Cordless Pressure Washer

Spotted a Parkside cordless pressure washer in Lidl last week. 

Tool alert! Don't bother.

I bought one for £39.99, being was seduced by the 22 bar pressure tag, which translates to 319 psi, which is more than double what you get on a normal pressure washer - allegedly.

Got it home, attached it to the outside water tap and it worked, not very well, for about 2 minutes and then packed up. It being a cordless device, and being intimately familiar with cordless tools, I had neglected to read the instruction manual. 

The manual goes through all the usual warnings and steps and there - right at the end - is a warning that it's not designed for operating from a tap. You have to use it with a bucket and the syphon hose provided. No mention of this on the box and it comes with a normal hose attachment, so any reasonable person would think it would connect to a tap hose. Who bothers to read the instruction manual beyond the first couple of pages anyway? It's like reading the side effects of medication - you just don't bother.

Took it back to Lidl and explained what had happened and they kindly replaced it.

Got the replacement home and used the bucket of water, but it was as useless as the first one - very poor pressure than wouldn't knock the skin off a rice pudding. Took it back, along with the battery pack and charger I bought to power it, and got a full refund.

Total waste of money.

PSI is apparently totally misleading on a pressure washer for a couple of reasons: 

PSI only tells part of the story. It reflects the pressure of the water, but cleaning power also depends on the water flow rate, measured in litres per minute. A high PSI with a low throughput might sound impressive but means less water is actually hitting the surface, potentially reducing cleaning effectiveness. 

Many manufacturers advertise the pressure washer's peak PSI, which might only be achievable under specific conditions with a particular nozzle attachment. 

It's a bit like voltage and amps in an electrical circuit. Volts are the PSI (potential) and Amps are the litres per minute (throughput). The throughput on the cordless is 2.5 litres per minute - pitiful.