Husky Powerwasher Problem

[Woyjtek]

I bought a Husky Model 1750 at Home Depot in Canada. After about 4 hours of use the o-ring in the interchangeable head failed. Good luck trying to find a replacement, even Home Depot doesn't carry replacement parts- they're an odd size that you can only get off their website. After ordering 3 at about $2 each plus $7.95 s&h, by the time I got it winter had come and I stored my pressure washer in a location which did not freeze.

By the time summer rolled around, after about 2 hours use the pressure gun itself started springing leaks. You can't dismantle the pistol to fix the leak and by now with the warranty expired, Husky wanted $35 phus taxes and s&h to replace it.

I wasted 90 minutes on their supposed 24/7 "customer service" lines trying to understand some very rude quick-talking and very difficult to understand dudes.

Is Husky a reputable name or is this normal? should I fork out the $35 plus plus or cut my losses and buy another PW? Any suggestions?

 

[Larry L.]

If your going to try making money with the washer cut your losses and buy another PW that you can buy parts local.

 

[Dan S]

I would take in out in the back yard and open up with about 35rounds of 9mm

 

[Larry L.]

I was told anything I shoot I had to eat,maybe a BIGGER gun to blow it in smaller peices huh.

 

[Dan S]

That's just fer "game" talk.. ............ when `ya shoot an ole beer bottle `ya dont REALLY gots to eat it!!! LOL

unless you use that bigger gun but it takes all the fun outa the shootin..........

 

[pressurewash]

I'm sorry that you bought a Home Depot machine. by doing so, your pretty much out of luck on ever expecting quality performance out of it. I would never buy a pressure washer from any hardware or big chain store. they specialize in low price, low quality pressure washers. Look up a pressure washer specific distributor in your area for the best knowledge on pw equipment.

 

[Revive]

UP north

If you goin to have a shootem up,you bitter have it legally registered up here in Cananada. Yall end up in a big bag of doodoo. We aint quite got them rights to bear arms kinda stuff. We spent 2 billion $$$ maken the hunter and collector go threw hoops. It's only dem criminals wit any rights. Best git out yor bow and arrows. LOL

 

[Tommyboynj]

I'm sorry that you bought a Home Depot machine. by doing so, your pretty much out of luck on ever expecting quality performance out of it. I would never buy a pressure washer from any hardware or big chain store. they specialize in low price, low quality pressure washers. Look up a pressure washer specific distributor in your area for the best knowledge on pw equipment.

I completely dissagree. If you can fix and service your own equipment thatn why not get it at a big chain store. Just realize you dont get any service with it. At a specialty store you're gonna pay an extra $200-$400 but you're going to get ervice and tech help with it.

But as to Home Depot selling inferor equipment... you really think thats true. If they sold crappy stuff they would just lose money in returns.

I went there and looked at them recently. AR, CAT, and COMET pumps.... are they crap. Honda engines... are they crap. truth is you're gonna find the same engines, pumps, and uploaders on their machines that you do on the machines at a local pressure washing store.

So if you can diagnose and or fix a machine (which you should be able to do, if your in this biz long enough) then hell why not.

I purchased one of my 4 machines from them over 2 years ago and almost never a problem. it was a 3600psi 4gpm with 13ho honda and AR pump

 

[FCPWLLC]

That Husky he was speaking of is one of those cheap electric deals. Complete waste of money. As for the other machines they sell, not worth buying at thier prices. For a few more bucks you can have a better machine AND a service oriented relationship with the local shop. I DO however own 3 of those 6.5 hp with Cat pumps 3gpm/2800psi from HD. I walked through the store and they had them sitting there as last years stock.( Replaced by the DeWalt Brand) Retail $700 discounted to $500. I offered Manager $350 each if I buy all 3. He bit. Now I have some throw away lightwieght machines. So far they have worked out when I get more than 1 house on a street and can just have more than one unit running on the street. They are so much slower but works.

That is the ONLY way I will buy from HD. Get a huge deal.

 

[flip houser]

But as to Home Depot selling inferor equipment... you really think thats true. If they sold crappy stuff they would just lose money in returns.

