how do foam lances work?
 

simple question i know, but after searching (using my premuim searching facilities thanks to my £5 sterling investment:smug: ), i cant find a definitive guide.

i mentioned on another thread that i wanna get a budget/mid price pressure washer, just to hose the car and maybe clean my back yard etc.

id love to be able to foam the car, but im misunderstood what the crack is with them. do i need a specific foam lance to fit a cheapesh (ie £50-75) pressure washer from halfords or screwfix?

some one give me a little personalised info. on websites it generally confuses me and i need it dumbing down a bit:lol1:

thankyou l & g

andy:)

hi m8 they sell the lances on here i would say a karcher might be the best bet.

E-Commerce

ive also been thinking about one of these too

autobright HD lance is supposed to be good. will cost you about £50-£60 though. not used one yet but will be getting one in the future

ive seen a couple of pressure washers on halfords sight and indeed screwfix direct. if i picked up a nifty karcher one like this... would a foam lance (as long as it was a karcher one) fit pretty much any karcher pressure washer?

i thought £80 was an ok price and i could pick up a karcher foam lance from halfords for £14.99.

any takers? trying to keep it simple but effective. also save water...

tbh both are crap ;)

the karcher foam lance is cack and wont foam crap all end of.. :nono:

ah...

ok so what would you suggest. from other threads i was under the impression that karcher was a good brand. i didnt wanna go o.t.t with it all. keep it simple as funding is wild and free etc.

karcher is a decent enough make i have the KB6060 and its superb but its becasue its 450liters per min and 130bar but pricey. loads swear by the cheaper ones mind just depends what you want and how much you want to spend. the one above will get you away but wont be the best thing in the world.
The foam lance they do is crap dont bother, for proper foam you need a decent foam lance,

autobritedirect foam lance is the only way to go mate .... the others are just a waste of money .....

any suggestions then? do foam lances fit any pressure washer?

had a look on the site, but it isnt loading properly, and no picture are showing:(

autobright HD foam lance comes recomended by others. also Elite Car Care - Elite Foam Lance - 3 types of fitment & Free 1lt Snow Foam is supposed to be pretty good.

not all fit all pressure washers you have ot specifiy what connector it is at time of buying so the correct fitting can be supplyed.

and this one is better than the other elite one as its more heavy duty
Elite Car Care - Elite Foam Lance - 3 types of fitment & Free 1lt Snow Foam

ah... so basically the autobrite lance is a "universal" jobby, with just an adaptor to fit your pressure washer of choice?

i presume then if i did pick up a cheap and chearful karcher unit, it will have various settings so i can hose the car down quite strongly anf then foam it softly?

sorry for the questions, but im genuinely looking into this as an alternative to a crappy 30 metre hose and little pressure.:)

no i think the autobright one you need to specify the fitting as well. its not an adaptor its the actual fitting on the foam lance, thay make them with diffrent fittings for diffrent pressure washers.

no the pressure washer will be just ON or OFF the adjustment comes from the lance if it has any (the one you looking at above does not) mine comes with the deluxe lance which you can adjust the flow MIN to MAX of course this changes the intensity of the spray.

Just to add more feedback I have broken my autobright HD foam lance its just seemed to stop working had it for a long time and its taken some abuse (Doberman puppy) so I would recommend the better one it looks like some of the weakness have been improved on ….

if only they could make one dog proof

well im tempted to go to halfords today and just pick up a cheepy pressure washer and do the foam lance thing at a late date. mainly im after a decent pressure to hose and rinse the car.

guess what andy found....

Heavy duty pro foam lance.A must for all valeters! on eBay, also Cleaning, Waxing Valeting, Car Care, Car Accessories, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 15-Mar-08 15:53:43 GMT)

:norty:

so i may get me a pressure washer today and get the lance another time...

thinking of just a cheaper karcher one for what its gonna do.

Just got one from Elite

Attachment 61218

well i picked this up from argos today. as said i wanted a simple one, and cheap. still a karcher one, and i got a couple free extentions with it too.

Buy Karcher K235DB + Pressure Washer. at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for .

now i have one question...

im gonna attach the water supply to my kitchen tap, as the hose extension fits there. if i switch the tap on but the pressure washer is turned off, where does the water go?:wonder: do i have to simultaneously switch the water supply off with the pressure washer.

the above kinda makes sense. basically when i have my normal hose extension on, i have to switch the power off at the tap or the pressure would surely build up and blow something up:lol1:

Right, get your pressure washer ready to go, ie hoses out, leccy plugged in, lances attached. Put the hose on the tap, turn the tap on. Water fills the hose, the washer and the hose up as far as the trigger in the lance, nothing will explode. Turn the washer on, pull the trigger, hey presto, high pressure water :cool:

so is it different to a normal hose extention then. because if i attach my normal hose, i have to make sure the end is open otherwise pressure builds up and blows something.

would the high pressure at the washers end act as a tap, ie so the water wont start trying to find and exit somewhere from the pressure.

sorry i know talking and explaining to me is like a :brickwall sometimes:lol1:

should have done the van in the background...much better :D
colin looks good though

If your hose blows off with just an ordinary hose and ordinary spray end thing then yes it'll blow off with the pressure washer, if you don't change anything. What have you got at the tap end now, is it one of them things that goes over a mixer tap? If so, they're ****e and you will have probs. Fitting an outside tap isn't hard, altarnatively you could a tap inline under your worktop. I did this at my 'rent's house, worked a treat.

Untill your washer is plugged in and you pull the trigger, it's no different to an ordinary hose.

Swiss, the van was the guinea pig for the washer, didn't have the lance at that point. It will be getting foamed though, it's sooo much fun! :D

I agree, wouldnt be without m AB foam lance now, used it today there on two cars and had them totally covered in gillette like foam in seconds:lol1: :lol1: !!


I think Autobrite can make up the foam lance to suit any kind of washer cuz mines was a foreign/no-make petrol washer and i rang them up and explained this....they had the correct fitment made up (mines was what they call a M22Thread Kranzle attachement) and posted out to me the next day!! Hard to beat that.:notworthy

I then got 25litres of super snow foam ordered up the following week and have been using it ever since!!

Wouldnt be without the foam lance now!!:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Kevin

I don't want to hijack the thread chocolate_o_brian.

I've got a Karcher PW and it has a suction attatchment on the unit itself. Can I use that to mix my Poorboys suds remover in? I've never used that part of the PW before? I can't recall waht model it is however.

I know it won't have the same effect as a full on Foam Lance but thought I'd ask if it would be worth it or not?

Steve

i wondered this too. my karcher washer has a "detergent" tank on the back. suppose you could fill it with some car shampoo and blast it beofre a hand wash:wonder:

no to you two. My karcher also has the plastic tube coming out of it. I have tried this trick of sticking it in the bottle of karcher washing fluid that you can buy, but the suds is usless and no foam whatsoever.
Did buy the £14.00 foamer unit from halfords a while back and whilst it is good, it seems it is nothing compared to these foam lances