PowerWorks 51102 Review

(Rated: 4 / 5) Review by Frank Lowery
Noise
Ease of Assembly
Maneuverability
Balance And Handling
Result Quality
Check Price
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There are some cleanup jobs around your home and yard that are difficult to do by hand – for example, getting stains out of your concrete driveway and walkways, cleaning seasonal dirt and grit off of your deck or patio, and removing mold or other detritus from walls and vinyl siding. But with a pressure washer, these jobs magically become much easier to finish quickly and efficiently. Electric residential grade pressure washers have a lot of different uses, from little jobs like rinsing out garbage cans or cleaning off lawn furniture all the way up to big jobs like pressure washing obstinate stains and tough dirt.

Electric pressure washers like the PowerWorks 51102 are quiet, compact, and environmentally friendly – they produce zero emissions at the point of use and no fumes, unlike gas powered pressure washers. But at the same time they have surprisingly powerful sprays and can handle lots of jobs around the home.

Review Summary

The PowerWorks 51102 is a powerful, compact electric pressure washer that does a great job tackling all kinds of stains and dirt. In fact, it’s so efficient at quickly cleaning off surfaces that you will soon find yourself looking for new ways to apply its high powered spray to all manner of cleaning jobs. The machine has a compact footprint and does not weigh a lot. It has a low center of gravity, big wheels and a convenient design that makes it very easy to maneuver around your yard or deck. It has small overall dimensions, which means it will be easy to find storage space for it, and it does not weigh so much that you will have trouble wheeling it around.

The PowerWorks 51102 has a top pressure of 1700 pounds per square inch and a flow rate of 1.4 gallons per minute, which gives it a power rating of 2380. This is about mid-range for a residential pressure washer, and it should be plenty of power to tackle the majority of cleaning jobs you can find around your home and garden. The PowerWorks 51102 is a versatile, tough little electric pressure washer that will help keep your property looking great.

Specifications

The PowerWorks 51102 is a residential two-wheel electric pressure washer with dimensions of 21.6 x 19.1 x 12.8 inches that weighs 43 pounds. It has a 120 volt induction motor. Its max PSI is 1700, it has a flow rate of 1.4 GPM, and a power rating of 2380.

The PowerWorks 51102 has a direct-drive axial pump. Its ergonomically designed spray gun produces a cold water spray only. It has adjustable jet and Turbo nozzles. Its hose is 1/4 inch in diameter and 25 feet long and made of PVC plastic. Its power cord is 35 feet long. It comes with a 1 year warranty.

Description

The PowerWorks 51102 is quick and easy to assemble, and you will have it ready to start cleaning minutes after you get it out of its box. It has a low center of gravity and weighs only 43 pounds. With its big wheels and convenient design, you will be quite pleased with how easy it is to maneuver it around your home and yard. Because this pressure washer has an extra long, 35 foot power cord and a 25 foot long hose, you have a full 20 yard range from the nearest power outlet – and that’s before you even have to consider using an extension cord. That kind of range or motion is important for tackling big jobs like washing down your driveway or cleaning off your deck.

The PowerWorks 51102 has a max pressure of 1700 pounds per square inch and a flow rate of 1.4 gallons per minute, which gives it a mid-range power rating of 2380. This power rating will not be strong enough for very tough jobs, such as stripping loose paint, but it is more than suitable for the majority of tasks you can find around your home and garden. The pressure washer produces a cold water spray only, but it also has two built-in soap tanks. This allows you to integrate chemical solvents or detergents into the spray so you can get tough stains out quickly.

The PowerWorks 51102 has a powerful 120 volt induction motor that drives the machine’s direct-drive axial pump. The pump is designed to provide high pressure while being compact and having fewer working parts, so it will require maintenance less often to keep running smoothly. The PowerWorks 51102 is a simple but highly effective, efficient pressure washer that makes keeping your house and properties clean a piece of cake.

Pros

You want a pressure washer with a simple design that is easy to use. And with the PowerWorks 51102, that is exactly what you get. It has some excellent design features that make it one of the easiest, most convenient electric pressure washers for residential use out there on the market today.

