MTM Hydro Foamer Mini Review

swanicyouth said:
Man, we got to get this done for you! I checked out you website, it's pretty nice, and your arms are HUGE! Here is a close up of my setup:
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Haha, thanks a lot man! I've been a competitive bodybuilder and strength coach/health consultant for many years. I love it. Actually, remote personal training and diet creations are my second source of income next to detailing. I feel truly fortunate to do the two things I enjoy, for a living.

The website is pretty nice, it's just a temporary place holder. I will really overhaul it soon, but I wanted to get something up in cyber space to direct customers, and friends with the same questions over and over and over again ("how much for.........."), and I'm also designing business cards and a dedicated Face Book page this week also.

swanicyouth said:
... You can mimic this set up exactly, all you need is to get is the AR Blue adapter(second picture) and substitute it for the Karcher adapter. It looks like that adapter may have came in the set you posted that had pieces stolen out of it.

... If you go this route you won't need a new gun. Just need to get that black plastic adapter and piece of pipe.
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OH............ MY............. GOODNESS

I freaking get it!

I am ordering the AR Blue adapter right NOW before I go to bed, geeeeeeeeeeez, that's all I needed this whole time, with another little 1/4'' piece of brass pipe that costs maybe a buck?

So, $5 total to fix this entire issue, and what seems to be like a 10 minutes investment of time... for something I have been stressing out about for over 2 WEEKS and going to Lowes and Home Depot Multiple times, thinking I had to buy $100 worth of new hoses and guns and couplers and connectors.

I - LOVE - YOU! Hahahah

Im the MAN:buffing:Im the MAN:buffing:Im the MAN:buffing:
 
Ahhhh YEAHHHHHH!

  1. Guess what I just ordered? Haha, a $1.95 piece, and shipping was $9.50 UPS, riiiiight, whatever AR Blue.
  2. Guess what I've had ALL THIS TIME since buying my fleet of brass connectors at Home Depot? That's right, I just walked past my supplies, and it appears as though I already have the other half of this solution... the brass 1/4'' connector! (SEE PICTURE BELOW)

Yeeeeee haw! Now, the waiting game begins for the AR Blue adapter to come in the mail. For almost $10 shipping in a plastic $1.95 piece, I hope it comes fast. The good news is I won't be waiting too long for something fun to come, because all THREE OF MY ORDERS from the Father's Day sale this past weekend will be here tomorrow, about 60+ pounds of product will be on my door step :)
 
I think I finally have all the pieces/parts now to make this all come together like magic (that's what it feels like after weeks of trial and error and research)!

The AR Blue Bayonet adapter came in the mail yesterday, but the 1/4'' brass fitting I had with two male ends is WAY TOO SMALL to just simply screw in... so, I'm stuck? :(

SEE PICTURE
 
Dynamic_Detailing said:
I think I finally have all the pieces/parts now to make this all come together like magic (that's what it feels like after weeks of trial and error and research)!

The AR Blue Bayonet adapter came in the mail yesterday, but the 1/4'' brass fitting I had with two male ends is WAY TOO SMALL to just simply screw in... so, I'm stuck? :(

SEE PICTURE
Click to expand...

You're gonna need a coupler. Hopefully Home Depot or Lowes has one. If not you'll have to go online.
 
It's hard to tell thread size from the picture, but it looks like the AR adapter uses 3/8" NPT where the Karcher adapter uses 1/4". 3/8" is another common size. The good news is HD or Lowes should have a 3/8" to 1/4" adapter piece that would replace the 1/4" piece. But, you have to find out for sure if it's 3/8" NPT. They should have something to adapt those threads to 1/4" NPT, if not in the pressure washer aisle, then in the plumbing section.
 
Here's a picture of the foam I'm getting with the MTM and my low gpm / psi Karcher I took tonight:

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Only used 1 & 3/4 ounce of GlossWorkz in 32 ounce bottle.
A few minutes later you can see what ran off:

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Actually, it seemed like too much soap. Next time I'll try an ounce and post back.
 
ForceField said:
You're gonna need a coupler. Hopefully Home Depot or Lowes has one. If not you'll have to go online.
Click to expand...

DOH - I've had a coupler, haha, they are $8.98 at Home Depot, but it didn't work then, maybe it's needed now though with the new part(s)? Please see my images below from today I snapped in more detail of what I have available.

swanicyouth said:
It's hard to tell thread size from the picture, but it looks like the AR adapter uses 3/8" NPT where the Karcher adapter uses 1/4". 3/8" is another common size. The good news is HD or Lowes should have a 3/8" to 1/4" adapter piece that would replace the 1/4" piece. But, you have to find out for sure if it's 3/8" NPT. They should have something to adapt those threads to 1/4" NPT, if not in the pressure washer aisle, then in the plumbing section.
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I think 3/8'' NPT sounds familiar. Getting a 3/8'' --> 1/4'' would be awesome - and, tomorrow I have some time earlier on to swing by Home Depot! :) I am attaching pictures, looks like the 3/8'' to 1/4'' might just be THE LAST PUZZLE PIECE!!??
 
