Want to pressure wash the house and windows today, I do it every spring, but last few years the pressure washer hasn’t been pressurizing very good. Took the “head” or “valve body” apart and found a torn O ring, luckily I had one in an O ring kit I bought awhile back. The pressure washer was my parents from (20) years ago, it’s a hand me down, but I like fixing stuff. The upper two brass “collars” I took out cause they kept falling out, they did go back in.
New pressure washers are "throw-away-when-they-stop-working" products, I like old stuff that you can repair.
...new everything is throw-away. That valve body looks familiar, I have a 30+ YO Craftsman I keep running. Pretty sure that O-ring was issue, but sometimes "blowoff" valve gets weak, keeping pump from building pressure. Never let unit sit running pump at pressure for more than 5 minutes at a time, it needs that cold water to cool, otherwise water can get hot enough to boil, hence blowoff valve. If you don't already have, find a parts diagram online so you know where everything is...
It still doesn’t blast like it used too, seems like it has great pressure out of the pump, the hose is clear, so I took the wand apart, all stainless and brass, made in Italy. Anywho, took out the valve seemed stuck, looked at it, cleaned it, now the trigger operates smoothly but still not a ton of pressure. If the blow off valve is weak, is it obvious? Such as water shooting out somewhere? I don’t use it a lot, but I’d like it to work when I need it. This one is a Craftsman also 5.5 hp 2000 psi
Mine is similar to this one. 3500 simpson. Its old as dirt but still works. Recently had to replace the hose and wand. There are rebuild kits available for the pump on mine, maybe so for yours. The pistons and valves work much like what it would in our car engines. So worn rings or seals will affect pressure output
Mine looks similar. 2550 psi, 6.5 hp. It lost all pressure a few weeks ago. I took the pump apart, cleaned, and reassembled with a $22 seal kit from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Q8FWLY7?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details The piston seals were worn and there was a fair amount of mineral buildup. Some water got into the oil, so timing for a teardown was good. Works as new now. A stuck pressure relief valve is another common issue. A complete replacement pump is under $100, that could be an option for you.
...if blowoff bad should see water dumping under unit. Did you check water inlet screen for being (partially) clogged, there also may (mine does) have a filter where pressure hose connects to handle. Otherwise pump. Should be a rebuild kit for it. Info in owners manual...
After the crazy rains and flooding down here, the owners of a lot of expensive homes have been hauling a lot of damaged stuff to the curb, as well as stuff they just don't want. I knew the owner of one house and he put a non-functional mi-t-m 2000 PSI pressure washer out by the street. I knew he probably never used it so I snagged it -- looks pretty darn good except springs to carb linkages are screwy. No fuel in it, no water -- but it fired right up on carb cleaner. Gonna go through the carb this week and might have a running very low-hours unit.
My steamer is 15 years old and my hotsy shark cold is over 25years old. Don’t use them as often as I use too. One way to /keep them alive is never lend them out. They will always come back broken. Once you have a hot water machine your hooked.
The good news: got the free pressure washer running. The bad news: does about 2 rpm. Gotta screw with linkages, I guess.
Completely agree on the lending issue. Wife has learned the hard way from lending our pressure washer to her dad, best friend, neighbor, etc. Stopped lending it out 2 years ago -- no problems since.
Ha, I have neighbors that ask me to borrow theirs, as it's already broken and they know I will fix it for them.
BTW, the Craftsman and Briggs & Stratton pumps can use an oil change once in a while. It never occurred to me until it failed, probably 25 years of use! I don't think the manuals even mention pump oil changes. The oil side of the pump has some roller bearings and a 'wave' disk that works like a camshaft to raise/lower the pistons which produce the pumping action. It should last a long time... until the seals go bad and the oil gets contaminated with water, or the oil leaks out. I'll guess I'll get another 25 years out of this thing!
My Craftsman manual says "DO NOT attempt any maintenance on this pump"!....so I did follow directions... until it died. Guess I gave it a second life.
