My new toy.....

[Ford390pwr]

I recently picked up a really neat Sandblaster because it took me over 3 hours to clean up an old door panel with my siphon feed gun! Anyways, I just had to fire it up and see how it worked, and I must say woohoo!

The unit I got is a 40 Lb Central Pnuematic, and it is awesome! I just can't wait to get started on the cab!

I have posted the following question in the body an Paint forums:
http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... =9162#9162

[MAK]

I bought the same one yesterday but can't get it working. Started off with a broken water filter and had to spend 3 hours driving back to Harbor Freight and swapping it for a good one. Now the pressure is right in the tank but the hose isn't blowing any sand through and the air pressure out the tip isn't too strong. I think maybe I opened the flow control valve too far and got too much sand in the hose? I guess I'll go pull the hose and pour all the sand out and start over.
This is getting old dragging everything out, stretching out plastic and then nothing happens...

I recently picked up a really neat Sandblaster because it took me over 3 hours to clean up an old door panel with my siphon feed gun! Anyways, I just had to fire it up and see how it worked, and I must say woohoo!

The unit I got is a 40 Lb Central Pnuematic, and it is awesome! I just can't wait to get started on the cab!

I have posted the following question in the body an Paint forums:
http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... =9162#9162

[FORDification]

Is yours like the one I'm using on THIS PAGE? It sounds like it. How much air pressure do you have at the tank gauge? And more importantly, what kind of air compressor are you using? Oh, and what is your blasting media....silica sand, I presume?

If you're running at LEAST 75 lbs. pressure, you should have great output, at least for a few minutes until the pressure starts to drop more. There are several problems I ran into when I first started:

1) The tiny little water separator on the blaster is not sufficient to adequately remove moisture from the air coming out of a compressor which is running hard. I mean, you can't just hook the blaster straight up to the compressor and expect that tiny little water separator to get it all out. It only takes a little bit to mess things up, and once moisture gets into the sand, it'll clog things up something terrible, since it basically turns to mud. The only thing you can do is dump out the sand, blow out the lines, and let the sand sit for a day or two to COMPLETELY dry out. I put together a page detailing my research into air compressor piping for your shop and posted it to my Oldsmobile site. Go to http://www.oldsmobility.com/air-compressor-piping.htm to read this tutorial. I first tried PVC pipe with droplegs to separate the water, but the plastic wasn't allowing the air to cool, and I was getting all kinds of moisture in the sand. Once I redid the lines using 1/2" copper, added several droplegs to separate the moisture, AND added a full-size water separator at the wall outlet (in addition to the smaller water separator) I had no moisture problems at all...providing I emptied out the droplegs and drained the compressor tank regularly. In fact, I go around and crack all the water drain valves after filling the blaster tank each and every time.

2) Your blaster should have come with several different sizes of ceramic tips. You might try experimenting with the various sizes, depending on the media you're using and how clean it is.

3) I did a lot of metal stripping using a wire wheel on an angle grinder. As you know, those little wires come flying off all the time. If one of those gets into the sand, it'll clog things up...and it will destroy a ball valve very quickly. Those little wires will pass right through the screen you're using to sift the sand after you sweep it up, so if you used a wire wheel, fill the blaster tank slowly and watch for those little wires, and if you see one, immediately grab it out of the sand.

When I'm blasting, all the valves on the blaster are completely open. In fact, I never touch them, except for the shutoff at the end of the hose, obviously. A full tank will empty itself out in about 10 minutes of straight blasting.

[MAK]

Yes, It's the same sandblaster you have on your page in the pics of your jobs. I was actually going to shoot you a message tomorrow and ask if you had any ideas.
I have it hooked to an old Kellogg American 80 gal 2 stage compressor. It will go 200psi but I have it running through a regulator and water separator set to 125psi. The gauge on the sandblaster is reading right at 125 also. It doesn't appear that I have full pressure moving through the hose from the bottom of the tank. Even when I close the sand metering valve and completely empty the hose of sand it still doesn't blow at the pressure it should. I've checked and the tip is not clogging and I have installed the largest one. I'm using silica abrasive from Northern Hydraulics. The media I have poured out of the hose a couple times isn't gummed up or appearing wet. Any ideas? Thanks
Mark

[Ford390pwr]

Any ideas? Thanks
Mark

I know with my unit from Harbor Freight, there was a lot of assembly required! Maybe there is some kind of an obstruction causing one of the valves to be restricted. I would probably start with the valve at the bottom of the tank and ensure that it is not clogged. Maybe remove the hose that screws into the back of that and see if the air flow at that hose seems to be unobstructed?

