SpudFiles

To increase the performance and ergonomics of a piston gun which I have, I upgraded the pilot valve to a pressure washer handle. The first two or three times, the gun shot great. However, after that, the pressure washer handle stopped functioning properly. I opened up the valve, and saw that an o-ring had become misaligned. I realigned it and tried again. Still didn't work. I opened up the handle again, and saw that the o-ring was misaligned again. I did this a few more times, only to come to the same problem.

I know that pressure washer handles are not supposed to have constant pressure on the outlet side; no pilot valve is. On my old blowgun, it would leak out the back. I know that most people just flip their blowguns upside down in order to remedy this problem. However, this makes the pilot trigger very unergonomic.

Is there a way I could modify the interior of the pressure washer (perhaps use a bulkier o-ring, etc.) to allow me to shoot my cannon properly with the pilot trigger in the right orientation? If you need pictures, I probably can take them later. Thanks.

Normaly bigger o-rings have bigger diameter walls. Thicker, so you may or may not be able to use a bigger o-ring. Sand out the o-ring groove to fit a thicker o-ring. That mite work, it's up to you.

Alright, I went ahead and uploaded some pictures anyways:

<img src="http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/ ... ">Overview of parts</a>

<img src="http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/ ... pg">Inside Parts</a>

<img src="http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/ ... roblematic Piece with O-ring</a>

<img src="http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l112/ ... jpg">Valve Housing</a>

The spring is located inside of the brass endplug, and the spring pushes the ball against the piece that I am having problems with. When the pressure washer trigger is triggered, the ball is pushed back, relieving the pressure from the spring (exerted on the problematic piece by the ball), and allowing the piece to slide back, opening the valve.

Maby it's tilting just a little, allowing a leak. With a fatter o-ring, it mite stick open, I would try it just to find out. Mite get lucky.

did you reasemble it wrong???

iknowmy3tables wrote:did you reasemble it wrong???

No, because the reason I took it apart originally was because it was not functioning properly (for my needs at least). When I first opened it up, it had the tilted o-ring; every subsequent time, it has the tilted o-ring as well. So no, I do not think I reassembled it improperly.

Has anybody else here had success using these?

Try modifying the o-rings w/ inner bicycle tires.

Or wrap a thin layer of thread tape underneath where the o-ring lies

I might try some minor modifications or tinkering...but before I do so, I want to see if anyone who has any experience with these things can tell me an easier/more reliable solution.

Well I bought a new pressure washer handle...and when I fill it from the inlet side, it leaks slightly out the outlet side. This leak is not nearly as bad as the other one, for the pressure washer handle is actually in the orientation that it was intended to be used in. However, I do not know the cause of the leak. I believe it may be one of two things:

1) Relatively low pressure
2) Using air instead of water

On my old pressure washer handle (broken now), it could hold 125 PSI fine when the pressure line was hooked up to the inlet. I am not so sure about this one. I will try some more things and get back to you guys. If you have any suggestions, please state them; I need any help I can get. Thanks.

In case it helps, the pressure washer handle that I used is <a href="http://www2.northerntool.com/product-1/283.htm">this</a> one. I don't think it is one of those "weeping" types, so I do not know what the problem is...

By the way, sorry for the triple post...but they were all spread out a fair bit.