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

You must have wondered why your pressure washer wand is leaking recently, and haven’t found any significant reason. The joints are firm -why the hell is it even leaking?

O-rings. 

You probably know what that is, but if you didn’t, O-rings are the rubber rings that you’ll find in the joints or connection points through which water or any other fluid is supposed to flow. 

They’re intended to make the connections more firm, and leak-proof as two metal joints tend to have slight spaces between, through which liquid items might leak.

However, O-rings are meant to deteriorate over time since they’re made out of rubber. And when that happens, you’re in trouble because there will be annoying leaks of water.

Luckily for you, learning how to replace the o-ring in a pressure washer wand is not a daunting task at all, at least with this guideline. If you want to learn how to replace the o-ring in a pressure washer wand in the easiest way, you’re in for a treat.

Let’s learn.

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?

Caution

The whole process is quite straightforward, and it’s a piece of cake for an experienced person. However, if you’re new to such things, I advise you to be slow and watchful with every step.

A common mistake that newbies make is breaking the O-ring in the process of inserting it. If you’ve chosen the right size for the O-ring, remember that you do not have to put much pressure on it.

Just keep pushing it gently towards the groove, and when it reaches there, it’ll sit by itself. If that’s not happening, try with a bigger sized O-ring. If the problem persists, apply a little bit of lubricating agent there, and this time, it’ll move smoothly.

Problems When Replacing the O-ring

Here are the common problems that a newbie fight face while trying to replace the O-ring – 

  • Using inappropriate tools that might cause damage to the pressure washer fitting.
  • Breaking the ring while inserting it is a very common problem.
  • A 5-minute task might take 50 when you’re a beginner.
  • Misusing of tools could damage the pressure washer.

You want to stay aware of these common problems and try to reduce the chances of there. You could do the whole process under the supervision of an expert to reduce the chances of any of these happening.

Final Thoughts

That’s it – You’ve learned how to replace the O-ring in a pressure washer wand.
Well, congratulations. But let me burst your bubble, it’s a piece of cake for many people out there. And it’ll feel similar to you as well, after doing that a few times. It’s just you were unaware of the process, that’s why it felt hard to you.

Alright now get busy into fixing that annoying water leak, what are you waiting for?

FAQs

What size O ring for pressure washer quick connect?

This can vary and there’s no concrete answer to this. You have to crosscheck the size of different O-rings in a kit to find out the perfect one for a given task.

Why is my pressure washer wand leaking?

Poor O-ring is the common cause of this problem, and now you know how to replace the ring and solve the problem.

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Last update on 2024-03-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Last update on 2024-03-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Z Hashan

Z Hashan

I’m Z Hashan, an entrepreneur, but more importantly (well, to me at least), a tool head. I’m passionate about all sorts of machines and how they work – it’s in my blood.

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