alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Been looking on e-bay, there are just so many DIFFERENT Karcher models available....

Does anyone know which ones are good, which decent, and which to avoid?

I only really want it to power wash the stone walls in the French house AFTER I've chipped most of the old mortar away, so it doesn't have to be UBER powerful........

Also..there seem to be LOTS on there "for spares or repair"? Is Karcher not the brand to go for anymore?

prodriverules

iTrader: (52)

Can't beat a DIRT DRIVER Alcazar
Ive got this one

darms

iTrader: (5)

Moved away from Karcher and to the Nilfisk. They are the nuts and had great reviews on detailing world. I went for the C120 from screwfix (was on offer last week) but the C110 is also available from Amazon at a great price.

JonMc

iTrader: (51)

I bought a cheap woolies special about 10 years ago using the wife's staff discount - £40, and it stripped paint of the bumper of my old car

Great cleanimg cars, drives, paths etc.

Tha halfrauds own seem good value and generally more reliable than the karcher

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I've conlucded Karcher are pants these days: Look at the price of Karcher spares and you see why so many are being sold second hand for spares or repair.

If you are feeling flush, take a look at the Bosch Aquatak 150 pro X

Brass cylinder head (not plastic), so doesn't crack in the winter
Fabric hose outer (not plastic/PTFE), so doesn't chafe or kink. (heavy duty pressure washers use fabric lined hoses just like this one).

Spare parts available at reasonable(ish) prices.

To top it off its 150bar which is pretty damn powerful. (split one of my old karcher fan-jet lances which I used with an adapter..it was rated at 140bar mind. ).

Only minus point is the variable lance supplied is a bit weak in fan-jet mode...better off with a proper brass nozzle fan-jet lance rather than a reed valve nozzle thingy (plenty available; I'm using a Mc-Aliaster fan jet lance attachment I bought from B&Q for £8 -as water damaged stock ).

stuart69

iTrader: (1)

Nilfisk from Argos,does the job

davyboy

I have a Karcher electric model that gets used once a week, and still works fine.

Also a cheap petrol one off ebay 5.5bhp that also seems to work fine.

At £50-£100 they are disposable items and not really worth repairing.

Will

To wash the cheese off his ****!!

Saint AAI

I know nothing about pressure washers, but bought a Bosch Aquatak 110 from B&Q when they had their 20% off weekend just gone. Came with three different lances and a patio cleaning attachment thingy. Can't comment on reliability as I've not even had it a week yet, but so far it's been well worth the £80 I paid for it.

sovietspybob

iTrader: (3)

I just got the cheapest one in halfords, been really really good so far, cleaned the yard round the back of my house with no problems and has been mint at snow foaming my car!

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

I bought my Karcher when I started getting more into cleaning cars properly (and we have crap water pressure at mine as you know). Was at Tesco for £60 from £120 and does the job well. You're welcome to have a mooch and see if it's powerful enough for your French gaff mate. I use it to blow all the collected grime and crap off my back yard. You can also use a range of 'heads' which can give very high pressure over small troublesome areas

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for all replies, I'll investigate further before committing any dosh.

RAJ27

Nilfisk has a brass pump and fittings, Karcher has platics internals........hence why they are so fragile.

warrtster

iTrader: (5)

I bought one of these, free delivery too

trails

iTrader: (41)

this one any good...its cheaper than the one above

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B..._luc_sbs_02_01

BULLITT

I bought a Nilfisk C120 from Machine Mart excellent bit of kit! Came with 3 nozzle attachments, patio washer head thing, detergent spray bottle attachment and spare nozzle jets.

You can also buy recondition Nilfisk units on eBay too for about a 3rd of the price of retail but you have to look for them.

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

If you're looking to save a few bob, Karcher sell some refurbished stuff straight off their website.

Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

Just stear clear of the karcher plastic cr@p .... never again

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

The fact that there are just SOOOOOO many Karcher ones on e-bay for spares or repair, that's what got me thinking.

Unfortunatley, there seem to be lots of Bosch ones too.......

Screwfix do two Nilfisks at £89 and £99. The cheaper one is more powerful, but has only a lance, (120bar, 1700W), and the dearer one has rotating brush, patio cleaner, spray bottle, but is only 110bar and 1400W.

trails

iTrader: (41)

I ended up buying this one...thought an additonal £20 wsn't too much to ask for the extra bits...will report back on delivery

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nilfisk-Acce...ef=pd_cp_diy_2

ScoobyWon't

40% off this Nilfisk

trails

iTrader: (41)

i rejected that o the grounds there weren't enough toys...and I'd invariably end up buying them afterwards and mitigating any discount

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I might NOT reject it as I just want a lance...........

chris666

I work as an engineer for a cleaning equipment suppler
we used to be karcher dealers now edge
stay away from the little karcher domestic stuff its rubbish & expensive to repair
people used to bring them in to us & get upset when i told them to throw it in the skip & buy a different one
also dont be fooled by the makers claims of 140-150bar look for a model with the highest water flow rate ie ltrs/min ltrs/hr
as an example an edge wildcat runs at 100bar /12ltrs/min & thats a £2k machine
our highest single phase machine is 130bar 9ltrs/min so as you can see the higher the pressure the lower the water flow
the cheapest cold water model we do is leopard £500 again 100bar 12ltrs/min
these sometimes come up on ebay cheap & are fully rebuildable
hope this helps

trails

iTrader: (41)

I was of the same opinion until I saw the cost of the patio cleaners...I'll end up buying one at some point so may as well make the most of the bundle

Littleted

got the new Hozelock 150 psi detergent tanks the lot great kit i even signed my name in my dads drive its that powerfull

Chip

Alcazar,

There is more Karcher stuff on ebay simple because more people by far own them. I bought a Grade A 5.86 on ebay and it has been used extensively with no problems.

We also use karcher in work daily with no problems as well.

Chip

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, I understand thaqt Chip, it's the amount of "spares or repair" that I was warned by

TopBanana

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003M8H6U4

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

The only Karcher I'd reccomend is the HD series. (model number is prefixed by 'HD'....the 'K' prefixed ones are domestic tosh). You are talking £310 minimum for one of those (tooled-up.com...where my Bosch came from inccidentally )

We have HDS500 at work, and whilst its still a typical Italian pain in the **** when the combustor plays funny beggers (mouldy diesel = blocked injector and lots of smoke ), it been pretty durable and is repairable (sort of). I had to replace all the pump seals as the valves were sticking, plus the lance nozzle was worn: £40 so pretty reasonable and restored the lost performance/pressure.

Trigger valve in the lance is foobared now though, the broken bit is not available as a seprerate part so need to fork out £80 for a new trigger assembly....I can get a aftermarket (non-Karcher) hose and lance for £100

Of course, the alternative is to buy a £50 jobby and bin it when it breaks. However, after getting used to the extra flow rate/pressure of a high-end unit it seems to get teh job done a fair deal quicker (in my case jetwashing the moss out of block pavers ).