[Matthew Cummings]

Hi there. I have a used Karcher pressure washer like this one:-

https://www.kaercher.com/uk/professional/pressure-washers/cold-water-pressure-washers/special-class/hd-10-15-4-cage-food-13539080.html.

I can't see that it has any wrong direction protection for the motor. There's only an on and off switch, and a detergent metering control. No lights etc. How can I safely test the 3 phases are wired correctly? Is it safe to fill it up with water (there's a feed tank inside I believe), and briefly run it without the mains water connected, to see if water comes out of the high pressure connection? I have no other way of checking which way round the phases are.

Thanks for any help.

[Splash & dash]

Ime no  electrician but don’t think that’s a 3 phase washer all the 3 phase things I have come across are hard wired into the mains or have a round screw threaded cap that screws into a special socket on the wall , either way this is a job for  a qualified electrician to test and certify if it’s safe or not . I believe most 3 phase things have there own power supply and work off 440 volts

[Matthew Cummings]

Thanks for your reply. It's definitely 415v 3-phase. I've wired things here before three-phase, but they always spin the wrong way around when I first wire them up correctly via the colour codes on the wires to L1/L2/L3, so I have to reverse 2 of the phases. I think when the power company installed it they got the phases mixed up.

My main concern is if it lets the motor spin the wrong way briefly, will it knacker it?

[Smudger]

Basically I believe ( don't hold me to it ) it's exactly the same as you've done before - I would say you won't get any pressure

Over the years I've moved dozens of machine tools in various factories and the electricians always wire in and see if you get the motors running the right way - normally it's a guess as the factory wiring is all red and the machine tool is all black  :😳