Has anyone used a Karcher shop vac?

[J.R. Rutter]

https://www.kaercher.com/us/home-garden/vacuums/wet-dry-vacuum-cleaners/wd-5-p-13481970.html

My local Fein dealer is switching to Karcher next month and told me that they are the oem supplier to Fein. Supposedly, they will be significantly cheaper and every bit as good. I was ready to buy a Turbo II to replace mine that died recently, and they gave me the heads-up to hold off for another couple of weeks while they make the switch.

[Erik Loza]

Curious to hear about this. I had an electric pressure washer from Karcher, years ago, and it was disappointing.

Erik

[John Lanciani]

My 15+ year old Porter-Cable 7810 vac is actually made by Karcher (they didn't bother to remove the logos from the internal parts). I use it as hard or harder than the average home shop user, mostly connected to sanders, and it is still going strong. I put new bearings in it a few years ago because it was getting noisy but other than that I have no complaints about the quality or durability.

[Bruce Page]

Curious to hear about this. I had an electric pressure washer from Karcher, years ago, and it was disappointing.

Erik
I second this. I had the same experience with their small pressure washer.

[Greg R Bradley]

I know someone that bought one a couple months ago. It is very acceptable for the $169 he paid. LONG way from being anything like a Fein and none of it was similar to my Feins. Don't know about the new squarish series of Feins and will never buy one with the vacuum speed adjusted by a calibrated leak - huh? I haven't actually seen the new Fein Vacs. If they are as low end as that Karcher then that is even more disappointing.

The low end Karcher Pressure Washers are disappointing but I think most are in that price range.

Edited to add: Wow three in a row negatives on Karcher cheap PWs.

[J.R. Rutter]

Well, I was disappointed that my Fein died. It had been running for many years with a dust deputy hooked to my dynabrades, with a momentary contact foot pedal for on/off. The Karcher PW that I used years ago was ho-hum, but it was probably the cheapest version.

[Larry Browning]

I had/have a Karcher gas powered PW that literately worked for 15 minutes. I had bought it in the fall on sale and didn't use it until the following summer and so the 90 day warranty was long gone. I took it to several PW shops and they wouldn't even look at it. The all said that Karcher quality was so bad and parts were so hard to get that they decided they would not even work on them. I finally found a mower repair shop that did look at it. He said the pump was bad and that it would cost me over $200 to fix. I had only paid like $250 for it. It still is sitting tn the corner of the garage gathering dust.
I decided right then I was never buying anything made by Karcher again.

[Peter Kelly]

FYI the newer Fein vacs are made in Romania, not the same as the older ones from Italy so there may be some quality differences. Assuming the Kaercher ones are sourced from the same OEM. They get ok reviews for the most part: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00337LX6C/ref=s9_dcbhz_bw_g60_i3_sh

[Sean Tracey]

If it was 120V, then the maximum power the pressure washer would have would be around 1.5hp. Most pressure washers for residential use are going to be 3 to 5 hp.

So a 120V pressure washer is going to lack power if that is what you are referring to.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Larry, I don't about your PW, but Karchers have a problem with sticking pressure relief valve. I have two, that both had the same problem with pressure relief valve (google it.) Be sure and use plumber's silicon grease on piston in PR valve if that's your problem. Bruce

[Larry Browning]

Larry, I don't about your PW, but Karchers have a problem with sticking pressure relief valve. I have two, that both had the same problem with pressure relief valve (google it.) Be sure and use plumber's silicon grease on piston in PR valve if that's your problem. Bruce


Bruce,
There is actually a little more to the story. I know exactly what is wrong with the pump. I took it apart myself and found one of the 3 pistons inside the pump to be defective. (broken spring steel keeper thing) I did read about the relief valve problem, but that was not the problem with mine. I looked at what it would cost replace it and after reading on Karcher's own site that the expected life of this particular pump was a total of 20 hours (or something like that) I decided to just cut my losses and get a good PW. I even looked into getting a different pump and discovered that the motor configuration was proprietary to Karcher and only another Karcher pump would fit it.
It has a nice vertical shaft Honda engine, but that's about it. It's just sitting in the corner gathering dust.

[peter gagliardi]

Well, not much for good reviews so far. I'm sure you have already looked at, and probably skipped the Festool offerings- probably due to cost??
I have another suggestion that seems to have very good reviews- at least initially, and is less $$ than festool i had heard.

Nilfisk.

Their older stuff at least, carries a great reputation.

[Peter Kelly]

Nilfisk also makes vacs for Stihl. Pricing isn't bad: https://smithhardware.stihldealer.net/products/wet-dry-vacuums/professional-vacuum/se122/

[J.R. Rutter]

Well, not much for good reviews so far. I'm sure you have already looked at, and probably skipped the Festool offerings- probably due to cost??
I have another suggestion that seems to have very good reviews- at least initially, and is less $$ than festool i had heard.

Nilfisk.

Their older stuff at least, carries a great reputation.


Nilfisk also makes vacs for Stihl. Pricing isn't bad: https://smithhardware.stihldealer.net/products/wet-dry-vacuums/professional-vacuum/se122/

Thanks for the info.

[Mike Henderson]

Curious to hear about this. I had an electric pressure washer from Karcher, years ago, and it was disappointing.

Erik

Me too. I actually had two of their electric pressure washers and both burned up in use. And I didn't use them that hard. Finally bit the bullet and bought a gas model (DeWalt).

Yes, the electrics aren't as powerful as the gas models, but I expect them to work and not die in a burst of smoke as the motor burns out.

Mike

[Brett Luna]

Honestly not trying to be a spelling cop but only because umlauts are fun to a nerd like me, it's Kärcher. Without the diacritical marks, it's Kaercher. But they've been moving away away from diacriticals in Germany, due largely to electronic typesetting and the Internet, which I think is a shame...and boring.

