Leaf Blower purchase update (FINALLY):
Well I have made my decision for a new leaf blower for drying vehicles after a two-bucket wash: I went back to the electric-corded Toro Ultra Leaf Blower-&-Vacuum Model No. 51619. But there`s more to this decision and it`s kinda "convoluted" (read on).
I bought a NEW Toro Ultra Leaf Blower-&-Vacuum Model No. 51619 at Menard`s (Midwest building supply store) to replace the one that had died. Then I went to Mill`s Fleet-Farm (another Midwest farm and building supply store, not to be confused with Blaine`s Farm-&-Fleet) and found a Worx WG583 (the new model is WG585) 40V NITRO leaf blower as a display model one sale for half price and about $50 more than the Toro I just bought. PERFECT!!!! I already had two 20V batteries for it from a Worx string trimmer, so if it only came with just the leaf blower and no batteries, great, I had the batteries to fit it. SO return the Toro, bring in my Worx batteries from home, back to Fleet Farm to try out the WG583 leaf blower to see if it fit and worked with those batteries. It did, as I tested it in-store. So make the purchase and lo and behold, the display came WITH two 20V-4 amp(h) batteries and charger and user manual, but no container box like a new model. NOW I am set and a happy detailing camper, ready to go back ans wash-and-dry with my new tool that I thought was PERFECT for drying after a two-bucket wash. Two features that I REALLY liked about the Worx WG583 was it`s really light by weight (about 6.5 pounds with the two batteries) AND it has an adjustable sliding nozzle that allows the choice between air volume (longer) OR air speed (Shorter). PERFECT, I thought for drying vehicles. UNTIL I used it for leaf blowing. The air flow power switch as three setting and a TURBO switch when a lot of air is required. Trouble is at is MAX setting (3) it required the use of the TURBO switch to move leaves, even when they are dry and there are a few of them. AND it only ran for 12 minutes on a FULL charge of the batteries. I got about 3/4 of my small lawn done to move the meager fall leaves that had fallen on my yard. THIS AIN`T GONNA WORK! Yes, I said my leaf blower is mainly used for vehicle wash drying, BUT when I do want to use it for leaves, like blowing out the roof eaves of leaves in them or from the lawn, this in NOT the tool to be using for that task. Now the "simple solution" is to switch out the batteries and keep working. BUT the short run time of 12-13 minutes is not my idea of a good work time. I hate having to switch out batteries in the middle of a job, especially on a ladder or standing on the roof blowing out leaves in the eaves. Yes it ONCE to dry a vehicle a washed, my wife`s Ford Taurus. Same experience. By the time I got to drying the 4 wheel after washing and drying the body ( I do that first, including towel drying, then the four wheels and wells), it was starting to slow down, out of power. THIS AIN`T GONNA WORK, EITHER! so what I thought was a "perfect tool" for drying vehicles, is not for me. Again I know I could swap out the batteries and continue working, but WHY?! Now some of you think I am lazy or I just do not understand how cordless tools "work", but having to swap batteries to continue working after a short usage time just is not acceptable to me.
SO, return the Worx leaf blower to Fleet-Farm, and go back to Menard`s to buy the Toro leaf blower I had just returned days earlier, hoping it was still there. It was, although "hidden" on the shelf with the shelf stock price sticker now attached to box, as if it was not going to be re-stocked! Who buys cored electrical leaf-blowers these days anyway?
SOOOO, it`s back to the same-old-same old; my familiar corded Toro vacuum-&-blower for drying vehicles and blowing leaves. I will probably never use the vacuum part of it for sucking up leaves and grass. I did that once and then used it to dry a vehicle. BIG MISTAKE! The left-over leaf debris that was cut up by the blower blades inside the housing blew onto my car, so I learned from that experience.
I also bought a new electrical extension cord at Menard`s since my old extension cord had been shorted out when I used an even older dying/dead Toro blower (same model. I just do not throw things away, thinking I will fix them some day, or scavenge the parts from it) as it was dying trying to finish drying my car. I bought a new Smart Electrician 50 foot, 12 Gauge wire with a yellow jacket extension cord, model 370-0571, that has a unique LOCKING female connector end. PERFECT for when I plug in and use my Porter-Cable Dual-Action polisher. Now it will not come apart and loose power as I move around, nor do I have to painter`s tape the connection together or tie the two cords together to prevent this "unplugging" from happening. I have used it with said PC-DA and it works very well. I highly recommend this extension cord for such a use as I have told here. The nice design feature is you do not have to use the sliding lock tab/switch if you do not want to. Not sure how long it will last as it slides forward to the lock position and back to unlock it, but it works for me and overcomes one of my personal pet-peave complaints/problems with electrical extension cords: having the male connector from an electrical tool come unplugged from the female connector on the cord.
Thanks to all of you Autopians for your suggestions and experiences on leaf blowers for drying vehicles. Maybe the newer, updated Worx WG585 NITRO blower is better than what I bought and if you are used to short work times of battery-powered tools, it might just be the perfect leaf blower for you for drying washed and rinsed vehicles. I thought I got a deal at my purchase of a display model at half price and I did! It`s just that its shortcoming of a too short of a run/work time (in my opinion) did not overcome the purchase price. And as stated above, check out the Smart Electrician extension cord: it might just be the ideal cord you are looking for with use of your cored polishers or other electrical tools.