New Blast Cabinet

[Gary_N]

So, I bit the bullet, since TP was having a sale, and bought their 960 Magnum cabinet. Sale price was $799 before paint, carpet, and headliner! I probably should have asked for some experience with this cab before getting it....but why do that when I can just waste some money! Anyhow, and after the fact, does anyone have this cabinet?

Looks pretty good and it has a working width of about 42 inches. Comes with a vac and I added the wheel package since it's a bit on the heavy side. Hope to get it all hooked up tonight. Managed to sell enough stuff on eBay last weekend to pay for it...so I hope it works out.

I'm sure my compressor will not be good enough now. Will most likely run until it drives me nuts.

I'll get a review out soon in case anyone is even remotely interested!

[Dandy Dave]

Gary, I can't remember my model number off hand, But I think it is a 970. It has about 50 inches of work space. It has been a great unit. My compressor puts out 19 CFM at 100 PSI and it keeps up with no problem.

One thing that I did do was to go with a Carbide Nozzle. It is more expensive but lasts so much longer than ceramic that it is well worth it. The steel one that came with my cabinet didn't last long at all.

Good luck with it. Dave!

[Gary_N]

Dave, I did get a couple of carbide nozzles. The unit seems to work very nice. I dropped in some crushed glass and cleaned one of the heater parts from my De Soto. I did find a big problem though. My compressor blows! I mean it doesn't stop running and I have no idea how long that thing can keep going. Changing to a smaller Nozzle did nothing other than make it harder to clean the rust. So, I see a 2 stage compressor on the horizon. What kind of compressor do you have?

Aside from the compressor, so far I like this unit...although there's all kinds of warnings. TP must have been sued at one time. I mean, wear a respirator? I thought that's what the cabinet and vacuum is for. I like the one about I could cut myself on sharp metal edges. What a strange world we live in these days!

[Dandy Dave]

My compressor is an Ingersol-Rand and is a two stage upright unit. It came in a package deal that I got from TP about 15+ years ago.

The deal included the Compressor, Blast cabinet, and a pressure blaster that was called the 99er.

Another company has taken over the pressure blaster business as TP no longer carries them.

Must have something to do with the possibility of law suit stuff you spoke of???

I cannot complain at all as the units have all served me well doing numerous restoration and refurbishing jobs.

Make sure that you put a water seperator in the line. I set mine up just like TP suggested with steel pipes and ball valves and it has worked very well and is easy to drain off the water. I even put a ball valve in the bottom of the compressor tank so I would not have to deal with the radiator type drain cock that they come with. I put a washing machine hookup hose on the end of that and drain the water in a pail so it does not go all over the garage floor. Works great and is much easier to use. Just turn the handle 1/4th of a turn to open and close. You would not belive the amount of water that comes out of it. And will extend the life of the tank if you remember to drain it often.

Dave!

[Guest BJM]

Gary,

I will be purchasing a blast cabinet soon for the 49 and 68 projects and TP seems to be the place to get them so your experiences, and others, are welcome. I feel the best way is to get a nice set up from the start. I had what I thought was nice set up from Snap On when I was a mechanic, but these TP's are nice.

My biggest complaint with blast cabinets are that I would start to spray, for 10 minutes I might have good results, then it just blows air.

Experience that yet? Or does media just keep coming?

I have a Craftsman air compressor that is not adequate for long periods of blasting but has served me well. A person can get a lot of air compressor for $500 or so.

Just sell some more 54 parts.

[Matt Harwood]

Gary, you definitely need a good compressor. A single-stage compressor can't move nearly enough air to power a blaster. My 80 gallon 2-stage unit rated at 18 CFM @ 90 PSI is merely adequate for my blast cabinet (I assume that all TP cabinets use basically the same nozzles, so a bigger cabinet won't use more air). If you're going to get a compressor, get a BIG one. It'll cost you twice what you paid for the blast cabinet, but it will last for the rest of your life and you'll never outgrow it. Don't make the mistake I made and buy yours at Home Depot or Sears--they are way over-rated in terms of what they'll flow. Get a real compressor from someone like TP.

As for the clogging problem, that's water causing the media to clump in the hose. Overworking your compressor is a big culprit, because once it starts getting hot, it makes more steam and water vapor than compressed air, and it fouls your lines. A good water separator right at the blast cabinet will help a great deal, but if your compressor is getting too hot or running at 100% duty cycle, it's going to start making water sooner or later. Obviously a bigger compressor will alleviate the condition better than a small one.

You can clear these clogs temporarily by putting you thumb over the nozzle and sqeezing the trigger--this will force air down the sand pick-up tube and blow out the clog. When you release your thumb, air starts flowing again and starts to siphon fresh sand again.

Hope this helps.

