Kärcher K4 Full Control Pressure Washe
Kärcher K 4 Full Control Pressure Washer
The versatile and powerful Kärcher K 4 Full Control pressure washer makes it easy to select the right pressure for the job, whether you’re cleaning the patio or the car. Easily adjust the pressure from one surface to another with the LED pressure setting display on the trigger gun, and switch between the Vario and Dirt blaster lances depending on your cleaning task. The machine’s Plug ‘n’ Clean system applies detergent as you clean for maximum efficiency without making a mess.
K 4 Full Control
Pressure Settings Made Simple
Use the LED display on the trigger gun to select the right pressure for the job, effortlessly.
Easily Switch Between Surfaces
A Vario lance and Dirt blaster lance allow you to select the right pressure for cleaning any surface.
Cleaning Made Simple
Make light work of applying detergent with the Plug ‘n’ Clean system – just click in the bottle and you’re good to go
Get To Work Instantly
Get started with minimum effort. The Quick Connect system instantly links the high-pressure hose to the machine and trigger gun.
Everything In One Place
Keep everything you need close to hand with on-board storage for the lances and cable.
Easy To Pull And Store
Select the perfect pulling height with the telescopic handle, which retracts completely to save space when you don’t need it
Built To Last
You’ll get years of use thanks to the state-of-the-art water cooled motor, built for top performance and durability.
Maximum Stability
This machine won’t just fall over – a low centre of gravity, hose guide and larger base keep it as stable as can be.
Kärcher Pressure Washers
 K 4 Full Control |  K 2 Compact |  K 3 Home |  K 5 Premium FC Plus |  K 7 Premium FC Plus Home | |
| Pressure (bar/MPa) | max. 130 / max. 13 | max. 110 / max. 11 | max. 120 / max.12 | 20 – max. 145 / 2 – max. 14.5 | max. 180/ max. 18.0 |
| Flow rate (l/h) | max. 420 | max. 360 | max. 380 | max. 500 | max. 550 |
| High Pressure Hose length (m) | 6 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Weight without accessories(kg) | 11.4 | 3.7 | 6.5 | 12.7 | 17.7 |
| Built-in hose reel | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Detergent Application | Plug ‘n’ Clean | Suction Tube | Built-in Detergent Tank | Plug ‘n’ Clean | Plug ‘n’ Clean |
| Home Kit Included | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Weight: | 11.4 kg |
| Size: | LARGE |
| Dimensions: | 30.5 x 58.4 x 39.7 cm; 11.42 Kilograms |
| Model: | 1.324-002.0 |
| Part: | 1.324-002.0 |
| Colour: | Yellow/Black |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | Yes |
| Batteries Included: | Alkaline |
| Manufacture: | Kärcher |
| Colour: | Yellow/Black |
| Quantity: | 1 |
| Size: | LARGE |
Great product cleaned my patio up a treat, going to clean decking and pathways next which I’m sure will turn out well.
Can’t go wrong buying a karcher. This is an amazing versatile piece of kit.
We have half a dozen Karcher products and are generally satisfied with their performance. The pressure washer is used mainly for occasional cleaning of outdoor concrete, followed by sealant. The high pressure outlet failed after being used about four or five times. However Amazon provided contact details for Karcher who arranged for a courier to collect and it was subsequently repaired and returned by same, arriving this morning. Initial test is satisfactory, thank you Nigel at Karcher, and thank you Amazon for your assistance in putting this right. Watch this space for report on Spring cleaning.
Box arrived crushed on one side and a small piece of plastic covering some metal was broken off. Also sounds like some thing is rattling inside. I did start the machine and I am very happy with how it performs just upset that it arrived damage.
If you have an old Karscher as I had make sure your accessories will transfer to your new purchase , they are slightly different but I think you can buy an adapter.
The dirt blaster lance is essential for cleaning brick paviors , works much better than the patio cleaner as it is much more powerful.
Better connections than older model more accessible and the detergent delivery system much better than having a bottle on the floor with a tube stuck in i
after a k2 this is a much better and more powerful machine. I have cleaned my front paving stones and they have come up really bright after all the dirt was removed. It took around 9 hours to clean this area as it was fairly large 45 x 20 feet. The water just cut though the dirt and moss. Job done for this year a most likely next.
