MatosS2k

I bought this unit from Amazon Your main concern is primarily the nozzle. You want to use one with a wider angle (less force). A 15° might be good for wheels, but paint needs 25° or wider in order to avoid damage to the paint. A 0° nozzle will cut right into the paint and expand rock chips with ease.

AZS2KDancer

With that unit from Amazon listed below, using a 25 or 40 tip, is the process to first rinse with plain or filtered water, then switch to the second tank to foam suds on the car, or would I use a separate foam gun? Then hand wash with a microfiber mit and rinse one panel at a time?

MatosS2k

There is a selector on the front that lets you select which soap tank is fed into the machine, so you can set it to the empty container to rinse, followed by the one with soap to foam it. I actually use a separate foam gun since my cousin let
me have it,

AZS2KDancer

I bought the Gilmore Foam master II, yet haven't used it yet. Is anyone familiar with that product or know what size nozzle it has?

rpg51

Azs2kDancer - see my PM re pressure washer.

GSteg

That one doesn't hook up to a pressure washer, just your garden hose. I use a Dusichin SFL-001 ($16 on amazon) with my pressure washer that produces much better foam than the Gilmore foam master.

Your only concern about pressure is when you're rinsing the car down. A minimum 25 degree tip should be okay. Common sense tells you not to aim the tip inches within the paint.. You'll get the hang of it within minutes. You can even rinse with 15 degree, but you'd have to stand further away. Pretty much most electric corded pressure washer aren't going to kill your paint with a >25 degree tip.

A lot of people use foam cannon to apply soap directly onto dry paint. Foam sticks better to dry vs wet paint. Let it soak in for a minute or so and then rinse down with the pressure washer. Then you wash the the car like you normally would. The idea is to knock out as much dirt as possible before you use your wash mitt. My single bucket contains barely any dirt. It's a noticeable difference from when I used a garden hose.

Most corded pressure washer max out around 2,000 psi. In reality, any pressure is better than what's coming out of your garden hose (~120psi). The Sun Joe is a good unit for the money and it's what I usually recommend for the casual home owners because of the standard fittings. You don't want to buy something like a $100 AR Blue (good unit) that comes with proprietary fittings.

MatosS2k

I use the one from Chemical guys, but only because my cousin let me have it. Too expensive otherwise imo.

AZS2KDancer

The AR Blue AR390SS seems to be a good unit. It's just under $200.00 shipped. Does it have propritary fittings like the $100 unit? The SunJoe was rated just one point lower, maybe for the shorter hose length and hand winding. Thoughts comparing those two?

GSteg

That particular AR blue it uses common fittings. Which SunJoe unit are you looking at? SPX3000?

Both are good for what you're doing. The AR blue has a longer hose, but the one from SunJoe is better quality (ie. doesn't coil up do to memory). If 20 ft is enough, I would go with the SunJoe.

AZS2KDancer

Yes that is the model of the SunJoe that I was looking at. The AR Blue model was rated one point higher (61/100) than the SunJoe (60/100) yet I think after reading the Consumer Reports reviews that both units would be adequate. Those same reviews, though, rate other brands and models higher that buyers comments suggest are not acceptable.