Re: air drier on compressor?

[John]

also – the size and CFM of the compressor can contribute to many problems. . . . . . what size are you running ?
this is only my own personal summation that air storage is to blame for a lot of moisture issues.
when air is heated, cooled, compressed, expanded, it does crazy things.
to keep it stable, under a constant pressure, and dry will always be a challange. even for NASA.
a small tank with a small motor and minimal CFM will always give you fits with moisture issues, that is the given.
until you get that under control, you will struggle with any soft, absorbant media, such as soda.
Like Mr. Drifter said: drain your compressor tank regularly.
soda blasting is the new kid on the block for hobbyists ~ just go down to Harbor Freight and pick one up.
but there is very little information available as how to set it up correctly, safely, and efficiently.
#1 is to keep the soda as dry as possible. #2 get the delivery air into the media pressure pot as dry as possible.
#3 have a dryer and collector between the media pot and compressed air tank.
the more filters and moisture traps in the system, the better your success.
I have done media blasting for a living for the past 40 or so years. I eventually went from sand and silica blasting to aluminum oxide.
which will last forever when collected, sifted, and stored correctly.
the hobby media blasters available at the Big Box Stores are fine – as long as the proper air supply is maintained, dryed and filtered.
also, another key ingredient is the orifice of the nozzle. You can not use a 1/4" or 1/8" orifice for soda with less than the required CFM.
if you are using the siphon feed blasting handgun, you will have moisture issues and frustrations, no matter what.
if you are a hobbyist and only perform soda blasting a few times a year, just deal with the frustrations.
if you move up to a more often situation, then you will have to invest in a good, high CFM compressor, storage tank, dryers and filters.
personal safety equipment such as a good hood and respiratory mask/filters should be at the top of your list.
a good start-up system is to cruise CraigsList for an old compressor with a 60 or 80 gallon tank that does not work.
scrap the motor – fix a good access drain valve on the bottom and use that as your air storage tank at 125psi and reduce it down from there.
that will give you the air flow necessary for small projects so you don’t have to wait for your small compressor to catch up to your demand.
a small compressor that runs continuously will get HOT – then when the warm air enters the cool media pot and cools down, it condenses,
then you have the moisture issues.

The MINIMUM equipment that you will need is:
3/32" orifice ceramic nozzle for fine abrasives
Recommended pressure range: 35-90 PSI
Required air flow: 8.5 CFM @ 90 PSI

you will become frustrated very quickly if you use anything less than the required parameters for your system.
also, "sand" blasting equipment will not give you satisfactory results without converting everything over to a "soda" system.

like Daniel Boone always told me ~ KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY !!

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