Sandblaster

[umrebelsfan]

I have a cheapo $79 Harbor Frieght sandblaster. Humidity is so high here in Mississippi it clogs really bad. Are the sandblasters Tip or Eastwood, etc. sells really that much better?

[StingRay]

Any sandblaster will clog in mid to high humidity. A compressor by nature condenses moisture in the tank and in the lines. Get an inline water filter and use it as close to the working end of the hose as you can. You can usually find them at discount tool places for about 50 bucks and it will make a huge difference when blasting or painting and may even extend the life of your air tools.

[ebfabman]

Yeah its the moisture in the air condenced to water in your lines thats causing your blaster to clog ( if your sand is dry ) sometimes it may take several steps to control the moisture.

Look at the suggusted line routing that comes with most air tools, get a few moisture traps and keep your compressor drained. also when not using the compressor, unhook the hoses so they can dry out some and blow the moisture out of all the lines/hoses before starting to work with the air.

Hopes this helps.......

[Gee_Emm]

Maybe try different media, and for sure have a watertrap

[umrebelsfan]

Thanks for the response guys. When you say working end Sting Ray, I assume you mean between the compressor and the pressure blaster unit and closer to the compressor, as the sandblast unit already has a water trap?

My set up is a 6 horse craftsman compressor, 30 gal. with about a foot of hose to a fairly nice water trap set up, then 50 ft of hose to the cheapo pressure blaster, which has its own water trap and then a few feet from the pressure tank to the gun.

Humidity in Mississippi is above 80% seemingly year round. Maybe the answer is a different media, any suggestions? I don't mind using expensive stuff with the cabinet but recovery is a problem when doing larger stuff that I actually use the pressure blaster for.

Again, thanks for your comments. I did not want to spend $400 just to have the new unit clog as well.

[ebfabman]

umrebelsfan, I have found it has been very hard to control moisture in any air even in a somewhat dry climate if your compressor runs very long as with sandblasting.

May I suggest some s40 PVC tubing routed overhead with as much of an uphill flow as possible. This will not be very expensive and can be made to be very effective. Put in several "z step up" links with some valved "drip legs" that can be emptied out. I would also put a shut off valve at the compressor(1/4 turn gas valve)
Add your moisture traps and your system will be much more dry.
I have found that hoses running along the floor tend to hold moisture.

Also, is your compressor inside or outside?

[StingRay]

Eb has some great ideas and it sounds like you already have the moisture traps covered. Make sure you have a real good one where the blaster hooks to the hose coming from the compressor. You can buy many kinds of air driers and if you are using your compressor lots it might be a good investment, they are however not cheap. Check out an industrial air compressor supplier to see what they have to offer.

[umrebelsfan]

Thanks guys, I'm getting ready to build a new garage and plan to hard pipe everything. I never thought that would be that much more effective at solving moisture problems, but now that I think about it my cabinet blaster almost never suffers this problem and I have hard piped it with only one drip leg and a good quailty trap.

I did not know you could use schedule 40 PVC. That would be easier / cheaper.

[Alex Hayley]

What size PVC pipe would you recommend?