Pressure Washer Relief Valve Not Working

If your pressure washer is not building pressure and the engine is surging there could be a few different causes.

Pressure washer relief valve not working. When the pressure washer gun trigger is depressed the pressurized water leaves the power pump and exits through the outlet valve and outlet hose. If the pressure washer runs for more than 5 minutes when the spray wand isn t in use the water in the pump often overheats causing the thermal relief valve to open and discharge hot water onto the ground. This video shows the unloader valve in a cut away of a 2700 psi homelite pressure washer. Usually a pressure washer is meant for cleaning strong dirt and dust with ease.

Here are five things to check before you assume the worst. After watching this video you may be able to get your pressure wash. Using the unloader valve is actually quite a simple process. The thermal relief valve is usually preset to discharge water when it reaches 195 degrees.

In most pressure washer valves the valve is connected with whether or not you are holding down the trigger. The pressure washer can do different level tasks like cleaning flat surfaces car washing garage driveways concrete or tile patios and the number goes on to get the optimum performance out of this machine you need to adjust the unloader. Seeing water spewing out of your pressure washer can be a distressing sight. When the thermal relief valve opens cool water enters the pump and cools the system.

Typically the valve remains closed ensuring that no water is released from the valve unless you re purposefully using it. If your pressure washer has no pressure start by changing your nozzle to a brand new tip. An unloader valve has a mechanism in place to trap pressure between itself and the nozzle which relieves the pump of withstanding any back pressure created when the trigger wand is. From the outlet hose the water passes through the pressure washer gun and out the pressure nozzle.

A few factors could be causing this problem. The unloader valve is not the correct way to change the pressure output of your machine. Generally this means that the flow rate required by the pump cannot be supported by the water supply. A pressure washer is a small tool that can help you accomplish big jobs.

How does the unloader valve work. About 90 of the time a pressure washer problem will not be caused by the pump. One of them is a sticking unloader valve. The two serve the same purpose but function differently.

When you pull the trigger on your pressure washer if the water pressure is good for a moment but then weakens you have a surging issue. This just means that a thermal relief valve has been installed on your pump to prevent over heating.