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I have been using the Skil pressure washer (https://www.amazon.in/Bosch-F015-076.../dp/B00F3AZWT6) since 2013. Bought it from Flipkart.

I connect the inlet to our municipality water supply (which does not have the greatest of water pressure), but nonetheless the machine does a good job of supplying output pressure.
The machine & the watergun is pretty abuse friendly.

Only problem till date is that the garden hose coupler broke in the last year, but a replacement was easily available from Amazon (https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B01...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) at fair price.

This machine will not blast the caked mud off the car (and I am quite happy as too much pressure can chip paint), but will wash away the loose dirt and make it ready for further steps of washing.

I really doubt that it is coaxial. Have never, ever seen a coax cable intended for mains voltage*. I'd bet the unit that the one in your picture is standard, 3-core, British colour-coded cable.

I have seen a coiled extension lead burn. It was of the type that is tightly wound inside a plastic cover, and it had a two or 3 kW heater attached to it. Not safe at all and, yes, better to fully uncoil any extension lead before use.


*AvE: "The way to get an answer on the internet is not to post the question, but to post a wrong answer!" I await correction :)

Which brand and model for budget less than ₹ 7,8K for a decent pressure washer? As a novice I do not want which requires engineering skills to connect to a water faucet etc. I also do not do off road driving but the regular dirt and grime of the city roads and occasional rain water/mud splash. Any guidance by seniors in the forum will be much appreciated. Thanks. Cheers

Hi El Lobo,

I just got Karcher K3 Premium delivered to me from Amazon at a price of 15,055 but no manual was provided, i am trying to understand online if any mandatory things that i need to follow while using it for the first time - Any advice you may have. I also seek clarification on the following:
1) My water hose is close to 100 feet long which i have been using for 2 years and it is full of algae sediments inside - although i am planning to clean rinse the hose with baking soda, i am worried if the those sediments will harm the machine - Any suggestions you have?
2) K3 is self primming one and i thought of drawing water from a clean bucket but no self primming suction hose was provided with the machine and i noticed that suction hose from Karcher (just few meters of regular hose which will cost 200 bucks in local hardware shop) will cost be 2500 INR, can i purchase normal hose locally and use it in bucket without any filter at its tail end?

Please advice, thanks.

Dear Anand congrats on the Karcher. Mine is going strong since 5.5 yrs. You can use Karcher International website to get the manual. Do read it up. A must.

I would strongly urge you to buy & use Karcher Water Filter Order number: 4.730-059.0.

I'm using it from Day 1 since Feb 2012. After completing a cleaning session with Karcher; there is always sediments or other things caught up. You know water quality in India. If I didn't use the Karcher Water Filter; the machine wouldn't have lasted this long. The Filter connects at the water inlet input. Get it and do not use machine until you find one unless you are using aquaguard water.

Here is link to Amazon India:
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0000AITPL/...oding=UTF8&me=
https://machpowertools.com/karcher-w...karcher&page=3



The inlet pipe diameter is 1/2 inch if I'm not wrong. Get a braided water pipe from any hardware shop. Do not go for non braided as it tends to twist blocking water flow.

Use the Karcher 1/2 inlet coupling connector to connect the water pipe to water inlet of Karcher.



Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B008GTKT3U/...oding=UTF8&me=


So here is how it will be like (same is with my Karcher)

Braided Water pipe > Inlet Coupling Connector > Karcher Water Filter > Karcher K2 water inlet.

Let me know if you have any queries. Happy to help.

Glad to hear that it yours is working great and i can correlate to your up keeping:)

There is one Water filter inbuilt in K3 where you fit hose. It is white in color. will that suffice or should i buy one more, picture below.



Sure , i have already bought the Karcher hose coupler, will make sure i get a braided water hose, thanks for your expert suggestions, it definitely helps

Dear El lobo,

Need a help from you:

After reading your post on your K2.180 purchase, i understood that you are referring to an additional water filter apart from the factory fitted ones. I will go ahead and purchase one. pasting the picture of connector set you had got here:


I am trying to locate the first part of the connector online(already have ordered the second part), I require your help in confirming if i have located the right one(in link below) as you have used
https://www.amazon.in/FEMALE-ADAPTER...K8CEMC35V8VD5N

I have purchased a braided 1/2 inch hose of 3 metres which is very good quality (similar to one sold by Karcher for 3K+INR but with filters) for 165 INR, wondering why Karcher prices it so high.

Looking at the 1st image I'm not able to make out whether the connector has thread or not. That is the only doubt. Do give it a try.

What you need is a 3/4 to 1/2 reducer.

