Buying a Pressure Washer

Before buying a pressure washer you should consider on what you plan to use it for and how often.  Most of the pressure washer units sold at the big box stores are called direct drive machines. On these units, the water pump is bolted directly to the engine. In this case the water pump turns and the same revolutions per minute (R.P.M) as the engine even though the pump could operate at full capacity at a much slower rate.

Also, with direct drive pressure washers, the pump is subject to a lot of vibration from the engine. What all this means is that direct drive units do not last as long as other types of units but they are by far the cheapest.

Another type of pressure washer is called a belt driven unit. The water pump is driven by a belt and pulley that is attached to the engine. Because of the pulley size, the water pump operates at a much slower RPM that the engine is turning and the belt absorbs most of the vibration. These belt driven power washers typically last much longer than the direct drive type but are much more expensive.

Most professional pressure washing contractors will invest in the belt driven units because of the reliability. For a typical homeowner, the cheaper direct drive units are fine for around the property cleaning on the occasional weekend.