I am reading all of the reviews on this amazing pressure washer and notice that a majority of them are UE (user error). I am just a housewife that is obsessed with a clean home and I am not the most mechanically inclined person; however, I did read the manual and carefully threaded the pressure hose as well as the garden hose to the machine. Because I made sure that I did not cross thread, nor force the piece to fit, it has absolutely no leaks and has been delight to use. When you first get the machine, take your time on the connections to 'feel the fit' of the attachments and it will be smooth sailing from then on.

I absolutely love this powerful machine. My husband first asked me to rent a professional machine to strip and retreat our pergola. We live in San Antonio, so the wood gets a beating. After much agony and research I decided on this one. I am so happy that I decided to purchase our pressure washer than renting one. This one has enough power to clean all what I want it to, and this is without chemicals. I haven't even tried pre-treating the areas that I am going to pressure wash!

After testing it out on our pergola, I got fired up to wash the entire front of our house, including the newly installed tile on our patio, stucco siding, front concrete walkway and all the windows! It is so easy to use and the noise was not obnoxious me a bit because once you release the trigger, the machine goes quiet. My neighbors like that part! The only thing is that after a while of washing the walkways, siding, windows, tile and pergola; my fingers started to hurt from pulling the trigger and holding the gun to clean. That is only because I was out there for a while using the machine, the trigger is not hard to press when operating. I will try to follow up on this review with a video of the quality of the cleaning on my driveway.

UPDATE: Wed, June 24, 2015 After using it approx. 4 times the GFCI plug is tripping and I must get a new one. I can see that there is some condensation on the test light area of the plug. It is plugged into an outdoor receptacle that is around moisture (I am pressure washing) but has never been submerged nor sitting on the ground where it could have got wet. I am not sure how water got into the plug. So it is currently inoperable and I am really bummed. I planned on pressure washing my neighbor's driveway for $100!!!! But that project is currently on the back burner till I can get in contact with the AR Blue Clean customer service.

There is some hiccup in my customer service experience. I have called and left a message; there is no person that has picked up the phone. So I am currently awaiting a call back to see if they can send me another GFCI plug to replace the one that I have. On a good note, the replacement seems very straight forward. There is no video tutorial on how to replace so some searching around allowed me to find out how to do it. It is simply unscrewing the unit by 4 screws, unscrew the positive and negative wire, then swap out the new receptacle by placing the two wires onto correct contact points with a phillips screw. Secure wires by tightening the two screws and then place the protective cap back onto the plug and you are done!

**UPDATE 2: I am keeping my 5 star status on this machine; not only because I am in love with it but because I am in LOVE with the customer service!!!! I just tried calling now and Tom S. picked up the phone and trouble shooted me through the GFCI issue. He was very patient and took me through several ways to try to get the receptacle to deliver power to my washer. He even called me back after 5 minutes (so that I could have some time to hook it up outside) and..........he got it to work!!!! I had plugged it to the water, pulled the trigger to make sure that there was water running to the unit. I then plugged it in and pressed the test button, to make sure that it is off. I then pressed the on button (the minus sign). He had me then hold the trigger of the gun while I held in the reset button and WHALLA!!! It started to work again and stayed on! I have my precious pressure washer operating again and I don't have to wait for them to send me a replacement part! Prior to us going through the troubleshooting, he was going to send me the replacement part for free! I just had to email him my proof of purchase and it would be on it's way. I am so happy that I have my precious pressure washer back! Can I say again, I FREGGIN LOVE THIS THING!

This is the 4th electric pressure washer I've owned over the years and it is clearly the best so far. My use is for cleaning deck, patio, sidewalk and driveway and all the units I have owned have handled those tasks reasonably well. The only real question is how well this one will hold up compared to the others, and only time will tell for that. My last one, a 1550psi Husky lasted 4 years before a seal gave out so I hope this one does as well. It definitely produces more pressure than the Husky did, although it may or may not reach 1900psi. It also has a better adjustable nozzle than my prior models (same basic design, varying from fan to jet). A dedicated power wash nozzle is included as well, although I can't tell it does any more than the adjustable nozzle on its jet setting.

I don't use the cleaner dispensers that comes with these things, but they all appear to have the same idea ... fill the bottle with the cleaner solution and use the bottle in place of a nozzle to spray the cleaner on whatever surface you are working on, then put the nozzle back on and power wash. The nozzle system is the same quick connect design my old unit used, easy to put on or remove by a simple push and twist.

