Buying a Pressure Washer and Foam Cannon today (QUESTION)

Ohio Detailing

Ohio Detailing

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Hi guys,

I ordered the Foam Cannon from AutoGeek last week, but it was on backorder, so I cancelled my order and actually found one on Amazon. I had a question, because I am also buying the AR Blue Clean 383 (1900psi) by AR Nortn America here: Amazon.com: AR Blue Clean AR383 1,900 PSI 1.5 GPM 14 Amp Electric Pressure Washer with Hose Reel: Patio, Lawn & Garden since it had such good reviews, opposed to the two similar Karcher models that were all over the map with angry regretful reviews.

*Anyway, my MAIN QUESTION is about how to make these two products work together in perfect harmony:
1. Foam Cannon here Amazon.com: Professional Foam Lance Adjustable with 32 oz. Bottle: Patio, Lawn & Garden
2. AR Blue Clean 383 Pressure Washer
*3. (??) 1/4in male to 1/4in female brass fitting here 1/4 in. Male to 1/4 in. Female Quick-Connect NPT Coupler-AP31038A at The Home Depot

I searched the forum and actuallly received advice on the 1/4in brass fitting from my friend Webb, but wasn't sure if it was the correct adapter to make the Foam Cannon work specifically on THIS AR Blue model 383 and the Foam Cannon from Amazon (link above)?

THANKS, so excited to try this new product and increase my detail arsenal and skills - not to mention putting my two gallons of AutoGeeks's Xtreme Foam wash to the test! :)
 
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Bought the Pressure Washer this afternoon, and have the Foam Cannon on the way! :)

Went with...
1. AR Blue 383 1900psi
2. Foam Cannon from Amazon

Check out the pictures, I'm excited to use it tomorrow. I still need to get the 1/4'' male to 1/4'' female adapter and coupler from Home Depot to use the Foam Cannon, but I called and have them holding one for me at customer service.

QUESTION: I'm not sure about the included detergent dispenser, since the manual says the solution inside has to the consistency of water basically, if I add in some of my car wash shampoo, I wonder if that will be alright as long as it isn't sudsy!?
 
Dynamic_Detailing said:
Bought the Pressure Washer this afternoon, and have the Foam Cannon on the way! :)

Went with...
1. AR Blue 383 1900psi
2. Foam Cannon from Amazon

Check out the pictures, I'm excited to use it tomorrow. I still need to get the 1/4'' male to 1/4'' female adapter and coupler from Home Depot to use the Foam Cannon, but I called and have them holding one for me at customer service.

QUESTION: I'm not sure about the included detergent dispenser, since the manual says the solution inside has to the consistency of water basically, if I add in some of my car wash shampoo, I wonder if that will be alright as long as it isn't sudsy!?
Click to expand...

Does the AR Blue383 have plastic or brass fittings? I was going to pick up this model but it looks like the fittings are plastic:

$(KGrHqRHJCgE9!JCe-i2BPVcCzFf5w~~60_12.JPG
 
IID said:
Does the AR Blue383 have plastic or brass fittings? I was going to pick up this model but it looks like the fittings are plastic:

$%28KGrHqRHJCgE9%21JCe-i2BPVcCzFf5w%7E%7E60_12.JPG
Click to expand...

They are plastic... that was one of the main negative points on Pressure Washer's Direct website reviews. However, I have use it for over two weeks now, daily in many cases on customers' cars, and I have not had a problem YET. The good news, is that the front hose connection adapter for instance can be swapped out for a brass quick-connect fitting for only a few bucks.
 
nice set up. i picked up a greenworks pressure washer 1700psi and a foam cannon. it was a direct quick connection fit. just plug in the cannon and spray away.
003.jpg
 
aqcivic said:
nice set up. i picked up a greenworks pressure washer 1700psi and a foam cannon. it was a direct quick connection fit. just plug in the cannon and spray away.
003.jpg
Click to expand...

I hate AR Blue, hahahahhaha
 
Dynamic_Detailing said:
I hate AR Blue, hahahahhaha
Click to expand...

I have to Thank You Dynamic,it's because of your threads I will NOT be going with an AR.
I narrowed my opinions for purchase down to these:
Karcher K5.68 - 2000 PSI (Electric-Cold Water) Pressure Washer
Or
Karcher K5.740 - X Series 2000 PSI (Electric-Cold Water) Pressure Washer
Or even:
Shop Greenworks 1700 PSI 1.4 GPM Electric Pressure Washer at Lowes.com
And I'll just go the AG Foam Cannon HP kit route,as you can pick the correct fitting for the Karcher "K" series to use the Foam Cannon.
Autogeek Pressure Washer Foam Cannon HP, foam lance, foam wash gun, pressure washer foamer

I wish you luck and getting yours together :)
 
maximus20895 said:
I would go with the X series. I would think it would last longer!
Click to expand...