A big step up from my old Karcher K3. Controllability is excellent and on “hard” setting gives very good power.
Bit of a fiddle to set it up following unpacking with very small diagrams to follow and no verbiage.
Why can’t it be put together in the factory?
A big step up from my old Karcher K3. Controllability is excellent and on “hard” setting gives very good power.
Bit of a fiddle to set it up following unpacking with very small diagrams to follow and no verbiage.
Why can’t it be put together in the factory?
Not as powerful as i thought but for the money its quite good.
The buid quality is top notch
Great pressure washer bought to replace my old one which was at least 10 years old also a karcher.
Very good machine definitely a must have around the house love it very nice and very powerful
buy it you will not regre
My old K2 died after 7 years so decided to buy this, it’s alot better than the old K2 power wise and build quality although a cable reel for the pressure hose would be nice.
As for longetivity as per other reviews we will see.
Excellent pressure washer and would recommend highly, only slight problem was there was clip missing to connect the washer hose to the machine and had to pay a visit to my local Karcher dealer.
Bought to replace my old karcher unit a lot good about it and 1 not so good ,a shame the hose is a pemanant fixture otherwise all ok
Purchased on Prime Day. Have used this a couple of times since purchase – totalling about 2.5/3hrs use.
Pros:
– powerful enough for any domestic use
– simple to set up and use with water supply, using hose pipe and fitting
– fairly long hose connected, reducing need to move the machine whilst in use meaning you can focus on your task
Cons:
– quite heavy / awkward to lug around (minor)
– magic wand attachment is a bit fiddly to adjust to the medium setting, almost binary between soft and hard setting (moderate)
– haven’t found a decent use for the soft setting (as it’s basically a standard hose pipe’s amount of pressure)
All the stones/brick,,don’t know what to call them,,looked the same colour.Used the Karcher and found that there were many colours.so bright,like new.
My only advise is watch the wind.You might upset the neighbors with the dirty spray! lol
Having owned a few K2 washers which eventually leak and fall apart, I am quite impressed with the size and power of this K4. It’s bigger and slightly heavier, but the main difference is the on/off switch feels a lot better quality and the obviously more powerful motor sounds smoother and quieter. It is still all plastic, but the K2 felt flimsy by comparison. I got the minimum package with just the two lances as I have a garage full of the optional extras that are left over from my K2s. All interchangeable. Other than that, it sprays water really hard and cleans things.
This product contains a design flaw that requires an additional ( relatively inexpensive ) part to keep the unit together when under pressure, namely a small spring clip to retain the high pressure hose in it’s housing with the main washer body. No one tells you that, you just discover this fact when you first go to use the product and the high pressure hose blows out of it’s seating position.
The Karcher in use has really impressed me. I power washed nearly non-stop for over an hour this morning and it just didn’t skip a beat. Pressure was constant and only the short lance hose was a pain at times. I also purchased the karcher stone/brick cleaner detergent, but as other reviewers have pointed out, the pressure washer drinks the stuff even at a low pressures.
I’m really not sure how long this Karcher will last, but so far so good. Will report back if any issues/failures.
Great product. ideal for washing the car or cleaning the patio. Very easy to use. I have had mine for over a yea
If you are looking for the best non petrol pressure washer then get the K4. It cleans the garden perfectly and has around 130 psi which is more than enough to get rid of stains.
Be careful of the power of this thing! The spinning head attachment has got so much pressure I would avoid using it up close on your car paintwork. I used it to clear off anything dirty or loose before undercoating my Mitsubishi L200 which worked well but use the lower power attachment for your paintwork.
This replaces my old broken four year old K4 Karcher.
It is a better design, in as much it is shorter and does not fall over like the old model.
It seems more powerful, maybe as it is brand new.
I think it is a little noisier though. The hose is longer and much better to wash the car with than the old one.
They seem the most popular pressure washers out there, and it certainly does the job really well. Easy to roll up the hose and store away in the garage. I paid around 150 which is a reasonable price I think.
Recommended.
This fitted the bill by having the water cooled motor and not costing the earth. It looks good too.
Assembly was simple and common sense with just one medium length cross point screwdriver needed. The instructions with pictures made the process easy.
