# Karcher Foam Lance (£15 from Halfords) any good?



## floridafil

Hi,
I have been trawling through this site soaking up knowledge to take care of my new Seat Leon FR550.

I am interested in a Foam Lance but am reluctant to spend £50 on the AB lance that most people seem to use.

So, has anyone had any experience of this

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...068_crumb_33958-33974_parentcategoryrn_123068

I realise that it's not going to be as good as a £50 lance but is it worth buying or is it so sh#t that I should save my money.

Regards


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## beardboy

It's pretty rubbish TBH, i have had a couple, but the AB lance is by far the best, and even thought it's £50, it's well worth it IMO.

It doesn't foam very well and i'd save your money, and put the extra £35 for an AB lance.


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## floridafil

beardboy said:


> It's pretty rubbish TBH, i have had a couple, but the AB lance is by far the best, and even thought it's £50, it's well worth it IMO.
> 
> It doesn't foam very well and i'd save your money, and put the extra £35 for an AB lance.


Thanks for the swift reply, but if they were rubbish how come you had a couple? Surely you should have been put off by the first.


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## beardboy

I had a couple, cuz it was when i was first started out detailing, and they were on a GB on here. Gave one to the missus and the other to her uncle :lol: Admittedly, i did use it for several months, as i didn't have an AB lance and thought £50 was too much, but after seeing threads on here, thought i'd stump up the £50 and get one. Glad i did :thumb:


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## floridafil

Ah! I see.


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## Evil Twin

Ditto that. Just got one used it twice and won't be using it again. If its foam yer after then save up for the HD one at £50.


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## floridafil

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the HD one?


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE

not rubbish at all , yes i have both , but if the vehicle im working on isnt filthy then i dont use the PW , 
but still i like to foam before i wash the car and the karcher comes in very nicely as i use it with the hose


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## Clean-my-sxi

I have just bought a Kracher gun, but havent used it yet.

Yes the foma lances are very fancy and look alot of fun using them, however from what i have read, they have many problems and for £50 you shouldnt expect that.

I was happy enough doing just a 2 bucket method, so any sort of pre rinse in addition is a plus, thats why i bought the karcher one for £15, it will help to get dirt off the car before i wash it, which is what i want.


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE

correct ok the foams not as thick but it does the job .

its all in the lube
also shop around they can be had for less than £15


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## floridafil

peter richards said:


> not rubbish at all , yes i have both , but if the vehicle im working on isnt filthy then i dont use the PW ,
> but still i like to foam before i wash the car and the karcher comes in very nicely as i use it with the hose


Thanks, I appreciate your input.



Clean-my-sxi said:


> I have just bought a Kracher gun, but havent used it yet.
> 
> Yes the foma lances are very fancy and look alot of fun using them, however from what i have read, they have many problems and for £50 you shouldnt expect that.
> 
> I was happy enough doing just a 2 bucket method, so any sort of pre rinse in addition is a plus, thats why i bought the karcher one for £15, it will help to get dirt off the car before i wash it, which is what i want.


Thanks, I would be interested to hear what you think once you have used it.

2 for
2 against


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## Clean-my-sxi

will hopefully be using it at the weekend.

Also though people say you can find them for less, they are hardly ever on ebay, 2 went a few days ago which were second hand and one went for £13 the other £15.50.

So after watching them i went straight down 2 halfords to get one for £15, and as far as i know Halfords are the only retailer selling them.


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## floridafil

What foam are you planning to use?


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## INWARD123

I have the Karcher and it’s a good bit of it kit.:thumb: It never has been or pretends to be a SNOW FOAM GUN!! However it is a useful tool for applying a pre wash to a vehicle. 

If you want you car to resemble an enormous snowball then a £50 device will do the job but you need to factor in that Snow foam is about £15 a 5 litre delivered and not available from high st retailers or trade places like Screwfix or Costco. Where as a good pre wash can start from a £5 per pack.

The biggest risk is the reliability of connection (you buy something with a “Karcher” connection it doesn’t fit and the retailers answer is take a drill and PTFE tape to make it work!! :wall:

Imagine if everything you purchased needed to modified before it worked …..:speechles
When I can afford to buy a Kranzle then I know I won’t have an issue but I don’t fancy a product with “previous” to be near my car!


