Every skid, trailer, and van setup we build is made to last, but no rig runs forever without maintenance. Bleach eats fittings, pumps wear out, and oil breaks down. We ran our own pressure washing business for more than 10 years before we started building equipment. Most of the downtime we saw came down to a handful of maintenance items that are easy to stay ahead of.
This guide covers the most common maintenance on the systems we build: soft wash, electrical, plumbing, hose reels, and the pressure washer. There's a maintenance schedule at the bottom you can save and come back to.
Soft Wash
Rebuild your mixer every 12 months
Your mixer will leak eventually, and that's completely normal. Harsh chemicals like bleach eat away at every connection point in your system, and the mixer takes the brunt of it.
The most common repair is replacing the check valves on the mixer. Our V1 Pro Mixer uses female-thread check valves, and our newer mixers use male-thread check valves. We advise replacing them every 12 months. Replace any brittle or worn poly fittings at the same time.
The best approach is to rebuild the whole mixer:
- Break it down completely.
- Wash any parts you plan to reuse in warm soapy water.
- Reseal the connections with good quality Teflon tape. Blue Monster works well.
- Reassemble with the arrows on the mixing valves and check valves pointing toward the mixing block.
- Check every connection for leaks.
The arrow direction matters. Liquid is designed to flow one way through these parts, and if you get it backwards, your mixer won't work. If you want to understand what each part of the mixer does, read how the mixer works.
Re-priming and purging air
Any time you reinstall mixer parts or hoses, you may need to re-prime the soft wash system. Disconnect the outlet hose on the pump and run the system for about 15 seconds. Then turn it off and reconnect the hose.
You'll have little bits of air in the system for the next 2 to 3 minutes until everything purges out. If the air doesn't clear completely, you have a leak somewhere. Work back through every fitting, making sure all the clamps are tight and every fitting is sealed. Tracking down a leak takes time, but the system won't run properly until you find it.
Before you tear anything apart, check the simplest things first. If one of your tanks is empty, the system will pull air. The same happens if a filter isn't fully submerged in the water, bleach, or soap. It's not worth breaking down your whole system over a filter sitting above the liquid.
Replace the bleach rinse valve every year
The rinse valve is typically on the front of the mixer. It lets you switch between bleach and water coming into the bleach side of the mixer. This banjo 3-way valve handles full strength bleach before the bleach gets metered down in the mixing valve.
All that full strength bleach makes the valve brittle over time, and it can crack on the body at the connection points. The fittings can also start leaking as the chlorine off-gasses and eats away at them. Check the valve closely. A hairline crack is hard to see, so use a flashlight if you need to.
Plan on replacing this valve every year. We sell the soft wash bleach rinse valve. Keep a spare on hand so a cracked valve doesn't shut down your day.
Take care of your 12V pump
The pump is the heart of your soft wash system. Soft wash systems run on either a 12V pump or a gas pump. The 12V is the most common, so that's what we'll cover here. If you're running a gas system, reach out to us for parts and troubleshooting.
The most common 12V pumps are the Remco 5.3, the Remco 7, and the FloJet 6 GPM. Of those, we've found the FloJet 6 GPM to be the most reliable. We've used others that aren't on this list, and they performed poorly.
The most important thing you can do for your pump is rinse it with water for 10 minutes after every use. It takes about 2 to 3 minutes for the soft wash solution to purge out of the lines, so start the clock once you're spraying clean water. Rinse between every job, not just at the end of the day. We walk through our rinse routine in this video, and we cover pump setup in more depth in 12V Soft Wash Pump Setup: Why Most of Them Die Early and the rinse step most people skip.
Even with good care, pumps fail. It's part of running this kind of business. A 12V pump can last as little as 3 months with bleach running through it. Bleach is corrosive, and no bleach-proof pump exists. Pumps with Viton seals, like the FloJet, are built better, but every pump will eventually need to be replaced. The best you can do is plan for it and keep a spare on hand.
If you're handy and want to save a few bucks, you can rebuild a pump. We carry pressure switches for anyone who wants to repair one. In our experience, though, a rebuild is a bandaid fix.
Electrical
Wiring
Inspect your wiring regularly. If you see excess wear or discoloration, replace the wires. We sell a 12V wiring kit that includes the switch. This is a replace-as-needed item.
Fuses
If you suddenly have no power, check the fuse first. It's usually in the fuse holder near the battery. Fuses are supposed to blow once in a while. Blowing is how a fuse keeps your 12V pump motor from frying.
Keep spares on hand. We recommend a Bussmann 30–40 amp auto fuse, and we stock the 30 amp and 35 amp. Don't use cheap fuses here.
Battery
The battery is probably the most important electrical item. Your soft wash system needs a fully charged battery. Put a marine battery charger on it at night so you head out to every job at full charge.