Quality seems reasonable for the price we paid and it looks and feels sturdy once it was put together.
The attachments are easy to take off and put on with the mouldings at the joints giving plenty of grip especially when wet.
Since buying this I have purchased various tools to get more use out of it, 90 degree nozzle for washing under the car, snow foam lance, decking attachment, brushes and an extension piece. All fit in the same manner and work well with this machine.
The ‘full control’ leds that light up on the lance I quite frankly don’t see the point of. You can tell if the jet of water is strong, soft or somewhere inbetween…. common sense springs to mind!!!
I now use weekly for washing the car, bins and windows. Overall a great item that I am using more than I anticipated purely because I no longer have to borrow one.
The only thing I feel lets this down is the storage for the hose and power supply cable, it just seems a bit of an afterthought to me. That said it keeps it all reasonably tidy for storage.
Great pressure washer. So much better than my old K2. A lot more water pressure, neat and compact too. Hope it lasts as long as my old one (10 years)
I had a jar her jet wash before they are great jet pressure washer. I used this to clean bricks and decking and it was a breeze. The added cleaner liquid are also really good makes for a complete job.
The packaging missed out the instruction guide and some screws.
I found the guide –taken off the web– lack simplicity.
It works well and does a reasonable job
This washer is perfect in every way. For any family size home and garden you get good power. The productivity gains from using the correct tool for the job is just amazing – literally does the job in half the time. Easy to assemble and most intuitive to use.
There is a very sharp focus on superior fittings and accessories on this machine, there is a very robust feel to this top quality pressure washer.
I am delighted with the product and more importantly with the results – every home should have this. A great piece of kit to have on standby and the on board storage means that it is ready to go, anytime and doesn’t take up too much room meantime.
Krcher is the market leader for good reason.
Bought it with the drain cleaning pipe and it did the job.
Was not sure it was that it was that powerful until I fitted the lance and had a go at patio. I was amazed how quickly it cleaned them.
This is the second Karcher pressure washer I have owned, the previous one died after an active 10 year life. The K4 is such an improvement, the adjustable pressure setting is a great help. So far I have cleaned decking and paving but they are as clean as new. I also used to wash the car, again a great result but I have one minor complaint, it used a whole bottle of shampoo. Maybe I was doing it wrong and it will improve with use.
HAD A K2 , THIS IS AWSOME AND 100 TIMES BETTER = BUY IT !
Well worth the money. I didn’t even know my path was meant to be white until I used this. Didn’t know how powerful it was, put my hand infront of it and now I’m ready to be crucified.
My wife bought me this Karcher K4 as a replacement for our old one that had seen better days. I considered the Karcher K2 but after plenty of research and You tube demonstrations plumped for the more powerful (and slightly more expensive) K4 together with the T-350 T racer surface cleaner tool. Using these together with the Karcher stone and hard surface cleaning solution the results on our York Stone patio and drive are nothing short of amazing.
Using the T-350 head eliminates all the messy unwanted spray that you get from using the ‘wand’. Karcher claim that the T-350 it cuts the cleaning time in half. I can verify this is certainly the case, if not more so. The head effortlessly glides over the paving leaving the stones gleaming within minutes.
You won’t buy a pressure washer very often but if you get one of these you will certainly not be dissapointed. I can’t wait to try it on the car later.
The only down side, if there is one, is the instruction for assembly are not great but there are plenty of tutorials available on You Tube.
Once you switch it on you will want to pressure wash everything in sight!
my previous karcher died after eight years of weekly use so i had no hesitation in replacing it the only criticisms would be the highly priced detergents and a peculiar positioning of hose connectors. An extra metre of pressure hose might reach right around my car.
Bought this to replace my existing Karcher which is over 10 years old and increasingly borrowed by the kids! The new Karcher was easy to assemble and works as well as I expected it to.
Straightforward to assemble. Works really well on my car. Does have quite a bit of power behind it. Happy customer, happy to recommend.
EXCELLENT MACHINE IT i LOVE IT. I’VE DONE MORE WORK IN THE GARDEN WITH THIS MACHINE, THAN i HAVE DONE FOR A LONG WHILE.
