Powerwasher Repair

Guest Post by Keith

May 6, 2024

Today I repaired a thing. Well yesterday and a bit of today to be accurate.

The paving stones around the front and side of my house have not been cleaned for several years and my neighbour Robert has a new set of york stone pavers at his front door. I feel I am letting the side down.

Time to grope in the garden storage box for the Kärcher pressure washer and its revolving patio cleaning attachment. Time also to awake my outside tap from its overwinter slumbers, unwrap the insulation and turn on the inside isolating valve after wondering why I had no water in the pressure washer. An hour later good progress had been made and the front door had been reached, time for a tea break. Returning to the job the washer gave a bit of a gasp and ceased to wash. After lots of checking of electrics and water supply a conclusion was reached…it’s buggered!

I can’t remember when I bought the Kärcher but it’s well over ten years old  and probably time for a replacement. An internet search showed me a new similar washer for about £89, it could be here tomorrow if I ordered in the next hour. I do what I do best in this sort of situation; I procrastinated.

Awaking early the following morning I browsed YouTube and found a few Kärcher repair videos. I checked on ESpares and found a replacement for the water pressure switch which I thought might be the problem, cheap but two weeks delivery time. It might be worth taking a look inside, if I can get it apart. If it can’t be fixed then it’s time to hit Amazon Prime.

Being a bit of a car tinkerer I have a set of torx screw wrenches which were required to get into the casing. Releasing the motor and pump a quick test revealed no signs of life. Four larger torx screws held the pump to the motor but upon inspection nothing seemed to be wrong with the pump. I cleaned it out and put new grease on the ball bearings and pump springs.

Opening the electrical connections also showed no signs of a problem. I cleaned connections and switch. Another electrical test had the motor leaping around with enough torque to power any pump. Reassembly of the pump and motor would have been much easier had I remembered to photograph them before taking them apart.

Likewise refitting the water pressure switch, the capacitor and the plastic cover would have been much quicker with a before photo.

Next day the cleaning job was finished and I was left with a smug grin and £89 still in the bank. 

I guess the cause of the failure was just lack of use and general grot in the rather flimsy switch mechanism. It is easy to miss the obvious in search of a problem and easy to forget to take progress photos which can really help with a repair job. 

There is nothing to beat the satisfaction of a repair job successfully completed, money and a small bit of the planet saved.

Life in the old Workshopshed dad yet!

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  Posted in: Repairs Tags: Power washer