0:00
Coming up next in the show, in the Better Homes section, I'm going to be showing you
0:07
about pressure washers and covering three tips for getting the most out of yours. And
0:13
I bet you probably haven't thought of all of them. So let's go and let me show you what
0:17
I mean. My first tip is to outfit your hoses and such with a quick release fitting. I really
0:23
like the all metal ones. They work really well. And turn on the water and without the
0:31
tip in place, without the angled pressure producing tip, just let the water flow. That
0:37
fills the pump with water but it also makes sure there's no sediment that would clog the
0:43
nozzle. Clogged nozzles can be a real pain. And once you do the purging, you won't have
0:48
to worry about that. Tip number two is to be really careful when you're washing a surface
0:56
that matters and you've never really washed it before. The reason being is that pressure
1:05
washers can leave marks behind on surfaces. Squiggly marks because of the way you move
1:12
the wand. And they won't become apparent until the surface dries. Now in this case, I'm just
1:19
washing off an old manure spreader. So if I leave squiggly marks behind on the tires, it doesn't
1:26
really matter. But look at that. If that was your deck or your walkway or anything you like
1:34
you wouldn't be too pleased. So this next tip, the third tip, has to do with winterizing your
1:39
pressure washer. Because unless you can store these things indoors during winter, water is
1:46
going to remain in the pump and it will freeze and crack during winter. And you definitely don't want
1:51
to have that happen. Pumps are notoriously difficult to drain. They don't usually come
1:57
with a drain plug or anything. So you need to displace the water with something that won't
2:02
freeze. And in this case, I'm using non-toxic plumbing antifreeze. I've got a funnel rigged
2:09
up with a hose that attaches to what's normally the water inlet port. So you fill up the funnel
2:19
let it flow in. This alone is not enough though. You need to actually pull the starter cord. You'd
2:27
have the ignition switch off, of course, because you don't want the thing to start. But pulling
2:32
the cord will encourage circulation of the antifreeze through the system. And you just do
2:38
this a few times until you can start seeing some pink antifreeze coming through. Once that's done
2:45
you know you won't have any trouble with your pump cracking over winter as you store your washer outside
