Pressure Washer Issue

[andrethegiant70]

This probably isn’t quite the right place for this, but I know some of you fellows work on everything.

The back story…. I picked up a pressure washer recently to fool around with. Guy said he had used it twice, then let a friend borrow it. The friend said the pump didn’t work. So he just let it sit there for two years. Bottom line, I bought it for a few bucks, cleaned out the carb, and found that the gun was just plugged up. The things starts and runs well and the pump works fine. Hooray for me. However , the gun is probably no good, it was too rusted to even take apart and clean out. I didn’t really want the gun, though, so no biggie.

Here’s the issue, though, the pump seems to put out a lot of pressure, but it also seems to dump a fair amount of water out of some ports in the housing that appear to be made for the purpose. Maybe you guys could look at the video and see if this is normal?

 

[1steve]

No its not normal, with internet diagnostics it looks like bad seals between piston body and the head. What kind and model pressure washer is it?

 

[andrethegiant70]

Campbell Housefeld with a B&S engine...It says 37 on it. 3.7? Do you know of they sell seal kits?

 

[CGC4200]

If a Campbell-Hausfield

I have one that did the same thing after storage, don't think it was that way new.
Parts were available from the company for the pump on their site.

 

[1steve]

Campbell Housefeld with a B&S engine...It says 37 on it. 3.7? Do you know of they sell seal kits?

Does the pump have a number on it?

 

[wse8562]

Looks like that pump was not properly winterized and froze. We see that a lot!
Probably has also damaged the pump pistons. If so cheaper to replace p/w.

 

[lwn9186]

Some of those have a potmetal pipe that will feeze and crack. It is the hose for the pressure side. I would look there first.

 

[andrethegiant70]

I actually pulled the pump off just to give it an inspection for anything obvious. No cracks or other obvious damage. I'd say it is likely that it wasn't winterized and did freeze at some point. I'll check out the C&H website.

I have to say, though, I saw no brand name on it and just 0077 for a number. It sounds too short to be a usable number, doesn't it? I'm used to saws.. everything is stamped. This looked like a pretty cheap unit.

I'm not too upset about the pump if it is trashed, I really bought the machine for the engine. I'm trying to build a small aircraft deicer. We have these enormous units now that need to be towed behind a car and have high failure rates. They are too big, too complicated, and use big plastic storage tanks (waaay too big!) that don't like heat cycles and develop leaks. I really want something that can be broken down and thrown into a Suburban or station wagon for transport and easily set up at the other end. This is also why I don't care about the gun... 1500 PSI would actually cause damage.

I may just mate this engine with a nice simple roller pump. I suppose I would also have to use some sort of pressure relief system to avoid hydrolock. Anyone know of a cheap pump setup with a built-in valve?

 

[wse8562]

I actually pulled the pump off just to give it an inspection for anything obvious. No cracks or other obvious damage. I'd say it is likely that it wasn't winterized and did freeze at some point. I'll check out the C&H website.

I have to say, though, I saw no brand name on it and just 0077 for a number. It sounds too short to be a usable number, doesn't it? I'm used to saws.. everything is stamped. This looked like a pretty cheap unit.

I'm not too upset about the pump if it is trashed, I really bought the machine for the engine. I'm trying to build a small aircraft deicer. We have these enormous units now that need to be towed behind a car and have high failure rates. They are too big, too complicated, and use big plastic storage tanks (waaay too big!) that don't like heat cycles and develop leaks. I really want something that can be broken down and thrown into a Suburban or station wagon for transport and easily set up at the other end. This is also why I don't care about the gun... 1500 PSI would actually cause damage.

I may just mate this engine with a nice simple roller pump. I suppose I would also have to use some sort of pressure relief system to avoid hydrolock. Anyone know of a cheap pump setup with a built-in valve?

Stens and Northern tool have pumps but still probably cheaper to replace unit

 

[andrethegiant70]

Well, I was going to spare you the gory details, but I'm planning to swap it all around anyways. Below is a picture of what we're using now, including the latest breakage, which resulted from cold and vibrations. I've got three of these spread around northern Arizona and I keep having to chase down lots of little issues. The guy who built these used a lot of plastic fittings that don't hold up too well. I've been replacing them slowly with brass (which I did on this one also) and I've also been trying to isolate things from vibration. Fortunately, when this one broke, I had a decent backpack sprayer and hot glycol from the tank... we had a real sick guy to get out that day. We got him to the hospital quickly, but I don't think he made it.

However, I'm convinced that we can do better on the deicers... I figure this new engine drives a roller pump situated under the engine stand and the tank (aluminum or stainless, 15-20gals max for my purposes) sits right next to it with an immersion heater installed. All metal fittings. The whole thing should fit on a 4 wheel garden cart-type thing and should fit in the back of a pickup or Suburban-type vehicle.

http://www.arboristsite.com/attachments/chainsaw/168474d1295144419-broken-****-jpg

 

[RBurtcher]

Good on you for wanting something fast and reliable to get those planes off the ground. My mom used to work for Lifenet in phoenix and who ever bought them out. (Eagle air)? good luck with the pump delio.

 

[andrethegiant70]

Good on you for wanting something fast and reliable to get those planes off the ground. My mom used to work for Lifenet in phoenix and who ever bought them out. (Eagle air)? good luck with the pump delio.

Thanks for the support, small world! Those guys are still around, that's for sure.

This was a close call... the amby was a few minutes out and I was staring at a busted fitting.

The event that got me on the hunt was a few weeks ago when I was at my Mom's (she is in ill health). I was at the hospital with her and trying to talk a guy through getting one of these big rigs back online at the same time. If you can't get the ice off, the plane won't fly and the sick people won't get moved! Oh, and the boss starts to wonder whether he's got the right guy at the helm. BTW, we DID get it going, but not before I talked him through removing and cleaning out the carb, draining all the old gas out, and replacing with new stuff. We didn't have a flight pending on this one, we were just trying to get it done before some weather hit.

At the very least, I'd like to have something I can just drive out there and give to them while I fix the main unit.