leaf blower - close call
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 24,333
Likes: 1
From: VA
St. Jude Donor '03-'11
leaf blower - close call
washed the car today and grabbed the leaf blower to dry her off.
I have a Toro electric leaf blower, and I pretty much only use for this purpose.
I turned it on, and was just swinging it around to point it at the car and BOOOOM... like a big backfire in my hand. The prop blew to pieces... 1/3 of it went down the output pipe, but since the pipe gets narrow as it goes, the piece got stuck half way. The force from it shot out the 2 foot tube about the length of the car
Fortunately, it traveled parallel to the car, about a foot away.
Dragged out the old towels after that
I have a Toro electric leaf blower, and I pretty much only use for this purpose.
I turned it on, and was just swinging it around to point it at the car and BOOOOM... like a big backfire in my hand. The prop blew to pieces... 1/3 of it went down the output pipe, but since the pipe gets narrow as it goes, the piece got stuck half way. The force from it shot out the 2 foot tube about the length of the car
Fortunately, it traveled parallel to the car, about a foot away.
Dragged out the old towels after that
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 12,466
Likes: 886
From: Fort Wayne IN
2025 C5 of the Year Finalist - Modified
C5 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
2017 C5 of the Year Finalist
2016 C5 of the Year Finalist
2015 C5 of the Year Finalist
Did you go buy a lottery ticket yet???
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 35,183
Likes: 2,125
From: Right Corner Pocket of Illinois
No-IL Events Coordinator
2026 Corvette of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2025 C6 of the Year Winner - Unmodified
2020 C6 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
2019 C6 of Year Winner (appearance mods)
2018 C6 of Year Finalist
St. Jude Donor '12 thru '26
Too much boost??? 
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 3,024
Likes: 18
From: DFW Texas
Pretty much the exact same blower and after 3 years, was drying the car off, then got a loud whine sound and within a few seconds started blowing sparks and smoke out the side of it. Before I could get it down to the ground to check it out, pieces started melting, then blew a house 15 amp circuit breaker.
Took what was left apart and the brushes had a catastrophic failure and quickly self destructed.
Couldn't be without a blower, so back to Home Depot and got another one.......
Took what was left apart and the brushes had a catastrophic failure and quickly self destructed.
Couldn't be without a blower, so back to Home Depot and got another one.......
