Electric pressure washer question

[GRA]

I picked up a used electric pressure washer this winter and was wondering if anybody has done any adjusting on the unloader valve on one of these. The unloader valve seems to work. It goes in and out. There's a coil spring, a nut, and a piece that goes over to an on-off switch. I've done a bunch of adjusting-loosening or tightening the nut, or turning the screw by the switch but can't seem to find the setting that turns the motor on when trigger is pulled and off when trigger is released. Should the motor shut off completely or does it kinda kick off and on? It does have plenty of pressure, its just the kicking off thing.

[Tom7227]

I was working on a neighbor's gas unit that would die every time the trigger was released. What I found was that the unloader valve or whatever it's called was corroded from not cleaning it out at the end of the season. Of course when I took it apart and put it back together I hadn't tightened it down enough and the parts shot off for parts unknown. Bought new stuff but found that it was tricky get the spring to compress. Once I had the old parts taken down there was a lot of corrosion and gunk. I may have gotten them clean enough but never got the chance to find out.

Try and get the diagram for it and see what all is involved. The part was hard to find and cost about $100 for the unit I was working on and so it may not pay for you to try and go new.

[Whoaru99]

I picked up a used electric pressure washer this winter and was wondering if anybody has done any adjusting on the unloader valve on one of these. The unloader valve seems to work. It goes in and out. There's a coil spring, a nut, and a piece that goes over to an on-off switch. I've done a bunch of adjusting-loosening or tightening the nut, or turning the screw by the switch but can't seem to find the setting that turns the motor on when trigger is pulled and off when trigger is released. Should the motor shut off completely or does it kinda kick off and on? It does have plenty of pressure, its just the kicking off thing.

The unloader valves I'm familar with don't stop or start the motor, they just cause the pump output to recirculate at lower pressure when you release the spray handle to stop spraying.

[Tom7227]

True, unless they don't unload, then they stop the unit before it can tear itself up. At least that's what happened with the one I worked on.

[Whoaru99]

Yes.

That said, my point was to clear the air regarding typical normal function, not what may happen if broken or improperly adjusted.

[GRA]

If I have to I can use it and keep the trigger pulled so it is always spraying. Afraid theres going to be a big pressure build up if it doesn't kick off when trigger isn't pulled.

[Whoaru99]

Afaik, not necessarily because the unloader may also adjust your high pressure so if that's adjusted too high the operation may still cause undue wear and tear.

Why did you adjust it in the first place?

[GRA]

I bought it cheap because it wasn't spraying. Something was plugged somewhere, so took the valve apart and cleaned some crud out of it. Wasn't thinking and should have counted the number of turns to unscrew nut on unloader valve.