Perfecting my drying technique...leaf blower and ONR ?s

[hilld]

I have the Air Wand & it works great. The only thing is that the blower is so powerful that it takes some getting used to holding it without the hose touching the automotive paint especially when drying larger vehicles or the roof of any vehicle. (You may need a ladder)

Wonder if you could rig it so it sits on your back with some straps, almost like a backpack blower, this way you would have a second hand free for a MF towel to absorb some of the water being moved around.

 

[98LowRanger]

Thanks guys for all the replies! The Metro Side Kick looks really nice, but it still has a cord and I trying to have one less cord to deal with. After all, the drying phase has to go pretty quick to avoid water spots (the whole reason I am looking into a blower or new technique) so I don't want to worry about where the cord is, if I am going to run out of cord, or keeping it from touching the vehicle. I realize this means that I will have to deal with electric batteries that only run 15-25 minutes, but I don't see having to use the blower continuously that long to dry a vehicle. I rarely wash more then 2 vehicles a day so there is plenty of downtime for the battery to recharge. I fear the Metro Side Kick also lacks some power that I feel that I need to dry more then just the cracks and crevices of a vehicle.

I am probably going to look for the EGO blower as I have found it on ebay for $80-$130, which is the range I really wanted to keep this purchase. I realize cordless may not be as reliable as corded/gas powered tools, but I have to give it a try. Which again goes back to trying to get the best one I possibly car for the least amount of money. If that means buying gently used then I may have to go that route. You never know how long anything electronic will last. If I don't have good results from it or it fails relatively quickly on me (crossing my fingers it won't) then next years Black Friday sale I will probably be purchasing a Metro Side Kick.

 

[LRC3]

Not for nothing check craigslist, I picked up a BD blower used for $20.

I'm not sure it's that serious of an issue and surely won't spend a cent more the $30. These thing are deposible items lol. MY OPINION

 

[jimjc]

None of my cordless tools are as good at what they do as my corded ones...and you have to screw with chargers and batteries that loose there charging ability...For 25 years I've used the same electric Toro leaf blower....I finally broke down and purchased another Toro...the old one still does the job...It blows hard and gets the water out of all the places ie. grills wheels and all the cracks...and it's about $60..Toro can't be beat...

 

[KMdef9]

None of my cordless tools are as good at what they do as my corded ones...

True.

The batteries will fail (hold little to no charge) before the motor goes out. That and batteries can't perform as strong as cordered either.

So yes, when you first buy it, you might get 15-20 min (or whatever they claim) of decent run time, but after every use, you loose alittle time. Then, when you go to replace the battery, they cost 2/3 of what you paid for the whole thing in the first place.


I've had the $40 B&D corded blower for 3 years and haven't had an issue. Had I purchased the Kobalt brand cordless blower ($150), I'm sure the battery would need replacement, for how much I use it, by now. They're $100...

 

[addysdaddy]

Why not a small lightweight gas unit? There is a Hitachi 440 cfm unit for $140 - not sure why everyone is recommending a corded machine.

 

[jshaf]

drying is an area that I haven't mastered just yet, going to try and work on my sheeting rinse come spring. I have some awesome waffle weaves and a metro dryer which I use for primarily wheels and grille. always trying to improve even after 4 years of learning the proper way from this site, still working on perfection

 

[KMdef9]

Why not a small lightweight gas unit? There is a Hitachi 440 cfm unit for $140 - not sure why everyone is recommending a corded machine.

Heard they can spray the oil mix onto the paint.

 

[addysdaddy]

Heard they can spray the oil mix onto the paint.

mmm - thanks for that!! :xyxthumbs:

 

[Ebg18t]

I have been using the craftsman 19.2v 140mph unit with the lithium XHD batteries. Gives me plenty of run time to do the car. I do my driveways and sidewalk on one battery no problem.