I have three large rugs that need cleaning. I spoke with a friend of mine and threw out the idea of pressure washing them outside. He said he had done it and it works great.
So this morning after doing my forum duties, working out and feeding the ever hungry dog, I dug out my power washer. The plan was to wash the driveway first, then put the rugs on the driveway and using a mixture of Dawn, white vinegar and water, clean the rugs. The washer hadn't been used in a few years, and every time I use it, I run it out of gas and drain the hose before storing it.
Because I don't use it a lot, it was stored in the rear portion of my 'shed', which required moving the zero turn mower, the snowblower and one of my truck's snow tires in order to retrieve the washer. I wheeled it to the driveway along with my 5 gallon can of gas and filled the tank about half way in the hopes that would do the job without leaving a lot of gas to run out. Did I say run out? Well that's exactly what was happening. As I set the gas can down, I noticed gas running out of the washer. It appeared to be coming from the carburetor, which is mounted in the front of the washer, and since the tank in mounted in the rear, I was able to tip the washer backwards and staunch the flow.
Lying on the driveway, something I seem to be doing a lot lately, with a collection of 1/4 drive sockets I went to work dismantling the parts that had to be taken off to get at the carb. It was quickly evident what the potential problem was as the carb used a bottom mounted float bowl, meaning running the thing out of gas doesn't really run it all the way out of gas - some always remains in the bowl. Removing the bowl proved the point. Varnish built up caused the float to stay open, hence the leakage of gas. Some brake cleaner and rags took care of the problem and I was back in business. I thought.
It took several pulls on the rope and adjustments to the choke before the planets aligned and the thing started - only to start spraying water out the bottom where water had never sprayed before. Braving the wild spray, I stuck my head down long enough to get a face full of water and see that the pipe the hose attaches to had a leak. Well crud, with a capital C!
Duckduckgo was fast in finding the part I needed, a short piece of aluminum cast pipe about 4" long with an astronomical price of $42 plus shipping from Sears. Expletives deleted. Duckduckgo came through again however when it found the exact same part on Amazon for $13 and free delivery tomorrow!
So everything goes back into the shed and since Amazon probably won't deliver until late afternoon/early evening, tomorrow probably won't work and it's supposed to rain Saturday. Just another chapter in my world!
So this morning after doing my forum duties, working out and feeding the ever hungry dog, I dug out my power washer. The plan was to wash the driveway first, then put the rugs on the driveway and using a mixture of Dawn, white vinegar and water, clean the rugs. The washer hadn't been used in a few years, and every time I use it, I run it out of gas and drain the hose before storing it.
Because I don't use it a lot, it was stored in the rear portion of my 'shed', which required moving the zero turn mower, the snowblower and one of my truck's snow tires in order to retrieve the washer. I wheeled it to the driveway along with my 5 gallon can of gas and filled the tank about half way in the hopes that would do the job without leaving a lot of gas to run out. Did I say run out? Well that's exactly what was happening. As I set the gas can down, I noticed gas running out of the washer. It appeared to be coming from the carburetor, which is mounted in the front of the washer, and since the tank in mounted in the rear, I was able to tip the washer backwards and staunch the flow.
Lying on the driveway, something I seem to be doing a lot lately, with a collection of 1/4 drive sockets I went to work dismantling the parts that had to be taken off to get at the carb. It was quickly evident what the potential problem was as the carb used a bottom mounted float bowl, meaning running the thing out of gas doesn't really run it all the way out of gas - some always remains in the bowl. Removing the bowl proved the point. Varnish built up caused the float to stay open, hence the leakage of gas. Some brake cleaner and rags took care of the problem and I was back in business. I thought.
It took several pulls on the rope and adjustments to the choke before the planets aligned and the thing started - only to start spraying water out the bottom where water had never sprayed before. Braving the wild spray, I stuck my head down long enough to get a face full of water and see that the pipe the hose attaches to had a leak. Well crud, with a capital C!
Duckduckgo was fast in finding the part I needed, a short piece of aluminum cast pipe about 4" long with an astronomical price of $42 plus shipping from Sears. Expletives deleted. Duckduckgo came through again however when it found the exact same part on Amazon for $13 and free delivery tomorrow!
So everything goes back into the shed and since Amazon probably won't deliver until late afternoon/early evening, tomorrow probably won't work and it's supposed to rain Saturday. Just another chapter in my world!