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## Clean-my-sxi

floridafil said:


> What foam are you planning to use?


you wouldnt put snowfoam into it, there would be no point, im just gonna use a shampoo though im thinking of using a vehicle cleaner like swarfega or turtle big orange


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## 3dr

i use a triplewax shampoo solution ( made up as i go along ) and tbh it's a good pre wash tool, definately not a foam lance alternative. if you can't be bothered to use the PW all the time, why not try a super spray? or a cheaper alternative is the jeyes car shampoo system from wilko for £3.99...... i've got the karcher and the jeyes and there's very little between them, but obviously the karcher one is PW powered and the jeyes one is hose powered.... trying to pluck up enough courage to buy a HD Foam Lance.........


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE

this was done with said tool from a hose connection , auto rae chem snow foam and a bit of sonax gloss shampoo , its been on for about 5 mins , rinsed off and re applied then washed as normal , as i like to use a layer with the wash .
ok not the cream cheese effect but as said before does the job


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## floridafil

Thanks to all for taking the time to leave your comments.

If anyone else has any experience of this bit of kit I would appreciate their feedback.

4 for
2 against


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## floridafil

peter richards said:


> this was done with said tool from a hose connection


Have you tried it connected to a power washer, if so was there much difference?


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## Clean-my-sxi

at the end of the day mate, its upto you what you are happy to spend, like anything you spend more money you get a better product in theory.

I was not willnig to pay out £50 for a lance then £15 every time i want some snow foam just to do a pre rinse


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE

what youll find if you connect it to a PW is it will empty quite quickly due to the small bottle , but as ive said i only use it with the hose pipe and i can foam rinse re foam to aid my wash no problem at all


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## nick the fish

i had a Karcher bottle to start with - very happy (actually gave it away to a forum member FOC!)

wish i had kept it!

FITS your Karcher lance without filing/drilling etc - every time

as others who know far more than me have asked about the effectiveness of shaving cream foam?

looks good - but is it any 'better' than the foam produced by the Karcher in respect of its cleaning abilities - i doubt it?


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## floridafil

Clean-my-sxi said:


> at the end of the day mate, its upto you what you are happy to spend, like anything you spend more money you get a better product in theory.


I take your point, but there is no point in one buying the best of everything if you are not going to benefit.

On the other hand it could be a total waste of money buying a cheaper product, hence my quest to ascertain whether this would be a viable purchase.

And what better way than to ask people who have experience of said product.


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE

i personally dont like the foam 2 inches thick , all i want is for it to loosen any dirt prior to my wash , i think sometimes its just the ooo look at me thing , when all im interested in is doing the job in hand


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## floridafil

peter richards said:


> what youll find if you connect it to a PW is it will empty quite quickly due to the small bottle , but as ive said i only use it with the hose pipe and i can foam rinse re foam to aid my wash no problem at all


Thanks



nick the fish said:


> i had a Karcher bottle to start with - very happy (actually gave it away to a forum member FOC!)
> 
> wish i had kept it!
> 
> FITS your Karcher lance without filing/drilling etc - every time
> 
> as others who know far more than me have asked about the effectiveness of shaving cream foam?
> 
> looks good - but is it any 'better' than the foam produced by the Karcher in respect of its cleaning abilities - i doubt it?


Thank you


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## nick the fish

peter richards said:


> i personally dont like the foam 2 inches thick , all i want is for it to loosen any dirt prior to my wash , i think sometimes its just the ooo look at me thing , when all im interested in is doing the job in hand


Peter, you have absolutely summed it up imo!

its about my foams thicker than yours

and though i have the AutoRae Chem lance i use a much more diluted solution and in fact find it cleans better esp if i use two applications

plus the snow foam lasts far longer!