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!
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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
 
Dynamic_Detailing said:
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 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
Click to expand...

I went with a 3k PSI Troy-Bilt Gas Pressure Washer with the Honda engine and the MTM plugs right onto the end of the wand no extra crap needed. The washer came with I think 6 different tips (I use the 40 degree tip for rinsing the car off), starts right up and puts out SERIOUS FOAM!!!! I will post up pics of my detail on my car this weekend.

I got it from Lowes on sale for $339
 
The threads in the adapter aren't 1/4" or 3/8"??? Are they bigger or smaller??? Man, I'm sorry this didn't work out for you. So sorry. I was working off the idea that the AR adapter used some standard size pipe thread that worked out of the box or was adaptable, like the Karcher???
 
swanicyouth said:
The threads in the adapter aren't 1/4" or 3/8"??? Are they bigger or smaller??? Man, I'm sorry this didn't work out for you. So sorry. I was working off the idea that the AR adapter used some standard size pipe thread that worked out of the box or was adaptable, like the Karcher???
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It's between the two, haha! The plumbing associate at Home Depot was surprised too, and I was trying not to break something nearby :)

NOTE/UPDATE:

stibuki has offered me amazing advice, and believes that I only ended up needed TWO PARTS to make this all work seamless:

1. AR Bayonet adapter (which I already got in the mail last week) here: A.R NorthAmerica :: Product Details
2. PowerCare 1/4'' Quick Connect Wand kit with adapters here: PowerCare 1/4" Quick Connect pressure Washer Wand with Adapters | eBay

That's it! I don't want to get my hopes up, but both Home Depot and Ace Hardware sell the wand kit, although I won't be using any of the included adapters that come with it, I'll be using the wand, which is all that matters. So, there's a chance after all I might be using my AR383 + MTM Foam Cannon today on our next detail project, a 1960's Ford Fairlane!

Please see the solution offered up here: http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...pressure-washer-foam-cannon-4.html#post694614
 
To the OP, do you think auto geek would do a price match on their foamer? and is there anyone who has used the two that can give input on one versus the other? Thanks Guys
 
Dtx oreo said:
To the OP, do you think auto geek would do a price match on their foamer? and is there anyone who has used the two that can give input on one versus the other? Thanks Guys
Click to expand...

No I don't think they would price match. The AG Foamer is similar, but not the same as the MTM. It would be like asking them to price match the AG 5 gallon wash bucket to a Home Depot bucket.

The AG Foamer comes also with adapters and a tube of pipe installed with their logo. It's a different item. Which is better? No idea. Either is fine. If you need and adapter and don't know a ton about pressure washers the AG model is probably the way to go. It will come built up and just twist right on. If your mechanically inclined and have or don't need an adapter, than the MTM is cheaper. Keep in mind, that you probably will be buying a MTM from someplace you never did business with before, that may or may not stand behind the foamer if their is a problem. If you have a problem with the AG one, they will probably make it right.
 
Dynamic_Detailing said:
IT WORKS!!! Details coming soon, along with pictures and a review :)
Click to expand...

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 :)
 
Very glad to hear you got it to work. I almost stepped on the AR Blue landmine as well but thanks to some reading on here and at powerwashersdirect I saw that it didn't play nice with the MTM. Opted to get the comparable Greenworks unit at Lowe's which has a standard quick connect wand with no proprietary bs connectors needed.

Once it was all said and done the MTM seemed to work just fine with my 1700 psi, 1.4gpm electric power washer and delivered a nice thick foam thanks to CG snow foam.

Again, glad you finally got to throw some foam!!:xyxthumbs:
 
Owba said:
Very glad to hear you got it to work. I almost stepped on the AR Blue landmine as well but thanks to some reading on here and at powerwashersdirect I saw that it didn't play nice with the MTM. Opted to get the comparable Greenworks unit at Lowe's which has a standard quick connect wand with no proprietary bs connectors needed.

Once it was all said and done the MTM seemed to work just fine with my 1700 psi, 1.4gpm electric power washer and delivered a nice thick foam thanks to CG snow foam.

Again, glad you finally got to throw some foam!!:xyxthumbs:
Click to expand...

I wish I could just start all over again... even though I have it 'working' now, IT IS FAR FROM PERFECT. The wand it all hooks onto doesn't fit into the spray gun very well, it's all a cheap plastic mess :(
 
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