Alright folks, lemme tell you about this weekend project – an auto pressure washer! Been meaning to tackle this for ages, finally got around to it.

First off, I grabbed one of those cheap pressure washers from the hardware store. Nothing fancy, just a basic one that gets the job done. Then I spent a bunch of time scrounging around in my garage for parts. I had this old windshield wiper motor kicking around, thought it might be perfect.

The plan was simple: use the wiper motor to move the pressure washer nozzle back and forth. That way, it'd automatically spray a wider area instead of just a single point. Sounds easy, right? Well...

So, I started by mounting the wiper motor to a piece of scrap wood. Then I had to figure out how to connect it to the pressure washer nozzle. This was the tricky part. I ended up using some zip ties and a whole lot of duct tape – don't judge! It wasn't pretty, but it held things together. For now.

Next, I needed some kind of linkage to convert the motor's rotary motion into a back-and-forth movement for the nozzle. I found this old metal rod in my junk drawer, bent it into shape with some pliers. Again, not exactly precision engineering, but it worked!

Wired up the wiper motor to a spare 12V power supply I had lying around. Flipped the switch, and... nothing. Turns out the motor was seized. After some oil and persuasion and a few good taps with a hammer, it finally sprang to life! Whew!

Now, the moment of truth. Hooked everything up to the pressure washer, turned it on, and... water everywhere! The zip ties and duct tape weren't holding up to the pressure. Time for some reinforcements.

This time, I used metal clamps and some stronger adhesive. Much better. Still a bit wobbly, but at least it wasn't leaking like crazy. The nozzle was moving back and forth, spraying a decent area. It wasn't perfect, but hey, it was progress!

Took it outside and tested it on my driveway. It actually worked! The auto-sweeping action did a pretty good job of cleaning the concrete. Saved me a ton of time and effort. No more standing there holding the nozzle for hours.

Here's a quick rundown of the materials I used:

• Cheap pressure washer
• Old windshield wiper motor
• Scrap wood
• Metal rod
• Metal clamps
• Strong adhesive
• Zip ties (lots of them)
• Duct tape (even more of it)
• 12V power supply

Lessons Learned:

• Duct tape is your friend, but it's not a long-term solution.
• Measure twice, cut once (or, in my case, bend twice, break once).
• Don't be afraid to experiment and get your hands dirty.

Future Improvements

This is just a prototype, obviously. Next time, I'd like to use a more robust motor and a proper linkage system. Maybe even add some kind of speed control. But for now, I'm happy with my auto pressure washer. It's ugly, but it works!

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. I'm always open to new ideas. And if you decide to build your own auto pressure washer, be sure to share your results!