Exotic Detail Blog | Car Detailing Lincolnshire, Yorkshire & Nottinghamshire

Fiat 500 Twinair

Just a couple of pictures from yesterdays New Car Prep on this Fiat 500 Twinair. Great little car wearing Bodywrap and Dodo Juice Orange Crush

Ring Automotive Digital Air Compressor Review

Feeling The Pressure

If you follow us on Twitter you would have seen our teaser shot of the latest Ring Automotive delivery. Since then we have been hard at work fondling, prodding and sometimes testing the Ring Automotive RAC630.

Now Ring offering a wide selection of Air Compressors, from Analogue to Digital and even Cordless. Picking the right one for you is the first step towards perfect tyre pressures. Ours has a few more features than simply the ability of tyre inflation but we soon found those little extras come in very handy.

The first thing we noticed on opening the box was this fantastic carry case. It’s a very compact package measuring roughly 20cm x 18cm x 8.5cm, and for those who are weight conscious we clocked it on the scales at just over 1,200g although to hold it feels lighter than that.

Once the bag is unzipped this is what you see. On the front we have an On/Off switch, digital display, program buttons (more on these later) and the LED light controls. Firstly the LED has 3 settings, On, Flashing and SOS. The Flashing and SOS are very similar Red LED blinking at different rates. The standard LED works very well and would come in handy on the side of a dark country lane in the middle of the night.

After turning the RAC630 over I started to get very excited! Let me point your attention towards the light blue strap, this thing is a life saver. I presume like me, you already have a tyre compressor, and like mine the cables refuse to go back into their designated slot. Well Ring Automotive have the answer. This Velcro strap is connected to the power cable so after winding the cable back up you simply wrap the strap round and secure tightly. This simple, inexpensive, tiny strap makes ALL the difference when it comes to user friendliness.

Also on the back are adapters for something and on the side there is the tyre inflation cable. The cable has a deflation button which comes in very handy when switching between maximum and normal load tyre pressures. It doesn’t sound too impressive but if i’m ever in the market for a tyre compressor, a deflation button would be near the top of my list…right behind that little Velcro strap.

Already super impressed it was time to plug in and power up.

I do love the RAC630 so I need to be careful how I word this, but the controls for setting your desired tyre pressure seems to be purposefully obtuse. It may just be me but I think products should be intuitive, have a sense of logic and order which renders a user manual redundant. So imagine my distress as I prodded at the buttons, trying to make sense of the blinking display.

Before I go on can I just say that once you have set up your desired tyre pressure, (my Coupe at normal load is 30psi all round) the RAC630 could not be easier to use. You simply plug in and hit go, once the required pressure is reached it automatically shuts off. Job done in seconds, perfect.

Getting to this stage however wasn’t quite as simple, and after several minutes of getting nowhere I consulted the manual. At this point I had already figured out that the ‘M’ button changes the pressure type between psi, BAR and KPa. So with this button deducted from my available 3 I am left with ‘+’ or ‘-’. None of which seem like the right button to press to set the pressure. Below is an extract from the manual.

‘Hold + or – button for approx 5 seconds until LCD display flashes. Set the required pressure using the + or – buttons then wait 2-3 seconds. The LCD will display the current pressure value to which the tyre will be inflated.’

Okay so it isn’t all that complicated, but the button holding and flashing screen are just too clumsy. If there was a 4th button, a simple click away from knowing what pressure the machine is set to, without button holding and flashing screens, the RAC630 would be damn near perfect.

With the pressure set the machine coped fine with inflation and didn’t slow down when it reached the 29psi mark (unlike my old compressor that refused to budge past 28). Luckily all 4 tyres need to be at 30psi so I avoid the hassle of setting the pressure between front and rear. If you have a 1 or 2 psi difference between front and rear I would suggest setting the machine to the maximum required pressure and just manually hitting the off button once the desired pressure has been reached.

Verdict

All in all I think the RAC630 is a great machine despite the faffy menu selection. I think the carry case is fantastic and the size and weight mean it will slide into your boot ready for when you need it. The tyre inflation cable slides into the cut out on the side with plenty of room. The power cable has more than enough length too, making it easy to check the spare tyre on the back of a friend Discovery. The RRP is around £34.99 but we managed to find it on amazon for £24.99 so shop around for a bargain. At £25-£30 I think the RAC630 is spot on for the money, any cheaper and you end up with a compressor that runs out of puff past 25psi.

Happy Detailing, Simon

Protection Break

Make your LSP last longer

Just under 2 weeks ago I applied a single layer of Tough Coat to the car. I purposely rushed it, not being too careful about applying an even coverage and Monday morning produced the results I’d been waiting for.

In the morning dew you could clearly see where the protection had broken and how the beading was effected. The Rain X on the back screen highlights the problem perfectly.

By only applying a single layer you run the risk over uneven coverage. The slightest gap will result in protection failure and reduced life of your LSP. I say LSP as apposed to Sealant or Wax because this problem affects all protection products.

This is why it is important to apply two layers. two, thin, even layers will give you far better levels of protection than one, rushed, thick layer.

Happy Detailing, Simon

BMW 335d – YouHelp Detail

Here are a few pictures from last Friday’s YouHelp Detail. It was great fun working with Adam throughout the day on his beautiful BMW 335d. We talked about the best weekly wash routine and how to maintain the Tough Coat and Midnight Sun protection combo.