Power washer - small dia. hoses; pump oil

[Neto]

I recently bought a used power washer at an auction. The original pump was gone, but a new replacement pump went with it. I have never owned a power washer before, and I'm a little confused about a couple of things.

There are small diameter hose connections on both the water inlet (garden hose connection) and on the pressure end, too. I know that the idea is to inject soap or whatever into the water stream, but which one should be hooked to the soap tank, and what's the other one for? Can you only get soap to inject at lower pressure, or will it also work with the higher pressure nozzles as well?

Second question is about the pump oil. The new pump was still in the box, but you could tell that oil had leaked out of it, probably from what I assume is a sort of breather tube. So what kind of oil should I put in there, and how full should it be? (I have seached the internet for instructions for this pump, and can't find any info. It was a Sears (Craftsman) power washer, the pump box label says Sears Replacement Parts, and there is no name or model number on the pump itself, and the only number it has cast into it doesn't get any hits.)

 

[Yankee Transplant]

wish I could help ya out and I would say either hose will work on the suction of soap. id say call sears and ask what kind of pump oil goes in it and if they can find that it will tell you how much to put in it too . IDK [S

 

[Yankee Transplant]

Google ( pressure washer pump oil change) and see if that will help ya

 

[Neto]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have searched on every possible phrase I can think of, and I've not found answers for my questions. I looked through the user guides for several different models at Menard's, and although at least one of the models they had there did have the two connections, they were not hooked up, and I couldn't find any information about how they should be connected, or what the specific purpose of each would be.

How about from personal experience - If you connect a soap injection hose to your pressure washer at the pressured side, will it pull in any soap if you are using a nozzle with a smaller opening (that is, high pressure), or do you have to use a low pressure nozzle to get the soap to be injected into the water stream? I guess I'll just have to experiment with it myself, although I sure don't want to ruin the pump by not having enough oil in it.

None of the manuals I looked at in Menards told how full the pump oil should be kept, nor did any of them even mention changing the pump oil, although I read something about that in a manual on-line. (As I recall it said to change the pump oil after the first 50 hours, then less frequently after that. I suppose most people never mess with it at all.)

 

[JBailey]

Try searching "pressure washer pump oil" instead of power. Should come up with a bunch of helpful results.

 

[JBailey]

This might help with the soap dispensing.
http://www.shopyourway.com/m/questions/1177259

 

[Neto]

Try searching "pressure washer pump oil" instead of power. Should come up with a bunch of helpful results.

Thanks, but I actually did also search on that phrase. (I found it in my search history for May 3rd.)

Thanks also for the other link - I'll check it out.

Also thanks to YankeeTransplant, for the suggestion to call Sears. I had tried to find info on their site, but didn't call them yet. (I have a sort of aversion to making telephone calls, even to people I know, like family. I'm OK if they call me, and also once I'm talking to someone, even if I am the one that calls, but I always experience a lot of apprehension when I have to initiate a call. Yeah, weird.)

Edited to add:
I looked at the other link, and that does answer my question about whether the soap injects with any of the nozzles - It only does with the low pressure nozzle, and apparently the hose should be connected to the place near the outlet. Now I just still wonder what the other small dia. hose connection is for (near the inlet, where the water supply hose connects).

 

[JBailey]

On the pressure washer I had there was a small hose for a pressure bypass when it was running but you weren't squeezing the handle, maybe that's what it is?

 

[Neto]

On the pressure washer I had there was a small hose for a pressure bypass when it was running but you weren't squeezing the handle, maybe that's what it is?

That sounds reasonable. Do you recall if that hose went to the water supply side, or to the pressure side? I think I have traced the use of the pump I have to several other power washers on which it was the original equipment pump. (It was a replacement pump for the Craftsman Power Washer I have - not at all like the original pump.) The Briggs & Stratton model 020241 manual seems to show the identical pump, and the parts list show the same. In that manual, I found a picture which seems to show the "chemical injection" hose running to the high pressure side on the pump. Which would seem most logical to be a pressure bypass - the one at the inlet, or the one at the outlet?

I've never had a power washer before, so I didn't even know stuff like that you are not supposed to start the engine w/o the water supply turned on already, and that you are not supposed to leave it running w/o releasing pressure for more than a few minutes. (I gather that the pump will overheat in both of these senarios.)

