18403 Fin Straightener, White

This came today, and I immediately put it to work. My air conditioner fins were pretty dinged up from the previous owner. It wasn’t putting out very cold air, and after the shop said it was charged correctly and working, I started digging in to see what was wrong. The ac condenser and other radiators were plugged up between them, plus the fins were dinged up. After cleaning the condenser and radiator, the ac improved. After I straightened the fins, the ac is now putting out cold air like it should. Note: be patient, it takes time to do this. Here is what I found works best: 1) For fins that are very bent, I carefully used my pocket knife to pre straighten. 2) Go slow and use a gentle rocking motion as you comb it out. This helps get the fins spaced properly. 3) Go over the damaged area several times until the fins are spaced evenly. 4) Push it in as far as it will go. You do have to pull out a bit to get around the pipes. By going deep, the tool pulled out lots of sand and small gravel, as well as bug parts from between the fins. I’m putting a screen in front of the condenser next. I was concerned I would break the teeth, but they held up well, even with moderate pressure on them. Well worth the money and a couple of hours time compared to replacing the condenser. Great tool.

Works fine, will do the jone

Strong tool and an important tool to really complete the job

I purchased this fin straightener to straighten the fins on my 20 year old RV air conditioner unit. Roughly 30% of all of the fins were bent to some degree due to hail storms over the years. My finned condenser measures approximately 12" x 24". First of all, this is not a miracle tool. It takes time and effort to complete the job. Second of all, it will not straighten out badly bent over fins. Finally, due to the geometry of the tool (having a different comb every 60 degrees around) it is impossible to straighten the edge fins because the frame where the unit is supported interferes with the next comb to the right or left. To get to the edges the user can hacksaw off the surrounding combs or (as I did) order the Allstar ALL10680 Radiator Fin Comb Kit to complement this one. If you order the Allstar ALL10680 Radiator Fin Comb Kit, use it only on the edges when necessary because it wears out quite quickly. After spending roughly 2 hours on the roof of my RV I estimate that I was able to straighten 75% of the bent fins. The remaining 25% that were bent couldn't be straightened because they were too badly bent over. Both tools were completely worn out by the time I finished. My AC now works significantly better. Between the two tools I spent about $26.00 - far less than the radiator shop would have charged. I would not recommend a metal comb. It might be so aggressive that it would cause unintended damage or (worse yet) puncture the tubing.

I'll post a before & after pics. You tell me if it works. I will say, I'm happy with the results. I found it easier to hold the comb in my hand than use the handle. Because I did not use the handle. I could only fix for about 20 minutes, than my fingers were starting to cramp. I worked for 20 minutes three days in a row. Only down side to the comb design, is it is real hard to do the edges. My truck has a large top cover that makes it even harder to get to the top edge. Only area left to do is the top right. Which I'll do after the weather warms up. I would estimate that the damaged areas are 90 precent better with regards to air flow. Holding the comb in my hand. Allowed me to go bottom up & top down. Going both directions worked best for me. All most like sharing a knife. Couple of strokes one way, than a couple the other way. Also in the really hard hit areas. I found that being gentle was not the way to go. There was already little to no are flow, so could I make things worse? I aggressively with quite a bit of pressure went through this area. What did I have to loose? Outcome was better than when I took it easy. Don't expect the comb to work if you are gentle in heavy damage areas. YES be gentle in light damage areas! I not only fixed most of the Fins. I took out a lot of small rocks, bugs, feathers, floating seeds. So it will clean the Fins as well as straighten the fins.

Take you time and find the comb that seats well in your application and mark it with a sharpie dot. This is critical, to save effort later. The Robinair 18403 Fin Straightener has 2 disks: 1) Disk 1 has fins/comb elements for 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, and 15 fins per inch. 2) Disk 2 has fins/comb elements for 10.5, 11, 13, 18, 20 and 22 fins per inch. Remember, this is a tool not a magic wand. It will only fix moderately bent fins. Tips: 1) Use a dull spreader from your kitchen, to manually straighten badly bent up fins. 2) Use a lubricant, I prefer WD40 or spray Silicone. 3) Be gentle. Those evaporator coils were not built to be handled. 4) Wash coil with soap and hose down with lots of water after you are done. Also, do not go OCD with this. Try to get as many as you can with you damaging the coil or getting bruised. This is not about perfection but efficiency.

Works great, not for tight spaces, but perfect otherwise, would buy again

This fin straightener works very nicely. It was the first time I have used one and fortunately the learning curve is short and easy. It straightened everything from minor dings to the ones I thought would not be straight ever again. It does require patience and finesse, but it is well worth the time and effort. I used it without the handle. How I used it (the motion) depended upon the severity of the ding. Minor abrasions came out easiest with very little pressure and pulling the straightener in a downward motion. Severe dings straightened best using an upward motion, much as a barber would with clippers, with the straightener deep in the fins, but use a light force.

buen articulo, buena herramienta de calidad los acabados

Hard to use takes long time and patience

Great tool, I used this to brush the coil on my rv ac unit that had been damaged by hail. Overall it's a good tool for the job and pretty sturdy. However if you intend to brush your coils for the first time I suggest you at least watch a video because you can easily cause expensive and permanent damage by using the wrong comb or the improper technique.

The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is that some of the plastic aligners tooth that goes on the tool arrived a little bended right out of the box and it is hard to realign them (they are rigid plastic) so they fitted properly between the metal fins of the condenser. Once I realigned/forced them back straight as much as I could, I was able to use the tool properly to realign the metal fins of my air conditioner and it did a very good job.

Mechanic stood on the front bumper of my mint 2009 F250 and put knee on the power steering cooler. Flattened half of the fins and bent the cooler. Got this tool to straighten the fins. Worked well after I found the rake with the right spacing. Cooler looks like new again.