A high—pressure mini-wash is not only a clean car and a well-groomed plot. This is a different standard of living, when you can not think about the consequences of traveling off-road and not puzzle over how to return the facade or paving slabs to their former appearance, and the care of a country pool with a mini-wash becomes super simple.
Before you buy a mini-wash, you need to answer yourself a few questions. Each of them is significant, and if you do not take into account at least one point, the use of technology may not be as convenient and effective as with a competent choice.
Question 1. Why do I need a mini-car wash?
To be or not to be… a mini-wash in the arsenal of your tools? To answer this question, inspect your suburban possessions. Is the track clean? Shovels, hoes, cultivator? Yesterday it was raining, and children on bicycles stormed dirty puddles, and today it’s sunny, and it’s scary to look at the bike park? Oh, yes! And you also rode a cross-country ATV yesterday. What a car… What condition is she in? Carpets, garage doors, siding on the facade… And if you breed poultry or animals in the country, then washing is a tedious ritual. But it is insanely pitiful to waste time on this!
If you catch yourself on such thoughts, then there should be a mini-wash in your household! And what used to take a lot of time, it will only take a few minutes with her.
Question 2. What are we going to wash?
It is necessary to outline a list of tasks for a mini-car wash. If you buy equipment at random, you will either overpay for unnecessary functions, or deprive yourself of the pleasure of the process. Pleasant is not enough, so “try on” the characteristics to suit your needs. It won’t take much time now, but it will save it later.
All mini-sinks are designed for a specific list of jobs. The simpler and lighter the unit, the smaller the range of its capabilities, but at the same time the more affordable the price. Therefore, it is important to know what area this mini-sink is focused on, what intensity of use and degree of contamination. Usually the manufacturer specifies the required data in the instructions.
Of course, if the ability to wash the pool is not included in the list, this does not mean that it cannot be done. The designations are quite conditional, but the result of the work will not be what it really should be. And the process can be tiring. Therefore, the manufacturer clearly classifies the equipment by functionality and this fact must be taken into account when choosing.
So, for example, at Kärcher all the mini-washes are divided into classes:
- The initial one is a series of mini-washes K 2 and K 3. These are basic models, which, nevertheless, are ideal for periodic use. With their help, you can easily wash off light dirt from a car, motorcycle, bicycle, garden furniture, playgrounds around the house and much more.
- Medium — series K 4 and K 5. Universal units that allow you to quickly get rid of almost any household level pollution. The K 4 mini-washes are focused on washing garden, bicycle, motor vehicles, small passenger cars, garden furniture and paths. They can process up to 30 m² in an hour. The K 5 technology is more powerful and, among other things, it can clean large cars, walls and verandas. Productivity — up to 40 m²/h.
- The highest is K 7. These are high-performance mini-washes designed to solve large-scale household tasks. These can process up to 60 m² of area in an hour, have a rich equipment and cope with heavy pollution.
Based on this classification, it is enough to simply conclude that the K 4 and K 5 (middle class) mini-washes will be the most suitable for suburban needs. They are effective in severe pollution, so they will certainly be appreciated by off-road conquerors and connoisseurs of outdoor activities.
Often, household mini-washes of the K series are bought to perform professional tasks, which is fundamentally wrong. These units may not be able to cope with the mission assigned to them, since they were not developed at all for this type of work. For specialized work and tasks of increased complexity, it is better to use a special line of equipment made in gray.
All models of the K series operate from a 220 V network. You won’t need any adapters, but it’s important to ensure a secure connection. These are affordable, efficient and high-quality high-pressure mini-sinks.
The warranty for car washes is 5 years if you bought the device in the “Kercher centers” or the official online store, which today is a significant indicator of the reliability of the equipment. But this is not the limit. A record—long warranty period of 10 years is valid for high-pressure devices with a water-cooled engine (only, please, do not confuse the service life and the warranty period), which once again confirms the high quality of Kärcher products. These sinks include all models of the K 7 series and most models of the K 5 and K 4 series. More information about the extended warranty for water-cooled mini-washes can be found on the official website.
Question 3. Where to wash?
Sometimes a mini-wash is needed in places far from “communal amenities”. It can be an undeveloped country plot or a garage. All Kärcher mini-washes of the K 4, K 5 and K 7 series can take water from the tank. That is, to wash a car or garden equipment, you do not have to connect to the main water supply.
You can achieve complete autonomy with rechargeable mini-sinks. There are such in the K 2 series. They can work without connection to the network and the main water supply. They are focused on short-term work. For example, they can be used to clean garden tools or paths from dirt. After a hard day, these assistants will take some of the load off you. You don’t need to water and scrub, just direct the water jet and enjoy the process and the result.
If the mini-wash is to be transported constantly, pay attention to compact models, for example, Kärcher K 5 Compact and K 5 Compact Home. They weigh no more than 11.5 kg and fit perfectly even in a small trunk. Ergonomics of both compact and conventional models is thought out to the smallest detail. The technique is convenient to use, it is easy to move thanks to the telescopic handle, and it does not take up much space when stored.
Question 4. How to wash?
We have already said that the mini-wash models are equipped with nozzles with an eye to a certain list of works.
But in addition to the nozzles from the basic configuration, the sink can always be equipped with additional accessories. For example, a foam nozzle will allow you to foam and distribute the detergent without any effort on your part. If the nozzle is not installed, you will have to apply foam with a spray gun — this is extra hassle, time and effort. This is especially tedious if the car is big enough. To clean the bottom of the machine efficiently, it is convenient to use an angle tube. The waterjet cleaning kit is useful if you need to remove rust or old paint from the surface. Cleaning brushes will help you quickly and easily clean up the site.
All models of Kärcher mini-sinks can optionally have a removable and easily cleaned filter. And even if a filter is already built into the sink, additional protection from contaminated water will extend the service life of the equipment.
Important! To get a high-quality washing result, you need not only to choose the right mini-wash, but also to choose a detergent and adhere to the technology of working with it. Carefully monitor the observance of the contact time of the product with surfaces!
Selection cheat sheet
So, let’s summarize. When choosing a mini-wash, pay attention to the following list of characteristics:
- pressure and performance,
- availability of the necessary attachments in the kit, depending on your needs,
- a possible source of water intake,
- ease of transportation (if necessary),
- availability of access to the electrical network,
- voltage in your power grid.
Trust only trusted manufacturers. This guarantees not only a long uninterrupted operation — the latest developments are used in this technique, which simplify and speed up the process so much! Kärcher has developed a high-pressure manual cleaning technology and has been continuously improving it for several decades, while guaranteeing excellent quality.
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