AR Blue Clean Electric Pressure Washer AR383, 1900 PSI

Overall this is a great product, I ranked it 5 stars but almost gave it 4/5, for the small fact that the hose and tool caddy are not that useful to me. I think the hose reel could have been done better and provided more space for extensions. Also the storage of the power cord is not that great. The wands also do not like to fit the plastic holders that well. Overall they are alright features but could definitely be reworked to be more useful.

As for the pressure washer itself it is awesome. I purchased this with the intention of washing my car and for that purpose it works wonderfully. I purchased the AR blue clean foam cannon to go with this and together the two work beautifully I attached some pictures of the cannon and the unit and how my car looks foamed with the two items using meguirs deep crystal ( a very cheap shampoo that works great).

I tried the cannon on cleaning cracks on the driveway and sidewalk and it was also good at that really got in there and pushed out the dirt. The only thing if any I felt kind of disappointed with would be the turbo nozzle it did not seem like it was that great at cleaning sidewalks but I honestly never gave it a proper test. Overall it did the job, but seemed to take a bit longer. If i used cleaner before it, probably would have worked better.

The detergent bottle that comes with this item is referred to as a foam bottle sometimes, I do not know why. The detergent bottle is just that detergent, its meant to add strong chemicals before cleaning sidewalks, fences, and other parts of houses. It is not meant to be used to foam up your car they don’t work the same way as foam cannons. I seen some reviewers mention that the bottle sucks at cleaning cars, that’s cause it is not meant for that task.

Now about the unit itself. It is a very small and portable unit, it is very lightweight so just about anyone including elderly people should have no problems bringing this out for pressure washing. The unit is made out of a hard plastic, and looks to be very durable. The connection on the front of the unit which is the filter that connects to a hose seems like a softer plastic so I am kind of worried about its durability in the long term that goes the same for the hose end attachment. I have used the pressure washer like 10 times so far and no issues. People complain about the front filter/hose connection leaking, I only had that issue if i improperly connected the hose. Usually just a simple reset of the hose fixed the issue every time, people who say its constantly leaking probably are not doing something right, or they damaged the threads. Luckily the parts are pretty cheap less then $15 last I checked. Best thing about this unit it is very quite, which means you can take this out at anytime of the day and not worry about neighbors giving you hell for disturbing them. I took out the unit when a neighbor was using their gas and they could not believe how easy to use and quite the pressure washer was. On top of that it felt more powerful then his 2k gas pressure washer.

This is the second AR pressure washer I have purchased. I owned the AR Blue Clean hand held unit previously for a mobile cleaning service I operate. It was a great unit until I left it in the back of my truck overnight last winter and it froze. (Stupid I know, but I live in Arizona!) In the six months I owned it I was completely impressed with it’s function but not with the convenience of storage to usage and back to storage. It had great power for the size and quick response when you squeezed the trigger.

The AR383 is awesome. More power for more uses. Extremely light weight and compact. Great price (especially with A-Prime)! I use the “Hose” reel to wrap the power cord since I only need about 10 ft of power cord at any given time. If you wrap the High Pressure Hose on the reel you will have many headaches getting it straightened out for usage, and it does not wind the hose while attached to the unit anyway. I simply remove the wands from the high pressure hose, place the wands in their holders and coil the high pressure hose to about 8 – 10 inches in diameter and drape it behind the wands on the back of the washer. This is faster and more convenient than the reel anyway.

Leaks? I have no problems. Take your time with assembly (which is very minimal). Be sure to thread the hose connections properly and do not CROSS THREAD the inlet/outlets. Use a little Vasoline on the inlet and outlet hose threads. This will stop any small leaks and will allow you to remove hoses easily if needed. I use quick connect adapters as well.

No water Pressure / Will not pump? Make sure you let your inlet water hose run for a minute to be sure all air is out of the hose BEFORE you attach it to the Pressure Washer so you’re getting water right to the unit. If you don’t do this you could burn up the pump. You may also squeeze the wand trigger a few times after turning the washer on to allow flow through the washer then release the trigger and it will build the proper pressure. I operate from a storage tank with no pump and have never had an issue with this washer. Make sure you have water to the unit BEFORE you turn it on.

I would encourage anyone interested in this product to ignore any review under 4 stars. OK, sometimes we get a lemon, but I truly believe most problematic issues are due to improper OWNER assembly or improper OWNER usage. AR could not possibly make this product any simpler to use. The design and engineering of this unit are about as good as it gets. I use this unit almost every day, way more than most ever will, and I have had ZERO issues. Have used units twice the size and weight and they do not even come close. This unit should handle any cleaning needs that any average consumer should encounter. (And, NO, I don’t work for AR North America :-))

*** UPDATE: 7/19/2012 *** Just purchased my second AR383 – Great Machine, but a few changes have been made. ***

*** Definately purchase new brass connections for the washer’s water inlet. You could get away with the old plastic connection on previous models, but the new disign will never hold up. It looks fancy with a see through case and filter, but is very flimsy for major water connection. I took the old filter from inside the inlet housing on my old washer and transferred it to the new one and then installed the brass connectors. (you will not have this option, but as long as your water source is your hose at the house you should be OK. Run your hose a little before connecting to the washer to get rid of any sediment or debris settled in the hose.

*** The connection for the pressure hose is now the same as most other washer or hose brands. AR includes an adaptor now in case you run into an odd size replacement pressure hose. If you need to replace the pressure hose, suck it up and by the entire hose / wand assembly from AR. A little more money, but it works best with this washer.

*** Wrap your pressure hose with heavy electrical tape or some Gorilla Tape and it will last 5 times longer. The smallest nick in the pressure hose and that’s it. Replace it. I have been whacked in the face when a pressure hose failed, and trust me, it was like a right cross.

I worked out the amout of hours I used this washer and formulated a lifespan for normal use. If you used this washer for 3 hours a month, 12 months a year, you would have to use it for 15 years to put the same amount of hours on this washer that I have since purchased. Not too bad for a non-commercial washer. Still five stars from my point of view.

*** See my photos.

Easy to use and connect, plastic connector/water filter looks fragile and won’t be surprise if its breaks within a year but it is an inexpensive part and is compatible with the Gardena ones… so not a big concern…

I like it!!! It provides good pressure et is not to noisy, the compressor starts only when water is used and even this is not loud…
The soap dispenser (I first thought it was a foamer…): Well… I wasn’t impressed by it. It provides a weak foam, so weak that I get back to the bucket of soaped water instead of using it… Maybe it is that I didn’t use the right amount of soap or the good type for this usage…

Overall I’m very satisfied and have many usage for it in the coming months as we are getting toward end of summer I plan to do good usage of it for the autumn clean-up… 😉