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## Griff

I have one and think it's ok, don't foam like my snow foam lance, but gives a less shaving foam thickness, which loosens the dirt and slides off the car better. I have both and use both. Karcher first, then rinse off, then thick foam leave for five mins, then rinse and wash as per normal. If you are after the thick blanket of foam then the karcher wont do it, but it does clean, They are not rubbish, they just don;t foam as high as the £50 ones, go for it, it does work, and they can be had for £15.00
Tom


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## Gstraw

im still deciding whether i should bother snow foaming the car but in all fairness, although snow foam costs £15, all you need is like 1cm in the bottom of the bottle, fill with warm water and add some shampoo if you want. One of the guys at the meet i was at said that he doenst do the 2 bucket method etc- he washes his car wih the foam from the lance so in that sense it saves u time too instead of pw with a foam that isnt really foam, rinsing then washing properly.
when i get a PW as my old one has packed in on me, i think i would go for the proper lance and if u dont like 2inch of foam on the car then jus use less


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## nick the fish

now, if you have a pressure washer that allows the use of WARM water - a diluted 'foam' solution works really well

i have a Karcher 7.85 now and am about to get a 'hot water' tap fitted outside!


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE

nick the fish said:


> Peter, you have absolutely summed it up imo!
> 
> its about my foams thicker than yours
> 
> and though i have the AutoRae Chem lance i use a much more diluted solution and in fact find it cleans better esp if i use two applications
> 
> plus the snow foam lasts far longer!


thanks just trying to give an honest opinion :thumb:


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## 3dr

peter how did you attach your karcher bottle to the hose? any pics? i can't picture how it can be done in my head..........


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE

3dr said:


> peter how did you attach your karcher bottle to the hose? any pics? i can't picture how it can be done in my head..........


this one but in homebase its £6
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Karcher-Garde...hash=item330219265396&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318

you only need then to turn it to the first notch and away you go


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## 3dr

hmmm, what does the vario lance work like i wonder? is the pressure any good?


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## Mini One Cabrio

I use the Karcher gun from Halfords and it works well for me!


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## PandaMan

peter richards said:


> this was done with said tool from a hose connection , auto rae chem snow foam and a bit of sonax gloss shampoo , its been on for about 5 mins , rinsed off and re applied then washed as normal , as i like to use a layer with the wash .
> ok not the cream cheese effect but as said before does the job


I use the same tool connected to a power washer, and just use Megs Hyper wash at the correct dilution (14:1) in the yellow bottle. I get just a little bit more foam than this picture. I then wash as normal using AG shampoo. I find the pre-wash loosens dirt, makes the washing a little easier and enough 'ooh - look at that' factor for around here. Besides, I researched the proper foam lances and wasn't impressed with the amount of problems there seem to be with them.


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE

nice one that had been on there a good 5 mins , im happy with the job it does


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## 3dr

thanks for the adapter info peter, gonna go and spend some of the birthday money i got today on an one..........


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## 3dr

Mini One Cabrio said:


> I use the Karcher gun from Halfords and it works well for me!


sorry i meant i wonder what would the karcher vario lance work like on the hose pipe adapter? you could see then by how much the lance itself ups the pressure on the karchers?


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## Jules

In my experience the £50 foam lances are a waste of money and they do exactly the same job as the karcher equivalent. They may not foam as much as the more expensive units, but they still provide a very good pre-wash treatments for your car.

The £50 foam lances are ill-conceived and poorly manufactured. There have been numerous and varied issues with them including faulty fixings (that the customer has to fix themselves), units spontaniously exploding for no reason and the 'shrapnel' damaging cars and bits falling off them. The latest issue (for me) is that they rust internally because some bright spark decided to use steel in their manufacture, rather than a material that does not corrode when placed in contact with water.

Save yourself £35 and a load of aggro and buy something that is specifically manufacturered to work with your machine, by the same manufacturer that made your machine (and is therefore guaranteed to work properly).

Personally I think the £50 foam lance is one of the detailing communities white elephants, and are not worth bothering with.


