My little tank set up was nearly free. I had the empty disposable propane tank, The fittings were laying around the garage, as was the gadge. The only thing I bought for it was the mini regulator/filter on ebay for $15.00. Works like a champ. 100lbs in my little tank is enough for 3 or 4 painting jobs.
OR.... if you have a tank for a MIG welder, you could use either CO2 or N/Ar mix... <G> Actually a small CO2 tank and regulator would be cheaper than a "hobby airbrush compressor" (think soda fountain gas supply). It also is _dry_, easily portable and _quiet_. I've had the CO2 tank for several years, even before the welder. Bob in IDaho
I think I did this kinda backwards. I've got the compressor, now I need the airbrush. I wasted a few bucks on one of the el cheapo brushes from Harbor Freight or some such. Not very adjustable at all. I guess you get what you pay for.
OK - I must be doing something incorrect here. I've been custom painting for about 8 years now with a 13 Gallon, 4HP Campbell Hausfeld compressor fed through a regulator then a moisture trap. It's complete overkill I know, but it's for other house projects. The pressure is dead-on consistent and I've painted for hours on end without moisture problems. I love it other than it scares the crap out of me (and the neighbors) every time it recharges. So I ended up getting a $80 tankless hobby compressor from Harbor Freight - it's much quieter. It has a built-in moisture trap but I still fed it through my other one for safety sake. Last night I used it for the first time. I painted for about 10 minutes then SPLAT! Water started shooting from the brush. I looked over and condensation had built-up from the compressor's trap. The second one was fine. My setup is like this: Compressor w/built in reg & moisture trap -> Regulator (unused) -> 2nd Moisture trap -> Paasche airbrush. Now I feel like I spent $80 for something I won't use. Back to the Godzilla compressor I go. Am I doing something wrong here?
Given a good regulator and moisture trap, size shouldn't matter, unless you have an air leak. I gave my monster to my son-in-law, and now use an ancient small German-made compressor with a 5 gallon tank (at most). It really doesn't recharge that often, and will drive a framing nailer without a problem. Or I use a 1/10 horsepower hobby compressor that I bought from Sears 35 years ago, with a cheap pressure tank. Once it fills the tank, it also doesn' recharge often. There's a little screw on the German compressor that lets me adjust the minimum pressure before recharge. That is, it pumps it up to about 120 psi on the initial charge, but then doesn't recharge until the pressure drops to where I set it. When I'm spray painting, I set it to about 30 psi (just guessing, as there is not a gauge). When I'm framing, I screw it all the way in. All tank compressors have some type of sensor to tell it when to recharge. If it's set too high, the compressor will recharge when it's not really necessary, trying to maintain a high psi in the tank. A high psi is not necessary for airbrushing. If you can adjust the recharge psi threshold, then the frequent recharging problem goes away. Why maintain 120 psi in a huge tank when all you need is 20 psi?
I recommend a 20 pound CO2 tank with a good regulator. There are advantages over a compressor. 1) hardly any moving parts - less maintenance 2) whisper quiet 3) use almost anywhere - no electricity needed 4) CO2 is pure - no moisture trap needed 5) requires less than 1 square foot of floor space 6) tank refills are cheap - about $10 at a welding supply house 7) refills last forever... LOL You can spray 1000 or more N scale cars if you do them in batches of 10 or so (less gas needed for fewer cleanup sessions) Disadvantages: 1) don't use in enclosed areas. Good ventilation is mandatory - like a garage with the big door open 2) don't drop the tank on its valve, otherwise you'll get a quick lesson in rocket science Model Railroader magazine had an article about CO2 tanks way back in 1986, I think. I believe it was the April issue, but don't quote me.
Peter, How warm does the outlet fitting get on the little compressor? If it is pretty warm, moisture may be carried out through the dryer and condense downstream. Your big compressor with the reservoir allows the air to cool in the tank before it gets to the dryer. If the output is hot you could put a length of copper tubing in to act as a condenser.
It gets quite hot, and I think you've located my problem. I think that I may have to go back to the big mama for the time being, save the smaller for projects like weathering.
First off the money should be spent on the reg to control the spray. If you blow 15 lbs and the monster tank recharges at 80 you will never have surge. Do not use soda CO 2 to blow. First off it is against the law ( thats the Coca Cola employee in me) and second I have seen the inside of those tanks. I have 2 jobs in life. First is a service auditor for Coca Cola. My guage is $560 and it works. Ten buck guages don't. I fail them over 70 percent of the time. My second job is a scuba instructor. I am approved by Canada and the US to inspect pressure vessels(ie tanks) up to 6000 psi. The CO2 we use in the tanks is wet and full of rust. It causes all sorts of havoc in our soda machines, I would hate to see it in your airbrush. Alot of CO2 tanks have been filled with carbonated water by our systems failing leading to what we call gunk in the bottom of the tank, stay away from it. Anyone want specifics on compressers ask me I use them to pump pure O2, air etc for diving all the time. Just pm me. Another reason not to use CO2 is here in Canada we charge a $100 deposit on the tank making it expensive.
Just thought I'd share that I've had good luck with the Makita MAC700. It's big enough to fill up tires, power a nail-gun, etc., but, it's also quiet enough to use in our apartment without disturbing the neighbors. It's a little less noisy than our vacuum cleaner.
I have successfully been using a CO2 cylinder for years after being constantly annoyed with water and oil coming through the lines from my compressor. I use food grade CO2, beer gas actually, so i dont have any problems with any contaminents and adjust the pressure with the regulator to suit the paint i am using. So far i have painted dozens of planes, tanks, cars and even r/c aeroplanes without any problems. I live in Australia but there should be something similar available in any country. I will get around to painting my N and Z gauge collection as soon as i get my ALPS printer working. Eliot
Beer gas is actually part nitrogen part CO2 and it is cleaner. It also has less chance to be backed filled as many of our(Coke) Co2 bottles are. How much is a tank of gas?
Before hurricane Katrina flooded my airbrush equipment and CO2 tanks, I could get a 20 pound CO2 charge for under $10 at a welding supply house. Of course, that was more than two years ago.
