cheap pressure washer extension

[shinnlinger]

This weekend I needed to bore a hole for my water line under my buried electric line.  I excavated 7 ft down on both sides of the electric and phone conduit, but I still had 7 ft to go once I was down in the trench.  The compacted glacial silt was full of rocks and it was impossible to dig with a pick and shovel.  I tried hammering in pipe and pushing it with the excavator, but it would just stop at the first rock or get bent by the machine.  Finally I tried my pressure washer and what do ya know? 

It worked great, but wasn't long enough to go the full distance.  Sears wanted $80 for enough extensions to get it done so I disassembled my wand and realized standard 1/4 water pipe would do the trick if it was long enough.  I had a 7ft piece in the barn but only one end was threaded and my pipe threader doesn't have a die that small.  I went to 3 HDWr stores only to discover no one threads pipe anymore but a clerk at the last place suggested I sweat some 1/4 adaptors on a piece of copper and bang.  10ft extension for $20  You could obviously do this at other lengths but the next time you need to knock down that wasp nest or run some wire under the road, this might be your answer.

Dave

[clww]

Good tip, Dave! 8) 8) 8)

[WDH]

Creative solution! 

[Magicman]

That is a very interesting concept.   

[LeeB]

Glad it worked out safely for you but really dangerous. Some pressure washers can put out 3300psi and more.  Even the smaller ones put up 1000psi. Regular galvanized pipe is not rated for any where near that and copper pipe even less.

[LeeB]

OK, did a little research and 1/4" sch 40 steel pipe is rated for 2100psi working pressure. More than I thought, but still something to consider with some of the higher pressuer washers.

[shinnlinger]

Good point on the pressure Lee,  In my haste to get it done I hadn't considered that, fortunately no issues.  Interestingly, The piece that came with the washer appears to be thin wall aluminum (probably why no alarm bells went off) and my unit is rated at 3000 psi.   Will investigate. 

Dave

[thecfarm]

Probaly I'm wrong,but I would of done it too. BUT I would not put  a nozzle on the end. Just a straight shoot through the extensions,with no restrictions,like a nozzle on the end,would seem OK to me. I've had someone watching over me more than once with some of the "great ideas" I have come up with.

[Radar67]

Back when I installed sprinkler systems, we used a 3/4 inch PVC pipe connected to a water hose. The trick is the 1/8 inch hole bored into a cap and glued on the end of the pipe. We bored the hole by turning the water on full pressure and just job (fast push pull motion) the pipe at the dirt until we got to the other side. Most bores only took a half hour to go 20 foot or so.

[zopi]

Getcha one of those hose end expanding rubber clog busters and thread through a piece of pvc....works just the same...just don't stop the water partway through...the water flowing back
Along the pipe keeps the bore hole from collapsing on the pipe...much like a drilling rig...
I like the solution...just a leetle cheeper than a vermeer horizontal boring machine...

[shinnlinger]

I hooked it up with no nozzle on the end but the water didn't come out with any force.  For the record it took all of 2 minutes to bore with a circular motion through 7 ft of heavy compacted clay with lots of fist sized rocks.  I then shoved a peice of 1-1/2 PVC for me to slip my water line in and then inserted my wand into the pipe to clear it out. 

It was amazing how quickly and easily it worked

Found a pipe threader that will allow me to thread the peice I had in my barn, it is heavy walled but I will slip a heavier peice of pipe over the section my hand will go in the future as well.

Dave

[florida]

The  "pressure" part of a pressure washer isn't in the pipe at all, only at the tip. I've used homemade pipe for extensions for 30 years with 3000 PSI machines and never had a problem. However, a long one will sure break itself or you if it gets away from you.

[LeeB]

I beg to differ. The pressure is all the way from the pump to the tip.

[florida]

If the pump produced 3000 PSI you'd have that pressure with or without the tip.  If you take the tip off and squeeze the trigger you'll have maybe 100 pounds, not 3000.  A pressure washer only produces rated pressures with a tip.

[Banjo picker]

Thanks for the tip....I started not to open it because I thought "Why would I want to extend my pressure washer?" ???   But I understand now...Tim

[LeeB]

If the pump produced 3000 PSI you'd have that pressure with or without the tip.  If you take the tip off and squeeze the trigger you'll have maybe 100 pounds, not 3000.  A pressure washer only produces rated pressures with a tip.

This is quite true, however that pressure is created from the pump all the way to the tip minus a very small amout of friction loss between the two in the case of a pressure wand. The longer the flow path the less pressure that actually is seen at the tip do to friction. To give you an example, where I work we use pumps to generate 4000psi at surface. By the time this pressure reaches the end of the drill string some 15,000ft or more from the pump, the pressure at the drill bit is only around 2-300psi due to these friction losses. At 1000 ft the pressure inside the pipe is closer to 3500psi. The pressure starts with the pump and is created by the friction created along the fluid path, which may be a short path and the friction created by the tip of the wand. In this short path the entire system will see the pressure. Take away the tip and you take away the friction, hence no pressure.

[WH_Conley]

Once the tip is in place and the hose is pressurized the entire hose is up to pressure. On my machine the pressure gauge is about 3 feet from the pump, the tip is 100 feet away, on the handle, the gauge will read 3200 psi when working. That is why the big ones use hydraulic hose.

[LeeB]

Pressure loss over that 100 ft of 1/4 inch ID hose is probably pretty high. I can't remeber how to figure it right now. Pressure at the tip before the water exits will be a good deal less.

[WH_Conley]

Mine is plumbed for 1/2" hose, that would make some difference, don't know how much. Have to be careful with paint. If you develop a pinhole in the hose it makes a pretty good stream.