An honest amateur review of the Metro Master Blaster

[T_velar]

I have to preface this with basic info. I'm a hobbyist and by no means a professional. I recently had the chance to borrow a friends Metro Master Blaster (MB3-CD) and couldn't wait to use it after hearing all of the hype. I had been debating on buying one for a few months so now i had the opportunity to test one out. I brought it to work with me since i knew I would have two giant vehicles to practice on. Simple to use, flip two switches and you are off to the races. The test vehicle was rather large..... It was a fire truck. After playing with it for a few minutes and blowing random objects around such as leaves, dirt, small pieces of gym equipment and the rookies hat, it was time to put it to work.

The truck was washed with cheap hand soap and a big "soft" brush. It was rinsed with non de-ionized bacteria infused crud called "city water". 2 guys started drying the drivers side of the truck with low quality hospital terry cloth towels and I started on the passenger side with the metro blaster. It took all of about 1 minute before I realized that unless you have a garage queen that has flawless paint and you are afraid of oxygen marring the paint in a weak breeze, this thing seems like a huge waste of money. Yes it put out a lot of air at a high velocity, but I found that it did not do a very good job blowing the water off of the vehicle. It seemed to take much more time to constantly chase the small water drops around after the air hit it. I will say that it works awesome for nooks and crannies and anywhere that water thinks it can hide. I'm sure for a small compact vehicle with a good coat of wax or sealant the metro master blaster would probably do a great job. I just found that with a quality drying towel, the time spent can be dramatically cut in half. I'm obviously not too worried about swirls and scratches in a daily driver and the money saved on spending $400 on a metro blaster can buy me lots of Guzzlers and maybe the 4hp model just for the tight areas. The 2 guys dried the drivers side in about 5 minutes and it took me about 20 to do the other side. I found it worked very well in drying the tires. It seemed that the heated air from the metro blaster sped up drying time tremendously.

I also found that it actually left a fair amount of a haze afterward. It was almost like a very fine film of deposits left by using crappy water.

For somebody who has a high quality whip and doesn't mind spending some time chasing small water droplets around I'd say this would be great for you.

Overall I was not impressed in the least and cannot see myself spending so much money for a mediocre product. Call me crazy.

[CharlieU]

I have the smaller one, but my experiences with it are the same as yours. The heated air is the problem as the water dries before it's blown off the panel and I'm left with water spots that require a going over with QD. Since my car has a bunch of water catching trim, I do use it to get the water out of those. Hose in one hand, towel in the other.

[BobbyG]

The Master Blaster or leaf blowers rely heavily on one thing; a coated or sealed / waxed finish. If the finish is void of any protection the surface tension will try to hold on to the water and the force of the air seems to spread it around rather than blowing the water droplets from the finish.

Surface Tension

Beading of rain water on a waxy surface, such as a leaf. Water adheres weakly to wax and strongly to itself, so water clusters into drops. Surface tension gives them their near-spherical shape, because a sphere has the smallest possible surface area to volume ratio.

Water adheres to itself very well but not to wax. This is the reason for beading after rinsing. Since water does not adhere to wax a blast of high speed air quickly removes it from the finish leaving it streak free...

By not physically touching the finish you also avoid adding marring and minor surface defects.

It is very handy especially for getting into areas such as engine compartments, rain gutters, wheels, trim, emblems, side mirrors, wipers, cowls, headlights, taillights, as well as the general finish...

They are pricy....

[Bunky]

As Bobby said, the better the LSP on your paint the easier it is to dry with forced air such as the Master Blaster. It is obviously unmatched on crevices and would think something like fire truck would have plenty with a lot of post wash dripping. It dries wheels and wells faster and better than any towel.

If you are seeing drying of spots due to the heat, it will do this if you are pointing the nozzle at high angles. You need to use as a shallow angle to herd water off the paint and not "into" the paint.

I do not find it a dramatic time saver but just a better dry process given water dripping from all the crevices and less touching of the paint.

[silverfox]

One thing I had to learn was how to properly dry the entire car...meaning that if I did a section before another section in the wrong order, I ended up spraying water right back over a section I just dried, and finding myself actually drying the car over and over in certain areas making the drying process actually LONGER.

You learn fast in which order to dry things.

Is it worth the $$..?..anything that eliminates the touching of the paint is going to save you money in the long run in my opinion.

[camaro2ssblack]

It's not a time saver, its a swirl saver. You need a clayed and waxed car, a sheet rinse, and a drying angle of less than 30 degrees for the best results. I also use the blot method with a drying towel to get the big drops, then follow up with the master blaster for the rest of the water. That method keeps you from just blowing water everywhere like silverfox mentioned above. The value of the MB is its ability to get water out of cracks, crevices, jambs, engine bay, wheels, mirrors, etc. A drying towel doesnt help you there...

[Pats300zx]

I find it to be a huge time saver when drying. It just gets so much water out of the crevices and cracks. The heated air is a huge advantage over a standard leaf blower.

I agree with what others have said. I quality LSP will make the surface adhesion of the water so much less and will greatly aid in the drying process.

[BrutalNoodle]

I find it to be a huge time saver when drying. It just gets so much water out of the crevices and cracks. The heated air is a huge advantage over a standard leaf blower.

I agree with what others have said. I quality LSP will make the surface adhesion of the water so much less and will greatly aid in the drying process.

Every time I see some cool detailing gadget, I automatically think - Pats300zx probably has one. lol

BTW, I didn't get a chance to thank you for responding in another thread regarding CG Blacklight. So... Thank you!

[Pureshine]

I have had mine for 2 years and was worth every penny I paid for it. The time it has saved me in 2 years has paid for it self and made me money. I use it inside to blow out stuff in cracks and crevices.
Todd

[Old Tiger]

I agree with all the responses regarding the point the MB isnt a huge time saver. It is a paint saver and fun as hell to me when I use mine. MY cars are coated so the water flies off. It is awesome on the Audi Rag Top too!