This article was written and submitted by Steven Rowlett. Steve' date=' thank you for this helpful information!

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Too many people neglect to do the little things to maintain the pump of their pressure washer. Personally I try to change the pump oil every time I change the engine oil, every 50 hours. This is the least expensive thing you can do for your pump.

One thing that some have been told to by the person that sold them the machine, is to adjust the unloader to change pressure. I advise against this practice, change your nozzle to achieve this task. Nozzles wear with time and when you turn the pressure back up with a worn nozzle you end up turning it up too much due to the worn nozzle.

With a pressure activated unloader you should have no more than 400 psi spike when you release the trigger of your gun. A flow unloader will drop the pressure to 10% of what the Max. Pressure the machine is rated at, 300 psi (10%) on a 3000 psi machine. Excess pressure from this will cause unnecessary stress on the pump.

The greatest harm you can do is to run the pump dry, water is the only lubrication the seals receive. When the seals start to go bad you will experience water leaking between the pump head and the pump, water in your pump oil or both. A water inlet filter is also a must. One small piece of trash can cause a check valve to stick open and therefore keep the pump from having the proper pressure. A bad o-ring will do the same thing just as it would do if it was an o-ring in the unloader. It is also a good idea to have a pressure gauge with quick disconnects so you can check the pressure from time to time.

The most accurate place to check it is at the end of the hose just before the gun. There will be some friction loss depending on the length of your discharge hose and if you are using a downstream chemical injector (about 200 psi drop with the injector). The friction loss on the hoses are listed on www.thecleanernetwork.com . And one final note, keep the exterior of your pump clean so if any leaks occur they will be noticed easily.

Steven Rowlett

ROWLETT PRESSURE

CLEANING SERVICE