Power washer hurt me

[Bear]

I always give all of my pull start equipment an intial slow pull, then proceed to actually pull start. Well yesterday whe I did that on my power washer the rope handle flew out of my hand and hit my left wrist. Felt like a giant rubber band snapped back. Pain and hot spot on the wrist all day. I thought I sprained it. Iced it, took asprin and finally went away.
Never had this happen before. I throttle the engine down holding the wand trigger down when shutting it off. ???

 

[Pop_Rivit]

That'll happen when the flywheel key shears off. Without knowing what brand of engine you're dealing with it's nothing more than speculation.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Like anything, there is a right way and a wrong way to pull-start an engine. It would have been better had you learned earlier, but I'm sure this small injury will prompt you to pay attention to the process. You always pull with the assumption that the handle will come right off in your hand. Hey, it could be worse ... I've seen people punch themselves in the jaw harder than they've ever punched someone else.

 

[zzyzzx]

I'm adding your story to my long list of reasons to only buy electric stuff.

 

[The motor guy]

Just pull until the slack is out of the recoil then pull it. Also press the trigger on the gun for a second to release the pressure buildup.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: Bear
I always give all of my pull start equipment an intial slow pull, then proceed to actually pull start. Well yesterday whe I did that on my power washer the rope handle flew out of my hand and hit my left wrist. Felt like a giant rubber band snapped back. Pain and hot spot on the wrist all day. I thought I sprained it. Iced it, took asprin and finally went away.
Never had this happen before. I throttle the engine down holding the wand trigger down when shutting it off. ???


A pull cord isn't going to sprain your wrist.

 

[larryinnewyork]

Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Like anything, there is a right way and a wrong way to pull-start an engine. It would have been better had you learned earlier, but I'm sure this small injury will prompt you to pay attention to the process. You always pull with the assumption that the handle will come right off in your hand. Hey, it could be worse ... I've seen people punch themselves in the jaw harder than they've ever punched someone else.


This is good advise.

I used to have a Push Mower that had a Hand-Crank.
The hand-crank was built into the top cover of engine.
You would crank about 10 times, fold Handle over, and then release a Lever.
Engine would start.

 

[UNC017]

Never pull a pull-starter slowly unless the ignition is switched off. You just found out why.

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: larryinnewyork
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Like anything, there is a right way and a wrong way to pull-start an engine. It would have been better had you learned earlier, but I'm sure this small injury will prompt you to pay attention to the process. You always pull with the assumption that the handle will come right off in your hand. Hey, it could be worse ... I've seen people punch themselves in the jaw harder than they've ever punched someone else.


This is good advise.

I used to have a Push Mower that had a Hand-Crank.
The hand-crank was built into the top cover of engine.
You would crank about 10 times, fold Handle over, and then release a Lever.
Engine would start.


Yep, those were extremely dangerous. If, for some reason (hydro-lock, internal engine damage, something wedged around the blade...) the spring failed to crank the engine you had a tightly wound BIG spring all loaded up and un-locked, just waiting for you to un-jam whatever was holding the engine and have things start spinning violently. Lots of injuries due to those- both service techs trying to dis-arm them from seized engines, and home-owners trying to un-jam blades and having the engine spring to life with their hands in the danger zone.

 

[Schmoe]

Pull the rope until you get to the hardest part, that's TDC, then pull it like a mad dog. Another thing that helps me crank up my 13HP Honda power washer, is keep the feed water off until it starts running. It only takes a half a pull or so to get water up to pressure. The pump is hooked directly to the crankshaft.

 

[Bebop367]

You just brought back a good memories of my Dad.

I think the wind up hand crank would not release with the lever etc.

He said a few choice words, grab the mower by the handle, spin the whole lawn mower off the ground and wrapped it up side a tree.....it Crank Up and he started cutting grass....

It took me a long time to figure out how that thing crank up...

 

[Bear]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
Pull the rope until you get to the hardest part, that's TDC, then pull it like a mad dog. Another thing that helps me crank up my 13HP Honda power washer, is keep the feed water off until it starts running. It only takes a half a pull or so to get water up to pressure. The pump is hooked directly to the crankshaft.

I see I did a lousy job of describing my method. Some of you didn't follow my procedure. Should have stated that I slow pull till resistance then yank. Never had a problem starting any equipment before.

 

[spasm3]

I just pull the cord hard and quickly, no soft beginning or ramping method. I'm curious how your method might be affected if the engine has a decompression starting system.