Pressure washer power control

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davecooper

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I can't really fault my old pressure washer. It was an old Karcher K2 which was an Ebay return. Lasted over 12 years with less than careful handling so can't complain.
However, I now need a replacement and I am quite happy to get another Karcher. The question is, how is the water pressure controlled on the current Karcher machines? One of the things I liked so much about my old machine was the simple way you stepped between the three pressure settings. It was done with a quick flick of the trigger which worked very well, much better than having a separate pressure control knob I would imagine.
Unfortunately, none of the descriptions of the current Karcher washers seems to mention this in any detail. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
On my K4 which is about a year old you twist the lance to control the pressure, its really simple and continuously variable from its lowest to highest pressure. There is an on/off switch on the body of the machine for power or no power and the trigger is just a stop/go valve which lets the water through or not.

Edit to add:
Video here:

Edit again to add:
The K2 vario lance appears to work in the same way but without the gimmicky and completely pointless pressure display on the handle.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for that. This is obviously the way they do things now. I am looking at the K3 Home edition which doesn't seem to have the display on the handle which is fine by me. The more expensive K3 Power Control has the display on the handle.
 
The display on the handle achieves nothing, we are quite capable of seeing/hearing the water pressure produced at the nozzle without the display.

Note that they have changed the high pressure hose fittings from your 15 year old model. Don't expect old high pressure hoses to fit the new models without an adaptor (just in case you already own a long high pressure hose and were expecting to use it).
 
I hold the lance in both hands, one hand operates the trigger, the other hand steadies the lance and can twist it to vary the pressure. I don't have a third hand to reach into my pocket, find my phone, open an app and change the pressure. Perhaps I have misunderstood how the Bluetooth works?
 
pcaouolte said:
Note that they have changed the high pressure hose fittings from your 15 year old model. Don't expect old high pressure hoses to fit the new models without an adaptor (just in case you already own a long high pressure hose and were expecting to use it).
Click to expand...
I chucked everything when the old one died so won't have the compatibility issue. Thanks for the warning though, its worth knowing.
 
pcaouolte said:
I don't have a third hand to reach into my pocket, find my phone, open an app and change the pressure. Perhaps I have misunderstood how the Bluetooth works?
Click to expand...
Yes, you have in this instance. You don’t control the pressure by phone! Instead of a physical control lead the length of the pressure hose, the power output of the washer is adjusted by Bluetooth between the Lance handle and the machine. You can adjust it while it is running and when you are the length of the pressure hose away from the machine.
 
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