More power for your high-pressure cleaner

It’s good when the professional pressure is off. Especially when you can spend time in the garden after stressful deadlines or strenuous conferences.

Get home, breathe deeply and switch off – this is the motto in the garden. But you quickly notice the unsightly layer of moss on the terrace tiles. Thankfully that’s no problem for the high‐pressure cleaner. But it’s annoying when the pressure suddenly goes. But that doesn’t always mean that the whole device is broken. Here we’ll show you what you can do to get your high‐pressure cleaner’s pressure back.

Get your high-pressure cleaner back up to full power

There are several reasons why your cleaner may have lost power. Finding the cause is the first step in our DIY repair manual. Depending on whether the device can build up irregular operating pressure or has no force at all, the causes can be of different origins.

Is the power supply in order?

The device does not work anymore. You have connected the device to different sockets several times and also controlled the water supply, but it does not help. The device doesn’t switch on.

What to do: Check the sockets and their fuses, the power cord and of course the power plug. A broken mains cable or a broken mains plug must be replaced by someone qualified to do so.

Do you have an unsuitable extension cable?

Are you using an extension cable? This can also be a possible source of the problem, which ultimately leads to total breakdown. If the conductor cross-section of the extension cable is too low, or if the extension cable is too long, the necessary voltage is lost and the device will not even start.

Solution: Choose an extension cable with a larger core cross-section ("thicker cable") or a shorter extension cable to start your cleaner again without problems.

Is the mains voltage in order?

It does not always have to be on the extension cable itself. In rare cases, the mains voltage is simply below the specified value. Here it is worth investigating what’s going on with your energy provider.

Has Jack Frost been making the rounds?

Granted, you would probably have noticed if the pump had frozen. Temperatures around freezing are enough to cause this. And even if the high‐pressure cleaner was stored away nice and dry in the garden shed, frost can strike there too. Just let the pump slowly thaw out. This could take several hours.

Tip: If you want to keep the device in the garden shed for more than three months, it is recommended to make it „winter proof“ using antifreeze. Simply use a similar mixing ratio as you would for your car. Incidentally, limescale could also clog up your device. Carefully descale all parts after the winter.

The motor is running but there's no pressure

Although your high‐pressure cleaner is running, cleaning work on the house and in the garden cannot be carried out with the meagre pressure. The problem: The water pressure is more like a cosy, rippling brook than a wild waterfall. This can be caused by the following:
Clogged water intake filter: You can simply clean the filter itself. Simply unscrew the water inlet hose from the unit and clean the inflow filter behind it, preferably under running water. Repeat this process a few times, because depending on how and for how long the high‐pressure cleaner was stored, a lot of material can accumulate here.
Tip: Incidentally, additional parts such as the hose should also be hung up to dry in order to avoid algae formation in the hose.
Air intake in the water inlet is defective: Check the inlet hose and hose connections and replace them if you find any damage. Air in the supply line can lead to that often‐described stuttering.
The outlet nozzle is too big: The nozzle is a piece of equipment, which wears in the same way as seals do, for example. It’s best to quickly replace old parts with new ones. In this way you’ll also notice if functioning parts have any damage.
Is the tap turned on fully? This might be obvious again, but who hasn’t this happened to?

Does the high-pressure cleaner stutter?

Often, owners describe a hiss or a stutter as the problem. Pressure is built up, but only temporarily, and then drops rapidly at regular intervals. Here there is a problem with the air intake in the water inlet. There is probably a leak in the inlet hose or hose connection.

And one final tip: Make sure that the entire high‐pressure hose is unwound and that it sits without any kinks. Only under these circumstances, can the full pressure of the device be built up throughout.

We hope that this DIY repair manual will prove to be useful to you. If you still have questions about the high‐pressure cleaners, please do not hesitate to contact us on the Einhell Facebook page.

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Picture of the author Monika Aigner.
Written by Monika Aigner
Published on 01.02.2018

Monika Aigner is a Project Manager for Media & PR at Einhell. Through regular internal product training, she possesses extensive knowledge of the functionality and application of various Einhell tools and garden equipment. Combined with clear instructions, she imparts this knowledge in her blog posts.