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## nick the fish

Jules said:


> In my experience the £50 foam lances are a waste of money and they do exactly the same job as the karcher equivalent. They may not foam as much as the more expensive units, but they still provide a very good pre-wash treatments for your car.
> 
> The £50 foam lances are ill-conceived and poorly manufactured. There have been numerous and varied issues with them including faulty fixings (that the customer has to fix themselves), units spontaniously exploding for no reason and the 'shrapnel' damaging cars and bits falling off them. The latest issue (for me) is that they rust internally because some bright spark decided to use steel in their manufacture, rather than a material that does not corrode when placed in contact with water.
> 
> Save yourself £35 and a load of aggro and buy something that is specifically manufacturered to work with your machine, by the same manufacturer that made your machine (and is therefore guaranteed to work properly).
> 
> Personally I think the £50 foam lance is one of the detailing communities white elephants, and are not worth bothering with.


and that post most eloquently sums up the matter:lol:

in fact i bought a Karcher 'again' this morning - the super dooper shaving foam applicator has been put in the back of the garage and filed under - great idea but needs a re-design by somebody who understands manufacturing tolerances and the reaction of various materials to contact with water!!


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## Sharpy

I shall be purchasing one of these soon, was saving for a hd lance but I'm not going to bother now after all the stories I've read on here recently, even the one with the new autobrite connector doesnt swing it enough for me, I'd rather spend £15 on something I know will work and do a good enough job for a pre soak, and then I can spend the other £35 on some other nice things


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## neilneilorange

I too use one of the Karcher foam lances and think they are great. Perfect if you don't want the hassle of having to get out the pressure washer every time you wish to foam the car. In this sense it is very versatile seeing as you can use it with or without the pressure washer. I think so long as you bear in mind that you get what you pay for, I think most wouldn't be disappointed with it. 

I made a small modification to my foam lance and with a little experimentation managed to get better foaming action and an increase in the amount of time it takes to empty the bottle. Don't get me wrong it, I still don't have two inch think shaving foam, but it made a considerable and worth while difference. On the same token, where I only used to get approximately one minute to run round the car before the bottle emptied, I now get around three. After the mods it also seemed to make little or no difference when run from the pressure washer, even though my mains pressure isn't that great.

If any one is interested in the modifications, I will gladly post pictures.


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## Evil Twin

neilneilorange said:


> I too use one of the Karcher foam lances and think they are great. Perfect if you don't want the hassle of having to get out the pressure washer every time you wish to foam the car. In this sense it is very versatile seeing as you can use it with or without the pressure washer. I think so long as you bear in mind that you get what you pay for, I think most wouldn't be disappointed with it.
> 
> I made a small modification to my foam lance and with a little experimentation managed to get better foaming action and an increase in the amount of time it takes to empty the bottle. Don't get me wrong it, I still don't have two inch think shaving foam, but it made a considerable and worth while difference. On the same token, where I only used to get approximately one minute to run round the car before the bottle emptied, I now get around three. After the mods it also seemed to make little or no difference when run from the pressure washer, even though my mains pressure isn't that great.
> 
> If any one is interested in the modifications, I will gladly post pictures.


Yes Please:thumb:


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## ianc61

I would also be interested. I happy with the unit for the money but anything to improve it is always a bonus


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## neilneilorange

Its very simple and only involves some epoxy adhesive and a drill bit. It basically consists of modifying the air intake hole on the side of the lance just above where the bottle attaches to the main body. Give me a few minutes and I take a quick picture or two to help explain more.....


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## nick the fish

also at the moment in the Halfords buy 3 for 2 deal the lance is included!!

anybody want to buy a foam lance (mods - only joking)

after reading this thread i took my sooper foamer apart - rusted to hell!

so they now don't fit and rust!!


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## nick the fish

neilneilorange said:


> I too use one of the Karcher foam lances and think they are great. Perfect if you don't want the hassle of having to get out the pressure washer every time you wish to foam the car. In this sense it is very versatile seeing as you can use it with or without the pressure washer. I think so long as you bear in mind that you get what you pay for, I think most wouldn't be disappointed with it.
> 
> I made a small modification to my foam lance and with a little experimentation managed to get better foaming action and an increase in the amount of time it takes to empty the bottle. Don't get me wrong it, I still don't have two inch think shaving foam, but it made a considerable and worth while difference. On the same token, where I only used to get approximately one minute to run round the car before the bottle emptied, I now get around three. After the mods it also seemed to make little or no difference when run from the pressure washer, even though my mains pressure isn't that great.
> 
> If any one is interested in the modifications, I will gladly post pictures.


brilliant

this is the sort of input the forum needs :thumb:


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## floridafil

nick the fish said:


> brilliant
> 
> this is the sort of input the forum needs :thumb:


I agree.


