Dislikes: 0
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Review: BLACKFIRE Car Dryer
Review: BLACKFIRE Car Dryer
If you're OCD about your car's finish then you want to air dry it.
Why?
Because by air drying - nothing touches the paint and thus you can prevent the build-up of the fine marring caused by drying with a chamois over time. My assumption is that if you're OCD about your car's finish you already maintain your car's finish by using one of these three things to protect the paint.
Car Wax - Waxy substance like Carnauba, Montan or some other waxy product.
Synthetic Paint Sealant - Man-made product to protect the paint.
Ceramic Paint Coating - Nano particles of glass that form a semi-permanent bond to the paint, typically outlasts car waxes and synthetic paint sealants.
The thing all three types of paint protection do to your car's paint is cause water to BEAD UP. And it is this feature that is a MUST if you want to use a car dryer to dry your car.
Why?
Because practically speaking, the only time you can blow water off a car to the point that you no longer need to touch the paint with some type of drying chamois is if the water ALREADY WANTS TO GET AWAY from the paint, thus the visual sign of surface tension is water beading and this is a sign that water wants to get away and off the paint. Thus it will blow off easily and in most cases, completely.
If you don't regularly wash and wax your car, or wash and apply a synthetic paint sealant to your car or wash and take care of the ceramic paint coating that you installed or someone else installed, then a car dryer is not for you.
But - if you do regularly maintain your car's exterior, then you'll love the BLACKFIRE Car Dryer.
Why?
Because it's lightweight, compact in size and powerful.
Lightweight
With the hose, handle and nozzle attached it weighs around 8 pounds. Because you hold onto the actual blower unit with one hand and hold the handle at the end of the hose with the other hand, the hand holding the actual car dryer is only holding around 6-7 pounds, that's not much. So yeah, it's lightweight.
Compact in size
The car dryer itself is about the size of a birthday balloon, so it's not large and cumbersome to use or carry around a car.
Powerful
With a 6.5 Peak Horsepower single stage electric motor, this car dryer has PLENTY of CFM or cubic feet per minute to blast any water lying on a body panel after final rinsing.
What's in the Box?
Let's take a look at what comes in the box...
Here's everything that comes in the box. (The connects were already attached to the hose by one of my co-workers)
Here's the actual blower unit...
Here's the 35' power cord - more than enough to reach all the way down one side of a car and in most cases up the other side without the need to re-plug or use an extension cord.
Shoulder Carry Strap
3 attachments to customize how the air is blown from the car dryer...
Soft Vinyl Concentrator Nozzle
This is the middle attachment in the picture above, it's soft vinyl and flexible as you can see by how I'm squeezing the end.
Crevice Tool - For blowing into tight areas or under seats when doing interior detailing...
Blower Nozzle
I'm not sure where I would use this attachment, I'll need to spend more time with it to discover it's benefits....
Hose Handle Grip
6' long flexible locking hose with connectors already attached in this picture
User's Guide and Plastic Adjustable Clamp
To assemble, attach one end of the hose to the BLACKFIRFE Car Dryer and tighten until snug.
Attach the Hose Handle Grip to the other end and tighten until snug.
Next attach the desired nozzle to the end of the hose handle grip. I like the flexible vinyl Concentrator Nozzle.
Use the plastic adjustable clamp to hold the soft vinyl concentrator nozzle onto the hose handle grip.
Your BLACKFIRE Car Dryer is now ready to plug-in and use to dry your car!
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Re: Review: BLACKFIRE Car Dryer
Continued....
I don't do mock-up reviews, articles or details for that matter. If it's important enough to write about and educate people then it's important enough to do the job right the first time and that means doing the real-deal. So to test out the BLACKFIRE Car Dryer I needed a car to wash and rinse so there would be real-world water on a real-world car for me to blow-off.
A few weeks ago I taught a class here at Autogeek showing how to use SONAX Polymer Net Shield on a co-workers Chevy Spark. Here's the write-up from that car detailing class.
Pictures: SONAX PNS + Pinnacle Jeweling Wax - Ford vs Chevy
One of the unique characteristics about the SONAX Polymer Net Shield or PNS as we call it for short, is how it creates amazing surface tension and forces water to bead-up. Because it's only been about 6 weeks since we applied the SONAX PNS to the Chevy Spark, I knew this would be the proper and correct condition paint to use with a car dryer. So I offered my co-worker a FREE CAR WASH if I could use her car again and she is so nice... of course she said "yes".
I always use a Grit Guard Universal Detailing Cart when I wash cars. The reason why is so I don't have to bend over. You see, without the car your bucket or buckets are on the ground and then you're always bending over. EVERONE that attends ANY of the classes I teach,
3-Day Bootcamp class here at Autogeek - January, May and September
2-Day Roadshow Detailing Class - all over the United States
2-Day Boat detailing class - Here at Autogeek every February
These people know first hand how this car takes all the work out of washing your car because it HOLDS all your tools and you don't have to bend over to dunk a wash mitt or Nanoskin towels or mitt into the bucket. Think about it.... you wash your car more than you do anything else to it - so get the car and make washing you car fast and easy and also have a place to store all your car washing tools.
