Fancy canned air nozzle vs plain old plastic straw

[Josh Bass]

I've seen the fancy metal nozzles the ACs have on their canned air, and wonder if it's worth getting one. Why do they use these, instead of the simple plastic straw that comes with canned air? More powerful air stream, no accidental propellant sprayed on the glass, what? Thanks.

[Michael Nash]

The metal nozzles are for the "refill" cans that don't have nozzles. Production is likely to buy the refill cans, and without a nozzle, you got no air ;)

[Karen Del Rio]

The biggest plus is that you can spray from any angle by rotating the nozzle, since you can't tilt the can much or it will come out liquid (and possibly freeze your fingers and equipment). The nozzle also won't fall off or get lost like the plastic straw.

[Rory Hanrahan]

Well, you can spray from any angle with the newfangled "Vector Valve" nozzle (or whatever its called), but the old-timey chrome valve (which I prefer) is more like the plastic straw nozzle some cans come with, and should be sprayed upright. As Michael noted, they're for cans that need to be punctured -- that have no nozzle included. Why use these? Durability is an issue with the plastic nozzles. I've broken tons of these over the years -- if I'm using this type of can on a job at least one or two will go kaput. Ol' Chrome-sides keeps on ticking though.

 

As a side note, I've heard claims made that many office supply/typical consumer brands of condensed air (like Staples brand, for instance), contain propellants that are much more harmful than Falcon's, and may cause damage and other funk-like happenings to the lens & coating. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

[Annie Wengenroth]

There is a depressing article on the IATSE Local 600 website about a kid who died huffing canned air. Anyway. Metal nozzles are great. I have two and I don't know how much they cost because I don't know where they came from, they just sort of appeared in my Harrison bag after a job and I couldn't complain.

 

Rory, I suck and I forgot to send you the 535B manual. Hope you figured it out. Anyway, so long as you ask for Dust-Off PLUS, you should be fine.

[Rory Hanrahan]

Hey Annie! No sweat, the camera has changed a couple of times since we spoke anyway! The article about the kid huffing air is actually what led me to the questions about differences in propellants. And the cost of the metal nozzles is about $12, IIRC.

[Sam Wells]

As a side note, I've heard claims made that many office supply/typical consumer brands of condensed air (like Staples brand, for instance), contain propellants that are much more harmful than Falcon's, and may cause damage and other funk-like happenings to the lens & coating. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

 

Yeah there's some gunky stuff in there (or was - it's been awhile).

 

Doesn't seem to come out when held properly, straight upright.

 

-Sam Wells

[Anna Baltl]

havent seen canned air on any industry set in japan yet. everyone seems to be using blowers (or are they called bellows?), probably because of the general enviromentally concious attitude. seems to work just fine.

 

any one using these good olds?

[Brad Grimmett]

havent seen canned air on any industry set in japan yet. everyone seems to be using blowers (or are they called bellows?), probably because of the general enviromentally concious attitude. seems to work just fine.

 

any one using these good olds?

Funny you should mention that. I used to work with a 1st who would only use a blower and he happened to be Japanese. I guess he picked up the habit before he moved here. It seemed like a perfectly good tool for the job when accompanied by a micro fiber, although sometimes it took a few seconds longer than canned air would have. Canned air is better in certain situations, like when you've had a jam and there are scraps of film in the movement or when you're working in a very dusty environment.

Here's a link to a blower for those who are unfamiliar.