1. Quiet and environmentally friendly : The PowerWorks 51102 is so quiet, in fact, that you may find yourself wondering if it is actually running when you first turn it on. This may be one of the best electric pressure washers in terms of noise volume. And because it is an electric pressure washer, it is very environmentally friendly and produces zero emissions at the point of use, which is not only good for the planet, but also means you can safely use it indoors.
2. Versatile and adaptable : The PowerWorks 51102 can be used effectively to wash your car, patio furniture, deck, garage floor, grill, windows, vinyl siding, fences, and has many other applications as well. Because it is so portable, you can easily bring it anywhere there is a power outlet and water supply. You can use it indoors to clean mold from shower tiles in your bathroom and to wash vinyl flooring in your basement.
3. Metal fittings : One of the most persistent problems with residential electric pressure washers is that they have plastic fittings at the connection points for their hoses. With the PowerWorks 51102, however, the connections have metal fittings. This is really important. It means the connectors will be more durable over time, and less likely to develop leaks, which occur all the time on machines with plastic fittings at connection points. With this machine, you will never have to worry about leaky connections.
4. Convenient accessories : The PowerWorks 51102 has a lot of really great accessories that help to make it one of the more convenient pressure washers on the market today. It has two built in soap tanks for adding detergent or chemical solvents to your spray for washing tough jobs. There are convenient storage solutions for the hose, wand, and electric cord, which make it easy to pack everything up when you are putting the pressure washer away after you are finished using it.
5. Competitive pricing : The price tag on the PowerWorks 51102 is very affordable, and is one of the lower ones I have seen for a two-wheeled residential electric pressure washer. This will be a relief to homeowners who want the power and convenience a pressure washer offers but who do not want to break the bank to get it. And because the PowerWorks 51102 is an electric pressure washer, you will also enjoy savings every time you use it.

The PowerWorks 51102 is great for homeowners with light cleanup jobs that need to be taken care of. It is quiet and environmentally friendly, and it is adaptable to a variety of applications. It has solid connectors and convenient accessories. You are almost guaranteed to be satisfied with this little pressure washer, no matter what you need to use it for.

Cons

You would be surprised to find out that there are actually a few areas in which the PowerWorks 51102 is a little less than perfect, but it is the case. Overall I still think it is a fairly solid residential electric pressure washer, but even so, in certain design and manufacturing decisions, PowerWorks fell short of ideal. Let’s take a look.

1. The PSI is on the low end : At 1700 pounds per square inch, the pressure on the PowerWorks 51102 is on the low end of the range for residential electric pressure washers. With a flow rate of 1.4 gallons per minute, this machine still has a pretty solid power rating of 2380, which will be enough to handle the vast majority of small household cleanup jobs you could find. But at the same time, a lot of other electric pressure washers have much higher power ratings.
2. Handle is rather fragile : The handle on the PowerWorks 51102 is small and seems rather flimsy. If you use the pressure washer carefully and do not yank it around while you are moving it from one location to the next, this should not present too much of a problem, but if you do subject it to rough treatment, do not be surprised if the handle gets bent or even breaks on you. In my opinion the handle could be a lot more durable.
3. Attachments may leak at the seams : The hose and wand are made of plastic, and in some cases they may leak a bit at the seams. I do not know if this is a factory issue or a design problem, and it does not happen on every unit. When it does happen, it does not adversely affect the overall pressure of the spray in any noticeable manner, but it is still an inconvenience: you do not want a leaky hose dripping all over the place.
4. Uses up soap fairly quickly : It is a good thing that the PowerWorks 51102 has two soap tanks, because it tends to draw soap very quickly from them. There is no option to adjust the level of soap intake from the tanks, and the tanks each hold just a pint of soap. As a result, on big jobs you may find that you will run out of soap before you finish the job and have to refill the soap tanks.
5. Winterization is very difficult : In order to winterize the PowerWorks 51102, which you will have to do if you live in a climate with cold winters and intend to leave the pressure washer in your garage over the winter, you have to empty out the soap tanks completely. There is no good way to do this short of running the pressure washer until almost all of the soap is out of the tanks, but it seems you can never get all of it out.

For the most part I do not think that any of these Cons take away too much from all of the great Pros this pressure washer has to offer. If you use it for light cleanup jobs around your home and garden, you will in all likelihood experience little or no trouble with its power or performance in spite of the machine’s drawbacks.

Product Comparison

When you own your own home, you understand the importance of making sure that the appliances you are using to maintain it are of the best quality for your price range. There is no better way to ensure you are finding the right tool for your needs than by doing some serious comparison shopping. That way, you can get an overall sense of what a particular market has to offer, and at the same time see how a product stacks up against its competition.

