Offically fed up with my cheap HF blaster!!

[evintho]

I thought I could make it work but it doesn't look good! I've got the 90lb pot blaster. The blast hose is the part that clogs up. I run it for about 60 seconds then no air or media comes out of the nozzle. Pull it apart and shoot a quick blast of air through the hose, all the sand blurps out, put it back together, all's fine for 60 seconds then same thing!
It's definitely the hose clogging up. I've had every appendage off. Even modified the manifold at the bottom of the tank by opening up the orifice with successively larger drill bits. I've got clean, very dry air supplying it. Compressor is an IR 5hp w/80 gal tank pumping 18 cfm @ 90 psi. The media is play sand bought from Lowe's which is stored inside. All media is sifted through a strainer before it enters the tank. The blast hose and all valves are smallish @ 3/8". I should just upgrade to a Texas Blaster but the wife says I've been spending way too much $$ lately and as usual, she's right!
Anybody got any ideas??

 

[Stephenw]

I suspect your air is wet and causing clumping. For a pressure pot you need extremely dry air.

 

[premierplayer]

hose interior slick and smooth? any burrs or kinks?

multi ply hose? inner ply colapsed?

just thinkin' out loud, I'm sure you've got this covered already...

 

[IndyGarage]

I also suspect it's not the blaster but the air. My blast cabinet had the same problem until I built my own air dryer - now it works great.

http://z6.invisionfree.com/ToolBoxTalk/index.php?showtopic=1835&view=getnewpost

 

[fordbroncodave]

what kind of PSI are you introducing?

 

[e-tek]

I have to agree as well - unless you say otherwise! I have a Princess Auto brand (Canada's HF) and use a dessicant dryer and 110 psi and it works well, but I do still have to unplug once in a while.

 

[evintho]

I'm running 110 psi. About 30' of air hose from the compressor. I have a water trap 5' downstream, another one at the end of the hose followed by a MotorGuard filter then 5' of hose then another trap on the blaster itself.

Here's my 'point of use' trap and filter................

 

[Adam McLaughlin]

Hey Eventho, where did you get that trap and filter? How well does it work?

Any specs on the particle size that would pass through that thing?

Adam

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Evintho, I'm sure you're frustrated as hell after all the diagnosis, disassembly, reassembly, etc - I would be - but if you give up on it there's no assurance that another unit you buy from Texas Blasters or anyone else that it won't clog too. I know, you're not buying a replacement now...but whether now or later you need to get to the bottom of this before you move on to a high dollar unit or its just good money after bad. If you stop and think about it, a sandblaster is a "dumb" tool. Just hoses and orifices. This ought to be fixable.

 

[Brian]

1. You may have too much sand feeding into the line. Start with the valve on the bypass line open fully and the valve on the bottom of the tank only open slightly.

2. Does the nozzle leak air when it is closed? If it does sand will continue to feed out of the tank into the hose and clog it up.

 

[evintho]

ADAM:
I bought the water trap years ago at Sears for my old compressor. The MotorGuard filter I got off of Ebay. Here's a link for a similar one. Mine is the M-60 and it filters down to .01 microns. I paid $60+ for it a couple of months ago. I thought it worked pretty good but now I don't know what with this sandblaster issue!
http://cgi.ebay.com/MOTORGUARD-FILT...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item563ca5b137

DAN:
You're absolutely right! I ought to be able to figure this out! I'll have to get on it. Life is hectic right now, new house, Mustang and T roadster projects, lawsuits (we won't even go there), along with the standard stuff that life throws at you! I wanna get the drill press blasted too so I can finish it!

BRIAN:
Already tried that. Air valve fully open and the sand valve cracked just enough to get a fine mist of sand coming out. It's a deadman nozzle and it's actually pretty tight. No air leakage. Thanks for the tips though!

 

[X1 Mike]

You ever resolve this problem and get your blaster working properly?

 

[evintho]

Yes I did! Shame on me for not reporting the results here!
It was all valve manipulation! Simply a matter of cracking the red handled valve, near the gauge, to allow about 60 lbs of air as opposed to opening it fully. Basically, too much air flowing through the blast hose. When I crack it the gauge holds at around 60-65 psi instead of dropping to 40. That's enough to work rather well. I depress the deadman handle and once air is flowing and holding at 60, then I crack the sand valve just enough to introduce sand into the stream. I just finished blasting my wishbones in 10 minutes! I'm happy now! Thanks for all the help and constructive critisizm!

 

[Teken]

Yes I did! Shame on me for not reporting the results here!
It was all valve manipulation! Simply a matter of cracking the red handled valve, near the gauge, to allow about 60 lbs of air as opposed to opening it fully. Basically, too much air flowing through the blast hose. When I crack it the gauge holds at around 60-65 psi instead of dropping to 40. That's enough to work rather well. I depress the deadman handle and once air is flowing and holding at 60, then I crack the sand valve just enough to introduce sand into the stream. I just finished blasting my wishbones in 10 minutes! I'm happy now! Thanks for all the help and constructive critisizm!

This info will definitely save my bacon when I pick up one of these units and what to look out for if this should happen.

Thanks for the follow up both of you!

 

[dustym]

I have the HF version and have never got it to work right. I am going to print your suggestion, so next time I use it, ill try your method.
Thanks,
Tim

 

[Tom2]

I have the 110lb pot. Works fine. Have used the heck out of it.

The first thing I did was put together a new gun:

The deadman valve blew to pieces almost instantly.


I will get almost instant clogs if the nozzle is not big enough or the media is too course. Fine sand or black diamond works fine, as long as I don't get the real course black diamond.

I open the air valve fully, and the media valve about 3/4 of the way.

The only pain is when it starts to get low on media, you have to shake the pot constantly to get the rest out. It's amazing how fast you can burn through such a big pot..

 

[Teken]

I have the 110lb pot. Works fine. Have used the heck out of it.

The first thing I did was put together a new gun:

The deadman valve blew to pieces almost instantly.


I will get almost instant clogs if the nozzle is not big enough or the media is too course. Fine sand or black diamond works fine, as long as I don't get the real course black diamond.

I open the air valve fully, and the media valve about 3/4 of the way.

The only pain is when it starts to get low on media, you have to shake the pot constantly to get the rest out. It's amazing how fast you can burn through such a big pot..

Any tips pertaining to sand blasting how to, what not to do, and be aware of things for a rookie in training?

 

[Tom2]

Screen the media and keep out moisture. Other than that, it's pretty simple. Just have good respiratory equipment and wear long sleeve clothes with old shoes if your doing it outside of a cabinet. I hate blasting outdoors..So nasty and messy.

 

[Teken]

What type of media are you using to give the best smooth appearance to tools and such? Glass, nut . . .

 

[Tom2]

Glass bead is best for polsihing.