air regulator for air tool?

[pcpro15]

I just picked up the Lincoln air grease gun today, and I love it already. In the description it said 150psi... but when it arrived today the instructions said not to exceed 90psi with the flex hose (150 was for metal line), so I had to crank the regulator down which isn't a big deal, but I was wondering if there was a better solution so I don't have to keep changing it.

I found a milton inline regulator, but I am not sure if it would screw into the end of the grease gun with how far the gauge sticks up in the picture. Also concerned with durability.

http://www.tooltopia.com/milton-s-6...oglebase_18u&gclid=CLn2yOr29q4CFQfe4AodoFvZzQ

I also saw HF had a brass inline regulator... but, i'd like to see if anything else is out there before I consider that.

Are there any regular air compressor restrictive fittings that I could just toss on or something to keep me from bumping the regulator down. Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

 

[crewchief888]

i use mine on 180psi line pressure in the shop.

only issue i had was bringing it in from my service truck on a really,really cold day, and not letting it warm up...

sorta exploded

 

[Your Father]

In my experience, the best way to tell the pressure is with a regulator at the tool. There are lots of kinds of regulators, but I've had the best results with the nicer regulators by the big paint gun brands. At least with spray guns, the pressure has to be pretty exact, and measuring at the compressor or before the line, I would have no idea exactly what pressure the gun was at. The nicer regulators have some sort of diaphram built into them, to better regulate the pressure through them, regulating surges in pressure - or something like that.
I've used cheaper regulators, even from HF, and they all worked fine. But... their pressure was not as accurate as the higher end regulators. And when spraying clears or urethanes, 2psi can make a BIG difference when spraying, but not make that much different for other air tools.
I now have a Satajet 3000 digital, which has a built in digital regulator in the handle, making it no bigger than a standard gun, which is nice... it sucked to have all the ******** hanging off of the gun - I've accidentally knocked into a finish a few times.

 

[jjjrmx5]

DeVilbiss makes a variety of high quality coupling regulators that knock down the psi at the tool. Can attach directly or you can add a whip set-up via pigtails or couplers.

Use them all the time when hooked to a rated whip with a high flow quick disconnect on each end to get contact cement glue sprayers down to whatever coverage you want for coverage hooked to a 150 to 180 psi at each drop coupling rotary shop compressor. They like 90psi down to 20 psi depending upon glue and matl. being sprayed.

Several mfgrs out there with Milton being among the best. Make sure they are rated for what you need them at. Good is not cheap, but totally worth if if used daily.

 

[rlitman]

That "regulator" linked is not a regulator. It will be fine for painting, where the tool is under constant use, as it will limit the pressure at the tool under flow, however, it is just a restricting valve and gauge, so when you stop the tool's flow, the pressure will rise to the line pressure. That's not what you want for a tool with intermittent air use.

 

[cobymoby]

Just my experience, those ball valve type regulators in the first post are inaccurate and hard to adjust. Their pressure varies based on flow so you have to set the PSI for full flow. Anything in between would be less than your set PSI. Plus you have this 1 sec surge in PSI when you use the tool.

 

[Your Father]

That "regulator" linked is not a regulator. It will be fine for painting, where the tool is under constant use, as it will limit the pressure at the tool under flow, however, it is just a restricting valve and gauge, so when you stop the tool's flow, the pressure will rise to the line pressure. That's not what you want for a tool with intermittent air use.

No, that regulator is not fine for painting. You need an accurate, higher quality regulator that will actually "regulate" pressure in order to have predictable, high quality results.

 

[rlitman]

No, that regulator is not fine for painting. You need an accurate, higher quality regulator that will actually "regulate" pressure in order to have predictable, high quality results.

That's a matter for debate. IF you already have a regulator at your compressor that's already set to something below the range that your tank cycles around, and IF nobody else is drawing air from your lines, then you can assume that the pressure entering the valve is relatively constant, so it will deliver the same output pressure (although you will get a whoosh every time you pull the trigger). That's all a "digital regulator" does, and that's the same principle behind the adjustable flowmeter used for the inert gas in TIG welding (which is MUCH more sensitive to changes in flow rate than painting, since it requires such a low flow rate).

Still, it's not useful for the OP's issue, and there are better choices for painting too.