Pressure Washer maintenance?

[staudend 14]

How many of you work on your own equipment? How many send it to the shop and let the pro's handle it?

Just interested, I hate spending 50 bucks an hour for labor on something I wish I knew how to do without screwing something up.

Nick

[Aplus 525]

It's not really that hard to work on them, you just have to look at what needs to be done, and figure out an approach to do it.

I guess $50/hr is too much to pay a mechanic, but it's not too much for us to make while using the equipment, huh?

[EmpirePW 14]

I have a friend that is very mechincally inclined. He fixes any problems I have with my pressure washer, my lawn mower, my truck, etc etc. He can fix just about anything mechanical. Anything I need fixed only costs me parts and a case of beer or a dinner somewhere or something along those lines. Any time I need something done though I work with him on it so that one day I can do it myself. He is a professional but he is a friend too so I get a great deal.

[Aplus 525]

One day that friend may not be available to fix your equipment. You should be working alongside of him, learning.

[EmpirePW 14]

One day that friend may not be available to fix your equipment. You should be working alongside of him, learning.

"Any time I need something done though I work with him on it so that one day I can do it myself."

I got that...

[Jon 533]

Tony got it right, work next to him and learn, what I do with the shop, I tell them I want to learn how to take care of my equipment so I will be watching what you do and I might ask a question or two.

I had to have my pump rebuilt, was going to do it but some reason just did not feel comfortable doing something I have never done. Shop did it, explained what he was doing and now I feel I can do it next time around.

I do change oils ,filters, and all minor stuff and am getting more into the heavy stuff too.

Now if only I could find a oil filter relocator for my engine to bring it around to the side or front.

Kohler does not make one that I know of, anyone here know of any aftermarket one?

[Grant 500]

We do the preventitive maintenance ourselves, and most of the repairs ourselves also. But I do call in pros for the major items and I always watch and learn

[CCPC 26]

Working on your own equipment is fine if you know what your doing. I do all of the preventive maint., minor repairs, and any changes to my trailor and setup. But, I don't do anything major such as rebuilding pumps or taking apart engines. Its not that I feel that I can't maybe stumble my way through it, but thats not what I do for a living and I would rather pay a professional to make sure it gets done right. Its the same reason why people hire us to clean there homes, sure, they can do it themselves, but they would rather hire a professional to make sure it gets done right.

[Pams Pressure & Clean 64]

I am a former professional auto technician. That means that so far I work on everything myself. I say so far, because I have not had the need to rebuild the pump. I am told that there are some special tools required. It seems that a set of seal pullers or a slide hammer is the ticket. If so, no sweat.. after abunch of years as a knuckle buster, I have accumulated a bunch of shiny doo-dads that do neat things with mechanical type stuff.

Jon, as far as relocating your oil filter it's not such a big deal, although finding an off the shelf part may be problematic at best. Once the proper components are obtained, I can't imagine that it would take more than an afternoon to be completely done with it.

Shoot me an e-mail or call me on the phone and I can get into greater detail than I can here...

[Mike Williamson 198]

I agree here...If you're proficient at repairs, then by all means, do them yourself if you have the time. On the other hand, I'd rather pay a mechanic $50.00/hour to do a repair that takes him 3 hours than spend 8 or 10 hours (or more) figuring out how to do it myself, running down parts and tools, etc. I can make way more in that 8 or 10 hours washing than I'll pay the mechanic to fix it and get me up and running quick. I'm not proficient in small engine repair, though I'm sure I could fix any problems I run into. How long it will take me to fix them is the question. It just isn't economical to spend my washing time piddling around with something I'm not efficient at fixing.

I do agree, though, that it is smart to learn as much as you can about repairs. Many problems you'll run into are fairly simple to fix, once you know how, and knowing how may mean the difference between finishing that job today or having to waste another day coming back after you get your machine fixed.

Like Tony said, why is $50.00/hour too much to pay the mechanic but it isn't too much to pay me to wash something? I guarantee it took a skilled small engine mechanic a lot longer to learn his craft than it did for me to learn mine.

Working on your own equipment is fine if you know what your doing. I do all of the preventive maint., minor repairs, and any changes to my trailor and setup. But, I don't do anything major such as rebuilding pumps or taking apart engines. Its not that I feel that I can't maybe stumble my way through it, but thats not what I do for a living and I would rather pay a professional to make sure it gets done right. Its the same reason why people hire us to clean there homes, sure, they can do it themselves, but they would rather hire a professional to make sure it gets done right.

[Aplus 525]

I've noticed that rebuild kits for many small engines are not economical. The parts to rebuild a Honda engine costs as much as just buying another engine. So I would think unless it's something simple, it could get into too many dollars.

As for pumps, I keep a spare so I can just change it out, and worry about rebuilding the old one when time permits....like winter time.

Last year I made it my focus to stock up on most every part that can fail on me while doing a job. I've got unloaders, fittings, guns, everything that would likely fail, I have a spare. It's not something for everyone, especially if you're starting out, but I've been at this a long time, and have learned my lessons.

I also have a guy who welds for me on short notice, which is probably the most valuable commodity to have. Last year, it seemed that everything was breaking, and needed to get patched up. I was going to buy a welder, but after thinking about it, realized I needed a whole lot more than just a welder, but rather all the fabrication tools that go along with it....grinders, drill press, air tools, etc.

[Paul B. 523]

How many of you work on your own equipment? How many send it to the shop and let the pro's handle it?

Just interested, I hate spending 50 bucks an hour for labor on something I wish I knew how to do without screwing something up.

I'm with you Tony, CCPC and Mike! Don't you just hate it when your customer thinks charging $60 per hour is too much to refinish their deck or wash their house? Or when they think it's less expensive for them to go out and buy a P/W.

I agree, you should know enough to make emergency repairs, but I also believe in spreading the money around so that the mechanic will be there when I need him (I can't afford him going out of business).

[mattia 14]

I would do most myself as well, except the pump, which would be handed down to the machanic, or some bells and whistles that I may want, all electrical.

It is also import to know when to hold them, or when you pitch them. Nickle and dime ya, with down time sucks.

Matt

[Jon 533]

Cujo I will contact you in a couple days, will be back to normal after working in the 100% temp with the sun beating down on me all day tomorrow.

I did get the kit that makes removing and installing the filter from vertical to horizontal but it is in the back of the engine which is hard to get to.

[staudend 14]

Speaking of maintenance, I just spent 100 bucks labor for troubleshooting and replacing the valves for an extra 45 in my AR pump today. CRAP!!! I did watch him this time and I think I could change the packing and valves myself next time, because the only special tools are the ones that take out and replace the packing. I turns out that besides the bad valves, there wasn't enough vacuum from my tank to the pump, so we got rid of the filter between the pump and tank (I still have the filter pre-tank). the cavitation was caused by too much junk between pump and tank, not enough flow. Weird because I have used it like that for 4 strait summers. Older machines must need a little tweaking. Nick

[beyoungsr 14]

If it worked for four years I think something else besides the filter is the problem. Did you make any plumbing changes before the problem started?

Is your pump by chance a d.d. unit?

[staudend 14]

I did nothing unusual to the pump or anything, it just started cavitating pretty bad, and that is after 275 feet of hose. I took it in, and there were no air leaks between the source and the pump. After the valves were replaced it still did the same thing when attached to the big tank under vacuum, but not when using the float tank. We took the filter assembly out and attached directly to the big tank, and it ran just fine. Weird, I know. I least I know the pump is good because we tore it apart and inspected everything. Oh well..