The NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer, Item #157594, is one of three models in a voluntary recall Northern Tool + Equipment announced with CPSC on January 29, 2026. About 1,416 units are covered nationwide.
A faulty fan wheel can fail during use, causing abnormal burner operation that can produce smoke or bursts of flames – a fire hazard. Affected units carry a serial code and a burner date code printed on separate labels.
Owners should stop using an affected unit and contact Northern Tool + Equipment for a free repair. Recall No. 26-224 is an ongoing CPSC recall, with no completion or termination notice published.
- Action type: Voluntary recall, conducted under CPSC’s Fast-Track Recall process
- Announcement and initiation dates: Announced and initiated January 29, 2026
- Company and responsible agency: Northern Tool + Equipment and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
- Recall or campaign number: 26-224
- Affected models, lots, UPCs, serial numbers, or VINs: Item #157594: serial MONTHYEAR code 0125 (January 2025) to 0825 on the engine label; burner date code WEEKYEAR 0125-2625 under the ball-valve assembly. Also covers Item #157310 and Item #157595
- Number of affected units: About 1,416 units
- Sold at and sale period: Northern Tool + Equipment stores and online, January-August 2025, for $5,000-$10,000
- Hazard: A faulty fan wheel can fail, producing smoke or flames – a fire hazard
- Reported incidents, injuries, illnesses, and deaths: None reported
- Remedy: Free repair by an authorized technician
Table Of Contents
- Latest NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer Recall Updates
- Which NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer Products Are Affected?
- Why Was the NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer Recalled?
- Reported Incidents, Injuries, or Illnesses
- What Should Consumers Do?
- Legal Options
- Filing Deadlines
- Frequently Asked Questions
- How Do I Know If My NorthStar Pressure Washer Is Part of the Recall?
- Where Was the NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer Sold?
- Who Manufactures the NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer?
- How Do I Report a Problem with My NorthStar Pressure Washer to CPSC?
- What Should I Keep If My NorthStar Pressure Washer Was Damaged or Caught Fire?
- What Are the Other Two Models Covered by the NorthStar Pressure Washer Recall?
- References
Latest NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer Recall Updates
January 29, 2026: CPSC Announces Recall No. 26-224
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Recall No. 26-224 for NorthStar hot water pressure washers, including this page’s Item #157594, with Northern Tool + Equipment[1]. The recall covers about 1,416 units, effective the same day.
The fan wheel on affected units can fail and cause abnormal burner operation, producing smoke or bursts of flames during use – a fire hazard. No incidents or injuries were reported at the time of the announcement.
Which NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer Products Are Affected?
Recall No. 26-224 covers three NorthStar pressure washer models sold by Northern Tool + Equipment. This page’s model is identified this way:
- NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer Skid, 4,000 PSI, 4.0 GPM, Honda engine (Item #157594)
- Serial number with a MONTHYEAR code between 0125 (January 2025) and 0825 (August 2025), printed on the engine label
- Burner date code with a WEEKYEAR between 0125 and 2625 (weeks 1 through 26 of 2025), printed on a separate label under the ball-valve assembly
The same recall also covers the NorthStar Gas Wet Steam and Hot Water Pressure Washer, Item #157310, and the NorthStar Trailer-Mounted Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer, Item #157595, each with its own date-code label location.
Why Was the NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer Recalled?
The NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer was recalled because its fan wheel can fail in normal use. A failed fan wheel disrupts the burner and can send smoke or flames out of the unit.
Northern Tool + Equipment carried out the recall voluntarily under CPSC’s Fast-Track Recall process, in which a company commits to work with CPSC to announce a recall and remedy quickly[2].
The recall notice covers all three NorthStar pressure washer models built with the same fan-wheel and burner design, including this page’s Item #157594. Northern Tool + Equipment has not published a separate root-cause explanation beyond the fan-wheel failure.
Reported Incidents, Injuries, or Illnesses
CPSC’s recall notice lists no incidents, injuries, or deaths connected to the fan-wheel defect on any of the three recalled models. The notice does not name any additional agency or company reports on file.