As might be expected, the power cord has a GFCI plug, pretty much a necessity for an electrical appliance used around water.

Others have complained about leaking at the supplied plastic quick connect filter, but I have had absolutely no issue there. It may be that the water pressure from my supply is low enough that it won't compromise the O-ring seal on the filter connector, and anyway, if the quick connect breaks or does begin leaking, it would be simple to replace it with a brass female-female connector as others have suggested, perhaps adding a washing machine filter. Just be sure you realize the supply hose connects to the front, not the rear. It really should be marked on the unit, not left to reading the directions.

What I really like about the design of this particular model is that you can store everything on it. For all of my past units I had to retain the shipping box to store the unit and its paraphernalia. The cleaner solution bottle for this unit is even shaped to neatly fit in the bracket for holding the nozzles, trigger handle, power cord, with even a slot for the hose quick-connect filter. The reel on the top is for storing the pressure hose. That makes for pretty effective, compact storage. Incidentally, like all pressure hoses I've experienced, the one supplied is pretty stiff, but unlike the others has really good kink protection on each end.

Some complain about the plastic look and feel for this unit, but that makes for something light enough to be easily moved around. For me the one real con is the trigger handle, which could use some ergonomic improvement. I found it more tiring to use than the one on my old Husky, particularly for a forward-reverse sweeping motion. For the unit to work properly, you also have to be sure you've purged any air out of your supply line (by triggering the nozzle with the power off). On releasing the nozzle trigger, I found the automatic motor cut out needed about a 1 to 2 second pause to re-engage the pump when your pressed the trigger back on, a minor annoyance.

Overall, this is a solid 4-star product, especially given its price point. It does have a few minor shortfalls, but is an effective power washer for small jobs like a patio or pool deck, has a superior system for packing it up for storage, and is light enough to take where you would not take a gas-powered unit. I am quite satisfied with it. Just don't expect the kind of pressure the gas models can deliver.

Update: It's 7 years later and this little bugger is still going strong, doing all the same stuff and actually more, since I just finished power washing 1600 square feet of concrete with it. The only issues I've had have been self-inflicted: I lost the primary wand in a move, but was able to get an exact AR replacement from Amazon; ditto the quick connect, which I busted in an inadvertent drop. The only maintenance other than that has been replacing a couple of O-rings a few years back. I still think performance-wise it is a 4-star device, but have to give it 5+ stars for durability (or maybe I just got lucky).

We rented power washers before, and found them to be very effective for a variety of projects. We finally decided to research and purchase one and chose the AR383 1900psi. We chose that pressure as the rentals we had were all 2000psi, and that was more than enough for our needs. At that pressure it will effectively clean your deck, siding, grill, patio, etc.
The AR was well rated, though I noted with some trepidation some of the issues it seemed to have with leakage. However, after reading the high praise for the service at AR, I decided to go ahead with the purchase.
The AR383 comes in pieces, and I would recommend you sit down for 1/2 hour and put it together a couple of times. The first time I did it was rather confusing, but after the second time I no longer needed directions.
When it is disassembled and stored, it consists of the main unit, a hose (which is not connected), two wands (wide pressure wash and focused pressure wash), an attachment you can use to wash your car/house that has room for a soap additive (and cuts down on the pressure a little), a clear connector that goes on the front, the 'gun', the electric cord, and a coupler to connect to your hose. All of it is well made and does not feel cheap. It is made of a heavier plastic so has some heft to it.
To use it you connect you use the couple and screw one end on your garden hose. The other end is a pull back connector that goes on the unit itself on the front. You unwind the pressure washer hose (it is thinner than a regular hose to build up more pressure) and connect one end to the unit in the screwing it on in the back. The other end is a quick connect that clicks in to the 'gun'. The wands are push and turn, i.e., you line up the tabs on the wand, push it onto the gun, then push down and twist to lock it in place. You are now ready to go, just turn on your hose, plug it in, and press the 'on' button.
I had absolutely no leakage issues. Every part fit securely, there were no drips or spray from any of the couplings. You will need to use a standard garden hose. DO NOT USE those popular shrink and contract hoses, as I split one in five places because the hose cannot handle the pressure. The better the hose you have, the better it will work.
I have used both wands. The high pressure one is great for cleaning small areas that have heavy stains. The wider wand has enough pressure to use on a deck and the width of the spray makes it cover a wider area than the other wand. Though the wide wand lacks the higher pressure of the focused wand, it still has more than enough pressure to plow through tough concrete stains, siding dirt, etc.
The electric cord is long enough to use in a normal yard without adding an extension cord, and the 20 ft. high pressure hose is adequate for the job.
I have used this washer more than once and gotten great results. It did a tremendous job on the deck ( do not use the focused wand, as it can actually gouge the wood!), a great job on the concrete patio, and cleaned up our swingset and siding with ease.
I have not yet used it for car washing (I get lazy sometimes), but I'm ready!
Overall this is a well made, strong pressure washer that is at a fantastic price. This is a great deal for the money.

