Has anyone ever built a shaker from something around the house for their pressure pot sandblaster tank? I have heard of strapping a palm sander to the side of it but I really don't think that will be strong enough for the size tank I have. I am using fine/extra fine black beauty in my harbour freight 110 lb tank and it works pretty good for 30 seconds and then clogs at the media valve on the bottom of the tank. I hit it with a rubber mallet or close and open the media valve again and it will spray again temporarily. The media bag says that it doesn't absorb moisture and I shouldn't have to sift it because it is already pretty fine stuff. i'm using the 1/8" nozzle and all the ball valves on the unit are 3/8". I start by opening the air inlet valve all the way to pressurize the tank and then back it off 1/4 of the way to keep the gauge reading about 90 psi, then open the air valve on the mixer fitting at the bottom of the tank all the way. Then I pull the trigger at the nozzle to let the air flow and slowly open the media valve to about 1/2 which seems to work the best...when it works haha. That's the best way to start it up I believe. I know it would work more consistently if I just had something shaking it.
I have the same HF pressure pot blaster. There are two things I do to keep the line from plugging. (A) I pressurize the tank. Then I open the line valve first to blow out the line then I slowly open the sand trap valve until the media starts coming out. I normally do not open it all the way. I get plenty of media without plugging the line. (B) I make double sure I sift the media ( I also use fine/extra fine black beauty.) Despite what they say I find enough crap in the stuff to plug the line. Now my only problem is the rubber feed hose took a crap and started to leak. Damn near ripped a hole in my ankles before I got it shut down.
Mc-Masters sells inline air filters. Railroads use them to keep compressor oil out of the horns. They look like plastic in-line fuel filters. They should help prevent the soda from binding in the nozzle and they are pretty cheap. http://www.mcmaster.com/#inline-air-filters/=ky436e about half way down the page
thanks jimbousman. Can I ask what material you use for a sifter? I tried a window screen I had laying around at one point during setup but that doesn't have small enough holes so I just poured the media in thinking it should work anyway since it's the fine stuff. and how far do you think you open your media valve normally?
i use the same process of turning the air on first and then the media, i used my toe to turn the media on but that was not always easy, so a couple of weeks ago i made a handle that controls the media, works great, i also removed the deadman switch and replaced it with a ball valve when the blaster was new, another change was a quick release coupler so if something does block the nozzle it only takes a second to clear it out, i keep a short piece of welding rod in my pocket to clear any stuck pieces from the nozzle, my next upgrade will be to remove the brass plug from the lower T and replace it with a 90 degree elbow and a ball valve as moisture seems to collect there, the last thing is to make a cover for the top that will keep anything from falling inside when i'm not useing my blaster, a mouse fell in once and it took awhile for the bones to come out.
I don't have a HF tank blaster, but I did add a vibrator to my 30X48 blast cabinet. the vibrator I used came off of a hospital bed. It cured the feed problem I was having with my set up,I just bolted it to the front of the recovery bin and wired it to the light switch. It keeps the media from sticking to the walls and keeps the pick up covered with blast media. ..............Jack
thats a great idea. i picked up a couple hospital beds for the geardrive motors and saved the vibrators, now i have a use for them.
A lot of sandblaster problems come down to damp media. When you buy the bags of sand and dump it out the sand is always very cool and damp. If you spread it out on a tarp and put it out in the sun for a while it will dry out and feed much better. We have a problem here in Florida with humidity and keeping the sand flowing is a problem. Don
Dry media is the answer...I have used my HF blaster for several years and only had to replace the nozzles from wear and the ball valve at the end of the discharge hose, the sand finally wore a hole in the side of it..I do have a good water trap on my compressor...Helps tremendously
The compressor i'm using is about a 50 or 60 gallon and it has a large water trap on it and then there is another water trap on the sandblaster tank itself that it came with so it seems to be doing a good job, plus i don't see little droplets on my parts when i'm blasting or turning the nozzle on or off. I really think a homemade shaker of sorts will fix the issue since it's always clogging at the media valve and not the nozzle.... any ideas on what i could tear apart? haha
i ran some play sand in my blaster last week just to try it, the dust cloud was unreal, back to recyclied glass.
i like a worn out nozzel, it never plugs and cut the blast velocity and no warpage sold my TIP and kept the HF use it for light car stuff
My HF drove me crazy for about a month trying to figure out why it was clogging up. Jimbous has the process right on. It took me a while to figure that out but once you run the thing that way it works fine and shouldn't need a vibrator. I can only use fine black sand and I always cover the top when its stored. Dang squirl got in garage one time and dropped half a walnut in the tank. Took a little while to find that one.
I have the same HF 110 lb blaster. I don't believe a shaker is necessary. For the most part the answers have already been stated. I'm using an I/R 5hp 80gal compressor. I limit my air at the blaster to about 65psi. I open the media valve a little more than halfway and I also use BlackBeauty. Can't remember for sure but I think mine may have been the coarser stuff - 80grit? I don't bother to sift it and it doesn't clog. As stated, dry air is key. I run a trap 2' off the compressor followed by the below homemade contraption, followed by the blaster trap. Not a drop of moisture gets through! The last blast I ran through 3 tanks of BlackBeauty and no clogging whatsoever.
Used to have a bucket blaster, I used a $2 potato masher, stuck it in the siphon bucket before filling, filled half way, if I got a clog I,d shake the potato masher handle and media would start flowing again. Bought a pressure pot, works great, not harbor freight but pretty close I had problems when I filled the bucket all the way, never worked right
I have one of the old Harbor Freight blasters and I never have any problems buy I use designated fine sand blasting sand,,I keep it dry and I have a air dryer the keeps the moisture from the compressor out of the lines. HRP
Tractor supply center fine sand is only about $8 for a 50lb bag. Has to be fine grit thought, any others clog up.
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