments

• Besides checking your water inlet screen, you also want to make sure you flush your water hose before connecting it. Even if you check the inlet screen, if your water hose has sufficient debri, your power washer

Now that we have made sure everything seems to be in order, we can prepare the pressure washer, and start washing. Since our pressure washer has now passed our inspection, we will now proceed to preparing our pressure washer to wash,

Preparing the Pressure Washer 

• First and foremost, you want the correct positioning for your pressure washer, make sure your exhaust is away from anything of at least 2ft distance. This is a fire hazard, even if it is metal, it will make a hole through it

• Now we look at what position the machine is in, you have to make sure the machine is leveled

During Wash Time

• Throughout your wash time, pay attention to any abnormal sounds coming from the machine, these can be early signs that something may be wrong with the pressure washer

• We will start with the most important thing, it is imperative that you relief pressure before shutting it down. That build up of pressure left inside can bust your seals and or engine.

Finished Pressure Washing

• Drain the water from the machine, by turning off the pressure washer and the water outlet, then pressing the gun for a couple of seconds until the water stops dripping out.

• Once it has been drained, disconnect any attachments, you want to enable the most air as possible to the interior

• Before putting everything away make sure you drain your gun, the pressure washer is unable to push everything out since there was not enough water to push it through. Point the gun up and press the trigger, maintain it pressed and move the gun in a guitar motion point the gun up and down