Unpowered Pressure Washers...?

MouldyOldDough

There are many ads for these devices - many simply boxes that go between the tap and nozzle - claiming to be at least as powerful as a conventional mains powered pressure washer - but how do they work ?

Do they actually increase the flow rate or just the pressure via reduced nozzle size ?

how - surely you are limited by the flow rate from the tap ?

I am talking about the £50 ones that appear in magazine ads - not the £250 battery powered ones.

Failing that - what are the £50 battery powered ones really like ?

looking for the pros and cons of all types of washers

Frozen_up_north

I bought a Ryobi battery pressure washer as it is very convenient for quick jobs, such as cleaning the bird bath, as it avoids needing to run a mains cable and get the hosepipe out (it can work from an attached 2 litre lemonaid bottle, or a bucket).

The downside is the lack of pressure compared to a mains powered pressure washer, my Ryobi is the more powerful of the 18V battery ones, but is still only 41 bar on max, compared to a mains powered Karcher which has up to 180 bar, depending on model.

vacheron

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6665110/unpowered-pressure-washers

They are a con. Saw one advertised and was highly sceptical, so checked out a couple of youtube videos. (It takes a while to find a real review under all the fake / sponsored reviews).

Simple physics really. You can't make energy out of thin air, these are no more than a Hozelok style jet nozzle, Nothing like power washer performance (even a dirt cheap one).

The battery ones are a good half way house, combining convenience with a pressure boost, but these currently advertised ones are neither.

Neil49

I bought a basic one one from Aldi last week for £5.99 and it's just a lance with a reduced nozzle to produce a jet of water. It's not amazing but it helped with cleaning the patio slabs and would be good for cleaning your car wheels etc. It uses standard hose connections.

Grumpy_chap

While there is no way that an unpowered device can generate more pressure than the laws of physics dictate, so the limitation would be what can be achieved via venturi effects, if the idea appeals and one wishes to chance it, then at £6 in Aldi why not have a go?

I wouldn't waste £50 on it though.

Murmansk

I got an 18V battery powered pressure washer from Screwfix:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-tti855prw-22bar-18v-1-x-5-0ah-li-ion-cordless-hand-held-pressure-washer/123pv

It's perfect for what I want - removing seagull droppings from cars and cleaning wheelie bins. Wouldn't be much use for anything else as it's not powerful enough but it's very handy when fed from a bucket of water and easy to set up and put away.