Dewalt power cleaner DCPW1000 review

Tool Talk
#1

After much anticipation I finally got my hands on the DCPW1000 power cleaner. This is basically an upgraded version of the earlier DCPW550. It is a handheld “mini pressure washer”, it runs on Flexvolt batteries, and is rated 1000 psi and 1.0 gpm. Here are my initial thoughts from the first things I’ve done with it.

I bought the -B model, just the bare tool. It came with the washer itself, the spray wand, a turbo nozzle, three standard nozzles (15, 25, and 40 degrees), a QD adapter for the garden hose, a hose and filter assembly you can use to draw water from a bucket, lake, pool, etc, a shoulder strap, a foam cannon attachment, and a mesh bag for storing the various accessories. A wire tool for unclogging nozzles is taped to the manual. There is a spot on the tool where you can store three nozzles. The battery compartment is enclosed with a latching door; this door does not have a watertight seal but it does lock closed and seems like it is plenty adequate for keeping splashes out of the battery. It holds the 9ah & 12ah batts no problem but the 15ah’s are too large and will not fit.

I did have two minor gripes right away: First, the storage for the spare tips is not that well thought out. It works fine if you’re using the Turbo nozzle and you’re storing the others. However, if you want to use one of the standard angle tips the turbo nozzle doesn’t store very well–it sticks out too far and gets in the way of the hose. When I wanted to stow the turbo nozzle I ended up putting it in my pocket instead. Second, I feel a 0 degree tip should have been included as well.

As for performance: my uses so far have been cleaning an outdoor porch including mud up under the roof from swallows attempting to build nests measuring about 8 feet x 16 feet, a 12 foot section of wall with a lot of mud dauber wasp nests on it, and a very dirty exterior door. I also cleaned behind some decorative shutters which had years of cobwebs and general insect detritus behind them. So far I’m extremely happy. I borrowed a 550 from a neighbor some time ago and found it underpowered, but the 1000 is fantastic. It’s powerful enough to blast the muddy wasp/birds nests right off the wall but I wasn’t at all concerned about it damaging the paint. The patio floor was tiled and had a lot of brown stains on it from seepage of dirty water from potted plants–the turbo nozzle removed the vast majority of the stains very quickly. It is clearly not as powerful as a bigger pressure washer since it is only 1000 psi but for practical around the house cleaning I love it: it’s powerful enough to get the job done, but it’s not so powerful that you find yourself drawing lines on the pavement or worrying about stripping paint off the wall if you get too close. It took just a few seconds to get all the bug gunk out from behind the shutters. When I checked my battery (9ah) when I stopped working I still had two bars left, so battery life is excellent as well.

An interesting detail that I figured out is that if you barely feather the trigger it will spray with just garden hose pressure and not actually run its pump. This is useless for cleaning but it is very handy to help aim the washer exactly where you want to spray before you go full power.

There are still many things I haven’t done with it yet. In the near future I have more jobs planned: car washing, a muddy ZTR mower, oil stains in a parking area, etc. Those will also give me a chance to try the foam gun and the suction hose. I will give further thoughts once I’ve had a chance to try those things out, but my initial impressions are that it’s fantastic.

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#2

Congrats on the purchase and thanks for the detailed and well written review! I have the ‘Worx 720 psi washer’ for cleaning odds and ends around the yard and my car. I like the convenience of hooking up a 2 liter bottle for spraying down the patio chairs and table. That said it’s not going to clean much more than that whereas it seems the dewalt has some additional potential,

#3

I’ve been doing more chores today and I had a chance to work the power cleaner pretty hard, washing two cars (a mid-size SUV and a coupe) a big Scag ZTR mower that was absolutely filthy, and one large parking space that was generally dirty, had oil stains, and had some algae/green sort of stuff on it as well. It worked great for washing the cars, it was nearly as fast as using a proper pressure washer. The foam cannon worked great, it was easy to spray down the vehicles with suds. It also surprised me just how effective it was at making foam without using much soap. If you filled up the entire foam cannon container with soap you could probably wash twenty cars without refilling. For most jobs, dilute the soap or be careful to only fill the the container a little ways. Now maybe if you’re washing off a muddy farm truck it might be a bit lacking but for ordinary car washing it’s fantastic.

When I went to clean the muddy ZTR mower I would have liked to have a little more flow but it did a good job. It had enough power to blast the grime out of the tight nooks and crannies like the deck leveling mechanism. It would be great for washing dirt bikes, quads, etc. And in a way the low flow rate has a benefit: you can do a remarkable amount of cleaning with a small amount of water.

I used the turbo nozzle to clean the parking area. At that point it was very obvious that it was not as powerful as a proper pressure washer. But at the same time it punched well above its weight. I used the turbo nozzle, at first just washing with cold water via the garden hose. That removed the general grime and the algae straight away. It took the worst of the oil stains but there was still a little left. I then came back with a big bucket of hot tap water with some Simple Green mixed in and used the suction hose to go over the oil stain a second time. That took up all but the absolute worst parts of the oil stain.

Finally, I took a bucket of water and tried to clean some old graffiti on an asphalt driveway. This graffiti is so old that it’s illegible, only parts of some of the letters remain and the color is very much faded in the sun so I figured it would not be a difficult task given prior performance. At first I tried the 15 degree nozzle. It did remove some of it but it was less effective than I was expecting and some of the paint remained. I tried again with the turbo nozzle and it took off a little more but there was still some paint remaining.

All of this work took 2.5 battery charges using 9ah Flexvolt batts.

I learned another benefit: the suction hose has QD fittings on both ends, so in addition to using it to suck up water from a bucket, lake, whatever…you can also take the filter off and use it as an extension when using the tool with a garden hose. Not only does that give you some extra reach but it’s also a lot more flexible than most garden hoses so it’s easier to wash.

So far I’m still very happy with it. It can’t do heavy-duty work which is no surprise and not expected given its rating, but it is excellent for basic around-the-house sort of jobs: washing cars and outdoor stuff, washing the house, etc.

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#4

I appreciate that you found less flow and power advantageous in some respects. The best most powerful isn’t always required and not always worth the increased price for the small percentage of time the additional power is required. I’d bet for that last little bit of oil stain a neighbor could be imposed upon for a quick use and every other job you completed without issue.

Thanks for the thorough follow-up. I have an oil stain on my garage floor I may try with the worx and some simple green and compare the results with your notes/experience.

#5

The low flow rate is definitely nice for around-the-house sort of jobs. You mentioned using a 2-liter bottle on the Worx unit earlier–that sounds extremely handy. While searching for a 0 degree tip for the DCPW1000 I stumbled upon the fact that Dewalt offers a 2L adapter as an optional accessory for about $10. I will definitely be picking one of those up. Portability is the real strength out of this kind of machine. And I think the power is at a nice sweet spot as well: it cleans most things effectively but at the same time it is difficult to cause damage with it.

#6

The 2l bottle for small jobs is great. I use it for the patio all the time. Even if I have to fill it up a second time, it’s way faster and more convenient- IMO- then dragging out a pressure washer, connecting a hose, etc. truth is I have 3 2l bottles stashed in the event I ever needed more than 1