The unit itself is good and works as expected, but I do not have any previous experience with other pressure washers. For the price, I would say it exceeds what I would expect.

However... and this will most likely not effect 99% of people who will purchase this unit or similar...

All fitting and sizes used on this unit appears to be a custom proprietary size made by AR Blue. They have their own version of a "quick-connect" to quickly change out their tips, which I believe is inferior to the standard quick-connect design, but I bought the MTM foam cannon along with the AR Blue Clean and they are NOT compatible nor can I find a way to make the AR Blue gun fit. I researched online and seems like there is a connector from AR Blue that allows for more standard connections so placed an order for that, but probably should have called them as the adapter for this is not a standard from what I have found (Somewhere around a 3/4" pipe size if I remember) and they may actually have that. All of the sizing occurred at a business that specializes with pipe and hose fittings, something like 20,000 sq feet warehouse full of hose and pipe fittings.

Either case, I wanted to use that foam cannon, so I basically had that business to do a custom job on the AR Blue Clean hose line. Below is what I used for anyone that is interested.

1. Cut the end of the hose that connects to the main unit (the thread appears to also be a custom proprietary fitting). This part now sticks out like 8 inches out. Call this hose #1
2. Add a male quick-connect to hose #1
3. Cut the other end of the hose that connects to the gun. Call this hose #3. Hose #2 would be the longest piece.
4. Add a male quick-connect to hose #3. This allows me to still be able to use the AR Blue's gun.
5. For hose #2 (the main hose), Added a female quick-connect on both ends.
6. Bought a new gun to connect to the new foam cannon. Gun is heavy and feels like the quality is good (essentially a brass gun with a plastic shell).

The job done was superb. This was not a barb hose fitting that will essentially add a small hose reduction in the line, the connections they did went over the hose and crimped on top of them. Basically the same thing AR Blue did on their side with the gun's quick-connect tip (which appears to be a modified 1/4 male quick-connect, lathed to have a flat spot). Overall the cost was around $100 (minus cost of the new foam cannon). I am happy to have this done and believe it was well worth it. However, if I knew this from the start, I would have looked for a setup that uses standard sizes in the first place, which is probably any other setup. On the plus side, If I need to change out the hose to be longer, or use different adapter tips, I have the ability to do that fairly quickly, but most likely will not need this at all.

Some other gripes on the unit:
1. Plastic hose fittings... replaced those to brass ones as well. This one is a standard size since it has to fit to the hose sizes that people actually own.

Some smaller gripes on the unit:
1. Now for the reason I broken the hose line into 3 parts: machine, hose, gun. If I am not mistaken, I believe the instructions for the AR Blue clean states that it is recommended to disconnect everything. Not sure if needed to be honest and probably does not matter, but the hose reeler they have does not work in a way I thought it should and I think it asks to disconnect from the machine to properly reel it up (to look pretty). I was basically not using it and was just coiling the hoses and hanging it over the handle or store it somewhere else if I find a better place.
2. A "full" plastic gun. Not too sure how I feel about this, but does feel cheap in the hand even though it functions as expected.

A word to AR Blue:
Please AR Blue, please stop using these proprietary fittings. I do not believe there is a single person that will say "I'm sure glad they made these parts difficult for me to replace or fit other components on to this". I understand it will force people to buy directly from you if something breaks, but honestly this is just the wrong way to do this. The unit is good so please do not waste money to make the molds for all the special parts. I think the unit itself speaks for itself for how well it works. I can overlook the smaller gripes as it should not change how it works, but if the unit does die, I will most likely be buying a different system where the majority of the reason being the power of the unit and not so much on having the adapter fitment issues, which I have resolved.

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.