You can look at the following:
https://www.ebay.in/itm/331951521981...ource=Sok-Goog
https://www.amazon.in/GreenAge-REDUC...CWCKN7KGRANCWJ

I bought a Bosch AQT-35/12 Pressure washer which is a self-priming one. However, I could only use it with tap connection, it couldn't suction the water in from a bucket.
So, do I need the self priming pipe kit, or a braided water hose will do ?
Thanks

A braided water hose should be sufficient to pull water from any stagnant source, i recently bought Karcher K3 premium and as per el lobo's suggestion , i bought a braided water hose for 3 meters(165 rs) and an extrrnal water filter costing 1400 rs and connected both to the machine. The external filter heleped me by filtering huge amount of dusts from entering the machine. I only thank el lobo each time i see accumulated dirt in the filter:)

Not sure if the same filter will be compatible with Bosch.

When you use bucket instead of tap; you need to keep the trigger gun pressed to release air. Else the air present within the pipe & system would have no place to go out.

Get a Braided one. It doesn't bend and lasts longer. You will need requisite connectors as per the inlet pipe.

I think, if you have already tried a bucket, pipe shouldn't make any difference. Keep the trigger gun pressed (open) to release air within system; that should allow suction of water to happen.

Get the Bosch F016800363 Water Filter Pressure Washer Accessory. Available on Amazon for Rs. 429 and sold by Cloudail India. So its genuine. Must have.

Happy to be of help. :)

Thanks. I tried to press the washer gun trigger, but water didn't spray. How long should I keep the trigger pressed ? I think i tried for 20-30 seconds and it wasn't working. As per the manual/videos, turning the machine on, motor makes sound for a while, and then shuts off unless gun trigger is pressed. This happens if I connect to tap, but not with the bucket ...

The filter is already provided in the Bosch kit, let me try once more with a braided pipe.
Thanks again for your inputs!

(tl;dr: braid probably doesn't make much difference with these kinds of pipe, rubber hoses are good but I can't be sure they would work for this)

Who remembers waxed-paper drinking straws? If the liquid beat the wax, they would colapse, and no more sucking. One cannot suck through a pipe that collapses any more than one can push a piece of string. :)

Look at the pumps for flood-water clearance. The outlet hose can be of the canvas-based "fireman's" type of hose, but, of course that cannot be used at the suction side of the pump. For that, we use the hard plastic pipe (I don't know what plastic?) with the spiral reinforcement. That will not collapse even if you stand on it.

With the garden-hose type of thing that is being used for these pressure pumps, the same thing applies. All that matters is that the suction hose will not collapse. I doubt that there is very much pressure on the sucking side of these devices anyway: remember that they work with pretty moderate tap-water pressure.

I am not particularly impressed by the braided hoses. It may add some resilience, but it is only a thread, and would have to be something like steel to do much duty in working against pressure, either from inside (like the gas bottle hoses, or, even more, compressed-air hoses) not some cotton-like stuff. I think it is, in a garden hose, mostly there for show! We can't see it, but I suspect that the outlet pressure washer hose may be braided.

If you cannot see that your suction hose is collapsing, then this is certainly not the problem anyway.

The problem with most hardware-store garden hoses is that the material is too hard and lacks flexibility. The former may be good for a suction hose, but the latter means kinks. Kinks are inevitable in a longish hose, unless it is stored on a rotating reel, but what happens when we get the kinks out? In these cheaper hoses, the material has deformed and does not spring back: we have to work the hose by hand to restore its roundness and flow capacity. OK, yes everyone who has watered a garden knows this.

What doesn't kink. Oh, man! Not nothing don't never not kink ;). What recovers from kinks easily? Rubber. A good rubber hose will spring back to round-and-flowing as soon as the kink is released. It is also lighter, nicer to handle, probably longer-lasting, and superior in every way... but it is expensive compared to the local-shop stuff. I know this because I have one in the garden (Amazon link) which I have never regretted buying.

But I cannot say if it would work as a pressure washer suction tube. Despite its softness, it is fairly robust, and I think maybe it would. I'd try it out (despite reluctance to cut off a piece) if I had such a washer but I don't.

So... I hope this ambling discourse on the nature of pipes and hoses (and plug for made-in-India Zephyr: no affiliation, I'm just a happy buyer) has not been entirely a waste of the readers' time!

Try for 2-3 minute. You should see water moving in through the transparent braided pipe to confirm that suction is happening.

It takes time to remove complete air and build the pressure. If you have access to tap water; nothing better than that.

With bucket you will need to keep topping up and see to that water level doesn't go below inlet of pipe. Otherwise air will enter the system and you will have to repeat the exercise of removing air all over again.

Also suck the water into the pipe to get if flowing from the bucket before plugging it into the washer. Otherwise I dont think it will happen on its own