Recommendation for Water Blaster - for cars and house exterior

• 

  Wakrak on 21/04/2022 - 13:19

  +1

  Unsure about this particular model. Might pay to read some of the other K2 posts on here (though slightly different models).

  Could also pricematch at Mitre10

  I got the Karcher K3 (1.601-881.0) when it was on clearance for $199 at Bunnings. Use it to wash the outside of the house and clean the car with a MJJC foam cannon. Pressure bar and flow rate seem decent for the price I paid and it does the job good enough. Was originally leaning towards the Ryobi RPW140-G.

  It'll take you a minute, but I also recommend going through heaps of the pressure washer posts over at OzBargain. There are a lot of people over there asking the same question and members comparing different brands.

• 

  bigcheese on 21/04/2022 - 13:31

  +3

  I wouldn't use a K2 Karcher for that.
  These are very much entry level Water Blasters.
  It will be fine for doing your car but if you want to start washing your house as well then spend a bit more and get a more powerful model.

  It's been a few years but we used to sell the Karcher range when I worked at Bunnings and always had the problem of people buying the K2 machine (for price) and being disappointed. The larger machines can not only go for longer but also allow a higher water flow rate so you can clean a larger area faster.
  The K2 is fine for a short period but just can't handle a sustained period of time like when you would be cleaning your house down, unless your happy doing in in bite sized bursts.
  I would go with at least a K3 model but make sure whatever you get has variable pressure as you don't always want to blast something away!
  I've got a K5 (or maybe K6, I can't remember!) and love it -but it definitely cost more than that.

  • 

    CheapAzChips on 21/04/2022 - 20:25

    Definitely this. But maybe there's a better (and cheaper, possibly even faster) way to wash your house, like a sugar soap bucket of water and long extension brush with a hose to rinse off. It will do a better job in most places and you are less likely to accidentally get water where is not supposed to go.

• 

  JJ on 22/04/2022 - 10:41

  I recently used a Nilfisk entry level model (no more than $200) to wash the whole fence and retaining wall timber. No chemical used, just hours of high pressure gun wash inch by inch. The result is amazing. Not sure such a level of pressure is suitable for car wash though. I'm worried that it would damage the car paint.

  • 

    bigcheese on 22/04/2022 - 10:51

    That's why I would recommend one with variable pressure - not everything needs to be blasted!

    Also, some of the waterblasters come with chemical tanks to make applying a cleaning agent easier.
    I would generally stay away from putting chemicals in these (the likes of 30 Seconds) as the chemical can corrode the seals.
    If using a chemical I simply use a cheap 5L pressure sprayer to apply and then use the waterblaster to clean off.

• 

  akrotohur on 22/04/2022 - 10:51

  Not sure what you mean by "outside of the house", make sure you do lots of research if you are cleaning the external cladding, a water blaster might not be the best choice for cleaning external cladding.