I was leaning that way but AG's fittings for their Foam Cannon kits say they have "Kseries" fittings.Would these fittings work for the "X" series Karcher pressure washers?
 
IID said:
I have to Thank You Dynamic,it's because of your threads I will NOT be going with an AR.
I narrowed my opinions for purchase down to these:
Karcher K5.68 - 2000 PSI (Electric-Cold Water) Pressure Washer
Or
Karcher K5.740 - X Series 2000 PSI (Electric-Cold Water) Pressure Washer
Or even:
Shop Greenworks 1700 PSI 1.4 GPM Electric Pressure Washer at Lowes.com
And I'll just go the AG Foam Cannon HP kit route,as you can pick the correct fitting for the Karcher "K" series to use the Foam Cannon.
Autogeek Pressure Washer Foam Cannon HP, foam lance, foam wash gun, pressure washer foamer

I wish you luck and getting yours together :)
Click to expand...

GLAD I COULD HELP, hehehe... the solution is out there, right at my fingertips, I even think I have all the part(s) now, but COME ON, it took me two weeks and two or three threads and not to mention about 10 private messages and email to the manufacturer to get this worked out, UGH.
 
Looks like I'll need JUST ONE... MORE... ADAPTER/COUPLER to make it all work (please see pictures).

Something like a 3/8'' adapter that goes down to 1/4'' on the other end?
 
Lol it's a bit annoying to run a foamer with a Karcher PW....
Unless u bought the AG verison
 
Dynamic_Detailing said:
Looks like I'll need JUST ONE... MORE... ADAPTER/COUPLER to make it all work (please see pictures).

Something like a 3/8'' adapter that goes down to 1/4'' on the other end?
Click to expand...

Looks to me like your there. In your final picture that's it. Just unscrew the silver quick release male from the cannon, then screw in your 1/4" NPT piece of pipe as you have it in the bottom of your last picture. That LOOKS like it will fit. I
 
FINAL REVIEW

BAD NEWS, Bad Product

Well, the final nail has been driven deep into the coffin.

After MORE than two weeks, multiple threads, private messages, online ordering of adapters directly from AR Blue, waiting on UPS, and quite literally FOUR trips to Home Depot AND Lowes........ it isn't going to work.

AR Blue is a company I now despise, deeply. I will avoid their products with an almost obsessive loathing from this day forth no matter what. They use absolutely insane so-called proprietary fittings on EVERYTHING from their pressure-hose connections itself to the spray-gun insert attachments. I am sick with disgust over this company and their abject lack of concern for the customer. They remind me of an even more backwards and paranoid version of Apple, placing more effort into making sure their customers are forced with an iron-fist to buy ONLY THEIR after-market parts based on their super-dee-duper special connections like some Top-Secret division of Area 51. I wonder if they wear foil hats over there?

TONIGHT: I took in every last piece, adapter, coupler etc tonight to Home Depot, AGAIN, and after discussing all possible options with the plumbing department, we reviewed an endless array of fittings and even tried to 'rig' something up, all to no avail. It was like a hilariously pathetic parade of adapters and plumbing fittings as far as you could see, one after the other.

I am so upset I am going back to the store I purchased this piece of deplorable ridiculous plastic crap tomorrow to see if they will at least offer me a store credit to buy something HALF WAY WORTH WHILE that has enough decency and value on their customer's needs NOT to keep them locked into some sort of proprietary prison like a bunch of stingy baboons.

I want to personally and sincerely thank everyone for their attempts at helping me. But aside from some of the advice I got that involved sawing through attachments, using loc-tight permanent industrial glue, and trying to inter-connect 97 couplers like some brass-snake, or for many of the other great and appreciate tips that ended up confusing AR Blue and Karcher, I want to once again thank all of you!
Click to expand...
I truly hope this all serves a functional purpose for someone else out there, so they can avoid hundreds of dollars wasted, hours of time up in smoke, tanks of gas vaporized, and several late nights on forums scratching their heads to try and make sense of something that is sheer NONSENSE.

1. AVOID anything made by AR Blue like a hoard of bleeding-eyed zombies
2. Do yourself a service that will pay off in UNTOLD DIVIDENDS and go with something that already has the ability to mate with a 1/4'' quick-connect adapter, whether using the Auto Geek Foam Cannon or the MTM Foam Cannon

Just.......... unreal. I could have been foaming customers' cars since May, and here we are, entering the final week of June. Shameful, absolutely unreal.

