I guarantee the majority of bad reviews on the Simpson are from new owners that didn't know it won't run if the gas tank is topped off. It's a weird characteristic of the Simpson, I figured it out after exchanging the first one I bought with a full tank of gas in it. I got the second one to the jobsite, set it up, filled the tank to the top, it fired up but ran like crap for a minute and died, then wouldn't start. I read the quick start guide and it does mention to fill the gas to the fill line but it doesn't warn about over filling. After dumping about 10% of the tank out (into a bucket) it fired right up and ran perfectly.
The exhaust on the opposite side is great. I had a Craftsman with the exhaust on the same side as the hose and while psi washing my house up on a extension ladder the hose got on the exhaust and burned a hole in the hose costing me $50.00. From then on I zip tied the hose to the machine away from the exhaust! Lesson learned!
I have the predator unit, i pulled the soap tank off and plugged the input to the downstream injector, and attached a ball valve at the wand handle and modified an x-jet to have a quick couple on the front for using the original variable nozzle or j-rods.
Looking hard at the Predator 3200 and waiting for a spring sale. These Predator engines seem to be well regarded at this point. Without having one in front of me to look at, Im wondering how hard it would be to DIY some sort of valve on the inlet for a throttle.
I have an old Simpson and all parts are readily available long after the warranty is gone. I have had predator engines for years, they start and run good until they don’t. Inside they are made and machined beautifully but I never could get even the simplest parts so I just threw them out and bought a new one. I like to keep things for a long time and I don’t worry about a warranty since I don’t have the time or the patience to force them to honor something that they don’t want to honor. I considered the predator but bought a new Simpson. It seems that Simpson is reluctant on their warrantee and I hope that the repair parts will still be available on this newer generation.
Called the Simpson customer service number today to confirm warranty coverage is 2 years as listed on the box and not 1 year as listed in the manual. The warranty does not cover valves or seals - just like the powerhorse warranty.
Something to keep in mind is that HF is not good at having replacement parts available. I cannot find a detergent tank to replace my broken one. No aftermarket stuff, so I have to go through HF. I've been searching for days, called HF but then hung up because I didn't have time to wait on hold. Sent them an email, still waiting for a response. It seems that many other pressure washers have replacement parts available. When the unit runs, it's great, but this lack of parts really irks me.
Worked for a half ass rental store that bought 3 of those Simpson's a year ago, only one ran when I started, got the other 2 running but pump had to be rebuilt on 1 not impressed. I'd pick a Northstar with a cat pump.
I was going to keep the predator but starter handle broke and the store was out of stock on these for a while. Wound up getting a refund and buying the simpson when it went on sale. I do enjoy the throttle feature when using it to wash the cars.
@@The615JA it’s back up to $399 at my store. After talking to their (rude) warranty department at simpson I decided to keep the predator. The simpson warranty is just like northern tools. No valves or seals covered.
@@jimmygangster it may not be useless, but given the reliability of the engine, the pump will be the likely failure. And if the valves and seals in the pump aren’t covered, I’m not sure what is left.
