Hi all,
I live in an apartment. At least twice a month I like to take my cars to the local pay and spray car wash for a traditional bucket wash. ( the kind where you put quarters in and get 5 minutes with a pressure wand)
The problem is that when the weather is good everyone ends up there. I just dont feel right doing a bucket wash with people waiting, assuming i even get a bay at all.
after 2 weekends of frustration, I bought a cordless power cleaner. These things can draw from a bucket, and dont require a hose.
I chose the dewalt 20v because I have dewalt batteries. There are several brands, including Ryobi 40v (which is supposedly better)
let me start off by saying this is not a replacement for a pressure washer. The pressure is low, and the flow is even lower. However, it will clean and knock off loose dirt.
Cost:
150 for the dewalt is too much in my opinion. Ryobi has a 1200 PIS 1 GPM model for 200, and thats a significant upgrade. That said if you have the batteries...
Cleaning power:
it works, not as well as a hose fed pressure washer but it does work. If you need to bucket wash a car and dont have a hose. You can use this. It will take some extra time to get the soap off, but it will do the job.
Water usage:
A 5 gallon bucket is not going to do a pre-rinse and post rinse. I normally go through 12 gallons on a small sedan.
Battery life: In my experience a 5 amp hour pack is sufficient for a small car. I wouldnt try to wash a car with anything smaller.
X factor:
One way I like to use it, is to use rinseless wash for the water feed. The initial spray washes off the loose dirt, and I can go right into a normal Rinseless wash on paint that is already lubricated. This usually ends up using a 5 gallon bucket of feed water and 3 gallon bucket for the wash itself. The main downside is doing wheels etc needs more water for a proper wheel cleaning. Id use this as my in between step for a car not dirty enough to require the bucket, but still a little too dirty for a normal rinseless.
Lugging all the water out, and using it is a lot of extra work compared to a normal Rinsless wash. I dont do it often. The hose also likes to come out of the bucket and it looses its prime. Priming is a pain, and takes a good 10-20 seconds each time. The siphon hose also is not long enough to get around a car so you have to be strategic about where the bucket is placed.
Final thoughts:
Its an annoying imperfect solution to not having a hose for car washes. With that said, it does work. Its also a good portable solution.
I live in an apartment. At least twice a month I like to take my cars to the local pay and spray car wash for a traditional bucket wash. ( the kind where you put quarters in and get 5 minutes with a pressure wand)
The problem is that when the weather is good everyone ends up there. I just dont feel right doing a bucket wash with people waiting, assuming i even get a bay at all.
after 2 weekends of frustration, I bought a cordless power cleaner. These things can draw from a bucket, and dont require a hose.
I chose the dewalt 20v because I have dewalt batteries. There are several brands, including Ryobi 40v (which is supposedly better)
let me start off by saying this is not a replacement for a pressure washer. The pressure is low, and the flow is even lower. However, it will clean and knock off loose dirt.
Cost:
150 for the dewalt is too much in my opinion. Ryobi has a 1200 PIS 1 GPM model for 200, and thats a significant upgrade. That said if you have the batteries...
Cleaning power:
it works, not as well as a hose fed pressure washer but it does work. If you need to bucket wash a car and dont have a hose. You can use this. It will take some extra time to get the soap off, but it will do the job.
Water usage:
A 5 gallon bucket is not going to do a pre-rinse and post rinse. I normally go through 12 gallons on a small sedan.
Battery life: In my experience a 5 amp hour pack is sufficient for a small car. I wouldnt try to wash a car with anything smaller.
X factor:
One way I like to use it, is to use rinseless wash for the water feed. The initial spray washes off the loose dirt, and I can go right into a normal Rinseless wash on paint that is already lubricated. This usually ends up using a 5 gallon bucket of feed water and 3 gallon bucket for the wash itself. The main downside is doing wheels etc needs more water for a proper wheel cleaning. Id use this as my in between step for a car not dirty enough to require the bucket, but still a little too dirty for a normal rinseless.
Lugging all the water out, and using it is a lot of extra work compared to a normal Rinsless wash. I dont do it often. The hose also likes to come out of the bucket and it looses its prime. Priming is a pain, and takes a good 10-20 seconds each time. The siphon hose also is not long enough to get around a car so you have to be strategic about where the bucket is placed.
Final thoughts:
Its an annoying imperfect solution to not having a hose for car washes. With that said, it does work. Its also a good portable solution.
