Customer Reviews

Briggs & Stratton Power Products Model 1808 3400 PSI Pressure Washer

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Forgive me for not rating this specific pressure washer but I bought one just like it. I would like to share my experience with you, hoping it will help others. I bought a Generac pressure washer with a 6 HP Briggs and Stratton Intek engine. The washer was rated at 2250 PSI and 2.2 gallons per minute. It came with an aluminum head. Note the best washers have brass heads. To make a long story short, I was pressure washing some paint off of my basement walls when the pump head developed a crack, and I lost a lot of pressure. It was my fault. The reassurances that their is a pressure release valve didn't do the trick. The problem was that I washed a few sq ft, then put down the wand, wet vac'd the water, went into the other room to dump it, then came back and picked up the wand and washed some more. After an hour of this the head went.
Lesson learned, be sure and keep the water flowing through the pump to keep it cool, while it is running, or risk losing the pump. The unit was 400 dollars new. When I contacted Generac they said, buy a new pressure washer. The head alone was over 200, and the pumps ceramic pistons or worse could be damaged as well. Depression set in. It had a two year warranty, which I was not aware of, when I winterized it and decided to deal with it next year.
Their is light shining at the end of the tunnel. Boogle.com solves all. Just type in pressure washer parts, and up came pressurewasherparts.com. On their home page they had a special on a complete replacement pump for 189 dollars(an Annovi Reverberi with a brass head, none the less.)It was less than the cost of the replacement aluminum head alone from Generac. It was rated at 2400 PSI and 2.5 gallons per minute so it was an upgrade to boot. I simply unbolted the entire pump from the briggs, and bolted on the new pump. A few tweakings to tidy up the couplers with teflon tape to prevent leaks, and I was right back in business.
Another thing worth mentioning is that I was at one time disappointed that I did not buy a washer with a Honda engine, but bought the Briggs instead. Well guess what? The Honda engines, as you can see by the reviews, are not holding up. Plastic internals. Give me the good old Briggs heavy metal, and it starts on the second pull.
One last note is that the higher pressure washers do give you more pressure, and in some specific chores that can be beneficial, but overall the benefit to more power is that the job gets done a lot faster. Once you get close to 2000 PSI you can comfortably etch your sidewalk or deck. Less than that, break out a solution of 50/50 bleach and water, and wet mop it on before starting.
With a 2000PSI+ you are etching an area about 3" wide. Holding it farther away, making it wider than that, and all you are doing is rinsing it off. With the greater pressure washers, 3500 PSI for example, you can cover a greater area with the same level of cleaning. Net result, more results in less time. Hope this was helpful.

If you are willing to move up the cost is worth it. This is a serious unit with an AR pump which will outlive the engine. The extra pressure makes cleaning faster. Big box orange store has a Ryobi for $500 -- what a joke. Spend the $250 extra and get a real machine -- real AR pump, real pressure hose, excellent engine -- just quality through and through.

I purchased this pressure washer around April of 2004. For the most part I am very pleased with it. I mostly use it for cleaning car engine compartments and car parts but I have recently used it to clean concrete, bricks, house gutters / shingles and a wooden picket fence. The performance is quite impressive, with the yellow spray tip (which is what I use most often) and max pressure this washer will clean almost anything! I have taken bumper stickers off of car (along with some paint too, oops). My only complaint with the washer is the wheels. The first day I got the washer and unpackaged it I noticed that when I would roll the washer that the wheels would wobble slightly. This didn't bother me too much because I really wouldn't be rolling it very far and I'm pretty gently with the unit also. Well, I'm sure you can see what's coming, one day I took the washer out and was rolling it when one of the wheels fell off. Basically the wheels fit over and are welded to a hub; the hub is then bolted to the frame of the washer. Well, the welds on the wheels really suck. I took the washer to a Briggs and Stratton authorized repair facility, under warranty, they ordered and replaced both of the wheels, which went back order and took almost two months to get. After the wheels had been replaced I went and picked it up and the wheels still wobbled. As it stands right now I am just waiting for one of them to fall off again and I will repair them "properly" myself. Performance wise I would rate this washer a 5 out of 5 but because of the problems I have had and anticipate having in the future I am only giving a 4 out of 5 overall. For $800 (which I might add is a very good price when compared with the Sears Craftsman version that is exactly the same with the exception of an 11hp engine instead of a 10hp for $1150) I would expect better quality wheels.

I am really satisfied with this machine.Everything works well,great pressure,etc.No complaints what so ever!

this machine is near worthless for our needs. the motor will run for 5-10 minutes then quit. the help line for briggs and stratton is impossible to get thru to a person. the best thing for us is a refund.

We bought this power washer for our used car dealership 3 yrs ago. Lots of power, wanted to spend more so it would last than the last "lowes" power washer. In 3 years weve replaced, 1 engine mounts, 2 the trigger handle (leaked) and hose, blown, 3 Detergent injector quit, 4 Now valves in pump are malfunctioning, running about 50% pressure, No one will "fix it" have to replace the pump (400.00!?). The engine still running fine. I stepped up to an industrial unit and it didnt last longer than the predecessor that was half the price. Humpf. Lots of power and we do use it hard, but...wasnt worth the upgrade.

So far, I haven't experienced any major problems with this machine. This is my first pressure washer, so I don't have much to compare it to. However, the product has delivered everything I've asked of it. The only problem is, an o-ring broke and it was the only size ring NOT supplied in the repair kit. Other than that, I am pleased with my purchase and expect many more years with this equipment as a part of my painting business.

I have a large barn, over 7000 square feet. It was never painted and the boards were a drab gray to black with green mold covering the lower three feet. I wanted the barn stained so I hired a bard painter to bleach, power wash, and paint the barn. He bleached and washed the barn, which got rid of most of the mold and gray, but the black spots were still there. I was not happy with the look because I was going to use a semi-transparent stain.

The bought the Briggs & Stratton Model 1808 3400 PSI Pressure Washer and started re-washing the barn. Wow! What a difference. The boards look band new. This washer has more than enough power to really clean the wood. The four gallons per minute allows you to move right along. Don't get to close or you can cause some serious damage to the wood with this washer. It took a little practice to back off at the end of each stroke so I was not going over the same spot at the full intensity more than once. The washer pump has an overheating protection device so if you let it idle for a minute or two, not to worry. I am using this wash for 8-10 hours at a time. It runs great.

I ran new pressure washer for 2 hours and it would not restart. took back to store and they replaced carborator. it ran 5 minutes and lost all compression. Briggs is telling me I ran it with out oil. I checked the oil every time I added gas and it needed oil almost every time. Now Briggs wants me to pay for repairs. I think electric may be in my future.

It cleans anything I need to clean. Great for cleaning vinyl siding, just use pressure - no scrubbing necessary.