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## dotnetdave

i am interested to see the mod for the karcher bottle, as i cant justify buying a pro foam lance i just dont use them enough, but would like to create better longer lasting foam from the karcher bottle.


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## jamiec

Picked this up today and I've got to say it's pretty good. Easy to use and gets a good foam. 

Got it with the hozelock connector and some ***** shamoo. 3 for 2 so the shampoo was free.

Have got a few pics will upload later


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## nick the fish

so like sponges - the Karcher foam lance is back in fashion?

great

get rid of the junk sold as 'professional'!! - foam lances


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## neilneilorange

*Karcher Foam Lance Experiment.*

I have been using my modified foam lance for well over 8 months now, so I am satisfied that it wasn't a fluke. The experiment was carried out with the foam lance run straight from the hose pipe. No pressure washer.

The modification takes place at the hole marked in the image with the red arrow. You can just make out the neck of the bottle at the top of the photograph, so the lance is upside down in this picture. This was purely done for photographic purposes and not intended to confuse anyone. For reference the larger hole shown above is, I believe, used to equalise the vacuum in the bottle when in use. For the purpose of this experiment we wont be touching that one.

**UPDATE** The hole that I modified is present on both sides, but one of them is blocked. This can be carefully checked with a torch. Only the side that has the secondary larger hole lower down (when viewed as it would be during operation) is the one that needs modifying as the other doesn't go right through to the main area where the water passes. **UPDATE**

In essence, what I did was to fill the hole with a small amount of two part epoxy resin (quick setting), to effectively block the outermost part of the hole, then re drill it until I achieved the best results possible. This, simply put, changed the amount of air being mixed in with the water and foam solution.

Before I give you any more explicit information I must tell you that the hole size that worked the best for me may not be the same for you due to variations in mains water pressure, foaming mixture (whatever you choose to put in the bottle) viscosities etc etc. My logic was that if it all went wrong all I had to do was re glue the hole and put it back to the diameter it was before I modified it. Just a polite warning.

Right. On to the process. I started off with measuring the diameter of the existing hole with a drill bit so as to establish a benchmark (and to give me a point to return to should my experiment go 'a bit south'  ). In my case the diameter turned out to be about 3.5mm. I had previously noticed that if I totally covered this hole during the use of the foam lance the foam would stop and I'd just get a stream of water. So based on this my (flawed) logic (or possibly laziness!) dictated that I should enlarge the hole by 0.5mm, only to find that my foaming action got worse. Here's where the epoxy comes in . I filled in the outermost part of the hole making sure to leave the lance standing upright on the bottle so as no to allow the epoxy to flow in to any other areas. Once dried I re drilled the hole to a diameter of 1.5mm and re tested under the same conditions as I had previously. The foaming action improved over standard. Woo-hoo! At this point I had a dilemma. Do I enlarge the hole or make it smaller? As it was easier to enlarge the hole I did so and my laziness was rewarded with more foam! So I began to enlarge the hole in 0.5mm increments until there were no further improvements to the foaming action. I finally stopped at 2.5mm due to there being no noticeable change in foaming action since I tried a diameter of 2mm.

That's all there is to it folks. As far as I am concerned, it was well worth experimenting with, if for nothing else the extended foaming duration that came as a by product of my meddling. It's also worth mentioning that it is prudent to check to make sure the tube that picks up the foam solution is securely and tightly fitted as this will also make a difference as to how well the lance will work. If it's loose a cable tie round its neck will usually cure it.

Next time I get a chance to foam the car I will post picture of how well the mod worked out for me.


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## floridafil

What shampoo are you guys using in this and at what dilution ratio?


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## jamiec

I used Z**mol auto bath and had some NXT I tried too. Half capfull or less is enough.


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## neilneilorange

Either a couple cap fulls of Maxisuds or a dispenser pump of Hyperwash. I constantly uses Maxisuds during my tests so as to keep the comparisons fair.


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## Evil Twin

topped up with warm water ?


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## jamiec

Evil Twin said:


> topped up with warm water ?


