My Tussle with a New Pressure Washer Nozzle Gun

Okay, so the other day, my old pressure washer gun decided it had enough. Started leaking like crazy right where you grip it, water squirting everywhere except where I wanted it. Super annoying when you're trying to get a job done, you know? So, I figured it was time for a replacement.

Didn't want to spend ages researching online, too many choices, makes your head spin. Just drove down to the local hardware store. Found a section with pressure washer bits. Picked up a nozzle gun that looked pretty standard, felt solid enough in my hand. Checked the connection type looked like it would fit my setup. Paid for it and headed back home.

Got it out of the plastic packaging. Nothing fancy, just the gun itself and usually they come with a few different colored nozzle tips. Mine did too, the usual suspects: red, yellow, green, white, black. Standard stuff.

Next step, dragged the pressure washer out. Had to disconnect the old, leaky gun first. Unscrewed it from the wand. Bit of water dribbled out, reminder of the problem. Tossed the old one aside. Good riddance.

Took the new gun and screwed it onto the wand. Made sure the threads lined up okay, didn't want to cross-thread it. Hand-tightened it first, then just gave it a gentle extra turn with a wrench to make sure it was snug. You don't want to overtighten these things.

Hooked up the main pressure hose to the bottom of the gun. Connected the garden hose to the washer, turned the water supply on. Always good to check for leaks before you fire up the motor. Held the trigger down on the gun (with the machine off, obviously) to let water run through and get the air out. Seemed okay, no drips at the new connection points.

Alright, moment of truth. Fired up the pressure washer. Motor kicked in. Grabbed the new gun. Felt a bit different from the old one, maybe the grip or the trigger angle. Pulled the trigger.

Putting it to the Test

Aimed it at the dirty concrete path I’d been meaning to clean. It worked! No leaks from the gun itself, which was the main goal. Felt pretty powerful.

Then I started playing with the different nozzle tips:

• Snapped on the yellow tip (I think it's 15 degrees?). Good for general cleaning, stripped the grime off the concrete pretty well.
• Tried the white tip (40 degrees?). Much wider spray, less intense. Better for rinsing down or maybe washing the car siding without peeling paint off.
• Glanced at the red tip (0 degrees). Nope. Not touching that one unless I want to etch my name into the concrete or something. Too risky for most jobs.
• The black one is usually for soap, didn't need that today.

Changing the tips was easy enough, just that quick-connect collar. Pull it back, pop the nozzle out, snap a new one in. Simple.

Spent about an hour cleaning the path and some grimy spots on the driveway. The gun performed just fine. The trigger lock was handy for taking short breaks without shutting the whole machine down. Control felt decent, maybe even a bit better than my old leaky one.

Finished the job, path looked way better. Turned off the machine, disconnected the water. Squeezed the trigger again to release the pressure. Unhooked the hoses, wiped things down a bit.

So yeah, the new pressure washer nozzle gun did the trick. Simple swap, solved the leak problem. Back in business. Sometimes it's the small fixes that make the biggest difference to getting chores done without extra hassle.