With so many people stuck at home because of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us have enough extra time on our hands to tackle projects around the house. As part of that, here at Richardson Saw we’ve seen quite a few people bring in power washers for service. They decided to get the power washer out and do some work around the house, only to discover that their power washer doesn’t start.
Most of these power washers don’t start simply because they’ve been sitting too long. Another problem is that people don’t always know how to store them properly after use. If you’re having trouble with a power washer, you can bring them into our service department and we’ll take a look at it and fix the problem if we can.
Today’s blog post, though, isn’t about fixing the problem once it’s already happened. For this article, we’ll be looking at what went wrong and how to keep that from happening in the future.
Storage After Uses
Every time you use your pressure washer, it’s important to take care of a few maintenance tasks before putting it away. If you were using detergent, start by running clean water through the system at low pressure for two minutes. Next, turn off the engine and relieve any remaining pressure by triggering the gun a few times.
Let the pressure washer cool down, then detach the garden hose, spray gun, wand extension, and high-pressure hose. Drain the water from them. Finally, get rid of water still in the pump by pulling the recoil handle about six times. If your washer is electric instead of gasoline-powered, simply turn it on until the water leaves the pump, then turn it off again.
Don’t store your washer where the temperature can reach freezing. Your power washer’s pump could freeze and crack if temperatures drop below freezing. If you cannot store the pressure washer in a location where temperatures stay above freezing, you can run a pump saver anti-freeze product through your washer to keep it safe and avoid the issue when power washer doesn’t start when needed.
Long-Term Storage
When you’re storing a power washer long-term, you’ll need to take a few extra maintenance steps. For gasoline-powered washers, you won’t want to let gasoline sit in the washer. Gasoline containing ethanol goes stale in about 30 days. Leaving fuel in the engine longer than that can cause rust, corrosion, build-up can cause power washer doesn’t start.
To prevent fuel problems, either drain the fuel before storing or add a fuel stabilizer. If you’re going to use a fuel stabilizer, add the stabilizer to fresh gasoline, use that to fill the tank, then run the engine for a couple of minutes so the stabilized fuel can circulate.
You should change the oil in your pressure washer about every 50 working hours. Even if you don’t use it that often, though, it’s still a good idea to change the oil at least once a year. You don’t have to change the oil before long-term storage, but if it hasn’t been changed in the past year now is a good time to do it.
A Low-Maintenance Alternative
If you don’t want to deal with the engine maintenance that comes along with a gasoline-powered pressure washer, you can choose an electric model instead. You won’t have to worry about draining or stabilizing fuel, or any other maintenance that’s recommended for gasoline engines.
You’ll still need to store electric washers properly after use and make sure they don’t freeze. Overall, though, maintenance is much easier. Just keep them clean and they can keep working reliably for years. They’re also less expensive than gasoline-powered washers and don’t produce engine emissions. Just keep in mind that they’re also less powerful so it’ll take longer for an electric washer to do the same job as a gasoline-powered one. However, this won’t be much of an issue if you use your washer infrequently or for smaller jobs.
Here at Richardson Saw, we carry an electric model from STIHL and gasoline-powered Vortex Pressure Washers. Whether you’re looking for a powerful gasoline model to tackle large, frequent jobs or a reliable, low-maintenance model for smaller, infrequent washing you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for here. And if you have any questions about selecting a new power washer or maintaining the one you have, just ask. We’d be happy to help!
