Aug 1, 2013

I got the power, Baby

So you wanna go for a ride in my shiny wheels?

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It's about a magic power washer, a cheapish one from a big box, about seven years old.  I used it for a few years.  In 2010 or '11 It developed a bad leak somewhere in the important machinery, shrouded in a plastic that would have frustrated Houdini.  No pressure. Trashed. I gave it up for lost and stashed it away. I kept meaning to haul it to the landfill.

This afternoon I got to feeling shame over the appearance of two of the Camp Jiggleview VEE-hicles, the command mini-van and the mobile assault wagon  carrying my Texsun field headquarters.

Generally, since the death of the washer, I've been counting on precipitation to keep them titivated. It hasn't rained in a month, and some wags have been writing undignified notes on the windshields.

For no logical reason I decided, what the Hell, to hook up the old washer and see what happened. I suppose I figured I'd make a quick guess about the problem and devote 30  minutes, no more, to an attempted fix. My confidence level was zero, and the plan was mostly an excuse to put off a tedious hand-wash.

There is something going on around here, and maybe it's true that all is better when you ignore reality and count on Barry's unicorns to breathe well-being into a man and all he owns.  Hook up the hose, plug it in. Instant power washing, as though it was new, and still going strong when I shut down after an hour.

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I have a Remington 12-gauge 1900 double that has been driving me nuts for two years. Can't make it go bang -- or even click -- despite by-the-book assembly of good parts. I am going to set it exactly where the power washer was and wait two years. I'll let you know


2 comments:

JohnMXL said...

If it's a Karcher or a Karcher clone it's probably the plastic elbow below the pump - you know, the one that has the fitting to which you attach the pressure hose, and is unsupported so all the forces generated by dragging the hose around work on it.

Dad has one. I had to fix it last time I borrowed it. The part was abt $9 locally, plus $2 or $3 for a long Torx bit to reach the case screws.

Sorry, I can't offer any advice on the shotgun.

Jim said...

When she goes bad again, that's the first thing I'll check. Can't recall the brand right now. It's an alleged 1,650 psi, 1.7 gpm, machine in baby blue, a Walmart buy.

Keep thinking about the Remington, please.Every now and then I get a powerful urge to shoot it. :)