Not just any battery will do. You need a group 24 or 27 marine battery, and we prefer the Interstate Gold Series. Constant use wears a battery down over time. Batteries commonly last around 2 to 3 years, depending on how busy you are and how much you run your system. Most batteries carry a warranty, so hang onto your paperwork.
Grounds
Check your grounds. They corrode over time. Occasionally you'll need to disconnect them, clean them up, and reattach them.
Plumbing
Hoses
Check every hose regularly. If it's brittle or badly weathered, replace it. That includes clear poly braid hose, rubber hoses, and your soft wash application hose. We carry replacements for all of them in our hose section.
TeeJet 1" line strainer
Your system has two water filters to check. The first is the TeeJet 1" line strainer, which filters water before it's pulled into the pressure washer pump. To clean it, unscrew the tan filter bowl and clean out the stainless strainer inside. We recommend checking it every 3 months.
When you put it back together, make sure the O-ring is in place. Without it, the filter will leak and pull air into the pressure washer pump.
Hudson float valve filter
The second filter is inside the water tank, in the Hudson float valve. Unscrew the Hudson float valve inside the tank, pull out the plastic filter insert, and clean out any debris that's settled in it. We show both filters step by step in this video:
The most common source of that debris is the water spigot on the house or building. Bugs and spiders climb up inside spigots and make them their home. Most guys connect the garden hose right away and blow all that debris through the hose, where it gets stuck in the float valve filter.
Before you connect your garden hose, open the spigot and flush it out for a few seconds. It's a simple habit that keeps water flowing into your buffer tank at full strength. For how the whole tank system goes together, see How to Plumb a Pressure Washer Buffer Tank, Part by Part.
Hose clamps
Whenever you replace plumbing, replace the stainless hose clamps too. Clamps wear out over time, and new ones give you peace of mind that you have a solid connection.
Hose Reels
Swivels
Hose reel swivels are wear items on both manual hose reels and electric reels. The garden hose reel swivel lasts the longest because it only sees water. The soft wash and pressure reel swivels need to be checked and replaced as needed. They can fail as early as one year. We recommend replacing them at the two year mark whether they're bad or not. It's preventative maintenance that saves you from a failure on the job.
If a swivel starts leaking or wobbling, replace it. Soft wash reel swivels come in 1/2" or 3/4" stainless. Most of our builds use the Super Swivel, available in 1/2" and 3/4". If you need a slimmer profile, we also carry the Mosmatic 1/2" stainless swivel. Replace the hose reel barb at the same time:
- 1/2" reel: usually a 3/4" hose barb x 1/2" MPT stainless barb.
- 3/4" reel: a 3/4" hose barb x 3/4" MPT stainless barb.
Skip the grease on the swivel
We don't recommend greasing the zerk fitting on the hose reel swivel. Most people over-grease anyway, which blows out the seals and makes the swivel fail early. With bleach usage, most swivels will need to be replaced regardless, and greasing won't make them last longer.
Chains, fittings, and bolts
Electric reels use a chain to drive the reel. Oil the chain as needed.
On both manual and electric reels, check the fittings and bolts weekly. The barrel rods can sometimes work loose, so retighten them as needed. If your garden hose kinks where it leaves the reel, we cover the fix in The Garden Hose Kink at Your Reel, and How We Fixed It.
Pressure Washer
Most pressure washers run on a Honda GX390 or GX690 engine. If you have an iGX800, maintenance is similar to the GX690. You'll find the parts for everything below in our pressure washer maintenance section.
Machines come in belt drive or gear drive. A belt drive uses a pulley system off the engine to turn the pump. A gear drive uses a gear box to turn the pump, which adds one more oil to change.
Engine oil
For the engine, use a small engine 10W-30 oil. We recommend AMSOIL 10W-30 small-engine oil or Genuine Honda power equipment oil, and in our opinion AMSOIL is a little better. Honda recommends the first oil change at the first month or 20 hours of use for break-in, then every 6 months or 100 hours after that.
- GX390: takes around a quart and has no oil filter.
- GX690: takes about 2 quarts and has an oil filter. We recommend changing the filter at every oil change.
Don't go cheap on the filter. We recommend the exact OEM Honda filter, which we carry.
The dipstick is the absolute indicator of whether your engine has enough oil. Honda engines have a built-in low oil system, and we've seen people unable to start their engines just because the oil was low. Honda recommends checking the oil before each use. At a minimum, check it weekly.
Gear box (gear drive only)
Belt drive machines don't have a gear box, so skip ahead if that's you.
Change your gear oil at the first month or 20 hours for break-in, then every 500 hours after that. We recommend a premium 80W-90 gear oil, and we like AMSOIL Severe Gear 80W-90 best. When we were running our own machines, we changed the gear oil every year after break-in. You can change it sooner if needed.
