Eric Gilliand
Well-known member
- Messages
- 813
- Location
- Dunedin, New Zealand
For the past year or so my go to rubber for the Liquidators has been Black Diamond Hard. More and more I had been finding that I was tossing my Razer Red rubber loaded channels in the back of the trunk and using my BD channels almost exclusively.
Last week I decided to experiment with my soap mix (eCover/IPA 70/30) by adding a splash of eCovers own Rinse Aid. It seemed to be giving me more slip so I thought I'd revisit the Red. Loaded a channel into one of my 40 degree fixed handles and 'boom' it was like it was on ball bearings so swapped it into my Excelerator handle (set at 25) and it was ****... dragged at the edges and when it hit dry glass it was like I had applied the brakes. Hmmm! Then a thought. Soaped up the glass and raised the handle a few degrees and I was away. Slick, smooth and fast with absolutely zero drag.
But why?
I think the dreaded old "muscle memory" had taken hold. BD is shorter than other rubbers and with the Liquidator clip almost at the very edge of the rubber I had got into the habit of using a slightly shallower angle to protect the clips and allow the blade to do it's job along the whole length effectively. When I then went back to the Razer Red I wasn't correcting for the longer rubber and it wasn't contacting the glass cleanly...a few degrees made all the difference.
Now, let me check on my Ettore, Pulex, Moerman and Edco rubbers to cement this hypothesis...
Last week I decided to experiment with my soap mix (eCover/IPA 70/30) by adding a splash of eCovers own Rinse Aid. It seemed to be giving me more slip so I thought I'd revisit the Red. Loaded a channel into one of my 40 degree fixed handles and 'boom' it was like it was on ball bearings so swapped it into my Excelerator handle (set at 25) and it was ****... dragged at the edges and when it hit dry glass it was like I had applied the brakes. Hmmm! Then a thought. Soaped up the glass and raised the handle a few degrees and I was away. Slick, smooth and fast with absolutely zero drag.
But why?
I think the dreaded old "muscle memory" had taken hold. BD is shorter than other rubbers and with the Liquidator clip almost at the very edge of the rubber I had got into the habit of using a slightly shallower angle to protect the clips and allow the blade to do it's job along the whole length effectively. When I then went back to the Razer Red I wasn't correcting for the longer rubber and it wasn't contacting the glass cleanly...a few degrees made all the difference.
Now, let me check on my Ettore, Pulex, Moerman and Edco rubbers to cement this hypothesis...