I also had a Kärcher pressure washer that crapped out after about a year, so I'm not sure that I'd take a chance on their shop vac unless I got some good feedback from other users.

[Larry Browning]

Honestly not trying to be a spelling cop but only because umlauts are fun to a nerd like me, it's Kärcher. Without the diacritical marks, it's Kaercher. But they've been moving away away from diacriticals in Germany, due largely to electronic typesetting and the Internet, which I think is a shame...and boring.

I also had a Kärcher pressure washer that crapped out after about a year, so I'm not sure that I'd take a chance on their shop vac unless I got some good feedback from other users.

Well, all I can say about that is no matter how you spell it their pressure washers are worthless!

[Paul Follett]

I have the Makita version of the Nilfisk and it works very well. When used with a bag the filters last a very long time and the suction and quietness are top notch. He bags are a bit expensive however since I bought a proper dust collector the bags go a lot further now.

[Nick Stokes]

I'm gonna need someone to buy one of these and test it out please. Surely just because the Pressure washer sucks, doesn't mean the vac will... right?

[Mike Henderson]

I'm gonna need someone to buy one of these and test it out please. Surely just because the Pressure washer sucks, doesn't mean the vac will... right?

Don't you really want to vac to suck?:)

Mike

[J.R. Rutter]

I picked one up this week at the local hardware store. They have two levels, consumer and professional. There is one model with power outlet start in each level. I decided to try the cheaper version because I don't use it very heavily, just for the biscuiter and Domino, really. Right off the bat, I will say that the hose is too short, especially compared to the Fein. I cut the end off of my olf Fein hose and used hot water to soften it enough to push onto the Karcher. It is very secure. It functions perfectly for these small tools. There is plenty of suction and no dust escaped (granted, the biscuiter doesn't generally blow dust everywhere). It is relatively quiet and compact. The top is flat and tray-like, but doesn't really work well as a tool rest surface. No big deal, I only paid $170 for it.

http://i.imgur.com/xxUAyIl.jpg

[Martin Wasner]

Looks like a rebranded Nilfisk vac at first glance. The Mirka vacuums are too I think.

I've got a Nilfisk Attix 8. Other than replacement bags being outrageously expensive I've got no complaints. Ours pretty much gets used for sucking out the downdraft table and jobsite clean up in the off chance we're actually installing, which is pretty rare. I've had good luck with it so far.

[Greg R Bradley]

Sounds like very good use of $170 for someone that doesn't benefit enough from the vacs at almost triple that. Now that Fein has mucked up the competition at twice that price, it seems to fill a nice void in the market. Too bad it has the Karcher name on it, though.

Thanks for the update!

[Joe Jensen]

Apparently their $200-300 power washers are built very poorly. Tons of people on the webs have had them fail and they are not rebuildable. I used mine maybe two or three times for 15 minutes each before it failed. I will never buy another product made by them.

[Bryan Cramer]

Just saying all the negativity to their pressure washers are for the smaller units. The larger (and much more expensive) 220 volt units last for years and are great. The vacs seem to be interesting and will have to see how people like them.

[Peter Kelly]

Thanks for the update / review. Where abouts is it made? Wondering if Fein and Nilfisk are sourcing from the same third-party OEM in Eastern Europe.

[Rick Potter]

For what it's worth, I have had a Karcher gas powered power washer for 10-12 years. Used a couple times a year for several hours at a time, it still works fine. I am very careful to not let it idle long without squirting water.

[Erik Loza]

It was the Karcher electric washer that sucked, for me. Maybe I was naiive to think that any electric washer would be a good investment. I have a gas powered washer now (different brand) with a Honda motor and it's awesome. That's probably what I should have started with all along.

Erik

[J.R. Rutter]

Thanks for the update / review. Where abouts is it made? Wondering if Fein and Nilfisk are sourcing from the same third-party OEM in Eastern Europe.

It is made in Italy.

[Martin Wasner]

It was the Karcher electric washer that sucked, for me. Maybe I was naiive to think that any electric washer would be a good investment. I have a gas powered washer now (different brand) with a Honda motor and it's awesome. That's probably what I should have started with all along.

Erik

I've got a Honda powered pressure washer as well. Used to use it all the time when I raced motocross. Sit's mostly now though. I brought it with me years ago on a long road trip. Turns out the gas likes to fill the crankcase when bouncing around in the back of a pickup, even with the gas at the tank off. I seized it up. Let it cool down drained the crankcase, added oil, it pulled over, and started again. It just won't die despite my stupidity.

[Peter Kelly]

It is made in Italy.Thanks. Was about to pull the trigger on one of these when I realised that Festool is offering 15% off all of their dust extractors and packages May - June.
https://www.festoolproducts.com/Festool-Sale-15-Off-Dust-Extractor-Promotion-s/409.htm

[J.R. Rutter]

$ vs $$$

I don't use it enough to justify the Festool price. My sanders plug into another Fein with dust deputy, and they get used every day. The Karcher is maybe once evry couple of months.

[Peter Kelly]

CPO had a sale on these so I ended up getting one for my house upstate. Overall, I'm very pleased, couldn't do better for the price. The only real drawback is the hose length but this is easily remedied by purchasing a one of the silver 35mm Bosch ones that seems to come from the same factory at the F-tool hoses. Can be easily grafted onto the Kaercher plug by softening in hot water. The floor and crevice accessories that ship with the vac still fit.

[Kurt Cady]

Anyone else buy a Karcher vac? Or can those that have above comment on their use over the last few months? Haven't been able to understand the particle rating on the the filter or bags. Anyone comment on the noise level? Noise level compared to Festool? Fein?