Picked up the Metro Blaster Sidekick

[Eidolon]

So in my last order of refills on products and new wash pads, I also picked up a Metro Blaster Sidekick to help with the drying process.

 

Good grief, it's a vacuum cleaner in reverse! As more or less expected, it is somewhat loud, though not unbearably so. But it does pump out a solid, forceful stream of tangibly warmed air that, in a few seconds, will dry off water on trim and tires. For that it works very well.

 

Of course, if your car decides it wants to keep leeching water out of every orifice as my G8 does, blowing water out of the cracks doesn't help much. So my hope of eliminating all the water dripping out from the lip spoiler and side mirrors didn't quite pan out. Still, there's many cases in which it did help. For instance, I used it to blow water out from around the lug nuts on my tires and then dry them off so I could put VRT on right away.

 

Great little product, really. Doesn't get everything out of the cracks, but it does help. Only two tips I'd have that I'll follow myself for next time.

 

 

1. Blow water out of the cracks before toweling off the rest of the car. The Blaster evacuated quite a bit of water from some cracks, such as around my side mirrors. The result was that I had to re-dry some panels I'd already previously toweled.
   
2. Wear ear protection! It's not that the device itself is so loud, but the sound the blast of air makes on some trim and tire lugs was piercing.
   

Thanks, Adam!

[Team Adam's]

I got the Metro Blaster, After I did the Junkman water pooling drying technique it took about 10 minutes to dry my car. I had only a couple of water spots to towel dry, door jambs, trunk jambs and a couple of spots on the windows, but mine worked great and was no louder actually quieter than a weed blower.

 

Yea, db's are probably comparable to your average leaf blower IMO... definitely not a stealth tool, or one your neighbors would appreciate you using at 6am on a Saturday, but its far less awkward than a leaf blower and the warm air is nice if you're detailing on a cold morning

[Kustom_FX]

That one came from a customer of mine who was a lifer.. was on a carrier.. dont recall what his title was, but on the deck no one was higher than him... He gave me that one..

[Nordgrey]

Sub crews.. 48 men go down, 24 couples come up..

 

Ok, 20 years in the Navy, most of them spent picking on submariners and I never heard that one.

 

I will be using that one on my wingers in the sewer tubes.

[Kustom_FX]

Sub crews.. 48 men go down, 24 couples come up..

[Junkman2008]

That's why we make every effort to keep sailors occupied at all times. That mentality in the tight confines of a ship or sub?

 

 

 

SCARY!

[Nordgrey]

My God, Marines and Army guys with nothing to do is still a dangerous combination after all these years. Oh how I fondly remember!

 

 

That's why we make every effort to keep sailors occupied at all times. That mentality in the tight confines of a ship or sub?

 

 

[Junkman2008]

Junkman, you know you played some buffer rodeo back in the day.

 

Correction, I would have played some buffer rodeo until I saw a guy go for a ride. It whipped him around so fast that he grabbed both handles by reflex. That brought both his feet off the ground and slung him clear across the room and over a desk. By the time I got up off the floor from laughing so hard, I had no plans whatsoever of entertaining anyone as bad as that guy just did.

 

That incident still makes me crack up. Good Lord that was funny!

[Mysticine]

My God, Marines and Army guys with nothing to do is still a dangerous combination after all these years. Oh how I fondly remember!

 

Junkman, you know you played some buffer rodeo back in the day.

[Junkman2008]

The best part of the blaster is pointing it at your face or body and watching the interesting results:

 

 

Granted that picture was taken 4 years ago, but my face looked identical when using the blaster.

 

 

My God, Marines and Army guys with nothing to do is still a dangerous combination after all these years. Oh how I fondly remember!

[Zeus_SVT]

[Mysticine]

The best part of the blaster is pointing it at your face or body and watching the interesting results:

 

 

Granted that picture was taken 4 years ago, but my face looked identical when using the blaster.

 

[Kustom_FX]

I have a small 2 gallon Shop-Vac that the wife got me (her) that has never been used. I use that.. works well and its no louder that my 6.5 gallon that I clean with..

[Junkman2008]

You know my neighbor I see... I think my gas blower is less annoying... His sounds like a supercharger at full boost!

