Pressure Washer Water Temp & Degreaser

[fidowanttobe]

Greetings,
I need a second opinion,
I picked up a fitting at a pressure washer repair house and asked him how HOT the water can be going into my COLD water washer. To my shock he said "Your safe up to 140°"!!! That is what my water heater is set at, as in HOT water I said. "Yup, no problem".
So, while I do mix c&h, I've never ran all hot. My Massey has a 40 year old oil film that won't give in. Would you guys run 140° in a 20 year old Craftsman PW?
Also, what is your favorite degreaser? Wallmart foaming engine in a spray can ain't doin it.

 

[bigtiller]

I can run hot water through my 20+ year old Handy power washer, it's electric. But the owners manual warns me to grease the pump before I do. It has a grease zerk that gets greased every now an then when using cold water. If you can't grease yours, I wouldn't use hot water very long and not to often.

 

[dfkrug]

I never tried hot water into any of my PWs. Maybe I will now. No grease fitting on the pump,
however.

None of the foaming aeresol engine degreasers work anymore, from my experience. Changes
to the formulas maybe 15y ago ruined them. Nowadays, detergent may be the only thing you
can use.

 

[drizler]

I have a double bib into my garage that goes into a 2 into 1 washing machine adapter hose It lets me use the water from my domestic hot water tank when I want / need it. Actually I seldom use it as the cold seems to do the deed well enough for most things.
As for the 4o year old grease film I think if the pressure didn't do it then it's time to break out the solvent, old paint brush and pack of small brushes. Sit down and attack it then blast , then attack then blast till you get it clean. That pin point nozzle puts out a lot more pressure than the fan style but you have to be careful not to knock the paint off. Plastic putty knives and even the good old M1A1 steel brush you get for $1 work well to scuff up the hardened on crud.
The best degreaser I ever found to use by hand is good old gasoline, (que the safety police) Carburetor cleaner seems to work quite well too. Just use common sense, hand powered brushes ect only take the usual precautions and do it outside. The crud will come off fairly easily with the water blast once you rough it up enough.

 

[Plas62]

I bought a gallon of WD40 and used it in a spray bottle and hand wiped it off. It did a pretty good job of cutting through the grease.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

The best degreaser I ever found to use by hand is good old DIESEL, (que the ENVIRONMENTAL police)

There! I fixed it for ya! :thumbsup:

 

[holeycow]

WD40

Spray it everwhere. Let it sit for a bit, and then wash with whatever poor excuse for a soap you can get for your pressure washer.

The WD40 seems a little less harsh than gasoline or many other solvents, yet still works well. Brushes help lots with any degreaser.

 

[holeycow]

And yes, I would run household hot water thru any pressure washer.

Probably going to be doing just that again soon...

 

[JRobyn]

I agree that diesel makes a very good solvent/cleaner for many things, but IMHO mineral spirits work the best. I keep a couple of little squeeze bottles with a flip-up spot in several places.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

No contest! But when you have a large job to do, mineral spirits gets expensive.

 

[PILOON]

OVEN CLEANER in the rattle cans, (about $2.00 or less), remove grease globs first and spray oven cleaner and let it stand for 5 mins max then even cold water from the garden hose will degrease your tractor.
You don't want to let it stand longer as it could then strip the paint.

2 cans will practically do an entire CUT.

Also works great as a carburetor cleaner! (again quick thorough rinsing)

 

[petegoud]

Don't forget that most quality pressure washers have a thermal dump valve built into them. That means if you do run hot water through them, you won't be able to let them idle for long. Might not hinder their performance, but don't be surprised to see water being dumped around the machine.

 

[drizler]

I used to wash down most of the built up oil film crud on my plane engine using good old carb cleaner. I never would have thought it quite proper until I saw the local airline using the watered down less volatile version to clean the prop jets and many other things. They went through it by the case. Of course they had to use the expensive stuff due to regs and not wanting to slag down a 5 million dollar machine. The crud just melts right off and flows away though. A little brush and rag action and you are spotless. It just takes a tad of common sense measures just like using Gaso.........uhhhhh Diesel.
No matter how you go the pressure washer won't take off the thick crud unitill you loosen it up with lots of elbow grease Once it's cleaned up pressure washers will do most of the work to keep it lookin purdy:thumbsup:

 

[Big Barn]

I have good success running Sky Blue through my hot water pressure washer. It's excellent also for leaving a "paint ready" surface for my tractors.

http://www.guardianchem.ca/portals/0/banners/product-list.jpg?ver=2015-08-31-151417-857



Terry

 

[powerscol]

I use the Sams purple heavy duty degreaser. Put it in a pump up sprayer and soak the areas for an hour. Be careful though as when I used it on my grill it took the paint lettering of of the stainless steel. I also like the commercial Zepps stuff too - also purple in color.

Hope this helps