Yes I did


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## PETER @ ECLIPSE

nick the fish said:


> so like sponges - the Karcher foam lance is back in fashion?
> 
> great
> 
> get rid of the junk sold as 'professional'!! - foam lances


 this thread that ive contributed to was to highlight the fact that i use the karcher for convenience as my PW weighs a tonne and it saves me taking it in and out of the van .
i know the HD has had some issues , but certainly wouldn't dismiss it , both are very good tools


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## MidlandsCarCare

I've had one for two years and I have always been please with it

Just use a small amount of shampoo and top it up with warm water, and you will get a nice coverage for very small outlay.


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## zogzog60

I have this, and the new CYC HD lance as well. As a new user to the HD lance what I will say is that I find the thicker foam, when used properly, and not as a show off, has help increase the cleaning power of the wash. I find now that unless I go a particularly dirty drive, a non contact foam wash on a regular basis, followed by a pressure rinse is enough to keep the car clean!
Whereas before, I found that the foam was not cleaning as well as I would have hoped, causing me to try the upgrade!


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## Gstraw

This is great so just want to do a quick noob re-cap........

i can get this karcher bottle for £15 at halfords (in the 3 for 2 offer?) then the attachment part from homebase, 
get some snow foam and shampoo (i have AG shampoo- will this be ok to use? if so any ideas on how much) then fill the rest of the bottle with hot/warm water

should i do a prewash with no shampoo- just snow foam, then the second time use snow foam and shampoo and i can take a mitt to it directly and cut out the 2 bucket method as most of the car will be cleaner?
is this right guys? if so i think i will buy the stuff tonight! i dont have a PW just now let alone the lance so anything cheap and cheerful is great with me!

thanks!


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## nick the fish

yes the bottles are part of the Halfords 3 for 2 offer - i bought 2 this morning!

i'm currently 'designing' a replacement for the small bottle

the pick up tube is easy - about 90p/metre from B&Q

the Karcher bottle fitting is more problematical unless you have access to a cnc lathe - -got a finished prototype that fits the Karcher and then has a 'standard' bottle thread - but it would be too expensive to produce unless demand was high

just checking out the tooling prices to make an injection moulded adaptor along the same lines

should have more to report later in the week - hence buying two lances today to be 'cut up' in the process!!


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## 3dr

anyone know if the mod works with a PW? btw nick, put me done for a bottle if you get one sorted


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## anTTony

Im going to Halfords tomorrow to get the lance and adaptor. Because of the 3for 2 I was going to get some shampoo for it too. I will then order some snow foam from elsewhere. Question is ..what is the best shampoo that halfords sell...was looking at the big containers of megs gold class or the nxt one. Which do you think would work the best? I will be using it on the hose until I get round to getting a pw.

Cheers,

Ant


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## MidlandsCarCare

I would get Megs Shampoo Plus if they have it

I didn't find NXT or GC to be particularly great at foaming, and if you do get them, remember to use a small amount as they can strip wax.


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## anTTony

Thans RussZS, but I dont think they do the plus one. Anything else worth getting from there on the 3for2? So far I have the lance and hose adaptor.

Ant


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## jamiec

Zy**l shampoo as mentioned earlier. Prob the best they sell.


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## anTTony

Thanks jamie, does this give a good foam? Is it ok to use on its own, or is the snow foam stuff recommended?

Cheers,

Ant


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## jamiec

Yep foams ok. I foamed for 5 mins and left to dwell, rinse, re foam and wash then rinse again. Your not going to get the shaving foam with this lance but a nice effect none the less.

Z shampoo was 5.99 making it the cheapest and therefore the free product. Use very little in the bottle with hot water and remember after you fill the bottle a couple of times the product will still be in it so use less and less after the first foam.


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## anTTony

Cheers mate, will go get them tomorrow! Do you use yours on the tap or with a pw?

Ant


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## jamiec

Tap, got good pressure where I am. The adapters were right beside it too.

cheers


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## nick the fish

nick the fish said:


> yes the bottles are part of the Halfords 3 for 2 offer - i bought 2 this morning!
> 
> i'm currently 'designing' a replacement for the small bottle
> 
> the pick up tube is easy - about 90p/metre from B&Q
> 
> the Karcher bottle fitting is more problematical unless you have access to a cnc lathe - -got a finished prototype that fits the Karcher and then has a 'standard' bottle thread - but it would be too expensive to produce unless demand was high
> 
> just checking out the tooling prices to make an injection moulded adaptor along the same lines
> 
> should have more to report later in the week - hence buying two lances today to be 'cut up' in the process!!