If your gear oil looks cream colored, water has gotten into the gear box. Change it immediately.
Gear box capacity varies, so use the sight glass as your guide. Oil should sit right in the middle of the sight glass. There's usually a dot there marking the fill level. Don't overfill. Sight glasses are plastic and can crack or leak over time, so replace them as needed.
Make sure the cap on top is a vented cap. Some gear boxes ship with a sealed plug that needs to be swapped out.
Belts (belt drive only)
Belt drive machines have no gear box oil to change, but the belts still need attention. Check belt tension once a week. The belt cover is held on with a couple of set screws. Take it off and check how much play the belts have. As a general rule, they shouldn't move more than a couple of fingers' width up and down.
Listen for it too. If you hear a screeching or squealing sound while you're running a high pressure tip or the surface cleaner, that usually means the belt is slipping because it's too loose. It needs to be tensioned up and adjusted.
To re-tension, use the adjustment screw under the pump. Don't overtighten.
If a belt breaks, take it to any auto parts store. They can usually cross-reference it and get you a replacement the same day.
Pump
Pump oil follows the same schedule as the gear box: change it at the first month or 20 hours for break-in, then every 500 hours after that. On a gear drive machine, you can change both at the same time.
We recommend a 30 weight non-detergent pump oil. We like General Pump oil best, and it's what we use. The same sight glass and vented cap guidance from the gear box applies here.
Debris can also get into the pump's check valves. If you think that's happening, call us for replacement parts and a quick walkthrough on changing them out.
Unloader
Setting your unloader correctly is its own topic, so we wrote a full unloader guide with step-by-step instructions. To see how we mount unloaders on our builds, watch this video. Replacement unloaders are in the store.
Pressure hoses and o-rings
Pressure hoses pop. It's completely normal, and hoses wear out over time, so keep a spare on the rig.
Blown o-rings are another common issue. They cause leaks at the pressure hose connections and need to be replaced. Keep a pick set handy. With the right tools, replacing an o-ring takes under a minute.
Fuel, filters, and spark plugs
Use good quality gas. We ran 92 premium with AMSOIL fuel additive. To take it a step further, use non-ethanol fuel. It helps keep the carb clean and keeps the jets from gumming up.
If your machine starts and then dies, check that the fuel tank can breathe. A blocked or cheap tank vent is the most common cause we see, and we walk through the fix in this video.
- Air filter: Honda recommends checking it before each use and cleaning it every 3 months or 50 hours, or more often in dusty conditions. Replace it every year or 300 hours.
- Spark plug: check and clean every 6 months or 100 hours. Replace it every year or 300 hours.
- Fuel filter: check it every 3 months. Replace it every year, or sooner if you see discoloration or debris.
Keep Your Rig Clean
For all of your equipment, rinse it down and keep the system clean. A light rinse or wipe-down at the end of each day keeps chemical residue from building up and makes leaks and worn parts easier to spot.
When to Bring It In
Everything above is maintenance you can handle yourself. If you're having issues beyond these items, bring your machine to us for service, or to any certified Honda small engine repair shop.
If you're local and would rather not do the maintenance yourself, we can handle any of it for you. We service pressure washers every day. We're happy to keep your equipment running so you can spend your time on your business instead of on repairs.
Call us at 503-403-6185 or stop by the shop at 13896 S Fir St Suite B, Oregon City, OR, Monday through Thursday, 8am–4pm.
Spares to Keep on the Rig
Maintenance Schedule
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Before each use | Check engine oil on the dipstick; check the air filter |
| Every job | Flush the spigot before connecting your garden hose; rinse the soft wash pump with clean water for 10 minutes |
| Daily | Rinse or wipe down the rig; charge the battery overnight |
| Weekly | Check belt tension (belt drive); check hose reel fittings, bolts, and barrel rods |
| First month or 20 hrs | Break-in change: engine oil, gear box oil, pump oil |
| Every 3 months | Clean the TeeJet strainer; clean the air filter (or every 50 hrs); check the fuel filter |
| Every 6 months or 100 hrs | Change engine oil (plus the oil filter on a GX690); check and clean the spark plug |
| Every 500 hrs | Change gear box oil and pump oil |
| Every 12 months | Rebuild the mixer (check valves, worn poly fittings); replace the bleach rinse valve and fuel filter; replace the spark plug and air filter (or every 300 hrs) |
| Every 2 years | Replace soft wash and pressure reel swivels and barbs, even if they seem fine |
| Every 2–3 years | Replace the battery |
| Regularly | Clean the Hudson float valve filter; clean corroded grounds; oil electric reel chains |
| As needed | 12V pump (can be as short as 3 months), hoses, clamps (with any plumbing work), wiring, fuses, sight glass, vented cap, pressure hoses, o-rings, garden hose reel swivel |
| Immediately | Change gear oil that looks cream colored |