FINAL THOUGHT: DO NOT FALL INTO THE SAME PITFALL AND SPIDERWEB OF AGGRAVATION AND WASTED RESOURCES AND TIME THAT I DID.

-Aaron
 
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THE REAL FINAL REVIEW

Long story short: I got it to work! (enter roaring applause and collective sigh of exhausted relief) Booyah! :)

PROS:
1. The foam produced from the MTM Hydro Foam Cannon is luxurious, I wasn't let down in the slightest. I used DP's Xtreme Foam Formula from Auto Geek, along with a squirt or two of Chemical Guy's Wash & Wax car shampoo as well for some gloss enhancement along with the suds/foam action.

Well... I can't think of any more good points actually - but, it did what it was supposed to, so, hooray I guess. Kind of an anti-climax if there ever was one. I'd say with gas, time wasted, aggravation, and hours upon hours spent online here and on other forums and company websites looking for a solution I invested the equivalent of $500 or more into this parade of dumbness and another 20-30 man hours. Once again, I have to reiterate I'm NOT exaggerating here, 20 hours on various websites and driving from place to place is a conservative estimate.

CONS:
1. I spent literally three weeks making this all come together, without exaggerating
2. I made 5 separate trips during those three weeks to Home Depot and Lowes trying to figure this puzzle out, spending an ultimate $110 additional dollars over-and-above the cost of the pressure washer itself (I ended up returning all but $20 of that - so not bad in the end)
3. AR Blue, although they may be a 'good' machine for the money, is easily the most deplorable plastic wasteland of rubbish I have ever loathed using. Their whole proprietary hogwash was the bane of my existence, driving me mad
4. I missed out on using the Foam Cannon on at least 8 or more client vehicles during the time-span it was just sitting collecting dust at home
5. The AR Blue Bayonet Adapter that was part-one of a two-part jigsaw puzzle making this all come together in harmony was a plastic chintzy chunk of crap that DID NOT PROPERLY FIT into the AR Blue spray gun, which was the whole point of buying it in the first place. This single issue makes the entire setup a draining aggravating experience, I have to wiggle it, twist it, press it, and yank on it 10 or more times every time I set it up to make it feel somewhat secure and stay attached, or else it just PLOPS out when I pull the spray-gun trigger like a water dart. UGH

So, all in all... here's what I wish I would have done:
1. Buy a high-quality pressure washer with normal freaking fittings
2. Buy the MTM Hydro Foam Cannon
3. Attach the two pieces seamless with 4 seconds of my time
4. Detail cars professionally with a smile on my face

So.... so.... ultra.... mega.... super LAME in the end.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the foam cannon being used, after fiddling with the bayonet adapter screwed into the PowerCare adapter wand which were the two parts needed to make this nightmare turn into slightly less of a nightmare.

Thanks for the help guys! Take my advice above #1-4, please, and learn from my mistakes!

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That Ford Fairlane above really got drenched in foam! I was seeing what this baby was capable of, awe yeahhh! FOAM PARTY TIME! :)

PS: I forgot to mention, one of the funniest stories I've ever had happen to me.

I went to Home Depot to buy the Power Care adapter and wand kit, and since the back was slashed up I took it up to customer service and asked if they could please discount it for me? They said sure, they may be able to take it all the way down to $10, which I thought was AWESOME. It is normally a $20-30+ piece everywhere, even online, so I was pumped, because all I really needed anyway was the wand. Well, the associate disappears and talks to someone who I assumed was her manager behind a cubicle wall, and then I thought to myself "Shoot, now since I acted so happy about the $10 price tag, she's going to come back and tell me she can't honor that deal."

Well, she DID come back up and give me some news alright... she said, "Well, since this item is a clearance item, we've decided to go ahead and sell it to you for........... ONE CENT!" Haha, she even gave some dramatic pause! I freaked out with joy, it was THE ONE SINGLE LITTLE THING good that happened during this entire AR Blue Clean Model 383 and the MTM Hydro Foam Cannon debacle, so I was pumped.

I looked in my wallet, and didn't have cash since I don't carry it. The lady said to me, "Oh, don't worry about the penny... I'll borrow it from one of my co-workers!"

HAHA, so I got the final piece needed for this all to "work" out........ FREE!!! I walked out laughing about the whole thing, what a riot! Thanks for the one awesome experience out of my last 20, Home Depot :)
 
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