I PURCHASED MY FIRST KARCHER PRESSURE WASHER 40 YEARS AGO. THE K4 IS MY SECOND PURCHASE, THAT ‘S HOW GOOD THESE MACHINES ARE
I purchased this pressure washer to replace my old one which had stopped working.
This pressure washer is well made, easy to set up and use. The different settings are perfect, each setting provides a perfect amount of pressure to carry out a variety of cleaning tasks.
My advice would be at the start of a cleaning job select the lower pressure and work your way up to find the correct one for the job.
I mainly use this for washing my car and was a little worried at first. You hear some horror stories about pressure washers and car paint work. However this was just what I needed.
This pressure washer is great value and in the long run will save me money as prices for my local car wash have slowly started to increase.
My only issue with this item is that the carrying handle is set to low.
I recommend.
bought this as my last one was burnt out by my daughter (it was one of the smallers ones of Karcher, make sure you use a decent hose to supply the water, they used a collapsible one which restricted water flow
Roconditioned , if excellent condition, as new , no marks or blemishes, which wasn’t expected , works brilliantly
Not the most powerful Krcher I used but for the price this is it’s a bargain i will be buying the soap gun attachment as this jus comes with jet wash and gun itself l. I
I read lots of the reviews before I chose this product. It does exactly what it says! A very good purchase. I’ve tried it out on the patio and the results are amazing !! You won’t be disappointed.
Just recently upgraded from The k 2 to the k4 absolutely outstanding. It’s well worth spending a little bit more to get the larger machine the power so much better the controls are so much better one very happy custome
Bought this after my k2 packed in. Not much difference in performance and the hose isn’t as good a quality as my previous one. Very easy to kink, and not impressed by it. Otherwise, it’ll do the job.
Very pleased with this. Only issue handle is too low have to bend down to pull it along otherwise very good
Does a good job. No problems so far: has done everything I have asked of it, but has a slightly fragile feel. I do have concerns regarding longevity. However so far, so good.
Excellent for cleaning my block paving. Best it’s looked. Good and powerful giving much quicker cleaning than my previous smaller Karcher. If you just want to clean paintwork etc. make sure you use the correct lance which gives option for lower power otherwise it may take loose paint off!
This jet washer is brilliant. I use it for the cars and I have blasted the cement off my driveway after the builders left . It now looks spotless
We have had 3 pressure washers in the past 5 years so we decided to buy a more expensive one to see if it lasts longer. So far we are very pleased with this Karcher.
Easy to assemble its effective in the sense it does not take very long to clean the car could of been a little more powerful to remove stubborn dirt a little on the heavy side and the pull up handle seams cheaply made but a good product nevertheless
Bought this to replace my K2 compact.
Noticeably better and quieter!
Only criticism is that I wanted a longer hose so had to buy the extender but this is the case will all karchers.
Was a bit concerned when I got this as I had read that older model accessories didn’t fit. Iv’e had no problem, all my existing ones worked fine with this model. Much cheaper too. My only gripe is the short hose and not on a reel but I can live with that at the price.
It is easy & quick to assemble.
Very powerful the dirtblaster lance really does blast dirt I cleaned a comcret drive way that hadn’t been cleaned in years & it came up spotless.
It is so powerful you can even feel concrete grit being blasted away.
The vario lance as the name suggests is variable from a gentle spray to a spray that was cleaning green algae from a wall with no problem.
The reson I only gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is down to the hose which I found to rigid & inflexible when using it, I havent even bothered trying to thread it back through the feed hole to loop back around the hanger on the rear of the washer.
Hopefully this will sorted with useage.
Would of been nice to have a bottle for detergent in the box but in the round very happy with this product.
Love my new K4 though. A much more robust and heavy duty machine for my current needs.
Money well spent.
love this thing it’s so addictive tho can’t stop cleaning stuff 4 hours non stop doing the drive way worth getting this one with the water cooled motor!! Blew me away
I have this phobia (or should I say “notion in my head”)? that electronics, water and high pressure machinery do not make for a successful mix. And this had all three.
Obviously my predicament was not helped by some of the negative reviews posted about the product.
But despite the deep rooted cynicism, and the fact there are much much cheaper machines out there, I took the plunge and got one.