	PowerWorks 51102	AR Blue Clean AR383	Campbell Hausfeld PW1835
Type	Residential	Residential	Residential
Class	2-wheel	2-wheel	2-wheel
Dimensions	21.6 x 19.1 x 12.8	11.2 x 12.2 x 28.5	15.5x16x35
Power	Electric	Electric	Electric
Motor	120 V / 60 Hz (induction)	120 V / 60 Hz / 11 Amp (induction)	120 V / 60 Hz / 14 Amp
PSI	1700	1900	1800
GPM	1.4	1.5	1.5
Power Rating	2380	2850	2700
Pump	Direct-drive axial	3 axial-piston wobble-plate	Direct-drive axial
Cold/Hot	Cold	Cold	Cold
Spray Gun	Ergonomic	Ergonomic	Ergonomic
Nozzle	Adjustable jet Turbo	Adjustable jet Foam dispenser	Adjustable jet Turbo
Hose	1/4-inch x 25-foot	1/4-inch x 20-foot	1/4-inch x 20-foot
Hose Material	PVC/plastic	PVC/plastic	PVC/plastic
Power Cord	35-foot	30-foot	35-foot
Weight	43 pounds	27 pounds	32 pounds
Warranty	1 year	1 year	1 year

As you can see, there are a few key differences from one residential electric pressure washer to the next. While they may seem very similar, a close look shows that there is in fact quite a bit of difference in power ratings from one model to the next. That is because the power rating is the product of both the flow rate and PSI. The PowerWorks 51102 has the lowest of the three pressure washers. But it is also fairly compact and has the longest hose of the three models.

Conclusion

There are plenty of great reasons to purchase a residential electric pressure washer. These machines are able to take a lot of the work out of keeping your home and property clean and looking its best all year round. But it can be difficult to make a decision as to which model is best for you. If we take another look at the Pros and Cons of the PowerWorks 51102, you can get a good idea if it has what it takes to be the right one for your needs.

Conclusion Pros

1. Quiet and environmentally friendly.
2. Versatile and adaptable.
3. Metal fittings.
4. Convenient accessories.
5. Competitive pricing.

Because it is an electric pressure washer, the PowerWorks 51102 produces zero emissions at the point of use and is very environmentally friendly – you can safely use it indoors as well as outdoors. Its motor is designed to run virtually silently. This pressure washer has a wide range of applications in and out of the home. It has metal fittings at its connection points, which is a big plus in my book, and it has a number of very convenient accessories. And it offers all of these great features at an affordable price.

Conclusion Cons

1. The PSI is on the low end.
2. Handle is rather fragile.
3. Attachments may leak at the seams.
4. Uses up soap fairly quickly.
5. Winterization is very difficult.

The PowerWorks 51102 has a fairly low PSI and flow rate for a residential pressure washer, and to be frank a lot of other units have much higher power ratings. But at the same time it should be able to tackle most light cleanup jobs around the house. Parts of it seem to be a bit fragile and not as well made as they could be; it draws soap very quickly from the reservoirs, which are difficult to winterize properly. But overall I think that its Pros overshadow the Cons considerably.

Final Word

Any homeowner knows that maintaining their property can be a lot of work, and any tool you can find that can reduce the amount of time and effort you have to spend doing so is going to be worth every penny. But you want to make sure you are finding the best tool for your price range, and with so much competition out there, this can be a challenging task. In a residential electric pressure washer, you want power, high quality performance, and convenience at a fair price.

In the PowerWorks 51102, this is precisely what you get. It has a power rating that will allow it to tackle the vast majority of cleanup jobs you can find in and outside your home. It’s designed to be easy to use, run quietly, and produce a high pressure spray for blasting away dirt and grime from any number of surfaces. Overall this is a solid electric pressure washer.

Best Price

Money can be tight in today’s economy, and you want to be sure you are getting quality appliances without having to spend a fortune to do so. Fortunately, electric pressure washers like the PowerWorks 51102 are designed to give you all of the cleaning power you need around the home without breaking the bank. This machine has a very competitive price, especially when compared to similar pressure washers in its class. And even with its inexpensive price, it still has quality manufacturing and parts, and it has what it takes to help you tackle lots of cleaning jobs quickly and efficiently.