As far as changing the oil in the pump, some manuals say that the pump is sealed, and requires no user attention for the life of the pump. Others say to change the oil every 50 hours or once a year, which ever comes first. But it is sometimes confusing as to whether they are talking about the engine, or the pump. But from what I've seen, I should use 80W90 non-detergent oil. I am a bit confused about oil viscosities, though, as there are different standards, and I'm not sure that I have it down right as to which one is being used here. Other pressure washer pumps seem to require 30w oil.....

But thanks much to all who have commented - it's all been helpful.

 

[blacksheep]

I believe the small hose suction should be hooked up to the pressure side of the pump only. It goes between the outlet and your high pressure hose. This way, any soap or chemicals can be sucked up after water passes through the pump. When using the suction tube in aluminum brighter or soap you have to use the black nozzle on the wand. Any other (yellow,green,or white ) will not give you enough suction to pull out of the barrel. What we always do when using chemicals like aluminum brightner or de greaser ,is soak the equipment with whatever chemical or soap using the black nozzle, then unhook it and use the yellow or green to finish it up. The black nozzle is for more volume than pressure, and will suck the chemicals from your barrel. Hope that helps. Lastly, you want any soap or chemicals to enter on the pressure side ,and not suction side of the pump. Mainly because whatever chemical you use ,if ran through the suction side of the pump will actually go through the pump first.( not good) . Soap and other chemicals can foam up and is like little sticks of dynamite inside your pump,if ran through the suction side of it.

 

[Neto]

I believe the small hose suction should be hooked up to the pressure side of the pump only. It goes between the outlet and your high pressure hose. This way, any soap or chemicals can be sucked up after water passes through the pump. When using the suction tube in aluminum brighter or soap you have to use the black nozzle on the wand. Any other (yellow,green,or white ) will not give you enough suction to pull out of the barrel. What we always do when using chemicals like aluminum brightner or de greaser ,is soak the equipment with whatever chemical or soap using the black nozzle, then unhook it and use the yellow or green to finish it up. The black nozzle is for more volume than pressure, and will suck the chemicals from your barrel. Hope that helps. Lastly, you want any soap or chemicals to enter on the pressure side ,and not suction side of the pump. Mainly because whatever chemical you use ,if ran through the suction side of the pump will actually go through the pump first.( not good) . Soap and other chemicals can foam up and is like little sticks of dynamite inside your pump,if ran through the suction side of it.

Thanks for that information - it confirms what others have said, and what I THINK I've found from other sources.
One more question, then. Does there need to be anything connected to the small dia. hose connection on the inlet side? Won't the water just squirt out of there, or is it a pressure release? (Maybe there is a pressure valve of some kind in there?)
I think I've figured out what kind of oil I need to get to top off the pump, so now just need to get to the store, and then get the time to put it all together. (That's the challenging part, because there's lots of evening work in the garden & yard these days.)

 

[blacksheep]

Well, without actually seeing a photo of it, I couldn't tell you. Pressure washer pumps do have a pop off in case pressure is not vented like it is suppose to( when trigger is released with pump running). Look to see how many quick connects there are at the inlet side of the pump. Someone may have just put it there not knowing. All there should be is a garden hose attached to the inlet and that should be it.

 

[billy]

have you tried to just hook it up like it looks like it should (guessing at work here)
firing it up and seeing what happens?

 

[Neto]

Well, I finally got the time this morning to put the pump on the engine. I don't have anything connected to either of the small dia. hose connections, and it's working fine. But I'm glad I had to do some searching for info, because in the process I found out other stuff, like that you are supposed to have water running through it before you start the engine, and that you are not supposed to let it set w/o releasing the pressure for more than several minutes.

Washed off the cement approach in front of our garage, and it does a pretty decent job of it. (Most of our drive out to the street is gravel.)

I bought some 80w90 gear oil Saturday, and refilled the pump to almost full. Apparently a bit over full, because it threw some back out the breather tube.

Thanks to all who responded.

 

[blacksheep]

Good that you got it going without issues. If it came with a black nozzle, you can hook that up to siphon chemical or whatever into the handle assembly. The reason that you can leave them off ,is because with the other smaller gpm nozzles, they are only a few gpm , and the black one is large for siphoning. Good luck with it.