Toeing the Line With Pressure Washers
Popular Mechanics|May - June 2022
A pressure washer takes water and makes it radical. Water enters one end of the machine at a pressure in the range of 30 to 80 psi and moves along at 4 mph.
By Roy Berendsohn
Toeing the Line With Pressure Washers

A pump driven by a motor or engine boosts the speed of the water, which exits the machine at roughly 200 mph. And if you measure the pressure right at the nozzle, it can range anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 psi.

That's key to understanding why pressure washers are so effective. Double the speed of the water, and you increase its kinetic energy by a factor of four. That's a lot of hitting power.

But it's also important to understand that it's not so much that the machine puts all that power at your disposal. It's in knowing how to use it.

HOW A PRESSURE WASHER WORKS

Water enters the pressure washer via a garden hose [a] and moves through a pump, which consists of a series of two or three plungers (b) arranged in a line or a circle. The plungers are powered by an output shaft on the engine or from a motor. Each plunger boosts the water pressure sequentially, one feeding higher pressure water to the plunger next in line. The last pulse of high-pressure water exits the pump. The water moves through a component called the unloader [c]. This component unloads water if it gets too hot because the gun's trigger is off. Next, the water travels down the hose to the gun [d]. When you pull the gun's trigger, you send a series of high-pressure pulses of water out the nozzle.

Bu hikaye Popular Mechanics dergisinin May - June 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye Popular Mechanics dergisinin May - June 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

POPULAR MECHANICS DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
ONE OF THE 'GREATEST THREATS' TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST ISN'T WHAT YOU THINK.
Popular Mechanics US

ONE OF THE 'GREATEST THREATS' TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST ISN'T WHAT YOU THINK.

EXPERTS ARE PREPARING THE REGION AGAINST THE THREAT OF DANGEROUS VOLCANIC MUDFLOWS, KNOWN AS LAHARS, WHICH COULD INUNDATE THE COMMUNITIES SURROUNDING MT. RAINIER IN AS LITTLE AS 30 MINUTES.

time-read
10+ dak  |
January - February 2025
THE WORLD'S TOUGHEST ROW
Popular Mechanics US

THE WORLD'S TOUGHEST ROW

They rowed 3,000 miles across the Atlantic, battling unpredictable weather, chaotic seas, and finicky equipment. But what they discovered gave them profound new insights into the power of the ocean.

time-read
10+ dak  |
January - February 2025
HOW TO DIY OFF-GRID SOLAR
Popular Mechanics US

HOW TO DIY OFF-GRID SOLAR

SPEND THE TIME UP FRONT AND PLAN IT CAREFULLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT

time-read
9 dak  |
January - February 2025
Are We on the Verge of an ARMS RACE in SPACE?
Popular Mechanics US

Are We on the Verge of an ARMS RACE in SPACE?

RUMORS OF A RUSSIAN SPACE NUKE, ALONG WITH OTHER SATELLITE-TARGETING WEAPONS, HAVE MADE GEOPOLITICAL TENSIONS EXTEND INTO ORBIT.

time-read
10+ dak  |
January - February 2025
Fresh Fingerprints on an Ancient Statue
Popular Mechanics US

Fresh Fingerprints on an Ancient Statue

A CLAY FIGURINE HAS SPENT MILLENNIA incomplete, waiting at the bottom of a lake for its long-dead craftsman to finish the Iron Age-era statuette.

time-read
2 dak  |
January - February 2025
Quantum Entanglement in Our Brains
Popular Mechanics US

Quantum Entanglement in Our Brains

IT HAS LONG BEEN ARGUED THAT THE human brain is similar to a computer. But in reality, that's selling the brain pretty short.

time-read
2 dak  |
January - February 2025
The Tools of Copernicus
Popular Mechanics US

The Tools of Copernicus

WAY BACK IN 1508, WITH ONLY LIMited tools at his disposal, Nicolaus Copernicus developed a celestial model of a heliocentric planetary system, which he described in hist landmark work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. It was a complete overhaul of our conception of the universe-one that, unfortunately, earned him the ire of the Catholic church for decades after his death-and forever changed the way we look at the stars.

time-read
2 dak  |
January - February 2025
Building a Sixth-Generation Bomber Raptor
Popular Mechanics US

Building a Sixth-Generation Bomber Raptor

THE GLOBAL COMBAT AIR Programme (GCAP)-a project by the U.K., Italy, and Japan to develop a sixth-generation stealth fighter-has been busy at the drawing board reshaping its vision of the future of air warfare. And judging by the new concept model unveiled at this year's Farnborough air show, that future has big triangular wings.

time-read
3 dak  |
January - February 2025
The Electroweak Force of the Early Universe
Popular Mechanics US

The Electroweak Force of the Early Universe

TODAY, THE UNIVERSE AS WE KNOW IT IS governed by four fundamental forces: the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, electromagnetism, and gravity.

time-read
1 min  |
January - February 2025
This Ancient Fossil With a Brain and Guts
Popular Mechanics US

This Ancient Fossil With a Brain and Guts

WE KNOW WHAT FOSSILS LOOK like. For example, typical dinosaur fossils are bones turned to stone and preserved from the passage of time, located, if we're particularly lucky, in large collections that can be reassembled to represent the beast they used to prop up in their entirety.

time-read
1 min  |
January - February 2025