Question about Media Blasting and Compressors, Which is the correct combination? Options

[ellisor3]

I recently bought a media cabinet and I already had a 30 gallon compressor. I started a trial run with the cabinet on a pair of calipers. I got no where. The media barely put a dent in the caliper paint. I sprayed for 30 minutes and completed an area about 3"x3". The media was glass bead 70 grit and the compressor was set at 100 psi.

I believe my issue may be the amount of air the compressor moves, and not the PSI. What is the recommended amount that will work on brake calipers? My compressor is a 5.2 CFM.

Is glass bead appropriate for enamel paint?
What size compressor do I need?
What is everyone else using?

[Brian_Boss]

More thoughts...

Can you see media coming out of the gun? Obviously some is but is it a solid stream, does it fluctuate, etc?

I just noticed you're in Florida. If your media is damp, that will cause problems with feeding.

Have you tried varying the amount of media in the hopper?

Way back when, I bought a HF sandblaster (no cabinet, just a bucket of media on the driveway). I'm pretty sure it used the same or similar gun as your cabinet. It was very fussy about media feed. I ended up making a new pickup tube.

Sorry to belabor this but I'm curious now. I know a lot of people are getting decent results from that cabinet, even with marginal air. We just need to figure out what's wrong.



P.S. According to HF web site, "Average Air Consumption 9.5 CFM @ 90 PSI" so you're looking at a duty cycle of less than 50% (i.e pull trigger for 30 seconds, wait 40 seconds ).

[ellisor3]

More thoughts...

Can you see media coming out of the gun? Obviously some is but is it a solid stream, does it fluctuate, etc?

I just noticed you're in Florida. If your media is damp, that will cause problems with feeding.

Have you tried varying the amount of media in the hopper?

Way back when, I bought a HF sandblaster (no cabinet, just a bucket of media on the driveway). I'm pretty sure it used the same or similar gun as your cabinet. It was very fussy about media feed. I ended up making a new pickup tube.

Sorry to belabor this but I'm curious now. I know a lot of people are getting decent results from that cabinet, even with marginal air. We just need to figure out what's wrong.



P.S. According to HF web site, "Average Air Consumption 9.5 CFM @ 90 PSI" so you're looking at a duty cycle of less than 50% (i.e pull trigger for 30 seconds, wait 40 seconds ).

I do have a filter built on to the cabinet, so the media is very dry. I do get a pretty constant stream from the gun. I changed the siphon hose to one that is less prone to kinking and I reduced the amount of product in the hopper. That did get somewhat better results. Should I use a larger pick up tube?

Thanks for all the help