Malco FST2 Fin Straightening Tool

I initially tried a metal fin straightening tool from Lowe’s (also sold under different brands on Amazon), but it was a total disappointment. Within five minutes of use, it fell apart. The small wire pieces meant to straighten the fins kept getting misaligned, and it was clear that the metal pieces weren’t properly crimped. I returned it as defective and decided to do more research before trying another tool. I came across this new tool and watched a few YouTube tutorials, which was crucial. A tip I found helpful was to avoid forcing the fins. Instead, gently slide the tool up and down in both directions, taking your time. Be patient on damaged/bent fins and work from the edges toward the center, focusing on one section at a time rather than diving straight into the middle of the bent fins. If you encounter resistance, don’t push too hard as you might tear the fins. If the tool doesn’t go through in one direction, try approaching the fin from the opposite side. Sometimes a damaged fin can block your progress, but by alternating directions, you can straighten everything up to that damaged point. This tool worked much better for me, and with a little patience and technique, it got the job done without causing further damage to the unit. I attached a photo with before and after pictures. The before pictures are on top and the after pictures are on the bottom.

One of the combs (which is the one I needed) wasn’t straight and it seems like it had manufacturing plastic left over which without the bent would probably be a problem anyways.

Needed it after a storm. Did the job.

This would work if your are slow and methodical in its use. I used it like a gorilla and the plastic fingers all got broken. Next time I'll go slower.

First of all - The gray-colored 'teeth' on the comb look like they're metallic in the product photo. They are plastic. It's not a ding against this tool, as I think this is necessary to minimize damage to coil fins, which are typically very thin and could be more easily damaged or destroyed by a metal comb. That said, the tool's plastic comb teeth are also subject to premature wear and damage if you are too aggressive in your combing efforts. I strongly suggest you try to pre-straighten bent ac coil fins first before attempting to comb them with this tool (more on that below). If you try and drag the tool through a section of fins that are severely deformed or crushed this tool will likely rip some of the fins and make the situation worse while also shortening the useful life of the tool. I have a Lennox exterior AC unit with coil fins that are very closely spaced, requiring use of the 20 or 24 teeth per inch options. During my initial attempt to use this tool, it was immediately obvious that the tool cannot straighten severely bent fins without risk of further damaging the fins or chewing away at the tools plastic comb teeth. To increase the effectiveness of the tool, you may need to pre-straighten the coil fins with a fine-edged tool of some sort. I used a single-sided razor blade covered with a layer of masking tape to avoid metal-to-metal contact. I meticulously picked, prodded, and slid the blade edge as needed to straighten some of the fins, creating just enough space between them to allow the tool's comb teeth to slide between them afterwards. Getting the tool's comb between the fins can require a gentle touch. I found that using a light combing pressure in the direction of the fins allows the tool teeth to gently find their way between the fins. If you use too much pressure and try to force the comb teeth into position, you may end up just smashing fins. Depending on the severity of your fin deformities, the process of pre-straightening and using the coil to dress up the fins can be very time consuming, but your overall degree of success and satisfaction is proportional to the level of patience and care you put into the process. If you skip the pre-straightening and attempt to force the tool through a section of fins that are too damaged, you can easily snag the tool and start ripping out the fins, leaving them shredded and/or damaging the tool. For my project, there were some small areas of coil fins that were simply too crushed to be straightened or repaired by any DIY method. I doubt even a professional AC repair tech could salvage them, but I was able to straighten and dress 95 percent of my bent coil fins that needed attention. Overall, I found this tool effective and easy to use. You just need to take your time, use it with care, and recognize it's limitations.

This can assist you with bending/forming/pulling bent fins on a air conditioner or other device. It's not going to look like new but the aim is to get air flowing through. If the aluminum is badly bent/pressed in, just go for it like a cat clawing at its adversary. Other wise, find the proper size and carefully stroke the aluminum slowly. or find the culprit and have them do it.

This was the only one that I could find that the 22 fpi ( Fins Per Inch) rake (comb). My brand new window A/C was accidentally bumped into and a lot of the fins were flattened. Super quick delivery (ordered it Wednesday and it arrived Thursday). I found it worked best by inserting the comb into the fins by the rounded (backside) side of the comb and then pivoting the comb to the pointed (hook) side and SLOWLY but firmly drawing the comb down through the bent fins. It took me about 90 minutes to rake through all the fins. Granted it was not able to completely straighten all the fins (some were pushed tooo far in to come back out) but overall it worked GREAT. I am very happy with the results. The only downside of the comb is it is essentially a one time use. The teeth on the comb are made from a somewhat softer plastic and when finished using it, some of the teeth had broken off. But I guess if the teeth of the comb were any stiffer it may damaged the fins rather than straighten them.

Tool suffers from plastic combs that don't hold up when used to straighten bent fins. The combs are made of soft plastic, so as not to damage the fins I suppose, but when you slide the comb over a badly bent fin, the fin cuts into the plastic and leaves a little shaving behind. This shaving shard gets between the blades and then spreads the comb's teeth unevenly, leading to difficulty getting the comb to go over the next set of fins properly. I had such trouble with this item, unless perfectly aligned it will smash some fins in the process, defeating its very purpose. I think if the comb was made of harder plastic it might be a usable tool, but as it is, it's just frustrating as hell. I went back to using a small screwdriver and (patiently) used it to separate my bent AC condensor coil fins.