UPDATE

the injection moulded adaptor is not financially viable - the job is too small to be done in China so it would be a one off UK job and very expensive

to even break even i'd have to sell over 200 units @ £5 each

so now its a question of modifying the existing Karcher bottle - unfortunately its a 'waxy' plastic and will not bond with fibreglass resin etc

i'm seeing a plastics expert to discuss welding methods or specialist adhesives

i'm also playing about with a hybrid lance (the expensive ones) - grafting on a Karcher fitting and using nylon tubing

i've also got a brand new WAP foam lance with attatched bottle - what superb build quality - seeing if that can be made to fit Karcher?

will report back later


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## nick the fish

anTTony said:


> Im going to Halfords tomorrow to get the lance and adaptor. Because of the 3for 2 I was going to get some shampoo for it too. I will then order some snow foam from elsewhere. Question is ..what is the best shampoo that halfords sell...was looking at the big containers of megs gold class or the nxt one. Which do you think would work the best? I will be using it on the hose until I get round to getting a pw.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Ant


seeing as the lances were £14.99 each (got 2) i bought the Megs Gold shampoo also at £14.99 so effectively FREE

i've found it a great combination with Auto Rae Chem Snow Foam


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## 3dr

hmmm, might go and get me a couple more karcher lances, but the question is, what do i get for my free stuff? srp, megs GC shampoo............


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## 3dr

or does anyone want a lance for £10? making my 2 £10 each? (£15 x 2 divided by 3 before anyone accuses me of being a financial rapist )


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## Gstraw

3dr said:


> or does anyone want a lance for £10? making my 2 £10 each? (£15 x 2 divided by 3 before anyone accuses me of being a financial rapist )


ye i wouldnt mind- how much would the postage be? im in Glasgow


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## 3dr

Gstraw said:


> ye i wouldnt mind- how much would the postage be? im in Glasgow


lol! i'm in south wales mate, postage would probably be around £5 so it would make it pointless if your that far away, when you could go into your local halfords and buy one for £15, but if your up for it, i'm a amn of my word, postage will be whatever it costs, but i'm guessing circa £5...........


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## Gstraw

BTW the offer is now off...  !!! apparently, the guy said at my halfords that they never had the lance included in the offer anyws? :s so i need to pay full price now. grr lol


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## nick the fish

Gstraw said:


> BTW the offer is now off...  !!! apparently, the guy said at my halfords that they never had the lance included in the offer anyws? :s so i need to pay full price now. grr lol


thats ********!!

i can send you a copy of my receipt to prove to the manager in Halfrauds


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## Gstraw

nick the fish said:


> thats ********!!
> 
> i can send you a copy of my receipt to prove to the manager in Halfrauds


that would be awesome! lol

when did people buy them? there is a chance that the offer is off now, but was on before? i went yesterday (tues 5th aug)


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## 3dr

halfords CS said it is still on mate :thumb: ring em and complain!


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## nick the fish

Gstraw said:


> that would be awesome! lol
> 
> when did people buy them? there is a chance that the offer is off now, but was on before? i went yesterday (tues 5th aug)


i bought on Monday

pm me your address and i'll send you a copy of my receipt!


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## Jules

Errrrrrr, Guys?

Why are you spending £15 + £2 for the connector to use the karcher foam gun through a normal (non PW) hose, when you can buy one of these for less than a tenner thatr does exactly the same job?

http://www.performancemotorcare.com/acatalog/Superspray.html

I have one myself, works fine.

Jules


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## topefisher

Heres a picture showing using it on an old Karcher MX750 PW I have had for some time now.

3.0 kW
150 bar max
550 l/h

A little difficult to see the amount of foaming given the pale car colour.

Filled with 2 x caps of Megs Gold shampoo then warm water.
One container will do the Navara pickup shown in the background.

My side hole I measure at a tight Ø2.9mm so I havn't modified it as previously 
covered. When viewed under magnification the hole appears to taper small at the bottom anyway.


