Thread: Karcher PRO High Pres. Cleaners

Once you pick a machine have a look at the specs for it and what the manufacturer rates it for.
Most common reason people want one is to 'just' do the driveway. It takes about a $400+ unit to be capable of reliably and consistently cleaning even a double car driveway. The little $80 one will do it, but expect to be using it for about 6 hours cleaning a square inch at a time before your driveway is done. This is putting a lot of strain on the motor, the pump, the valves and seals inside, well beyond what is deemed typical use.

The tricks to help any pressure cleaner last longer are to keep the trigger on as much as possible, stopping and starting the motor and valves every few seconds is the fastest way to kill an electric machine, petrols are less susceptible to this. Always drain the unit after your finished, unplug the water and power and hold the trigger so it vents the remaining water out and stops the seals blowing out. Always empty your hose of hot water before putting it through the machine, so drain your hose if its been sitting in the sun for a while.

As for Karcher vs Gerni, Gerni attachments break while karchers break when theyre misused. Though karcher do have a repair warranty, so no machine for 2-3 weeks while its getting fixed and looked at.

Actually come to think of it a friend of mines father used to work for spit water he said to me (when I was looking) even if you don't get a spit water make sure you get one with good water flow don't worry about only using small amount if litres per minute the more the better volume does a better job than pressure alone I think something like that. I was quite a while ago but he reckoned don't worry about the water saving ones get the ones with a good flow rate get the job done quicker.