How to Replace the O-Ring in a Pressure Washer Wand: A Step by Step Guide

How to replace the O-ring in a pressure washer wand?

To me, it’s a simple 5-step process.

1. Prepare.
2. Remove the wand.
3. Pull the old O-ring out and clean things up.
4. Insert the new O-ring.
5. Reinstall the wand.

1. Prepare

In the preparation phase, we need to ensure two things – that we have our necessary tools together, and we’ve done our safety check.

You don’t need a ton of tools for this process. The simple tools that we require are – A table-top vise grip (preferred, not mandatory), a wrench, Lubricant or penetrating oil, and a nose flier or a pair of tweezers.

There’s not much safety concern either. However, it would help if you put on a pair of gloves as you’ll be working with sharp metals.

2. Remove the Wand

After we’ve prepared, it’s time to get in the actual process, and that starts with removing the wand. You could remove the wand simply by holding it in your hand and using a wrench.

But the best practice is using a table-top vise grip. Place the wand in the vise grip in such a position where you can freely access the connection point with a wrench, and then tighten the grip in that position.

Now use the wrench to turn the nut counter-clockwise to loosen it, and then you can remove the wand. Few models do not have nuts; instead, a plastic cover holds the part together, which you can lose by hand. Things are more relaxed in such a case.

3. Pull the O-ring Out

Alright, after you’ve taken the wand out, you’ll find one or two O-rings on the hose part. Take the nose flier to stick it into there. Then gently pull both the O-rings out.

You probably won’t use those O-rings anymore if you have to apply a little force, do it – don’t really worry about the rings breaking. 

Now take your penetrating oil can and spray a little bit on the metal parts there. This oil will deeply clean all the dirt and take out the rust too. Let the oil rest for a minute and then take a clean napkin or cloth to wipe out the dust.

You’ll see more black marks than expected on your white napkin, that I can tell you already.

Spray a bit of this penetrating oil into the opening of the wand too. Repeat the same process and clean that out also.

4. Insert the New O-ring

Take out two similar-sized O-rings from your O-ring kit. If they’re too large, they won’t let nut to close properly, and if they’re too small, they won’t properly wear over the metal.

That’s why choosing two similar size O-rings is crucial.

After you’ve taken the perfect O-rings in your hand, put them onto there one by one. Installing the new O-rings isn’t tricky if you have chosen the right sizes. You can do that by your hands only.

Just take them in your hand and put it in the grooves. If you’re having difficulty to insert the O-ring, you might have chosen a too-small one. Consider a bigger size.

For another case, if the O-ring doesn’t sit very tightly in the grooves, you probably have taken largen that required O-rings. Consider a smaller one. 

Not having the perfect sized O-ring could ruin all the efforts of this process and solve no problem at all.

5. Reinstall the wand

We’re almost done with our process. After we’ve put the perfect O-rings properly, now it’s time to re-connect the wand with the hose. Just do the opposite of what we did to remove the wand.

Make sure you’ve tightened the nuts firmly. If you’ve done that, looks like we’re done here, eh?