In hindsight & reflection, I realize my main drivers for this purchase were:
(1) My 10 year old machine (a Halfords branded one) was leaking so badly along the high pressure hose, it was getting out of hand.
(2) This is the machine with the highest pressure (in bars) when you consider not having to fork out silly money (several hundred pounds) for a washer. Anything over 130 bar is priced so ridiculously, one would imagine there is a technical impediment to get any higher pressure. (Maybe there is – I just don’t know it!)
(3) The price of this machine has yo-yo’d quite a bit – ranging from the 140-ish mark to 220-ish. I purchased it when it was near the bottom end of this scale.
Performance wise:
(1) It is much smaller than I expected… definitely much smaller then my old one. And much lighter. But it does pack a punch… not to be understated.
(2) I purchased this primarily to wash my cars – and one setting on the jet nozzle was good enough.. I didn’t even give the fancy lighting system on the pressure gun a second glance. (A bit over the top – if you asked me)
(3) I am one of the pickiest car cleaners imaginable – so from the onset I did not use the inbuilt detergent dispenser system, partly because I was not confident that Karcher’s own detergent had any decent rankings in the car shampoo leader board; and partly because I’d rather wait a bit to recover financially and invest in a proper foam dispenser
So…
Is its performance any better than some of the cheaper models out there? Not sure..
Is its durability worth the price? Only time will tell…
Am I happy with my purchase? Hell – Yes!
Cleaned out two cars in no time – results are spectacular!
Fantastic – much faster than the previous Karcher we had. It uses one third more water but does twice as much per hour. Very impressed. I never use the variable nozzle though – I only use the fixed blaster – but I was just doing paving.
They recommend only using Hozelok type fittings that are NOT “auto stop”, and I do find it’s necessary to follow that advice. Once or twice the autostop end must have got slightly dislocated from the pressure washer and not enough water got through. The change in motor sound alerted me and I changed the hose fitting.
Good pressure washer, very powerful. Some nice features, although the handle falls down of it’s own accord and it’s not as easy as you’d think to wheel it around. The hose and the electrical cable are long enough you can reach most things.
Excellent product, great value for money and much better than my previous Washer (different make). Arrived on time and was working within a few minutes. Equally as important (as least to me) is after sales service and again Karcher are outstanding. I had a minor problem with the machine and contact the company directly on a Friday afternoon. Had a response on the Saturday Marning and parts arrived Monday. Just great service.
Well done
Great power washer. Only thing am not sure of is the hose feed.dont see the point in it as the hose hangs on the back of the washer. Other then that thumbs up
good machine for price ,my 3.99 ,I think that was the model went to the graveyard after 11 years ,this one has took over looks good build ,will do the job of house and car washing looks a bit better with longer hose and improved detergent filler ,tried it on drive does the job a treat ,good buy for the cost thanks selle
There’s nothing I can say wrong about this washer pressure , a lot better than the previous model k2, it’s got a longer cord so you can go round the car easily without having to constantly pulling the unit one side or the other. As for the rest well it’s Karcher , the name sat it all and there’s no point me adding anymore ore than the people reviewing this before me added .
If you can afford it buy it, it’s a great product that won’t disappoint you for a mome
The decking and fence had not been cleaned for 7+ years. Boy, did the pressure washer get the dirt off! The wood went from zombie-grey to almost-as-new brown. But be warned, it is back breaking work! It took me about 2 days to get through the lot.
Not used for anything else since (aching back needs a rest) but I can safely say that whatever the task, this machine will surely blow through it.
Other points to note:
– not really as heavy as I expected. moving it around was pretty comfortable
– on the other hand, weighty enough to provide a stable and solid base when working
– impressed by the lack of heat generated by the motor even after dawn to dusk use. Water cooled motors rule!
– One could argue that the deck cleaning attachment might have helped in not letting water spray around the footwear. Not having something covering the nozzle though meant I could see what I was doing and raise/lower the nozzle (thereby controlling the force of the water jet) much better. The attachment would also not have helped with cleaning the fence attached to the decking. So for me, lack of that extra attachment was not really a big deal (I did end up with quite muddy shoes though!).
– The length of the cord was not really an issue in my experience (some people have complained about it). I just used a good quality extension reel and that worked out quite ok
– noisy but not unduly so
I would recommend this product as a “must buy”. One star less than the full 5 as I have yet to use it for anything else…. but this by no means takes away the quality of the product.
