With the Kärcher OC3 my ‘Mud Admin’ has never been lower and the back of my car has never been cleaner!
- Brand: Kärcher
- Product: Mobile Cleaner OC3 Foldable
- Price: £129.99
- From: Karcher
- Tested by: Aran for 6 weeks
Pros
- Cheap
- Compact and packable
- Capable despite its size and easy to charge
Cons
- You can’t reliably transport water in it
- Er, isn’t as powerful as a mains powered proper pressure washer
Our rating
As we unfortunately return to a UK winter of rain, cold and dark, the things we all forgot about in this bone dry summer are also returning. The main character in what I call ‘Mud Admin’ is washing the bike – whilst trying desperately to keep my car clean! Mobile pressure washers offer an answer to these woes. The ability to clear the majority of the mud before loading the car, not only makes life easier when you get back home but saves the interior of your vehicle.
Kärcher’s OC3 mobile cleaner is a great option here. At £130 it’s a comparatively cheap option compared to its main competitors. While similar in price to the Worx Hydroshot 56 Cordless, the OC3 is significantly cheaper than the Muc-Off Mobile Pressure Washer which retails around the £200 mark. Having used all three, I would say the main benefit of the Muc-Off washer is the larger and more secure water storage. This aside, the water pressure and charge seem similar. I feel Kärcher’s main competitor here is the Worx Hydroshot and on the whole the OC3 compares well.
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The portability is the obvious strength of the OC3. It packs down small and weighs only 2.2 kg, meaning it fits nice and easily in a footwell, for example. However, if you are planning on washing the bike somewhere without a water source you will need to take the water with you. This is where the only major disadvantage of the OC3 appears.
Whilst it can take eight litres of water in the bucket, to attempt to transport this in the back of your car would be unwise. The lid does not tightly seal, so the water will very quickly find itself not in the bucket and all over the car. This leaves two options: either find a water source on site (which at a race or campsite is pretty easily done) or more simply, just bring some separately. For this I used an old 10 litre Ad Blue tub.
Kärcher advises against dipping the OC3 into water – which is where Worx Hydroshot has a slight upper hand with it being able to draw water directly from a source.
With its small design the water pressure is surprisingly very good. Enough to compete with its competitors and certainly enough to wash a bike, especially when dealing with fresh mud after finishing the ride.
Kärcher claims the battery life to be about 15 minutes and this is more than enough to rinse off two or three bikes, you will probably find you run out of water before you finish the battery. The system charges up with a USB-C cable, so no need to swap out and charge big clunky batteries with product specific charges. This also makes charging on the go easier as you can charge it whilst driving.
Overall
Not to fall into hyperbole but for me the OC 3 mobile pressure washer has been a genuine game changer. When living at university I so rarely had access to a bike wash facility, mostly resorting to panicked and expensive petrol station pressure washers. Also, at races and on weekend trips the mobile washer is invaluable. All you need is a campsite with a water supply and the OC3 has more than enough battery to keep you clean all weekend. Overall this is a great product, compact, durable and very much does what it says on the tin. My ‘Mud Admin’ has never been lower and the back of my car has never been cleaner!
Been really keen on the idea of getting a portable washer for a long time but just haven’t found the need yet. I’ve been putting my bike in the back of my car for years and never had a dirty car…am i the only one who puts a sheet of tarp down? I think i prefer to be able to just give it a good wash when i get home. Accepting that i do have that privilege.
Currently struggling to see how this is better than a hydroshot tbh.
Yes, it might be designed with portability in mind, but it looks to me like it comes with a lot of compromise as a result.
A video of it in use would be useful here.
My trusty Mobiwasher is still going strong (it’s got to be at least 15 years old). Although I do think its battery is going to die at some point and then it will only run on the cigarette lighter in the back of the van.
I quite like to look north Hydroshot as it can be used on the cars as well, but this could be an option.
I’ve seen these before, and a number of other equivalents. Maybe its just me but
Cons
You can’t reliably transport water in it
Does this not make it 100%, completely, and utterly pointless in this use case?
I too am a tarp enjoyer. I will say the mobile washer has also been useful with the hosepipe ban we have in the UK. Perfectly capable of a full wash.
I have used both, the only draw back against the hydro shot is the inability to take water directly from the source. Other than that the pressure is similar, its cheaper, easy to charge and much easier to transport. The reality of both products is carrying tubs of water.
A guy on our Monday ride has just got a Hydroshot – produced it and a water container out of his car after the last ride and half a dozen of us got treated to a demo rinse of our bikes. If I drove to offroad rides more often it would be top of my list for Santa
Video added now.
A group of us used to go every week after work for a ride and wouldn’t get back to our cars until at least 8pm.A couple of us bought the original Dirtworker and it was a real God-send to be able to wash the bike down after the ride to get all the winter slop off, whack a bit of lube off & stick it in the car so next time it came out it was clean & ready to go.
Got myself a hydro shot a wee while ago and as above struggling to see this as a better offer. From what i can see it only seems to have one setting for the water to come out (unlike the hydro that has a few different width settings depending on the job) – please correct me if im wrong. Also I like the fact that you can draw water from several different sources with the hydro, the karcher looks like it only works if the bucket is full. Also the hydro has a replacable battery if you need to do a bigger area than a bike/away for a while. So for them reasons i think im oot and ill keep the worx (if it breaks ill upgrade to the brushless one)
I had the original OC3. Battery was pants, pressure was pants, saw the Hydroshot was rated by other forum members, so got one second hand.
My only regret was wasting money on the Karcher.
As battery powered washers go the Worx takes some beating.
I was getting fed-up trying to clean my bike with a brush due to the hosepipe ban, so I got one of these for £80 new on ebay.
The pros are mainly the same as the cons; low pressure is similar to a hosepipe, which is ideal to avoid damage, but obviously not as good as cleaning as a pressure washer. It is also super compact and instantly usable, but that means it needs refilling every 4mins. Probably the most annoying feature is the tiny spray handle, which fits tidily inside when stored but makes it hard to avoid getting a bit wet.
So far I have found it to be a really simple replacement for a hosepipe.