Good day everyone! Bought a new pressure washer from Costco last week. The brand is called, “Power Stroke” and it has a Yamaha engine. The instructions indicated that I should use Pump Saver after each use to prevent hard water build up and protect the engine. I did buy a can at Lowes for about $7. Here’s the thing. It doesn’t indicate that I should disconnect the high pressure hose. It just states to squirt that fluid in until it comes out the pump outlet. So I left the hose on and squirted until I could pull the trigger and see fluid come out but I used nearly the entire can. I know I’m doing it wrong but could use some help here? Am I supposed to unscrew that high pressure hose every time I finish using the washer? Seems that over time, unscrewing that over and over may cause leaks or run the risk of cross threading the part. Okay so one more thing.
Below the pump inlet there is this thing. I call it a thing because I have no idea what it is and the instructions make no mention of it. So here is a photo. I took the black plastic cap off of it. If you look over to the left of the water inlet and below the high pressure hose, you will see this:
That pump saver stuff is probably unnecessary. I dont know of anyone that uses anything like that. Just use the machine until you decide/ realize you need a professional grade machine then sell it on Craigslist.
Thank you for the replies so far. Yes, this is for home use. In reference to the photo, I did call the Power Stroke company and they told me that that valve to the left has something to do with the engine combustion pressure and has a spring on it for the release of pressure. In any case, they said it has nothing to do with clearing water and is not intended for use by the owner. Kind of what I figured since it wasn’t referenced in the instructions.
I did also ask them about the Pump Saver. Specifically, I asked them about the instruction that states to press the pump saver product until fluid runs out of the outlet. That would be impossible to do since they DO NOT recommend removing the high pressure hose. They said to simply squirt the product a couple of times while pulling on the starter rope. I’m a little unclear how that will remove all the water (or any of the water for that matter) since the hose and trigger are not open and not allowing the water to escape. This is where I’m still stuck. Does anyone use a coupling of sorts to disconnect their high pressure hose from their PW or do you always just keep it connected? Thanks again.
Forget the pump saver, you dont need it. And if your machine didnt come with quick connects then return it. That’s ridiculous. You can definitely remove the hose. If its just home use buy a dewalt from home depot.
