What antifreeze in my pressure washer?

[j_mac]

I've got a DeVilbiss 3500 psi pressure washer.
I used to buy the silly little shaving cream cans of overpriced winterizer to protect the pump from freezing.
The last couple years I cut off the hose with the fitting from one of the winterizing cans and simply squirted Prestone antifreeze into the pump with a large syringe.
I read the owner's manual yesterday and noticed something I overlooked. It recommended using an "RV" antifreeze in the pump and recommended against "automotive" antifreeze because they can cause corrosion.
[censored]?
I don't really want to go out and buy a jug of RV antifreeze.
I've got a bottle of the German Pentosin blue antifreeze I bought for my BMW motorcycle that I've since sold, and I don't expect to ever need the blue Pentosin. So I was thinking about using it as a winterizer for my pump. Would this be less corrosive than the Prestone "mix with any color" I've been using?

Or should I go out and buy RV antifreeze? If so, what type/brand?

Lastly, could someone tell me what kind of corrosion "automotive" antifreeze could cause that the owner's manual is talking about?

This one's thrown me for a loop.

 

[JHZR2]

Im pretty sure I ran a little bit of bmw blue through mine.

 

[demarpaint]

I've been using Peak Green AF in my pump for close to 20 years now. We replaced seals in the pump once because I let a friend use it. I was thinking he was going to use it and not his helper. Long story short he blew a seal out of the pump. That was the only repair I had to do on the pump in 20+ years of ownership. If automotive AF causes corrosion to the pump that's news to me.

 

[daman]

We always just use the cheap stuff from WM,any RV anti freeze ran through will work,simple effective.

 

[flatlandtacoma]

The pink RV antifreeze is only $3 or $4 a gallon. It's the stuff to use.

 

[daman]

Blue works too been using it for years no freeze ups...

 

[Chris B.]

I never put anti freeze in my pressure washer(Honda powered Excell DeVille). It sits in the unheated garage all winter and it never freezes up. Runs great every year.

 

[kilgore]

My dad never put antifreeze in his power washer pump and his pumps lasted many years of commercial use. Hes done much worse to cars and trucks lol.

This summer a pump went, something leaked high pressure water into the pump's crankcase displacing the oil causing siezing. Two of the three aluminum connecting rods shattered into several pieces and lots of fine debris and the steel crankshaft was galled and scored. All 3 ceramic pistons cracked. Time for a new pump Sometimes when pumps fail they do it pretty good.

I think i read somewhere that you can alternatively winterize it by blowing water out of the pump with air, but you might not get it all so its not safet to use the pump till everthing thaws.