I only have a 5.5 gallon compressor, and I have it set to 100 lbs, so I am sure that your compressor should do it.

Maybe if you back down the pressure from your compressor a little bit?

Hope this helps!

[FORDification]

Yep, just remove each piece and blow through it, and visually check it for obstructions. Also try blowing up through the tank from the bottom, to be sure there isn't anything blocking the sand from dropping out. Since it's brand new, it's possibly some kind of manufacturing debris blocking things up somewhere.

[shrektruck]

Mark,
You should have 3 valves on the pressure pot that should all be open for proper operation. Number 3 can be adjusted to regulate the amount of sand. I have found that the finer the sand the more likely it is to clog.
I live in San Diego, which has a very dry climate so moisture isn't a big problem. Still, I have found saving the silica gel packets from computers, TV's, etc. and putting a couple in on top of the sand helps. When its time to refill, dump the old ones out and rotate in some that have been heated (I lay em on the compressor cooling fins). Add in Kieth's drop legs and water traps and that sand will be dry as the Sahara.
Don't forget to check the rubber gasket at the nozzle to make sure it's not blocking the orifice.
One more thing, you can get steel nozzles that last about a hundred times longer than the ceramic ones.

[MAK]

I'll have to start disconnecting everything and check for clogs this week when I have time as previously suggested. I've made sure all the valves in your pic are open and have even tried removing the bottom spray hose and dumping out all the sand then starting with the sand valve (3) closed. Waiting until I had the spray valve open and slightly opening the sand valve but I still get no sand blowing through. With the sand control(3) valve closed and hose empty of sand I'm just not getting the air flow I should. Not even close to the pressure I get out of a blower/spray tip just hooked direct to the compressor. I must have something clogged from the junction where the gauge is on top of the tank around valve 2 or along the air line that goes down the side of the tank or at the junction where it meets up at the bottom under the 3 valve. I do know the tank is under high pressure.
Thanks all for the help and suggestions.

Mark,
You should have 3 valves on the pressure pot that should all be open for proper operation. Number 3 can be adjusted to regulate the amount of sand. I have found that the finer the sand the more likely it is to clog.

Don't forget to check the rubber gasket at the nozzle to make sure it's not blocking the orifice.

[MAK]

I apologize for hijacking and getting this thread off-topic...
I went back and disconnected everything last night and checked flow through all the valves and hoses but still no luck. I'm going to try running the abrasive through it tonight with the spray tip and valve removed to see if it will blow through the bare hose. It seems to be a problem with the valve just in front of the spray tip. It opens and closes and I can see all the way through the tip but when I have it attached there doesn't seem to be a high pressure stream of air making it through. Without the valve in place it seems to be blowing through the hose at full force but I guess I could be mistaken. It doesn't make any sense because based on the air pressure without the valve/tip in place, replacing the valve/tip that I can clearly see is open all the way through should increase the felt air presure but it goes way down... Any ideas?

[Sbairboy]

ok, so my dad and i built a sandblaster out of an old air compressor tank we had layin around (we're quite proud of it) but we ran into some problems...you might say it worked a little too well. It blasted a hole in the side of our brass on/off valve and also demolished the brass tip. Now, why we didnt think about this earlier i dont know, but does anyone know where we can get a steel on/off type valve and also some ceramic tips? Any info would be great. P.S...ill try to get some pics up of the blaster...and the truck too of course

[trukcrazy]

and Sbairboy. Visit the Welcome Mat and introduce yourself to the other members and don't forget the pictures. We love pictures, especially those of us don't read so well . Welcome to the forum and remember .

[Sbairboy]

We've solved the problems with the sand blaster...got a gun for it from harbour freight with ceramic tip

[Sbairboy]

still working on pictures of it

[FORDification]

Ugly but fully functional...(kinda like me!) I like it. My Harbor Freight unit is completely worn out, so I was looking at replacing it in the near future. However, yours has given me some ideas on constructing my own out of much heavier material. What kind of seal does the top cap have?

[Sbairboy]

it doesnt have a seal on it really. It's just a piece of threaded pipe about 4 or 5 inches long with a cap on it and I welded a piece of steel rod onto the top of the cap (like a wing nut). When its tight it seals itself just fine. I was thinking of welding a nut right under where the cap tightens to be able to put an O-ring on it, but it seems to be working fine for now