Category Archives: Cars & Motorbikes

Nomad 18 V – Now With New Li-ion Cordless Power!

Posted by Gary Rands on February 26, 2013 None comments

The world’s first cordless pressure washer has just got even better!

And now the wait is finally over!!

The Nomad 18 V cordless portable pressure washer can be purchased with a high quality Li-ion (Lithium ion) battery, with all the advantages that brings with it, the main ones being it runs the washer for longer and also at a constant/maximum pressure without the rolling off in pressure that the NiCad battery exhibited as it was running down.

The Li-ion battery also has a built in fuel gauge – just press the button on the side of it to see the level of charge via a traffic light style system  of; green (fully charged), amber (partly discharged) and red (very low/flat).  Li-ion batteries do not suffer from “memory” problems unlike NiCads when batteries are not fully discharged before recharging, plus Li-ions also have a much slower self discharge time – i.e. they stay charged for longer before they need topping up – many weeks/months.

Another improvement to the product is that the mains charger is now different and charges not only the new Li-ion Battery but also the NiCad battery – hence the name Dual Chemistry Charger. Each time a battery is placed in the charger it is tested prior to charging and any faults highlighted to the user.  Please note that whilst NiCad  batteries can be charged in the Dual Chemistry Charger a Li-ion battery CANNOT be charged in NiCad charger.

Note.  Existing Nomad 18 V NiCad owners can purchase an upgrade kit that includes a Li-ion battery (N105) and dual chemistry charger (N117).  The upgrade kit has the part number NN105N117 and can be found by following this link.

Other changes to the New Nomad 18 V are:

  • The new spray gun has an improved latching mechanism
  • The hose also has the same latching improvements to the end that connects to the washer
  • The washer outlet washer has been replaced by a new semi-internal o-ring
  • The power cord with car adapter is no longer shipped with the washer as the internal connector has now been removed.

Available in either Orange or Green colour ways. Click this link to buy.

“it’s not cheap, but this is as good as truly portable washers get”

 What Mountain Bike Magazine March 2012 (issue 145) Click this link to see the review.

 

Rolling Out The Big Guns

Posted by Gary Rands on February 25, 2013 None comments

Whilst the standard Nomad spray gun is very good, especially with the later up rated latching mechanism and further improved spray pattern, we have over the years been asked many times by our commercial and leisure customers for some alternative spray guns and even lances.  Help in getting to hard to reach places, stopping having to bend down to get to ground level, reaching inside things and stopping getting covered in splash-back are some of the requests we have recieved.  Help is now at hand!

So here we have three stock solutions along with the ability to produce custom versions to your specific requirements.  All are hand built in the UK using high quality off the shelf parts and fully pressure tested prior to shipping.  A full range of spares are kept in stock along with full workshop facilities for any servicing/repairs that may be required.

 

Leisure or Light Commercial Use Telescopic Lance

 

This lightweight extending lance is ideal for spraying water from the Nomad 18 V portable washer into hard to reach places.  In its short form (as pictured above) its approximately 500mm (20”) longer than the normal Nomad spray gun, fully extended by twisting a collar and extending it out, its 810mm (32”) longer.  A simple on/off trigger stops and start the water flow just like the normal Nomad spray gun.  The nozzle is adjustable and twisting it alters the spray pattern from a wide angle cone to a fine pencil jet – just like the standard Nomad spray gun.  The lance connects to the end of the standard Nomad 6M (20’) hose via a 300mm (12”) hose tail so it can be simply interchanged with the standard Nomad spray gun  – so it can be used without any modification to the Nomad washer or Nomad hose.

For price, availability and to buy follow this link.

Commercial and Rugged Use Lance

Available with or without a Quick Release (QR) lance this spray gun/lance assembly uses high quality commercial jet washer/steam cleaner parts.  The QR version (pictured above) is about 660mm (26”) longer and the fixed version – non QR- is approximately 580mm (23”) longer than a standard Nomad spray gun.  The lance has a hollow plastic covering on it to aid comfort when using your other hand to steady it, with the QR version it also allows you to rotate the angled end or the nozzle to get into awkward places whilst allowing the user to disconnect the lance from the trigger assembly for easier storage.