I don't know if that is true-- though I'm sure they know.

I'm here basically scoping out what machine to get and how to use it and all the preliminary stuff. A big delay in my purchasing a machine is that the machines I see talked about here are not the ones I see in Lowes or Home Depot or similar places.

They could sell you a machine that breaks down frequently-- due to shoddy parts and that requires "proprietary" replacement parts that take forever to get and cost more than they should-- and not lose money on returns because most home owners will only run their machines breifly. For every guy that actually uses it often and runs it hard there will be 10 that use once on their deck, once on their siding, once on their drive way, once on their neigbor's dog, and then that would be about the life of it. They'll take long lunch breaks (giving the machine breaks that you guys might not afford to) etc because their doing this on their day off and they're still working faster than scrubbing on their hands and knees. If he has the machine for six months or 3 years he still might only use it twice and if something goes wrong he might not even think to return it but to replace or repair it. Some of these machines they sell are almost priced to be disposable. The best machines at home depot appear to be the Dewalts and the Colemans, but often stores carry brands as lures and people end up buying budget anyway. Still, Dewalt Coleman and Troybuilt I hardly see mentioned here.

If I buy one and learn all the various uses for it I stil might be pushing it if I use it 10 times in a year (three decks, three houses, three driveways, one dog) and my concern is buying a bad machine that I won't know is bad until 8 months or 2 years later-- which in hours of wear and tear would be like what you do in 2-3 weeks.

 

[PressurePros]

You nailed it, Flip. Warranties are factored with usage charts and summations and reasearch. I have heard a bunch of people (homeowners/customers) complaining about a machine that was used maybe thirty hours total. The problem was, the machine was already well past warranty repair.

Another thing is, don't always believe what you think you see. A company like Home Depots, Lowe's or Walmart goes to a manufacturer and says, "here is what we need, here is what we need it to do and this is how much we are going to pay for it". Since shit trickles downhill, pump manufacturers take one of their better pumps, hollow it out and fill with lesser grade parts, Honda does the same things with their engines and then the PW manufacturer couples them for a mass production (read inferior) machine.

The arguement about being able to repair machines.. I would rather spend an extra $300 on a machine and be up an running making money then tracking down proprietary parts and searching the internet for schematics to fix some POS machine.

I hear stories about some contractors having HD machines that have lasted them years. Those are usually the $1000 machines. I have a can opener that I picked up one day from a dollar store. Used it on a hundred cans and still works. I think its the exception to the rule. I'd say the machines that last for years doing professional duty are the same.

 

[squirtgun]

If you spend less than $1k on a machine at HD or Lowes you can expect the machine to fail with mild to moderate use.4gpm/3500psi 13hp will handle a large amount of work compared to the rest of what they sell.

It basically comes down to buying what you want.If it break after one use it's your money not ours.Just do everyone a favor and don't come to the BB whining about the piece of crap machine you were warned about.

 

[FCPWLLC]

I hear stories about some contractors having HD machines that have lasted them years. Those are usually the $1000 machines. I have a can opener that I picked up one day from a dollar store. Used it on a hundred cans and still works. I think its the exception to the rule. I'd say the machines that last for years doing professional duty are the same.

I have discussed this same thing with some local guys here and get the same thing.... "It's lasted us for years" My conclusion..... They aren't working that machine the way some of us do. Day in and Day out hours and hours of use.

 

[DrWhipIt]

I bought my first machine at Lowe's (because my supplier didn't finance and I had only been in the window cleaning biz for 3 months) for $999. A Troy-Bilt with a 13 HP Honda and a 3700 psi 4 gpm AR pump. Got about 200 hours of trouble free use out of it until it was stolen out of my van. By that time I had the dabloons to drop on a BE unit with a SS cart. Within 200 hours I had to replace the plunger seals, the unloader, and rebuild the gun. I chalk all of it up to the cost of doing biz but I wouldn't shy away from Lowe's or Home Depot if it has a good pump (Cat, AR, Comet) and a good motor (Honda or Honda or even Honda).
Just my 2 cents on the $1000 issue.