Though id do a review of the PA Cannon against the new Auto Finesse SA cannon I got to demo.
I popped round to see uncle Vish on Friday to collect some kit ( im poor again ) and he asked me to tryout the new Cannon that landed about 3 weeks ago.
Needless to say i wasn't gonna say no
Upon first inspection the build quality of this new cannon is really solid the plastics are solid and really top quality. Although the PA is made in Italy and the AF SA Cannon is made in the UK. Just like the PA canon the it has brass fittings so that already cracked a nod on my side. What was really interesting was how rigid the bottle was on the AF SA Cannon. Something I never liked about the PA was hows soft the bottle was, if you were not careful it would suck itself to death.
I have tried to compare the 2x cannons as best I can without being biased. Bare in mind that the PA cannon used in this demo has been in my kit for about 7 years now and the only part that failed was the bayonet that attached to the Karcher handle. I don't know if the new PA cannon has been redesigned or not so cant comment on things like the hardness of the plastic bottle or the adjustable fan setting on the front.
As you can see they are very similar in construction however the AF SA Canon as a larger suction tube when compared to the PA.
Top View
From the front they are pretty similar but as you can see there are distinct differences.
There was also a slight difference in ratings between the 2 cannons with the AF SA Cannon being able to take more pressure.
AF SA Cannon
PA Cannon
To make this as accurate as possible I made up 2 bottles exactly the same using 150ml of Auto Finesse Avalanche and 300ml of hot water.
I used the Karcher K7 which was bought brand new on Saturday morning after my K4.68 died.. The pressure rating on the K7 is 160 bar so slightly higher than the entry level Karchers but when compared to another video AF SA sent me last week the foam and coverage was almost identical
First up was the PA ( The Karcher water supply acted up mid way
)This is the run off and thickness of the foam. Bit hard to see on a white car but I'm sure you get the idea.
AF SA Foam Cannon application.
AF SA Foam Cannon run off.
The actual cleaning power was the same in both tests but the initial application was the difference. The AF SA Cannon was alot more foamy and seemed to spread evenly as shown in the video. Although both cannon's performed really well I did think that the AF SA Cannon did the application a bit easier. I will however let the videos and the audience be the judge on this one. Please note that any shampoo or foaming product could be used instead of AF Avalanche as a pre-treatment.
Pro's and Cons:
PA : Expensive
Backup service on replacement parts could be a problem.
AF SA Cannon : Still expensive for a weekend warrior but alot cheaper than the PA cannon.
There is full backup support from the UK with part's readily available.
Both AF Avalanche and the Foam Cannon are available from www.autofinesse.co.za for R655
There is a special on at the moment : 1l Avalanche + 1x Foam Cannon = R830.50
