Power Washer problem

[FinallyRetired]

I have a Sears 1600 psi electric power washer I've been using for the last couple of days. This morning I went to finish the job, turned it on, and no power. The hose has pressure, and when I squeeze the nozzle trigger I get a stream of water, just no power. The plug is GFI and it's on, because its red power light is on and I pushed the reset button to be sure.

Yesterday after I finished I think I turned the water off at the faucet but I left the power on to the washer all night and the power switch on the washer in the on position. Would this have fried something inside? It wasn't making any noise at the time -- it never does unless I'm power washing, so I figured that it was in a dormant state.

 

[jug]

I have a Sears 1600 psi electric power washer I've been using for the last couple of days. This morning I went to finish the job, turned it on, and no power. The hose has pressure, and when I squeeze the nozzle trigger I get a stream of water, just no power. The plug is GFI and it's on, because its red power light is on and I pushed the reset button to be sure.

Yesterday after I finished I think I turned the water off at the faucet but I left the power on to the washer all night and the power switch on the washer in the on position. Would this have fried something inside? It wasn't making any noise at the time -- it never does unless I'm power washing, so I figured that it was in a dormant state.

Apparently the pump that produces the pressure is not doing it's job. I doubt you fried something. I would slowly check over all sorts of switches and nozzles from head to toe, look at the power again, look at switches and also there may be cooling off going on where the pump switch is turned off until things cool down.

Look at the manual, there is probably a clue in there, read slowly and carefully.

get back to us.

Jug

 

[calmloki]

unhook the supply hose & re-attach, flip on/off switch by the PW water inlet. I've had 2-3 electric PW from Costco die - gave up on owning one. not worth storing for me.

 

[OAG]

Hopefully, it is still under warranty. If so take it back. If not play with it you may be able to fix it (doubtful IMO). Even the Gas powered ones are finicky and usually it will be the pump that goes. They have some type of fluid in them that can get depleted and if you get it filled up before the damage is too much it may work.

 

[FinallyRetired]

Thanks for the tips. I rechecked everything, but still no go. I note that the hose does get pressurized, because when I turn the water off and disconnect the hose from the faucet it pops off the excess pressure. But the water never goes inside the plastic holding tank inside the washer. It's as if there is a power valve that has to open when the pump comes on, and without the pump coming on nothing happens, the pressure just stays in the water hose.

I guess the pump has given up the ghost. It was bought on 29 March so I will take it to Sears, where there is a 1% chance they will fix it for free.

 

[samclem]

Just to make sure all the (simple) bases are covered:
- Does the PW itself have a plain old circuit breaker or even a fuse located somewhere that might be causing the problem?
- GFI: You mentioned you reset the GFI--There are four potential places the GFI could be--and there might be more than one:
-- In the power cord of the PW.
-- In the receptacle you are powering the PW from
-- In a separate receptable on the same circuit but "upstream" f the receptacle you are powering the PW from
-- As a circuit breaker in the panel for the circuit powering the recptacle you are using.

You can eliminate the last three as potential problems by just plugging something else into the same receptacle you've been using and seeing if there is power.

Otherwise, as you identified, I suppose it's possible there's a pressure switch in there or a relay that needs to trip to activate the motor/pump. This is a good excuse to provide curative big and small smacks/bashes to the unit in hopes of freeing it up. Try this before taking it back. If it doesn't work, try to get Sears to fix it. If they refuse, let them know that you'll continue to apply the curative smacks to the unit right in their store in hopes of making it work, and will show and tell all passers-by how happy you are with your purchase. At the very worst you'll get arrested and meet some nice people downtown.

 

[FinallyRetired]

Just to make sure all the (simple) bases are covered:

Success, it turned out to be a simple thing. I unscrewed the power nozzle and screwed it back in, for no particular reason, and it started working. Only thing I can figure is that the nozzle was not letting enough water through and the pump has a pressure drop switch that won't turn it on unless the pressure drops sufficiently.