Moved into a house recently and spent a good day pressure cleaning the garden paths, driveway, bins and garden walls.
It’s super easy to use, cleans out the most stubborn of dirt.
Also works great with bikes and lots of other things that can benefit from a good wash.
And best of all you don’t really need to add any detergent or cleaner, pure water does the job!
Have a look at the before and after pics.
Does the job but wish I’d gone for the more powerful one . Think it would have done a better job blasting my very dirty flags. Great for the car and bikes though. The attachments are eSy to fit and machine light enough to transport.
I’ve borrowed other peoples pressure washers before and always found them to be very temperamental, especially if using quite a long water hose. Maybe only because its new, but no such problems with this model.
The hose storage options arent great if Im honest, but I can live it as this will only get occasional use in the garden.
I’m hoping the water cooled motor will prolong its lifespan. Buying on “Prime Day” I got this for a great price, so happy days.
Having previously used a Karcher K2 I decided to purchase the K4 because of the very good price here. I am from Ireland and same machine costs 294.99 at Argos. I was expecting good performance from a brand like Karcher and it did not fail to deliver solid performance. It arrives nicely packaged and can be put together in minutes. I use the K4 to wash my car, patio, walls, driveway, windows, bins, bicycle etc. It has plenty of power and lifts dirt effortlessly. The vario spray lance is brilliant for most tasks but for really stubborn dirt, I would recommend using the dirt blaster spray lance. There is a pressure indicator on the trigger gun but I think this is a bit of a waste of time as it is easy to regulate and judge the pressure. A bottle of detergent can be inserted into the machine but I have not used that feature yet so I cannot comment on it just yet but it might come in handy in the future. So all in all a brilliant machine and I recommend buying it now at this brilliant price.
All in all not a deal breaker, a good powerful machine.
The cable tidy is a joke – a simple piece of netting! As to the hose tidy, they’re having a laugh. The hose merely hangs off a hook – nothing wrong with that, but coiling the thing will drive you round the bend as it has me. For some inexplicable reason, the hose doesn’t rotate within it’s connection at the lance, so the hose is seriously difficult to coil as a result if you want to leave the lance attached. The hose can be removed from the handle, but why should one have to? The K5 has a proper reel, and while more expensive (and slightly more powerful) that really does make a difference. On reflection, I wish I’d bought it instead.
As to the lance, I fail to see the need for the electronic pressure indicator. That’s just a gadget. It would be nice if it came with a fluids bottle,
Overall, it’s ok and if you get it at a decent price then I’d say it’s good value for money. If it last as long as the old 620 I’ll be happy – that was well over 20 years old when it died.
I had a K2 before. it stopped working, This is one of the New designed Karcher Washers.
The Motor is Water cooled. so should last a lot longer than most.
The lance has a control panel or should I say 3 lights come on. A waste of time for me. But the hose is extra long.
The 2 lances work great Very Powerful. A Bonus I can use the attachment’s from my K2, will fit.
There is 1 point you will have to buy the New type of cleaner and bottle. One is not included in this package, Poor.
And the cleaner costs more. I have used a 5L large bottle of cleaner and filled the small one and saved money.
A Good Machine overall. With lots of Power.
This is an amazing jet wash, I have used a range of different brands but Karcher is by far the best. There is three different power settings which is very useful and the dirt blaster I outstanding. I used it on my patio and it is now cleaner than when I first lay the slabs. Amazing product.
My old power washer finally started to play up after many years of hard service. We have a very large patio area to power wash each year. We are surrounded by deciduous trees and the patio is always green and disgusting after the winter. My old machine was not a Karcher, but over the years I found myself using Karcher accessories for it as they were better in every way! This prompted me to go for a Karcher model. I already had a T250 patio cleaning attachment so I went for this package.
I have posted a full review on YouTube search for Russell Platten.
The Full Control version has a pressure indicator on the gun and a lance, the Vario Lance, which allows you adjust the water pressure with a variable pressure regulator. The process of adjusting the pressure is a bit hit and miss, but very easy. Karcher recommend different pressure settings for different tasks to prevent damage to more delicate surfaces.
