Fellow car cleaning obsessives...

[DaveW]

MK are amazing, they are a 4 hour round trip from me, so that’s 16 hours in total between me and the wife with dropping and collecting. The only vehicle they haven’t done is the Tesla which I had done at a local company near me that’s very highly recommended on here and various Tesla Facebook groups but never again, MK are the only place I will take my cars for detailing work now! Had the same Kisho on the last 2 vehicles

That’s good to hear! Really nice bunch of people, met most of the family whilst I was there.

I’m sure at one point I saw them promoting themselves on the FB group, which is how I found them.

Darren told me he’s about to open another unit in MK itself now

 

[m3gt2]

That’s good to hear! Really nice bunch of people, met most of the family whilst I was there.

I’m sure at one point I saw them promoting themselves on the FB group, which is how I found them.

Darren told me he’s about to open another unit in MK itself now

Yes I seen on Facebook they are looking for another place in MK now, even further away got me

 

[Medved_77]

Guess this belongs here....

Was fed up of dragging my pressure washer from the shed to the driveway, running an extension lead from one side of the house to the other then dragging the garden hose to connect to the pressure washer, and getting all the cables in a muddle.

So I....

1. Replaced the see through iron gate with a wooden solid gate to hide the equipment from view (still need to paint this)
2. Bought an outdoor cupboard for the path at the side of the house close to the driveway.
3. Placed pressure washer inside outdoor cupboard.
4. Bought a hose reel to mount to the wall, with connector from reel to pressure washer, and 15m hose that covers the full driveway.
5. Drilled a 22mm hole through the house to add conduit to install an external socket.
6. Drilled holes into the rear of the mini cupboard to permanently feed the garden hose in, connection to hose reel out, and for the pressure washer plug to feed to the external socket.
6. Added a smart plug to the external socket which is plugged into a regular socket within the house.
7. Added a smart button placed inside the outdoor cupboard to my home automation setup that triggers the power to the external socket.

So now when I want to wash the car, I turn a lever to turn the water supply on, then press a button to power the pressure washer. Pull hose from reel towards car, squeeze.

I plan to simplify this further by adding a smart water valve which will toggle on by pressing the same button that powers the pressure washer.

Waiting for some cable clips to arrive, otherwise this is working really well.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

Nice.

What connections do you use? The hoselock type ones seem to last about 6 months before they start causing issues and maybe 2 years before they end up in the bin, but I'm yet to find something else that does the job thats not full scale industrial.

 

[Medved_77]

Nice.

What connections do you use? The hoselock type ones seem to last about 6 months before they start causing issues and maybe 2 years before they end up in the bin, but I'm yet to find something else that does the job thats not full scale industrial.

For the non-pressurised hose I'm using a 'Gardena' connector to the pressure washer which has been on for several years and hasn't caused any issues. I think it may have been this one:

Hose Connector Stop Valve 12 mm | GARDENA

Hose Fittings ✓ Professional watering for a green garden 🌱 Inform now!

www.gardena.com

After each winter I've found myself replacing various tap connectors. So this year decided to just replace the tap:

The hose in the centre of the picture goes to the pressure washer. This new tap hasn't yet been through a winter but I'm hopeful that there's less to expand, crack and leak:

Amazon.co.uk

I'm not actually sure if I have a shutoff valve between the mains and the outdoor tap, I should really check and cut off the water during the colder months, leaving the tap open for any water to freeze, expand and escape.

 

[Adopado]

Nice.

What connections do you use? The hoselock type ones seem to last about 6 months before they start causing issues and maybe 2 years before they end up in the bin, but I'm yet to find something else that does the job thats not full scale industrial.

For hozelock type connections just buy a packet of the mini O rings. Only after finding how easy they are to replace … and instantly cure leaky connections … did I wonder why I hadn’t been doing this before!

 

[Adopado]

For the non-pressurised hose I'm using a 'Gardena' connector to the pressure washer which has been on for several years and hasn't caused any issues. I think it may have been this one:

Hose Connector Stop Valve 12 mm | GARDENA

Hose Fittings ✓ Professional watering for a green garden 🌱 Inform now!

www.gardena.com

After each winter I've found myself replacing various tap connectors. So this year decided to just replace the tap:

View attachment 987292

The hose in the centre of the picture goes to the pressure washer. This new tap hasn't yet been through a winter but I'm hopeful that there's less to expand, crack and leak:

Amazon.co.uk

I'm not actually sure if I have a shutoff valve between the mains and the outdoor tap, I should really check and cut off the water during the colder months, leaving the tap open for any water to freeze, expand and escape.

Good idea … except that I can’t get something out of my head that I think came from a post on this forum a few years ago. Someone said that you shouldn’t let a Karcher type pressure washer freeze in the depths of winter because they can split and be unrepairably damaged. Not something that I have experienced so not sure how much of a risk it is… but I have been paranoid ever since and make sure the Karcher is inside the house if there’s a serious freeze!

 

[Medved_77]

Good idea … except that I can’t get something out of my head that I think came from a post on this forum a few years ago. Someone said that you shouldn’t let a Karcher type pressure washer freeze in the depths of winter because they can split and be unrepairably damaged. Not something that I have experienced so not sure how much of a risk it is… but I have been paranoid ever since and make sure the Karcher is inside the house if there’s a serious freeze!

Yup, had to repair a previous pressure washer as the internals cracked from freezing water/expanding ice.

Just need to make sure the water is purged before a freeze or as good practice, after every use in the winter months. Or you can use the intake hose to pull through some antifreeze.

 

[init6]

they can split and be unrepairably damaged.

Very easy to repair Karchers. Most if not all parts are available as spares. Ask me how I know

 

[Adopado]

Very easy to repair Karchers. Most if not all parts are available as spares. Ask me how I know

I'm hoping I won't have to find out! Mine has survived some abuse I must say. Do you know if damage from freezing is really a thing? I would think many people keep them in unheated sheds etc.

 

[init6]

I'm hoping I won't have to find out! Mine has survived some abuse I must say. Do you know if damage from freezing is really a thing? I would think many people keep them in unheated sheds etc.

There are a few plastic parts which if full of water can brake if frozen. I only had a problem last year when we had -20 or whatever it was. Really easy to get the parts and swap out.

 

[page3]

Personally I don’t think a pressure washer has any business anywhere near a car.

 

[Wattsisname]

Personally I don’t think a pressure washer has any business anywhere near a car.

Exactly! Stand well back from the car.

 

[DaveW]

Need to blow the dust off my pressure washer, the car is looking very grubby, it went from being too hot, for me being too busy at the weekends, then too wet, those are my excuses anyway

 

[GRiLLA]

Washing is something that doesn't apply to MSM grey cars. After an hours work with foams, mits, drying cloths, detailers etc you can stand back and realise it looks no different to before you started.

 

[Wattsisname]

Need to blow the dust off my pressure washer, the car is looking very grubby, it went from being too hot, for me being too busy at the weekends, then too wet, those are my excuses anyway

Black scrubs up so nicely

 

[_MJF_]

There are a few plastic parts which if full of water can brake if frozen.

If that happened three nights ago would it be phantom breaking ?

 

[DaveW]

Black scrubs up so nicely

Unlikely to get sorted this weekend either off out for some drinks tomorrow, then out Sunday, hoping The layer of dirt is making a protective surface

 

[Pink Duck]

Enough fair weather ahead to warrant a Sunday wash this weekend myself. Protective dirt is one thing, getting it off is another

 

[Whyone]

Personally I don’t think a pressure washer has any business anywhere near a car.

Why?

Most professional detailers use them.