Ryobi 1800W 2000PSI Pressure Washer not purging air

[JezFletcher]

Purchased this washer from Bunnings yesterday. Following the setup instructions, I've been running water through it without turning on the pump, in order to purge air in the hose or the unit. However, no matter how long I run, the flow still seems to sputter:

and in the inlet for the hose into the unit (which is transparent), I can still see air bubbles running through, which I assume shouldn't be there.

I've disconnected and reconnected all the connections multiple times, and I've tried two different garden hoses for input, and two different taps, and I still get the same result. I've not wanted to try turning on the pump yet, because the instructions are quite clear that the hose has to flow constantly before it's safe to do so. So I'm afraid of breaking a brand new washer by doing that.

We've previously used a (borrowed) Karcher pressure washer here with no problems. Any tips would be appreciated.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @JezFletcher. It's wonderful to have you join us and many thanks for your question.

I've made contact with Ryobi technical support to check on what might be causing this issue. Initially, can I ask do you have the tap turned on fully? During the purging process, I would presume you are holding the trigger down fully also?

Ryobi has mentioned that the purging process can take up to one minute. They have also relayed that this process is to purge the machine of air and not necessarily your hose. Bubbles on the water inlet side would suggest there might be air in your hose. Please ensure you turn your tap on fully and purge any air from your hose before connecting it to the machine and attempting the purge process on it. If you connect an empty 30-meter hose to the machine it could take several minutes to remove all the air, it will be much quicker to prime the hose full of water first before connecting.

Please let me know how you go with the purge process once you connect a hose which is already full of water.

Mitchell

[MitchellMc]

Hi @JezFletcher, 

I apologise as I had not seen your videos prior to making my previous post. My first impression is that there doesn't seem to be much flow going on here. In fact, the water is almost dribbling out of the nozzle. Reverting to my previous question, have you got the tap turned on fully? I would expect to see the nozzle spraying out close to the same as what you would expect with a normal trigger nozzle attached. I'd think this volume and flow issue is related to the not purging issue.

I am not actually so concerned about the purge process as there are no massive air-locked gaps in the flow. I'd say that is in the vicinity of being ready for the machine to be turned on. What I am more concerned about now is why there doesn't seem to be much if any water pressure supplied from your hose making its way through the machine. If you have time would you mind taking a video of your hoses flow, not connected to the machine and the hose on full? 

Mitchell

[JezFletcher]

Thanks Mitchell! I'll try some of these things today. I'm also trying with a different (shorter) hose, which might help too. I'll update as well with a video of the water pressure coming straight out of the hose.

Jez

[MitchellMc]

@JezFletcher,

The length of the hose shouldn't make a difference but let me know how it goes. I'm happy that you have followed all due diligence with the product. It would be nice to see more flow, but failing that I would be confident with you switching on the machine. If anything fails it would be covered under warranty and I would be happy to facilitate a swap over if it comes to it.

Mitchell

[JezFletcher]

Cheers Mitchell!

I went ahead and gave it a go after running water through the hose for a bit to get out as much air as I could, and it's working just fine! I was initially surprised, as it shut off quickly, but I realised that it shuts off when the water's not running through it. So pressing the trigger gets it going again.

Now I've got a bunch of surfaces to clean!

Thanks for all your help.

[MitchellMc]

@JezFletcher,

I believe my Gerni does that shut-off procedure and it scared me the first time it did it. I'm glad you got the issue sorted and have fun cleaning those surfaces!

It would be fantastic if you could take some before and after shots to show the community. I'm not allowed to clean hard surfaces in Sydney due to water restrictions and I've been missing seeing how well surfaces come up.

Mitchell

[Bhavin1]

Hi Mitchell,

Hoping to piggyback off this thread as I have the same machine and used yesterday - works great!

My issue is setting up the machine's hose onto the reel,  mine just spins as it has nothing to grab to on the reel and when I put it through the middle it pulls on the outlet connection on the machine! There must be a simple way to make it grab but nothing mentioned on the set up manual. What am I missing! Thanks in advance....

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Bhavin1. It's great to have you join us and many thanks for your question.

If you have a look at this previous discussion on the same topic Ryobi 1800 Watt 2000 PSI Water blaster there is a solution to the issue.

The hose needs to be disconnected from the machine and the end fed into the middle of the hose reel. After one revolution it locks in place and then can be wound up. 

The current Ryobi 1800W 2000PSI Pressure Washer doesn't have a hose reel on it. Was yours a new version or the older one with the hose reel?

Please let me know if you need further information or had questions.

Mitchell

[Bhavin1]

Wow thanks for the quick response!! That link doesn't seem to work for me... I have attached the model name, just bought it the other day..