 

I fight the sun too much... If I want shade I have to wait till 3pm to start and then I'm into the wee hours of the night.

 

Gas powered blowers tend to spew stuff all over the paint from their exhaust alone. If I were going to use a leaf blower, I would make sure that it is electric.

[lawson4450]

if im at the firehouse i use the air compressor but i got the sidekick for those times when im not there or im working on someone elses car at their house and they dont have a compressor i can still use the sidekick.

[Goatman06]

i love my blaster side kick, i has tons of power and works awesome. I wish i had one earlier.

[Chewy]

Yea, db's are probably comparable to your average leaf blower IMO... definitely not a stealth tool, or one your neighbors would appreciate you using at 6am on a Saturday, but its far less awkward than a leaf blower and the warm air is nice if you're detailing on a cold morning

 

You know my neighbor I see... I think my gas blower is less annoying... His sounds like a supercharger at full boost!

 

I fight the sun too much... If I want shade I have to wait till 3pm to start and then I'm into the wee hours of the night.

[Dr Jkel]

I got the Metro Blaster, After I did the Junkman water pooling drying technique it took about 10 minutes to dry my car. I had only a couple of water spots to towel dry, door jambs, trunk jambs and a couple of spots on the windows, but mine worked great and was no louder actually quieter than a weed blower.

[Team Adam's]

Any issue with using my air compressor to blow out water from mirrors etc?

I figure its the same thing and this way I don't have to spend another $75?

 

I have a 75 foot wall-mounted hose reel for the my air compressor lines.

Planning to do the same for an electrical extension cord and hose as well.

 

 

Not at all! As long as your compressor has been properly serviced and isn't burping oil or nasty condensation out of the nozzle you're fine. I used my compressor for a long time without issue, plus with the right nozzle on the outlet you can get a very nice concentrated blast of air right where you want it.

 

Not necessarily the best method for drying the bulk of the vehicle, but it will certainly get all the nooks crannies, and water trapped in hidden places.

[GXPaycheck]

Any issue with using my air compressor to blow out water from mirrors etc?

I figure its the same thing and this way I don't have to spend another $75?

 

I have a 75 foot wall-mounted hose reel for the my air compressor lines.

Planning to do the same for an electrical extension cord and hose as well.

 

 

Oil in the compressor may get on your paint. I went the electric leaf blower route.

[mcss383]

The other thing with air compressors is to not go overboard with the pressure. They put out some serious velocity that can rip off some things.

[The Ryan]

Any issue with using my air compressor to blow out water from mirrors etc?

I figure its the same thing and this way I don't have to spend another $75?

 

I have a 75 foot wall-mounted hose reel for the my air compressor lines.

Planning to do the same for an electrical extension cord and hose as well.

 

You should be ok... Just make sure the air tank is free of dirty water, thats the biggest part of using a air compressor, is making sure the air your using is clean. If your blowing grit (dirty water) back on to the car when drying it, your going to induce more swirls. A lot of air compressors are filtered, and a lot are not.. Just check and make sure your blowing dirty water onto the car, and you should be in the clear.

[skibumdc]

Any issue with using my air compressor to blow out water from mirrors etc?

I figure its the same thing and this way I don't have to spend another $75?

 

I have a 75 foot wall-mounted hose reel for the my air compressor lines.

Planning to do the same for an electrical extension cord and hose as well.

[DP 08 GXP]

she came in today and man that thing blows

[Chris@Adams]

A little advice...

 

Blow off the bulk of the water from surfaces and get as much as you can out of the trim, badges, nooks, and crannies.

 

Then towel dry with TONS of detail spray. The stuff you blow out of the trim will often times have small amounts of grit and dirt in it trapped during the wash process.

 

After the car is dry blast all the trim, door handles, badges, and bodylines again to get the remaining water out.

 

Towel dry these areas with heavy doses of detail spray or waterless wash used as a lubricant.

 

I always take 2 passes with the blaster to get everything, water has a tendency to hide all over the place, the G8 is especially bad just b/c of the body-lines and angles.

 

[70'sChevyGirl]

Well thats a good review!!