Producing more air / Back up air.

[andy m]

I am using a 33 cfm (fad) new Abac piston compressor for vapour blasting, I want to link a 2nd tank for a better back up if possible as the compressor kicks in and out often. Will it be a worth while addition if I add a 200 litre tank?
I also use a pressure fed blast cabinet (dry) and it soon runs out of air needing to stop / start .

It is a new venture and if all goes well I will probably upgrade the compressor to a screw type machine around twice the cfm I already have.

If I link the 2nd tank is it just a case of piping it in line with the main tank and taking my hose off 2nd tank ??

http://www.atmvapourblasting.co.uk/

 

[rtbcomp]

An extra tank will take longer to fill and longer to empty, so the frequency of stopping & starting will decrease.

 

[Chris Stevens]

If you want to do blast cleaning work commercially, forget messing around with piston compressors and extra tanks etc. For hobby use piston compressor is ok, but not a lot of good for commercial...............

 

[brightspark]

if your stuck for air for both do what I do use a 14cfm pump for the airfed helmet and the 28cfm pump setup for the blasting . using a larger pot and jet I use the 90cfm screw pump for both

 

[rtbcomp]

Taking longer to fill may cause heat issues with the compressor - they're usually built for intermittent use and might not like extended run times...

On the other hand constant switching could cause more heating. It's a matter of balance.

As regarding air-fed helmets I use a heater motor to blow air into the helmet. Use a vacuum cleaner hose to replace the airline.

 

[andy m]

Thanks for replies.. The piston compressor is fine with the vapourblast cabinet just runs out of beans with the dry blast. T b h the dealer that sold me the dry blast cabinet said I was just in the minimum requirement and he was right. The dry cabinet is used if the parts like m/cycle cases etc are really bad or I need to remove paint etc. I had a few larger items to try and that was when I noticed it. Will probably end up buying a screw compressor around 60 cfm .

If I try the extra tank I will set it up with a shut off valve so as I can use it either way..

 

[Chris Stevens]

A stripping tank of some sort will be much better for removing paint than dry blast cabinet. Paint sometimes takes ages to remove with dry blast, and powder is much more difficult.

 

[dannyp]

othe than reccomending a screw compressor i cant help but note your in herefod

 

[knighty]

look for another tank on ebay (I got a 2000 litre one for £70)

plumb it in anywhere you like, just make sure the hose to it and between your compressor/main tank/gear are all about the same size


advantage of a bigger tank is you're not normally using air all the time, but once the pressure drops you the compressor can run all the time... so even if you're using more that the compressor produces, the compressor gets a chance to catch up when you stop for a few min to move something around etc..

my compressor is 14cfm but I've never run out of air (ok, I haven't done much blasting)


to me, longer run times for compressors is always better, they'll warm up but hit an equilibrium where they're loosing heat as fast as they produce it so balance out.... much better than frequent start/stops

 

[brightspark]

blasting wants to be at a constant pressure dry air and clean uniform grit otherwise your messing on with the grit valve and when the air drops your getting more media than air so wasting time and grit once. I have mine set up right it will run all day without having to alter anything apart from re filling