Now I know what Newton felt like....

[JonT]

I posted this on detailing board and not much response. I was driving Rhonda Honda through the car wash and then through the huge dryer when it occured to me why don't I try this at home with the leaf blower? Has anyone tried it? Its not hot so I don't see how it would harm the paint.

[nostatic]

Two things come to mind:

How well is the intake screened? Seems like it would be easy to pick up airborne particulate matter and blast it onto the paint.

Where does the water go? While some of it evaporates, it seems like the air would force water into some spots it might not normally go.

[Eric Coffey]

I think this is actually a fairly common practice among the detailing crowd. The only potential negative I can think of is the possibility of a "sand blast" effect from non-filtered air. I am probably being paranoid though. If you check out this detailing BBS:
http://www.autopia-carport.com/foru...y.php?forumid=3 and enter "leaf blower" in the search field, you will probably get lots of threads to view on the subject.

[radcon]

As long as you're not holding the intake of the leaf blower near the ground, I don't think there should be a problem with blowing abrasives on your paint. There is a guy who lives down the street who uses his leaf blower to dry his motorcycle and blow all the water out of the chassis and engine - areas you'd never be able to reach by hand. Good idea, I think.

[emcon5]

Assuming of course, the big blowdryer at the car wash is filtered.

Tom

[Plays with cars]

Works great. Just started using one this year to dry the cars. Contrary to Nostatic's prediction it works great for blowing water OUT of the small cracks and crevices. That's actually what spurred me to try it because my wife's Grand Cherokee has a ton of small crevices that manage to hold the water just long enough so they can drip/run down the spots I've just dried. With the blower, this is no longer a problem. Reading some of the detailing posts, on point that's made is that it's near impossible to scratch the car if you don't actually touch it.

[logician]

Hi,

I've used a vacuume cleaner in reverse as a blower to blow dust out of the engine compartment and interior. I just connect the hose to the exhaust. It works pretty well to dislodge dust that can't be reached otherwise. It works best outside with a little wind blowing so that the dust that becomes airborn does not settle back in the car.

-Juan

[Doug E]

Maybe on the Honda or Minivan but if a leaf blower ever comes close to the 911 someone is going to pay!

[JSDSKI]

Freefly is on the point... detailers use compressed air to blow out body seams. door, hood and trunk edges, grills, wheels etc - they'll use the same lines mechanics use air tools or painters use for spray guns.... a good compressed air system has air filters and water traps on the lines because dirty air also destroys air tools and expensive paint jobs...

[logician]

So I hear that the down side of using leaf blowers is the 100+ mph wind speed from the blower, and the possibility of "sand blasting" the paint at that speed. But why exactly would that be any worse than driving on the road at 100+ mph. Surely the dirt and rocks kicked up by cars on the road/track would be worse than any airborne dust that might be inhaled by a blower. And the blower would be applied for only seconds compared to the minutes or hours that you would be driving.

-Juan

[Eric Coffey]

logician-


You are probably right, but like I said, I'm paranoid. Not to mention, I don't own a leaf blower, and can't rationalize buying one just to dry my car! Using one might not be any worse than driving 100mph+ for several minutes, or hours at a time, but most people don't drive 100mph+ for several minutes, let alone hours at a time! Such activity would catch up with you sooner than later!

Also, if you imagine a car going down the road, the wind is coming at the car in one direction. So, while there are certain "frontal areas" of concern (like the valance, bumper, bottom of the hood, headlights, windshield, mirrors, and rear fender flares on 911's), most of the wind is directed over and around the car.

Now imagine using a leaf blower to dry your car. You are in control of the stream of air, and can direct it wherever you want (directly at a door panel for instance). Most parts of the car would never see that amount of direct air pressure when driving at any speed.

So, using a leaf blower might not be all bad, it just might increase the risk of making the rest of the car look how the valance, hood, and mirrors usually do on daily driven 911's (sand-blasted/scratched).

If you have a leaf blower, give it a try though. Maybe the time it saves you will outweigh the minimal risk of damaging the finish. Or, you can be boring like me and use a leather chamois, and/or micro-fiber drying towel instead.

Also, as a side note: Modern leaf blowers today are clocking OVER 200mph "muzzle" velocity!

[slakjaw]

what about an air compressor??

[lukeh]

I wash the car and then dry it the best I can. I live on the edge of town so I then hit the road for two miles out and two miles back to town. I hit a max of 70 mph. I am always amazed at all the water that has come out of the cracks. So I then dry all the ribbons of water that have appeared. It makes me feel like I did that little extra. I got the idea by reading a detailing site.

[724doorE]

Don't wash it!

Oopps I been drinking again... sorry

[radcon]

Whoa! This thread has gone on way tool long. Especially considering that most of the people will probably be washing their car on a paved driveway, where is all this dirt coming from that is supposed to damage the paint? Assuming that things travel the path of least resistance, will the air directly surrounding the leaf blower get sucked in, or will the air that is three to four feet lower at ground level get sucked in? This is being a little obsessive, don't you think?