Canned air is a staple for the computer technician’s toolbag. Dusty computers are all too commonplace and can be pretty disgusting. With a few blasts of canned air, you can have the PC cleaned out very quickly and from hard to reach spots like the fins of a heatsink.
For all of its familiarity, uses, and usefulness, canned air has a lot of negatives. It can be costly at ~$4 a can. It releases chemicals to the environment and requires resources for the can. You can’t change its angle very much without accelerant and condensation coming out. The can gets very cold and provides only a short burst of air. Now, people are even getting high off of canned air by using it as an inhalant so most companies have added a bitterant to discourage huffing.
When looking to purchase a new can of air, I came across the O2 Hurricane Canless Air System. It listed a bunch of benefits over canned air, so I figured it warranted a closer look.
The O2 Hurricane Canless Air System is a very portable air compressor that is rechargeable. With a full charge, it can provide a constant stream of air for up to 18 minutes. According to the company, one charge is equivalent to 20 cans of canned air.
The best part is that it is just air. There are no chemicals involved – no inhalants or accelerants that would require ventilation. At the same size as a can of compressed air, it is just as versatile as canned air and even more so because it can be used at any angle. Another benefit of the O2 Hurricane is that it is made in Tuscon, AZ, USA. Its retail packaging is protective yet minimal recycled cardboard.
The price for the O2 Hurricane at $79.95 can make it a steep investment over 1 can of compressed air but it will last much longer than a single can. The company says each container can be charged over 500 times and with one charge equivalent to 20 cans, your purchase is getting you the equivalent of 10,000 cans.
The O2 Hurricane has a number of benefits over canned air but after using it for a week and a half, I still came up with some wish list features.
Things that would be nice:
- A means to carry the straws along with the base more easily like just a simple snap-in clip.
- A more standard charger was used like MicroUSB.
- It came with a manual or instructions for best usage. (It’s online.)
- If it were a little quieter.
- If the airflow was a little stronger.
The O2 Hurricane comes in two varieties: Original Hurricane and Industrial unit. The main difference is that the Industrial version blows at a faster speed for a shorter duration. A full comparison is available at CanlessAir.com.
I also came upon some usage tips that you might find useful. It is recommended to use the straw only when it is needed for hard-to-reach places since it can slow down the air speed. It is also recommended for charging that you don’t leave the device on the charger for more than a few hours (3-4 hours) for the best life of the O2 Hurricane.
You can purchase the O2 Hurricane from CanlessAir.com or Amazon.com.
404 Tech Support appreciates the review unit that the company provided on request and the review remained honest and unbiased.