4500 psi Pressure Washer

[Yooperman]

First I apologize for posting this under attachments. :ashamed: While not an attachment question per se, it is the closest forum topic I could come up with.

I want to know if a pto pressure washer of 4500 psi will remove a good amount of old paint and rust from equipment before repainting. (ok, it wouldn't have to be pto driven, but it does to fit in this forum heading! :laughing: ) I want to repaint a piece of old equipment without the expense and hassle of taking it somewhere to have it sand blasted. I have a sand blast cabinet for smaller parts, but not the big parts. I don't expect the pressure washer to get it down to bare metal, just good enough for the new paint to be able to adhere.

Thanks to anyone with experience in this area.

 

[oosik]

I do not know about old paint and rust - but----- my neighbor removed a good deal of new green paint from his brand new JD last year before he quit. It should help .............

 

[alorio1]

I think it will get you down to the metal. I can tell you I had to repaint the front cap on my 2009 Camray after my wife sent my grandson out to clean the love bugs off that she had let dry on the front bumper and fenders with my 3200 PSI pressure washer. I had a rotary nozzle on the pressure washer that will knock rocks out of the cement when I clean the driveway. If you can get a rotary nozzle rated for that amount of pressure it will do wonders. If you do use it, I would be careful not to hit the side walls of the tires.

 

[mikehaugen]

They make a "wet" sandblasting attachment that you put on the end of the sandblaster that will siphon sand into the water stream. I hear good/bad things about them, but plan to try one someday.

 

[Pete Judd]

I have a commercial grade 8 hp honda powered unit, and it stripped the clear coat of a car in big strips. Be safe.

 

[Furu]

They make a "wet" sandblasting attachment that you put on the end of the sandblaster that will siphon sand into the water stream. I hear good/bad things about them, but plan to try one someday.

They work pretty well depending if you get the pro version vs consumer. The problem is the flash rust before you can get it dry. Tried alcohol (denatured) and it helped but still get some light rust. Some is better than a lot or heavy however which us what you start with.

 

[Sportsman762]

I suspect a 4500 PSI pressure washer with a 0° nozzle would remove most paint. I have removed old paint off of a rusty implement with a 2500PSI with a 0° nozzle. A 4500 PSI unit should be able to do it better.
I would be concerned about washing an automobile with a pressure washer that was that strong. The 2500 PSI unit I used was an electric Hotsy hot pressure washer and if you accidentally left a 0° nozzle on or go to close you could cause some damage to a nicely painted surface. It did wonders removing strips of decals if you got to close on a Kubota front blade.

 

[J_J]

I have one of the pressure washer sand blasters. I used it with a 3000 psi pressure washer, and it does a fine job, right down to bare metal.

Trick is to keep the sand pipe on top of the nozzle.

It will spray sand, glass beads, or whatever.

You might even try soda blasters using high pressure air.

BE 85.400.002 3500 PSI Sandblasting Kit

 

[mikehaugen]

So for those that have used the sand blaster, how big of a mess does it make? Could you use in the yard and not worry about where the sand goes or do you need to do it over a tarp or something?

 

[J_J]

You can do it almost anywhere.

You might even be able to recover some sand, just filter.

You need protection over your head and face.

 

[Scooby074]

The wet sand blasters work IF you have a machine that meets the flow and pressure specs to run it. I thought I could get by with my 1.8gpm@1200psi... NOPE! Not even close.

My next washer will be higher powered and hot water (I hope). Nothing beats hot water for cleaning equipment.

 

[mikehaugen]

The wet sand blasters work IF you have a machine that meets the flow and pressure specs to run it. I thought I could get by with my 1.8gpm@1200psi... NOPE! Not even close.

My next washer will be higher powered and hot water (I hope). Nothing beats hot water for cleaning equipment.

Mine is 18hp, 3500 psi and 5.6 gpm... I THINK I'll be good. I got a couple trailers and various attachments that need some "prettying" up, don't have near enough compressor to run a sand blaster that would be efficient. I just don't want to start this and end up with an inch of sand all ovrr my grass before I am even finished. I will probably try the "0" nozzle to do the bulk of the work before the sand. Probably will wait until next year though.

 

[firemanmike69]

My next washer will be higher powered and hot water (I hope). Nothing beats hot water for cleaning equipment.

try one that does wet steam they blow hot water out of the water

 

[jenkinsph]

You might also try to get a good caustic soda based paint stripper/degreaser to soften the grease and paint. Years ago I kept two types on hand one that was a degreaser and the other which was a stripper degreaser for repainting jobs. These were water based with water clean up and purchased from an industrial chemical supply. Honestly I don't know if these are still available now as the feds have eliminated most of the chemicals that worked well. Most of the stuff I see today is not very effective and similar to dish washing soap.

At the time these chemicals and a small 1800 psi pressure washer was all I needed to clean up old tractors and equipment ready to paint. I have a 13hp 4000 psi @4 gpm pressure washer now and it does a decent job but I really miss the good chemicals.

 

[J_J]

Yep, I remember those stripper that would eat through about 10 coats of paint and bubble up. We used air, water and scrappers to remove the remainder.

It would also remove tattoos if it got on one.

Here is one product that has been around for a while.

METHYL ETHYL KETONE GL - BlendSupply.com

The Navy rework facilities would strip planes with it. Dip a rag in that stuff, using gloves, wipe on and wipe off paint.

 

[jenkinsph]

JJ,
MEK, same as plastic pipe cleaner, evaporates quickly.

 

[Scooby074]

try one that does wet steam they blow hot water out of the water

Yeah. Used them before. Great for grease. Hot water is sort of the middle ground. Better than cold water, and lots of flow for general cleaning / degreasing.