| Points to consider when
buying a high pressure cleaner |
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| First a few wise words: |
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“It is unwise to pay too much….but it is worse to pay too little.
When you pay too much you lose a little money….that is all.
When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing that it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot…. it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run; and if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better” |
| Quote: John Ruskin |
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| Why machines are not always equally priced? |
| Please consider the following as they are important in ensuring you are buying a quality piece of equipment – all the factors listed will have an effect on the working life – lower quality and cheaper material means that you will spend more on maintenance in the long run and generally in this industry you pay for what you get: |
High pressure cleaning machines can be divided into three categories:
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- Hobby machines,
- domestic machines
- and industrial machines.
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| Under no circumstances should a machine be judged by its pressure rating only. |
| Pressure must always be seen in relation to the liters of water per minute. It is for instance possible to produce a single phase 190 bar machine using 7 liters water/minute. The cleaning effect of this machine is very limited and the cleaning performance is by far exceeded by machine of 140 bars and 11 liters water/min. |
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| Feel the weight of the unit |
| One way of determining the quality of a machine motor is the weight and the heavier the machine is, is an indication that it is better. The weight of low speed (1400 rpm) machine is approximately 40% higher when compared to a high speed machine (2800 rpm) with the same performance specifications. The high revolution motor machines work twice as hard as a low revolution motor. This point is only valid for properly designed machines; utility pumps mounted on welded steel frames and equipped with a standard motor should not be weight compared.Heavy duty roller bearings instead of ball bearings.Our roller bearings can handle much higher pressures and last up to 4 times longer than normal ball bearings. |
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| What are the pistons made of ? |
| The pistons are the part of the machine that create the pressure and on cheaper machines have been found to be manufactured from mild steel, aluminium or even a plasticised nylon material.Any material that is soft or able to corrode is more open to failure or causing damage and even the smallest mark or damage to a piston as a result of e.g. rust, will be abrasive against the wall of the seals in the pump head, they will wear the seal and it will need to be replaced sooner. Our Kranzle ceramic coated stainless steel pistons ensure a smooth and rust free surface for the seals to operate on and have proven to be extremely durable and long-lasting. |
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| Valves |
| Valves are also manufactured in a multitude of materials – plastic being more popular on cheaper machines. Our stainless steel valves ensure a long service life. |
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| Pump head |
| Cheaper machines will have a pump head made from aluminium or even plastic. Our Kranzle Forged brass pump head is covered by a 5-year guarantee against any latent defects as a result of poor workmanship. |
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| Does the machine have a total-stop function? |
| A total-stop is a standard fitting on our industrial machines that switches the machine off when the trigger is released. The machine remains in a ready position, when the trigger is pulled by the operator it switches the machine on. If this is not fitted to the machine, the motor will run continuously in bypass until it is switched off at the switch. The conclusion that one reaches is that the machines runs when not in use, so the total-stop extends the life of a machine. |
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| Does the machine have a low water or pressure cut-out ? |
| Insufficient water supply causes any high pressure pump to cavitate and this leads to severe damage and the repair costs can be 50% or more of the value of the machine. It is a fact, that cavitation is the most common cause for high pressure machine failures.Typical water failures are caused by:a) Kinks in hoses.b) Water supply shared with other equipment.c) Municipality water supply deteriorating during peak hours.d) If you have a 1’’ water supply and the take off for the high pressure machine is ½’’ this machine will start to cavitate if somewhere a tap bigger than ½’’ is opened. This is a very typical situation in car washes, where the high pressure machine is used and at the same time hoses or other taps are used for filling up buckets, etc…e) Garden hose reels. If the supply hose is not fully unreeled it will lead to cavitation.f) At bigger companies, i.e. canning factories, fish factories, etc. machines used in this environment very often start to cavitate when the factory runs on full production and once a machine has cavitated over a certain time, it will slowly destroy itself, even if the water supply is corrected and sufficient water is available.The majority of our Kranzle industrial machines are equipped with a reservoir tank with a low level cut-out or a low pressure cut-out switch. Prior to any damage being caused as a result of lack of water, the machine will switch off – when the water supply is restored the machine switches on. The low pressure switch needs to be reset by the operator. |
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| What is the quality of the hose, gun and lance? |
| Our Kranzle double braided hose, Starlet heavy duty gun and stainless steel and brass lance have proven themselves to be durable in the industrial application. |
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| Enquire with regards to spares? |
| We guarantee the availability of spares for a period of ten years. |
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| Let us share a trick with you |
| A trick when demonstrating two machines similar in specification is that when using a bent lance the pressure of the machine feels stronger than when using a straight lance. The bent lance cause the “kick” of the machine to be upwards and the person using thinks the machine is stronger – NOT TRUE!! |
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