Replacing a Husqvarna 020490 Pressure Washer's Soap Tank

We’ve had this “Husky” pressure washer for years and years and stored it outside. I’m sure it’s pushing 15-20 years old. We bought it new from Lowes way back when because the first one we bought when we were married had a cracked pump from water freezing in it over the Winter. That was a lesson learned. Don’t store a pressure washer and freezing weather unless you purge the pump.

At any rate, this Husky model 202490 3100 PSI pressure washer has served us really well. Every season it is used for pressure washing our deck, cars, you name it. I think we did replace the gun at one point and use one of the “all in one” sprayer heads so we can adjust to the nozzle we want without swapping heads.

We started running into a problem a few years back. I could tell the washer tank was oxidizing and cracking around the screws that held it in place so I hit them with some Goop to stabilize those parts.

Last year, a small hole opened in one top corner of the the tank because it was so brittle and this year, it just fell apart. Guess what? You can’t find those tanks anywhere and I didn’t have any luck finding a relativeluy close size. At the same time, everything else was just fine and I didn’t want to just throw it away either.

The sun had really taken its toll on the plastic of the soap tank.

I taped the top corners first but this season is just falling apart.

I was complianing to my best friend John and he said “It’s just a siphon feed right? No pump right?” Of course he was right – yeah the tank was over the pump and gravity fed it down to the inlet but it was just a siphon feed at the end of the day.

When a person refers to a siphon draw, what happens is when air or water rushes by an opening it creates a draw and that can be used to pull in either air or water. In this case soap is pulled into into the water stream.

John told me “Dude, just drop a hose in a bottle of cleaner and it’ll suck it right out! You don’t need to spend money on anything fancy.”

You ever have one of those “Duh!” moments where the light bulbs just go on? Yeah, I did right then. I removed the remnants of the old white soap tank and there was actually a shelf there above the engine I could set a bottle of soap on.

Sometimes I get lucky. I could set a bottle of pressure washer soap on there and put a little plastic box to hold stuff.

I then measured the inlet nipple down by the pump and it was nothing more than a 1/4″ fitting. 1/4″ hose would slide right on! Okay, I headed off the Tractor & Supply (TSC) to get some tubing. They tend to have a pretty good selection of bulk tubing.

TSC did not let me down, they had a 1/4″ x 25′ EVA tubing package at a very reasonable price of $20. That would give me plenty for this project and more for future work.

Let me show you some pictures so you have a better idea what I’m talking about.

So the old yellow hose ran from the plastic detergent tank down into that Inlet nipple. I just removed that hose entirely once I pulled off the tank. There was a nice little on/off valve there but I didn’t need it and given its age and that it was made out of plastic you know it was getting ready to fall apart as well.

This is the quarter inch Eva tubing I got from TSC.

I put the tubing on the old siphon nipple and then I used a hose clamp to Snug it down and keep it from falling off.

I then did a bit of experimenting about how long I wanted the line before I cut it to the final length.

You know I also scavenged an old ice cream plastic box that I glued in place next to the soap. That is just a perk but definitely not something I need. I can stick the I was only thinking about you end of the tubing in there when I don’t need it.

I figured while I was at it I might as well change the oil. I hadn’t done that in a long time.

Kind of an anti-climactic photo but the soap part works great. I’m back in business. The only thing I spent money on was the hose. Everything else I had in inventory.

Summary

If you have one of these old Husqvarna pressure washers, just yank out the old soap tank and call it even. Go to your favorite source of quarter inch tubing that will stand up to UV light, water and soap and you’ll be in business.

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