I received the air blower on friday, so gave it a test over the weekend once I replaced the US plug with the 110V plug that fits in my transformer.
First impressions.
The unit is light and easy to handle. It sure blows out a lot of air and for £25 delivered, feels like good value for money. You have to have a 110V transformer though (which I have for my Porter Cable) and you need a new plug (Screwfix - £1.20). It is a two core cable, where the black core is the Live cable, the white core the Neutral one. Using the Screwfix connector, it is less then 5 minutes work to replace the existing US plug.
Having washed the car, I tried the dryer. The unit is not suitable to dry the entire car, it just takes too long and I would not have the patience for that. Now for the good points: Once I dried the car using the normal towel method, I used this unit to blow all around the bumber, petrol filler, mirrors, wheels etc. Now that was working great, it removed all that water in no time what so ever.
Using the towal in one hand, the blower in the other, it cleared the "hidden" areas of water in not time, and whilst it pushes it on the paintwork, you could use the towel from your other hand to mop it up before it runs all over the place.
What I liked:
It always annoys me that there is water behind the license plate, mirrors etc etc and when you move the car, it runs out. With this light unit, no more of this. Also, as I cleared the wheels of all water, there was no surface rust on the discs the next morning as they were dry when I parked the car (normally they are obviously wet).
It also highlighted the areas that I had missed during the washing. As I did not touch the wheels for example, I could see bits that I had missed. Normally, when using a towel you would move the dirt around and possibly scratch. The same is true from the hinge areas etc which shows then if you have missed a bit during the washing. It also removed water from difficult areas such as around badges/ grills etc.
The fact that you can dry areas quickly is also helpful when washing for example my classic Golf MKI cabriolet, which goes straight back in the garage after a wash. I must prefer to think of the car to be completely dry in all sort of hidden areas then to naturally dry - with possible issues of rust (1993 car).
The soft rubber hose is safe for paintwork, and as it has a small opening, you can really aim the air flow very well. You would not want a big blower as this would blow all the dust from the floor onto the car.
What I did not like:
The far too short lead that is supplied with the unit. I will replace that with a longer one as it is a pain to have a short lead. US power (110v) is a bit of a pain of course.
Would I recommend it?
Well, if you know that you can not dry an entire car with it, and you just want to use it to dry the annoying bits, then yes. But you have to have a 110V transformer though, and to just buy a transformer for this unit - probably not worth it just for that.
First impressions.
The unit is light and easy to handle. It sure blows out a lot of air and for £25 delivered, feels like good value for money. You have to have a 110V transformer though (which I have for my Porter Cable) and you need a new plug (Screwfix - £1.20). It is a two core cable, where the black core is the Live cable, the white core the Neutral one. Using the Screwfix connector, it is less then 5 minutes work to replace the existing US plug.
Having washed the car, I tried the dryer. The unit is not suitable to dry the entire car, it just takes too long and I would not have the patience for that. Now for the good points: Once I dried the car using the normal towel method, I used this unit to blow all around the bumber, petrol filler, mirrors, wheels etc. Now that was working great, it removed all that water in no time what so ever.
Using the towal in one hand, the blower in the other, it cleared the "hidden" areas of water in not time, and whilst it pushes it on the paintwork, you could use the towel from your other hand to mop it up before it runs all over the place.
What I liked:
It always annoys me that there is water behind the license plate, mirrors etc etc and when you move the car, it runs out. With this light unit, no more of this. Also, as I cleared the wheels of all water, there was no surface rust on the discs the next morning as they were dry when I parked the car (normally they are obviously wet).
It also highlighted the areas that I had missed during the washing. As I did not touch the wheels for example, I could see bits that I had missed. Normally, when using a towel you would move the dirt around and possibly scratch. The same is true from the hinge areas etc which shows then if you have missed a bit during the washing. It also removed water from difficult areas such as around badges/ grills etc.
The fact that you can dry areas quickly is also helpful when washing for example my classic Golf MKI cabriolet, which goes straight back in the garage after a wash. I must prefer to think of the car to be completely dry in all sort of hidden areas then to naturally dry - with possible issues of rust (1993 car).
The soft rubber hose is safe for paintwork, and as it has a small opening, you can really aim the air flow very well. You would not want a big blower as this would blow all the dust from the floor onto the car.
What I did not like:
The far too short lead that is supplied with the unit. I will replace that with a longer one as it is a pain to have a short lead. US power (110v) is a bit of a pain of course.
Would I recommend it?
Well, if you know that you can not dry an entire car with it, and you just want to use it to dry the annoying bits, then yes. But you have to have a 110V transformer though, and to just buy a transformer for this unit - probably not worth it just for that.
