Dead Karcher jet washer

[Comeinhandy]

I bought a champion one many years ago after getting fed up with karchers blowing apart. The champion one has now had many many hours of use over many years and only recently stopped due to a blown capacitor, easily fixed. The mechanicals were all still good and it is quite well designed. It was only a cheap model but powerful. FYI video here of the fix if anyone interested:
http://youtu.be/Yq0SKcnwGTc

[KingNothing]

I had a smaller karcher which my dad managed to kill by leaving out in the cold weather so the residual water inside expanded and cracked the plastic pump pipe, got a replacement much bigger one, I think it has a metal pump, had it a few years now and it's been fine, always run it till it's empty though, and it's been fine.

[Helsbells71]

Hi I have a karcher k4 compact and just a trickle of water is coming out I stripped it down and found that the water pressure washer valve had melted so I have replaced that still no good, so I stripped down again and found that the pressure washer Venturi nozzle had also melted so I have ordered a new one so I hope this does the job will let you know.

[OnaRoll]

I've the same pressure washer try this first. Or perhaps a slightly older version of the K6.

Hook it all up as normal. Power, water and switch on but remove the vario lance from the trigger gun. Pull the trigger. It might kick into life. Seems to be something with the back pressure that causes this. Mine does this regularly. It's 15 years old.

Mine failed completely. It was just dead. Local Karcher place fixed it for £25. Sorry can't remember what was wrong with it but it apparently is a common failure.

It's a good washer with a metal pump. It's worth fixing.

[98elise]

I treated myself to a Karcher a couple of years ago. It was used twice before it failed. I bought it specifically for cleaning my decking once a year and it gave out on the second use. The total run time was probably 4 hours. It's current sat in my shed awaiting a rebuild.

The really annoying thing is it replaced a very cheap £25 no brand B&Q special. That had been used an abused for about 5 years and was given away still working.

Karcher are expensive crap.

[Clarkedontgo]

Helsbells71 said:

Hi I have a karcher k4 compact and just a trickle of water is coming out I stripped it down and found that the water pressure washer valve had melted so I have replaced that still no good, so I stripped down again and found that the pressure washer Venturi nozzle had also melted so I have ordered a new one so I hope this does the job will let you know.

I’ve never seen one get that hot, if it’s melted those parts it will have melted other parts and cooked the seals also

[DirtyHands]

I have a Kranzle k7 after several cheaper washers failing. It’s a fine piece of kit and has been utterly faultless despite plenty of heavy use. Well worth the extra outlay.

[EarlofDrift]

The problem is that once out of warranty most consumer range Karchers except the high end K5 or K7 are sealed units and not worth fixing. The prices from the Karcher centres are crazy. A 10m hose for my K5 was is something like £90. I could buy one a replacement hose on Karcher Outlet for £25.

[JulianHJ]

The answer to most Karcher failures is usually Nilfisk, or if you’re willing to spend a lot more, Kranzle.

[Smiler.]

Ha, I was searching the Web on Friday for information on a non-working Karcher & this thread appeared in the results.

Didn't help me, though I got the answer elsewhere.

[Howard-]

My little old Karcher pressure washer shat the bed this weekend as I was half way through doing the patio. It suddenly became louder and a lot more rattly, so I decided to see how much further it would go. Turns the out the answer is "just shy of one paving slab" before it completely seized and started emitting the famous magic smoke

It lasted about 15 years in fairness, although that was admittedly light service. Half an hour of constant patio cleaning probably was asking a bit much.

What's the best replacement I'm likely to get for a maximum of about £80-100?

Thanks!

[Clarkedontgo]

The domestic washers are nowhere near as robust as they were 15 years ago , especially Karcher, we always recommend getting the best you can afford , if you can double your budget go for nilfisk , not perfect but better than Karcher these days

[stemll]

JulianHJ said:

The answer to most Karcher failures is usually Nilfisk, or if you’re willing to spend a lot more, Kranzle.

Well my old Karcher K2.900 finally died yesterday. After years of randomly losing pressure and the motor pitch rising it now never has any pressure and I have a bit less than a quarter of a clean patio.

Have a Kranzle 1050TST on the way after using man maths to persuade myself that it'd be cheaper in the long run. Most looking forward to a decent HP hose on a reel and also one that's 12m long which will let me do the whole of the front and back paths/patio and only need to move the machine once.

[anonymous-user]

stemll said:

JulianHJ said:

The answer to most Karcher failures is usually Nilfisk, or if you’re willing to spend a lot more, Kranzle.

Well my old Karcher K2.900 finally died yesterday. After years of randomly losing pressure and the motor pitch rising it now never has any pressure and I have a bit less than a quarter of a clean patio.

Have a Kranzle 1050TST on the way after using man maths to persuade myself that it'd be cheaper in the long run. Most looking forward to a decent HP hose on a reel and also one that's 12m long which will let me do the whole of the front and back paths/patio and only need to move the machine once.

Good choice, had mine for 5 years. I would recommend fitting a water inlet filter as they can object to any crud, this was the cause of some on/off pulsing and blown mains fuse, has been rock solid otherwise.

Lastly, did you measure the litres per minute of your water tap? The 1050 TST does need at least 7.5 litres per minute capacity.

[Ozone]

I've had my Karcher K4.99 for 24 years. It gets used 3/4 times a month and is still working, so no complaints here

[CarbonV12V]

Just used my 2014 Karcher K4 for 8 hours today without issue. All the stone work is no longer green!

[stemll]

gottans said:

stemll said:

Well my old Karcher K2.900 finally died yesterday. After years of randomly losing pressure and the motor pitch rising it now never has any pressure and I have a bit less than a quarter of a clean patio.

Have a Kranzle 1050TST on the way after using man maths to persuade myself that it'd be cheaper in the long run. Most looking forward to a decent HP hose on a reel and also one that's 12m long which will let me do the whole of the front and back paths/patio and only need to move the machine once.

Good choice, had mine for 5 years. I would recommend fitting a water inlet filter as they can object to any crud, this was the cause of some on/off pulsing and blown mains fuse, has been rock solid otherwise.

Lastly, did you measure the litres per minute of your water tap? The 1050 TST does need at least 7.5 litres per minute capacity.

Yes, I have measured the flow and it's over that.

This inlet comes with it http://www.kranzle.co.uk/search/accessories/1156-w... Assuming that will do?

[anonymous-user]

I would try it and see how you get on with it. I found the hose coupling would blow off when releasing the trigger. This is down to slight differences in different hose coupler fittings.

I ended up buying this and using same brand hose fittings for reliability.
https://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/product/kranzle-wat...

[stemll]

gottans said:

I would try it and see how you get on with it. I found the hose coupling would blow off when releasing the trigger. This is down to slight differences in different hose coupler fittings.

I ended up buying this and using same brand hose fittings for reliability.
https://www.elitecarcare.co.uk/product/kranzle-wat...

Arrived this morning and quickly done the front paths during lunch. Much more power, can't remember the last time the path was this clean. Maybe the Karcher was also losing pressure as well as the random cutouts. Just need to sweep the gravel edging back now

Really happy with the machine overall and especially the 12m hose. No extension leads and no need to move the machine for the whole of the front garden. Glad I opted for the one with wheels, this thing weighs a ton.

Feed hose stays on fine but I was already using brass connectors so maybe a better matched fit than some others.

[PushedDover]

Thee hose on my K'archer 3.5 does my head in. I would love to get a long reel mounted version. or at least a coilable one ?
I bought an extension for it, which helps in the less lugging around but its a solid ol'thing and huge coupling - that does not coil