A clean incident record at announcement does not mean a unit has never smoked or sparked. It means no report had reached CPSC or Northern Tool + Equipment before that date.
Owners who noticed smoke, flames, or burner trouble before the recall should still report it to CPSC or Northern Tool + Equipment and help confirm whether the free repair resolves the fan-wheel problem across all three recalled models.
What Should Consumers Do?
Owners of an affected NorthStar pressure washer should take the following steps:
- Stop using the pressure washer immediately, even if it seems to work normally.
- Check the serial number on the engine label for a MONTHYEAR code between 0125 and 0825.
- Check the second label’s burner date code for a reading between 0125 and 2625 (WEEKYEAR).
- Contact Northern Tool + Equipment toll-free at 888-518-0342 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday), by email at inquiry@northerntool.com, or online at northerntool.com/recall-details-pw to request a free repair.
- Keep the pressure washer out of service until an authorized technician completes the repair.
Legal Options
A recall does not automatically establish liability or eligibility for compensation. Owners who suffered a fire, property damage, or injury from a NorthStar pressure washer before the repair can have the facts reviewed.
No lawsuit, class action, or multidistrict litigation has been filed over this recall: the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation‘s pending-MDL list carries no NorthStar or Northern Tool + Equipment matter[3].
Filing Deadlines
Deadlines for a product liability or negligence claim come from state law rather than from the recall notice itself. A claim can be lost entirely if the deadline passes, no matter how strong the facts are.
The clock on a filing deadline often starts differently from state to state, sometimes at the incident and sometimes at diagnosis, and where you live can change how much time remains.
A lawyer can review the specific facts of your case and explain exactly which deadline applies before any filing option runs out.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Know If My NorthStar Pressure Washer Is Part of the Recall?
Your NorthStar pressure washer is covered if its date-code label falls in the recalled range for its model. That label sits under the ball-valve assembly on the commercial skid model shown here, under the battery box on the wet-steam model, and under the NorthStar logo on the trailer-mounted model.
Where Was the NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer Sold?
Northern Tool + Equipment sold the NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer at its stores nationwide and online at NorthernTool.com, Amazon, eBay, and GNEDI.com. The company sold the recalled units from January through August 2025 for between $5,000 and $10,000 each.
Who Manufactures the NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer?
Northern Tool + Equipment Manufacturing, based in Faribault, Minnesota, manufactures the NorthStar Gas Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer and the other two recalled models. CPSC’s notice lists the units as made in the United States, and Northern Tool + Equipment sells them under its own NorthStar brand name.
How Do I Report a Problem with My NorthStar Pressure Washer to CPSC?
You can report a dangerous product or a product-related injury involving your NorthStar pressure washer to CPSC at www.saferproducts.gov, or by calling the agency’s hotline at 800-638-2772 (TTY 800-638-8270). A report helps CPSC track whether the fan-wheel defect is causing incidents after the recall began.
What Should I Keep If My NorthStar Pressure Washer Was Damaged or Caught Fire?
If your NorthStar pressure washer was damaged or caught fire, keep the unit, its date-code labels, your purchase receipt, and photographs of the damage. Also save any confirmation from the online repair-request form at northerntoolequipment.formstack.com/forms/recall_pw, since that record can help later.
What Are the Other Two Models Covered by the NorthStar Pressure Washer Recall?
Recall No. 26-224 also covers two other pressure washer models: Item #157310 (NorthStar Gas Wet Steam and Hot Water Pressure Washer, 3,000 PSI, 4 GPM, electric-start Honda engine) and Item #157595 (NorthStar Trailer-Mounted Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washer, 4,000 PSI, 4 GPM, with a 200-gallon water tank).
References
- https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026/Northern-Tool-Equipment-Recalls-Hot-Water-Pressure-Washers-Due-to-Fire-Hazard
- https://www.northerntool.com/recall-details-pw
- https://www.jpml.uscourts.gov/pending-mdls-0