Why is my soap injector not working?

We all deal with pressure washer issues from time to time. Naturally some are more complicated than others. Luckily, repairing a soap injector that is not pulling detergent has some simple fixes. All you will need to do is some diagnosing in order to find out what the source of the problem is. Here are some possible causes:
Detergent Hose is Not Placed on the Proper Port
This may seem obvious to you, but I have had many customers who had this wrong. Your detergent hose is ¼” tubing that should have a filter of some sort on one end. The filter end goes into the soap container. The open end goes onto the open barbed port of the injector.

Pressure Washer is Not Set to Low Pressure
Make sure you are using the proper soap nozzle. These are usually the tips that have a black plastic colored guard. The orifice is much larger than any of your other pressure nozzles. The soap nozzle reduces back pressure and creates a suction from the inlet port or your injector.

Pressure Hose Extension is Too Long
The shorter your high pressure hose, the stronger the suction from your injector’s soap inlet port will be. Injectors will often quit drawing with lengths over 75 feet of high pressure hose. Remove those extra lengths of hose you may have added and try the soap injector again.

Water Supply Pressure is Too High
If your home has very high water pressure, this could be increasing back pressure in your injector that will close of the soap inlet port and not allow it to draw. Slowly close the water supply valve while spraying the soap nozzle until suds are visible.

Soap Injector Inlet Port is Clogged
Debris can be sucked in from your detergent and clog either of these two openings. Additionally the soap inlet port may be plugged by the internal ball sticking over the orifice or a sticky spring which back pressure, or lack of, is what raises and lowers the internal ball to either open the port and allow suction or block the port and prevent suction. Use a thin metal pick and insert it in and out to free up the sticking ball or spring. Use this in conjunction with a little WD40 sprayed into the port. If this doesn’t get it, you’ll have to remove the barbed orifice with a small wrench and clean and reposition the ball and spring.

Clogged Internal Orifice or Worn Out Internal Parts
For this you will need to remove the entire soap injector assembly. Take a allen wrench and insert through the water port to remove the orifice. Clean with a fine wire pick or brush. If this still doesn’t solve your problem, don’t take it to the shop just yet. You can buy for under $10 a injector repair kit that will include a new ball, spring, and sometimes a new internal orifice. Refer to your owners manual for model and part numbers.