Here's my car with the 5-gallon bucket, Grit Guard Insert, BLACKFIRE Foam Gun, BLACKFIRE Foam Soap and spray nozzles.
When you pour some BF Foam Soap into the Foam Gun water jug because it's rich and thick it sinks to the bottom. If you DON'T mix it up with the water it's so thick it will clog the siphon tube for the Foam Gun. So I keep a Wheel Woolies Brush handy to stir it up!
That's the way you do it - stir it up until you have a uniform mixture and then you're ready to foam your car.
Before I ever start washing cars I practice and teach others to wash the wheels and tires first. I explain why in my how-to book,
The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine
and also share why in all my classes.
After washing all 4 wheels and tires it's time to foam the car....
Then wash using a Microfiber Chenille Wash Mitt - my favorite...
Then rinse - this is an Orbitz sprayer I keep around the garage as I show the SHOWER setting for doing "Wet Wash Engine Detailing" in all my detailing classes. In the classes I share "why" it's so important.
Look at the water trying to get away from the paint as I spray the paint..... that's SONAX PNS!
I coined this term for great water beading about 20 years ago...
Tight, Tall and Small
Cool. The car is now washed and rinsed.
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Post Thanks / Like - 4 Thanks, 2 Likes, 0 Dislikes
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Re: Review: BLACKFIRE Car Dryer
Thanks, I was wondering how long the power cord was on the unit.
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Re: Review: BLACKFIRE Car Dryer
Looks like a great tool to own. Ill have to look into purchasing one my self.
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Re: Review: BLACKFIRE Car Dryer
Terrific review as always Mike! Thank you for your insight on this new offering from Blackfire.
Could we get the performance specs with regard to air volume (CFM) and speed (MPH)?
The reason I ask about this is that many of us have been using leaf blowers as a method of "touch-free" vehicle drying. This method has become both popular and effective over the years.
Leaf blower performance specifications typically include a CFM rating as well as a MPH rating as a means of indicating "power." Thus far, Blackfire has listed the motor as 6.5 peak horsepower but no specific values with regard to CFM & MPH.
I did notice that in your review you specifically mention it has "PLENTY of CFM", just wondering what it actually is.
Thanks again for your time and effort in reviewing this new item! Sounds like a winner so far!
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Re: Review: BLACKFIRE Car Dryer
Originally Posted by Sonic Pilot
Terrific review as always Mike! Thank you for your insight on this new offering from Blackfire.
Could we get the performance specs with regard to air volume (CFM) and speed (MPH)?
The reason I ask about this is that many of us have been using leaf blowers as a method of "touch-free" vehicle drying. This method has become both popular and effective over the years.
Leaf blower performance specifications typically include a CFM rating as well as a MPH rating as a means of indicating "power." Thus far, Blackfire has listed the motor as 6.5 peak horsepower but no specific values with regard to CFM & MPH.
I did notice that in your review you specifically mention it has "PLENTY of CFM", just wondering what it actually is.
Thanks again for your time and effort in reviewing this new item! Sounds like a winner so far!
From the product page on Autogeek: BLACKFIRE Car Dryer
Featuring a 6.5 peak HP motor, the BLACKFIRE Car Dryer blasts water from your vehicle’s surfaces with no touching required! And you know what they say, “the more you touch, the more likely you are to mar” – the BLACKFIRE Car Dryer prevents this! Using the rubber attachment makes for an even safer drying experience – if you accidentally touch the paint, no scratching or marring should occur!
BLACKFIRE Car Dryer features:
6.5 Peak HP, Single-stage motor
120V ~ 60 Hz. 12A
Accessories:
• 6’ (1.8 m) x 2 ˝” (6.4 cm) Locking hose
• Hose handle grip
• Soft vinyl concentrator nozzle
• Crevice tool
• Blower Nozzle
• Plastic adjustable clamp
• Shoulder strap
1 year warranty
Made in the USA
Utility Concentrated Tube
Speed (ft/min) 17910.90 21627.00 7856.34
Speed (mi/hr) 203.53 245.76 89.28
CFM (ft^3/min) 223.11 106.46 182.19
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Post Thanks / Like - 2 Thanks, 1 Likes, 0 Dislikes
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Re: Review: BLACKFIRE Car Dryer
LsnAutoDetailing, thank you for that info, that is exactly what I was looking for.
I didn't see all that data on it when I looked at the the initial product listing here on Autogeek about a week ago or so. Perhaps I missed it.
The numbers are indeed impressive. Looks like another winner from Blackfire....nice!
Thanks again!
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Super Member
Re: Review: BLACKFIRE Car Dryer
Does the BlackFire Dryer supply filtered and heated air? TIA
Bill Strobel
Owner Independent Towing & Repair
Fayetteville, NC
Do It Right or Don't Do It At All
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Super Member
Re: Review: BLACKFIRE Car Dryer
Originally Posted by theamcguy
Does the BlackFire Dryer supply filtered and heated air? TIA
Pretty sure it does since it's basically the same as McKee's 37 Turbo Dryer. Keep in mind the heated part is because the air is passing through the motor which gets hot with use so it heats it up after 5 or 10 minutes of use. It's not a major temperature gain though, feels warm but may not be as hot as you want. It's a solid unit if you don't mind carrying it around with you.
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