993,951,944

Has anyone had good results, or experience any
paint damage, using a pressure washer ?


Some consumer pressure washers will produce
3600 PSI. I assume this will damage paint unless
low power spray pattern adopters are utilized.

STLPCA

No problems w/my 1600 psi Karcher during years of use & literally hundreds of washes (my son used it for 2 years for high school fundraising car washes). It's especially great for wheels, wheel wells & the underside.

Car washing w/power sprayer.

Mark in Baltimore

Dan,

Do you use the washer with the nozzle at its tightest spray pattern?

I just bought a 1600 psi washer from Home Depot and use the tight pattern to blast off brake crud from the wheels, but cautiously turn the wand to a medium fan pattern for the paint.

George from MD

Mark I got your message but did not know how to respond privately. I did indeed buy Fikse FM5's from Paul at Radial Tire and use them at the track. I also have the FM 10's. The FM 5's have the satin center and polished rim and look great. The FM10's are the polished finish all around.

For cleaning I use Simple Green and a 2500 PSI power washer set on a relatively wide setting. This combo works great, doesn't damage the wheels and gets rid of all that nasty Hawk brake dust pronto. Hope this helps.

BTW HAWKS rule! Pagids don't come close IMO.

STLPCA

Mark
I use it close in at its highest setting for wheels, wells, underside, brake rotor holes & held at about 3-4' away for the body on the 993. BTW, the highest nozzle setting is a tight fan, not a pencil spray. I avoid spraying into the engine through the spoiler grill. I would be cautious if there were a place with peeling paint. For perspective, 1600 psi (assuming my sprayer actually meets its rating) is uncomfortable, but not intolerable, to my hand at a few inches from the nozzle & no problem at 3-4'. Don't know how it compares with driving the car at 80mph in the rain. Anyway, I've never had any issue even when using it to power off bug guts on my less cherished cars. Obviously, YMMV.

Agro1

I bought the Karcher 1600 PSI at Costco for $145. I use it on everything, patio chairs, teak tables, siding, concrete, whatever needs cleaning.

I wouldn't worry about too much pressure damaging paint. The PSI is measured at the nozzle. The trick is not to get too close to the paint with the nozzle. If you do, it could damage the finish. From about 6 feet it produces a strong mist that is good for soaking the car down. Mine has a suction tube that you can drop into a bottle of soap to mix in with the water. It works great for getting the car all soaped up and then I use that new spot free rinse solution from Mr Clean, it's called Mr. Clean Auto Dry.

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Magneti...lutionize.html

That stuff is amazing and makes toweling off the car a 3 min job. Hope this helps.

Mark in Baltimore

George - I sent that PM six months ago! I figured you never checked your PM's. Thanks for the info. I've been very happy with my FM-10's.

Dan - Thanks for the info. I've been afraid to get my hand near the nozzle when it's set on the pencil pattern, lest I give myself a nice water injection in my body. Yikes!

George from MD

Slow to respond to PM's....slow at the track....
getting old sucks.