As well as the Vario lance the unit comes with the Dirt Blaster lance which is more aggressive and a joy to use. The jet spins at high speed removing just about everything in its path. Using it fills you with pleasure as you watch your patio transforming in front of your eyes! We also have the Karcher T250 patio cleaner, one of the purchases I made for my old washer, and this speeds up patio cleaning considerably! If you have large areas to clean, the patio cleaner is a must! So we use the cleaner for the majority of the patio and the dirt blaster lance for the really bad areas.
The washer has a built in detergent bottle cartridge slot on the top. This allows the use of various chemicals to help in the battle against dirt, mold and grime. It is easy to use with a dedicated setting on the Vario lance and a bottle that is just a push fit into the slot. The bottles can be refilled so you can buy one and then top it up with any detergent of your choice once it has emptied. Personally, I prefer the foam jet nozzle, you can get one that fits the new cartridge bottles or one with it’s own bottle quite a bit cheaper here on Amazon.
The unit requires a little assembly out of the box, I also have an unboxing and assembly video, this is pretty easy. The hose is 6m long and this can be a little annoying if you have large areas to tackle, I bought the 6m extension and this makes using the washer much better.
It is a great machine, I have cleaned loads of different things with it and love it. However, there are two issues I have with the unit. The first is the hose, it is very stiff and the snap fit connections do not swivel. When you are using the washer, the hose tends to try and push your hand in a different direction and whilst this is not a big problem, it does get annoying after a while. If the hose was more flexible it would be better. The rigidity also makes coiling it to put away difficult too. The second issue only became apparent after I had used the washer for a prolonged period of time. The trigger is quite stiff, after a few hours of use your hand gets stiff and it becomes very uncomfortable. The tip of my little finger became numb and I have had aching hands after using it for several hours at a time. This is only a problem if you use it for longer periods, but it is an issue. The trigger needs to be softened!
The unit is simply great! It is solid and has a good quality feel to it. It can tackle very large and dirty areas with ease. You can buy an attachment to allow it to be used with any water supply, such as a barrel or pond, beat the hose pipe bans! There are several models in the range, spend some time to work out which is best for your needs. Consider the patio cleaner, the K4 Home comes with one and is a good deal! You can’t go wrong with Karcher, they are tried and tested, good quality machines. If you are considering one, go for it!
Decent machine, gets a lot of use and water cooled certainly stops it from burning out prematurely like all my other air coled ones have done. Odd design by where the pressure house connects to the body of the washer as it is held on by a small spring clip that doesnt seem to have the fore to stay on due to water pressure. Fixed with piece of wire to stop it from spoinging off.
Fantastic…. does everything I wanted and more, quick, powerfull, and will do all the extras without paying out the extra money. worth every penny for the time saved and the deep clean that it does.
Only problem I am having is there is a cheap plastic button (not robust like the rest of the K4) that you need to use to release the gun from the hose, this is not a easy operation, you can leave it attached but it doesn’t fit in the compartment very well, it should be a twist and turn bayonet fitting like the two lances. Will probably have to get back in touch with Amazon/Karcher if it gets worse
I was particularly pleased that the bayonet fitting for the tools is compatible with my 20 year old machine so that I can use the brush, long angled lance and rotary patio cleaner (T-racer?) which I had bought as extras for my old machine.
The connection at the machine end of the high pressure hose has been changed from screw type to a push fit which is a lot better since the screw connection would seize if it was done hand tight even if the pressure was relieved before you tried to undo it. On the down side it means that my old high pressure hose is not compatible which is a pity because it was 8 metres long instead of the 6 for the one with the K4.
This brings me to my main gripe which is that the high pressure hose is too short to allow you to easily clean an average size car without moving the machine several times during the entire process. It is also too short to allow easy cleaning of the higher levels of the walls of my house. (removing swallow nest mess after they have flown) I will buy a 6m high pressure extension hose for approx 30 to get around this problem. Had I realised the significance of the shorter hose, which WAS detailed in the specification, I would have factored this extra expence into my search for an replacement of my old machine.
Small bit of self assembly and wasn’t sure about the water filter, so rang Karcher. Excellent, helpful service. Everything worked as it should and it was easy to get cleaning the patio on the day of arrival. Very happy.