Allstar Performance ALL10680 Radiator Fin Comb Kit , Black

It works well and has many head attachments, but feels a little flimsy

I had an AC with some badly smashed fins on the A coil, and making passes with an old credit card , one fin at a time from the edge of the undamaged areas "into" the smashed area to straighten the badly crushed fins, and then using this radiator fin comb to "fine tune" the fins, is a slow-but-sure way to get the job done.I didn't have any problems with the fin comb teeth breaking off - if the fin is smashed so badly that the fin comb won't go through, use the old credit card or any other similar stiff, flat plastic (like a piece cut from a Tupperware container) to straighten the fins, one at a time from the undamaged edge, working towards the damaged area, and then follow-up with this fin comb. If the fin comb won't pass relatively easily from one direction, flip the comb over and pull it in the opposite direction.

I purchased this fin straightener and the Robinair 18403 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, these combs are a one time use tool because they wear out so quickly.If you order the Allstar ALL10680 Radiator Fin Comb Kit, use it only on the edges when necessary because it wears out quite quickly. I recommend buying the Robinair 18403 Fin Straightener to augment this tool. The Robinair 18403 Fin Straightener is a far more robust tool but it will not reach the edges of the finned unit because of the supports on the edges of the finned condenser.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.

The fins on my outside home AC unit were damaged in a hailstorm. While the AC works, the bent fins reduced the unit's efficiency, so I purchased the fin comb kit to straighten them. The product worked as advertised, but the job is much harder than shown on some Internet videos. Let me summarize my observations as follows:1. This was the only product that I found that had a fine enough tooth spacing. Most only have combs that are as fine as 15 teeth per inch, whereas I found that I needed 20 teeth per inch for my unit. You will need to measure the fin spacing to make sure that the fin spacing is within the range of the combs that are provided in the kit.2. Severe dings required that I first bend open the fins individually using the nail file tool on my miniature Swiss Army Knife. This was a very tedious, but a very necessary, process.3. Starting the straightening correctly is very important. It is necessary to line up the tool carefully between the teeth, or it will actually bend over some fins, hence the need to pre-straighten the areas where the fins were severely dinged. However, even then I could not completely straighten some of the severely bent fins. Some were almost cold welded together.4. The teeth on the tool are relatively wide, making it difficult to align them with the fins, especially because the fins were not straight to begin with. When you align them properly and use a straight motion it will straighten the fins as advertised. However, the protective metal grill means that only a few inches at a time can be straightened. You could remove the grill to speed this process up, but I was warned against doing this as it is not easy to do and to put back properly without damaging the AC unit.5. I can now better appreciate the estimate of over $400 that the one repair company willing to make an estimate for this job wanted to charge for this. Because this was over three times the amount allowed by my insurance company I decided to strengthen the fins myself.6. The teeth on the scraper are made of plastic (as is the handle), and it wears straightening sharp metal teeth. Thus, you should not expect to be able to use a comb more than once (twice if the damage is not too great) for a unit like mine. However, given the low price of the kit and the high price that I would have been charged to make the repair, this is not a serious deficiency.All in all this kit works, but the job is difficult and the kit will not last for very many repairs. I am still looking for a tool with narrower metal teeth, with 20 teeth per inch, but I have not yet found it. This is the best tool for this job that I have been able to find. Actually, metal teeth might not be the best choice, as I can imagine that the sound of them scraping on the metal fins might make the job extremely unpleasant without uncomfortable hearing protection.

I wish I had been smart enough to take before/after photos to show you.I used this to straighten the fins on the AC unit on my camper.This unit did have fins with a zigzag pattern, and this tool worked just fine (others reported it not working).I spent maybe 90 minutes working on the unit, and it looks almost brand new.The fins weren't in terrible shape to begin with- maybe a 60/40 ration of good/smashed.However, after using this, I would now say it is more like 98/2.There were just a couple fins that were smashed enough that they basically tore and couldn't quite be straightened again.I just took my time and was meticulous and am super happy with the results.

I ordered these fin straighteners to use on an OEM condenser for a 2005 Ford F150. The attachments (combs) are plastic which is fine but they are not strong enough to even start to bend back the air fins on my part. The component design is OK and should work but the actual little combs are not strong at all and break/bend easily. I did check the various comb attachments to make sure I was using the correct one for my truck.

It did precisely what I needed it to do - straighten some smashed fins. It will last about the time it takes to do one appliance - that was enough but if you need it to handle multiple appliances and/or multiple applications, it'll wear out (plastic tines bend and tear) before you get to do that. Again, it did what I needed it to do it just doesn't last a moment longer