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## Sharpy

My halfords has the offer off now but they are offering 10% off on the website and you can reserve and collect in store so that makes it £13.50 so you can still save a few pennies


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## Gstraw

Jules said:


> Errrrrrr, Guys?
> 
> Why are you spending £15 + £2 for the connector to use the karcher foam gun through a normal (non PW) hose, when you can buy one of these for less than a tenner thatr does exactly the same job?
> 
> http://www.performancemotorcare.com/acatalog/Superspray.html
> 
> I have one myself, works fine.
> 
> Jules


Have you got any pics of the amount of foam it makes? seems a bit too cheap to be that good..i hope im wrong


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## Gstraw

jamiec said:


> Picked this up today and I've got to say it's pretty good. Easy to use and gets a good foam.
> 
> Got it with the hozelock connector and some ***** shamoo. 3 for 2 so the shampoo was free.
> 
> Have got a few pics will upload later


hey any chance of these pics dude?


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## pardonator

If you want a much thicker foam with the Karcher bottle, take off the tube and attach the lance upside down, it gives a much much thicker layer


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## sharifgh

floridafil said:


> Thanks, I appreciate your input.
> 
> Thanks, I would be interested to hear what you think once you have used it.
> 
> 2 for
> 2 against


I used it today was fine. Foamed a lot.


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## sharifgh

floridafil said:


> Have you tried it connected to a power washer, if so was there much difference?


I used it with a Karcher power washer and there is a lot of difference, I had more foam than in the photo. I used Swarfega Vehicle Wash (now £1.75 from B&Q 5L)


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## maersk

OR........................................

Not a lot,...............................................





compared with a lance............................... :thumb:


The lance completely changes the colour of the car to ............. foam! Shaving or whipped cream


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## Clean-my-sxi

Currently experimenting with mine to see if i can get a better lather/foam out of it.

As shown earlier in the thread, some1 has put glue in the hole to make it smaller and says that you can get a thicker lather by doing this.

I would prefer not to put glue into it so i am trying different methods of makeing the hole smaller, also i will try takeing the pipe off and using the lance upside down as some people have said that this helps, NOT SURE ON THAT MYSELF


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## Gareth2665

pardonator said:


> If you want a much thicker foam with the Karcher bottle, take off the tube and attach the lance upside down, it gives a much much thicker layer


I'm going to get one tomoro. can i just confirm that this is the Karcher Pressure Washer Foam Lance from Halford for £14.99.

Used with normal megs shampoo instead of snow foam.

If so can you explain the bit about attaching the lance upside down please.

Ta

Gareth


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## Clean-my-sxi

Yes mate it is the bottle from halfords for £14.99

Attaching it upside down is easy, the lance pushes into the gun handle like the other lances, all you do is put the bottle lance in upside down and turn it into place. Remember to take of the tube though insode the bottle.

TBH in that picture above the foam does not look as thick as i have had on mine, i think that was taken when using the bottle on upside down aswell. I have not tried it using the bottle the wrong way up but i will next time i wash the car. Obviously good foam will also depend on which product you put in it and how much.

I usually go with 50ml of product,
Tesco pink wheels
Sonax Gloss concentrate
Megs shampoo plus 
These all foam pretty well in my opinion, but as said above i am toying with the lance at the moment to try and alter the air mixture to possibly get better foam and make the bottle empty slower.


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## Dean123

sorry to drag this thread up,but has anyone ever tried using one of these?
http://www.focusdiy.co.uk/invt/50805

I about to get a foam lance,as i got some spare cash, 
also while i am here, how long,or how many average washes do you get out of say a 5 ltr tub?

thanks


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## KevJM

Hi Dean yes I have tried a similar model to that it did not work at all well no control over the spray and emptied very quickly I then traded up to the Karcher which was okay but wasn't satisfied and ended up with the Autobrite lance which is by far the best so I have ended up buying 3 times so no savings on buying cheap.


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## Andyuk911

I had a Karcher foam thing and I gave it to my neighbour ... they don't foam very well and run out too quickly ...

I bought an Autobrite foam lance .... only downside you need to wash it out to stop it from getting blocked.

I say dump the karcher foam thing...


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