Power washer - drained and still broken

Dorian

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Bit miffed today to find my 18-month-old Karcher K4 had been damaged by the frost. It's leaking out the back and pulsing when not spraying. It's still working pretty well though.

I'n sure it was drained of water the last time it was used.

Does anyone think it's worth a try taking it back to B&Q? Given the weather we've had recently my guess is they'll just play the frost damage card.

I'm thinking it's more a case of taking it apart and trying to replace the cracked part myself

Are there any other makes with better frost protection?
 
Nilfisk is usually the answer to the question of what's better than the equivalent Karcher product at this sort of price point. I'm not sure if Karcher still use plastic pumps in their 'cheaper' models? Used to be the case and was usually what failed, either due to frost damage or just poor quality.

I have one of these (or at least an earlier iteration of it):


No complaints - it'll be 7 years old in February! I do make sure the pump is drained after every use and it lives in my integral garage these days (spent first 2 years in my shed at my old house)

They do a car washing attachment which works at lower pressure, and I have a snow foam bottle with adjustable mix ratio, plus the patio cleaning attachment. So it gets used and abused!
 
Thanks. I did look at Nilfisk and heard good things, not sure why I went with Karcher in the end. But the K4 is definitely a metal pump. You're right that the lower models aren't, I had a K1 that was plastic.

Where I might have gone wrong is draining the machine with the power off, just using the lance trigger to empty it. Reread the instructions and they are saying it should be drained with the power on, which I didn't think would be good for it, but there we go!

I took the front cover off the machine for a look round but it's not leaking from one of the obvious pipes it looks like the top of the pump head grrr. Found a place that can repair them so off it goes in the next few days!
 
Sounds like a plan - I run mine with accessories removed until water stops coming out of the open hose end (the reel can’t be disconnected from the machine) and know what you mean about it not appearing a good idea, but I guess for a few seconds with no load on it there’s no issues with longevity
 
I'll definitely be following that process from now on! Can't have this every winter. Water is absolutely pissing out of the top of the pump so it's going in the repair shop in the New Year and probably won't be cheap.
 

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