RKA

A lot of the inexpensive (sub-$300) consumer electric units are made with a lot of plastic parts. These units are horribly unreliable, intended for very low service life (they assume the average home owner won't use it much anyway). In most cases they don't make it economical to repair, so once it breaks it's a throw away. The differences between the $100 units and $300 units is psi, flow and accessories. The pumps are marginally better in the $300 units. Stick with a name brand (Karcher and others), as the field is flooded with crappy manufacturers with no after sale service. The name brand doesn't guarantee you a good unit, just that someone on the other end will answer the phone in English and perhaps do something about it. Read the instructions carefully. Never run the pumps dry, never let water freeze inside the unit, and try to use it once a month, even for a short period of time. Letting it sit idle will ensure a shorter life.

Don't be fooled by psi ratings. You can skew the psi rating by narrowing the opening through which the water emerges (we've all done this with our garden hose and a thumb). Look at the flow rates too. Some websites mention "cleaning power" which is psi multiplied by flow rate (gallons/minute). That's a pretty useful benchmark. Around 3000 or more is suitable for most household tasks (the toughest being concrete cleaning).

There are gas models available that offer much better reliability for the same price as a top end electric unit. If you have the space, and don't mind the noise, that's probably the way to go. Flow rates are better too. If you intend to clean a concrete patio frequently, or anticipate extended run times, that's probably the best bet.

Alas, neither really met my requirements, so I started looking at commercial quality washers. In general, look at the weight, that will tell you something about the parts content. More metal, less plastic. Flow rates for the compact, upright electrics should start around 2.0g/m and up. Watch the electric usage...very few are 110V and most of those will eat up all the juice available on your circuit, so don't plan on running a light bulb while you're power washing (typical units are 15-18 amps, with some rated as high as 20). Prices for these units fall around $600-1000. The higher end typically buys more flow and psi, but still doesn't approach a gas model. The innards will be brass, aluminum, ceramic and stainless steel. The wand will typically be metal rather than plastic. The hose will be steel reinforced rather than nylon reinforced. Swivel fittings may be included. The one I think I've settled on is the Kranzle K1120T, which offers one unique feature. The pump can run dry without damage. This makes it easy to clear water out of the pump in winter months, allowing me to keep it stored in the garage, rather than dragging it inside, which is impractical if I intend to use it to remove winter grunge on the car. The cam 1500A that Phil sells is quite good as well. My only gripe was that it was rather heavy (that's a good thing), but wasn't mounted on a wheeled platform like the Kranzle. I had much better success finding feedback on the Cam unit. Not so much with the Kranzle, except one outdated review on an older unit with a completely different pump. Both fall around the same price range, with the Cam available for marginally less.<ul><li><a href="http://www.kranzleusa.com/technology5.cfm">http://www.kranzleusa.com/technology5.cfm</a</li></ul>