The high precision machine nozzle jet has a nozzle guard to stop what you are washing down to be scratched with.  The standard spray pattern selected is a 15 degree fan, this is ideal for rinsing down cars, caravans, bikes and many other items.  Wider spray patterns are available via special order.  The trigger assembly is a high quality  part rated 4000 psi, 25 litres/minute and 150 degree Celsius – more than enough for the Nomad 18 V!

Again the lance assembly connects to the end of the standard Nomad 6M (20’) hose via a 300mm (12”) hose tail so it can be simply interchanged with the standard Nomad spray gun  – so it can be used without any modification to the Nomad washer or Nomad hose.

 

Please note that none of these lances increases the water pressure of the water spray and even though the commercial versions use high pressure/temperature components the in-hose pressure is still approximately 98 psi and not hundreds or thousands of psi like commercial jet washers.  These lances are designed to make hard to reach places easier to get to or move you further away from any splash back.  Rest assured saying all of that the Nomad 18 V is still the highest pressure portable pressure washer available on the UK market today.

For price, availability of the QR version (Prt. No. N2200) as pictured above and to buy follow this link.

For price, availability of the non-QR version (Prt. No. N2100) and to buy follow this link.

If any of these three offering don’t just quite hit the mark or you have any questions or new ideas then please feel free to contact us via email at:

service@nomad-direct.co.uk

or by phone on:

0845 680 5043

Garden Hose In-line Adapter – allows you connect 100’s of items to the Nomad

Posted by Gary Rands on September 25, 2012 None comments

Ever wanted to use you Nomad Portable Pressure washer with something else other than the spray gun supplied with it – well now you can.

By simply connecting the normal Nomad hose to your Nomad 18 V or 12 V washer and attaching the new Garden Hose In-line Adapter, you can now connect HozelockTM/garden hose style products to your Nomad hose.

Simple but very effective, connect the adapter in line and a whole world of options opens up.

Over the years we have been asked many times if we have an adapter to allow customers to connect wash brushes, shampoo spray heads, pole brushes, water heaters and many other items to our washers.  As engineers we initially took the long hard path to try and provide an integrated bonded connector, but time, money and concerns over potential quality issues lead us finally to the cheaper, but more effective route.  As ever there are normally two ways to solve a problem, an expensive way and a cheap way…

Whether you need the model with the control valve (Part Number N400) will depend on what you wish to connect you Nomad to and whether you want to remotely turn the water flow on/off.  The standard In-line Adapter is just a straight through connection (Part Number N300) and has no control valve, so to turn the water flow off you just need to turn the Nomad off at its switch. Note the image above is for the N300 (this has no control valve), the image below is the N400 with teh control valve (tap).

We have also selected a very high quality wash brush that can be connceted via the garden hose adapter that is included with it, this is part number N600.

We build and test the adapters in house and will undertake custom adapters if required.  Please email us at service@nomad-direct.co.uk or call us on 0845 680 5043 to see if we can help in any way.

See also the lances that are now avaliable as replacements for the spary guns – see blog article here for information and link.

How to wash a car in a Hose Pipe Ban Area

Posted by Gary Rands on March 12, 2012 None comments

“Average rainfall so far this winter was the lowest since 1972″!

Fears are growing that parts of Britain may face the worst drought since 1976 – and that was bad for those of us who remember it. Parts of south-east England, East Anglia and the east Midlands are among the worst affected areas with the Environment Agency planning for the worst case scenario, according to the BBC.

This means that water restrictions, including hosepipe bans, before April are a serious consideration. A hosepipe ban in Cambridgeshire is looking ‘increasingly likely’ as water companies and the Government look at how to cope with the drought in East Anglia and the south east, according to Cambridge First.

Of course the use of Nomad is one solution.  Using a hosepipe to wash your car uses approximately 280 litres of water, whereas using a Nomad we estimate will use only around 28 litres (two tanks, and less if you’re very frugal), a saving of 90%! What’s more it’s versatility makes it ideal for many other cleaning chores around the home, for example, cleaning windows, watering the garden.  The 18 V is fully portable and also lets you use water from a rain butt as the filter in the neck of the tank stops any dirt and debris entering the tank. Nomad 18 V Cordless washer

Ski Drive & Car Rack Online retailers – CAMBS

Posted by Gary Rands on February 21, 2011 None comments

21 February 2011

Andy Moyes of skidrive.co.uk and carracks.co.uk specialises in high quality automotive accessories. We are very pleased to be working with his team to further promote the Nomad 12 V and Nomad 18 V in the automotive sector.