What's the Best Pump for pressure Washing? & WHY

Results from the field brings the most important answers we can get..
that's why auto manufacturers invest in race cars..
The leading edge MUST be tried and trued through the blood, sweat and frequently tears
..of the hottest, roughest, most abusive roads available..
I will be amazed if Scott finds a substantial difference in seal lifespan between the AR and any other pump with similar design..
I'll pick this one apart until the difference is explainable. (And I'm not "married" to any one mfr. or pump model.)
In reliability.. I am never satisfied.

RK's have 1/2" inlets,
so do the Legacy GT5635's.. same as the General TS2021's.. but the Legacy uses U-cup seals, and the General V-packings, as in the RK.
Legacy weighs 33lbs, the General weighs 32lbs, the RK weighs 20 lbs..
If the bigger pump has thoroughfares that "flow better" I want to know about it..
I'll be taking a closer look at this shortly..

I have to admit that I have not bothered to look "that" closely at the difference between these pumps
only because every time I have done the troubleshooting on these kinds of issues,
We have found flow restrictive fittings, leaky fittings, or "high-mounted" pumps (comparative to bottom of holding tank on tank-feed systems)
and other install-related issues.
..Scott's multiplicity of pumps primarily includes the Aaladin units that have the fuel cells below the pump..
having inlets of pumps elevated well above the floor of the holding tanks that feed them.
the only way he's going to get different results with no other parameter change except the pump design itself.. is a "pure" test.
..and his having dozens of the systems to prove results with has my undivided attention.

Reliability, or the lack of.. is explainable, and predictable.
Scott's example and trials can be a great help to the community.
 
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I look at Jerry's recommendations, and look at my experiences, and just scratch my head. I have no doubt that Jerry knows what he is talking about, but I have a bunch of RK series AR pumps, and they have been nothing short of a nightmare. Leaking oil seals, even though the oil is checked and topped every day. Water seals that if there is even a little flow problem fail in a heart beat. I think that I have spent nothing short of $3000 on water seals for RK pumps this year. I don't think that I have spent ANY money on plungers for the General pumps I have. I have started replacing the RK pumps with Legacy pumps, the GT 5635, and they appear to be a very good pump, and even mounted on the same machine, with the same configuration, they appear to have a much longer life.
I just think it odd, looking at it from a manufacturers perspective, vs that of a contractor with multiple machines.

Buy something better next Time
 
General tsf2021 pump is my favorite. Even if I was only gonna run 5.5 gpm, I would still run this pump and pulley it down. I had the reg ts2021 on everything before going to the tsf and it was good but a lot more packing changing, piston problems, etc
 
I like the new Legacys and People swear by their Udors - Those are the only pumps that have U-seals instead of V-seals.
 
My vote is GP TS2021 because its cost effective, reliable, and has enough GPM and PSI to get majority of jobs done.

I have to agree here. Having worked on just about every pressure washer pump made, my favorite is the TS2021. They are well built and reliable and easy to work on. Over all my years as a service tech in the field these pumps always last. I have seen the used in a lot of different applications besides pressure washing .
 
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