[Gary_N]

Well, I do have a $400 Sears compressor and it just ain't gonna cut it. I guess I should have known that from the start since I blew the bearing cover off the compressor motor after 6 months. But, Sears DID immediately replace that motor. I did a little more blasting today, while cleaning up the garage, which has become a giant monster with 3 cars worth of fenders, inner fenders, bumpers, wheels, tires, trim, seats and tools from some sloppy guy leaving stuff everywhere. I swear someone should start a maid service for gear heads! Anyway, the smaller nozzle is a waste of time. And, I only get a minute or so of "quiet" blasting before the Sears Unit fires up and never stops. But, I do like the cabinet. Seems to be tight. But the only media I have tried so far is crushed glass. I have some walnut shells that I'll try soon and some Aluminum Oxide.

The vac seems to work well and the work area is good. I'm really glad I didn't go the Harbor Freight route. So, I guess I'll have to stick more Corvette parts on eBay to pay for the next purchase. I assume a good compressor is going to be near $2,000? In the scheme of things I guess that's not too bad since I just paid $300 for 4 door hinges for the De Soto. MOPAR stuff is just not cheap. Makes you appreciate the price of Buick parts for sure.

Gary

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

Gary,

I don't think you will have to pay that much for a good compressor. I bought an 80 gal 5hp Kobalt from Lowes last year for just under $800 and it is doing great. Most of the Kobalt compressors are made by ABAC/American in Rock Hill SC. They also make the BelAire brand of compressor which is top end. It uses the BelAire T-39 pump, which on a BelAire compressor usually sells for over $1200.00. You need to run about 100 LF of 3/4 or 1 inch black gas line draining away from the compressor with drains to allow the hot air to condensate in the pipes and be able to drain it versus depending on a water seperator to do all the work. Here's some pictures of mine from last year. You can see how I ran the lines with constant fall in them (about 1/8 in/ft)draing away from the tank.

[tcwilson]

i got my compresser from grainger. i like IR brand. not cheap but worth the money in my book. i think their freight was free. my two cents

[Dandy Dave]

BJM, Your flow problem could be because of what you are blasting. If you are not cleaning loose stuff off first, like big flakes of paint, ect, then this will find its way to the bottom and plug the inlet. It is neccesary to screen the blast media from time to time and also replace it if it has broken down and is no longer doing the job. Also, as mentioned earlier. From time to time you will need to plug the end of the nozzle to blow particles away from the bottom of the cabinet.

Another thing that could be causing your problem is water in the lines. If you do not drain the compressor, or if you do not have a water seperator, then moisture can stop the flow of media. This will happen rather quickly on days when the humidity is high.

One more thing is that you may not be loading enough media in the cabinet. Some of it will pile up on the shelves in the cabinet and not reach the bottom.

Also in the TP cabinets, The tube in the cabinet that pulls the media from the bottom after time and use will get a hole worn where it bends, and will no longer pull the media up to the top and though the gun.

All from time trued and tried experience. Dave!

[Guest BJM]

Thanks Dave. I'll stick with my Sears air compressor for now, when I get the TP Blast Cabinet I'll get the water seperator. Eventually I will have to upgrade on the compressor for sure.

I can put in a pair of ear plugs. I need ear plugs anyway for other reasons (hunting/showers/swimming) so it's no big deal to use them while blasting.

[Gary_N]

Lamar, nice plumbing job. Maybe you can come up and do mine. I've been avoiding that for some time. I was looking at the Garage Pak kit. Looks easy to install, but naturally more expensive than black pipe.

http://www.garage-pak.com/

Gary

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

Interestig system, but somebody must be sniffing the pipe dope if it takes'em 10 hors to run 60 lf of black pipe. Here is some excellant info on planning out your system.

http://www.oldsmobility.com/air-compressor-piping.htm

I got too much going on in my own barn to come up and help ya, but I'll offer you some great advice...wait until you're done to pull out the red wine.

[Guest imported_Thriller]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MrEarl</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I got too much going on in my own barn to come up and help ya, but I'll offer you some great advice...wait until you're done to pull out the red wine. </div></div>

The other one is measure twice, cut once....

[imported_buick5563]

I have a 220 volt compressor like Mr. Earls. It works great, considering I restored my 55 with a 20 gallon Craftsperson compressor that I use for work. That sucker ran the whole time. A cheaper way of running lines is to (um) buy a twenty dollar hose. I know I don't run my blaster enough to permanently plumb to the corner where mine is set up. I do have hard lines coming out of the compressor into a water separator.

Mike

[Matt Harwood]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: buick5563</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have a 220 volt compressor like Mr. Earls. It works great, considering I restored my 55 with a 20 gallon Craftsperson compressor that I use for work. That sucker ran the whole time. A cheaper way of running lines is to (um) buy a twenty dollar hose. I know I don't run my blaster enough to permanently plumb to the corner where mine is set up. I do have hard lines coming out of the compressor into a water separator.

Mike </div></div>

I also bought an $800 compressor from Home Depot. It's just OK for big jobs like running a blaster of any kind. If/when I buy another, I'll be investing in a bigger professional model with <span style="font-style: italic">at least</span> 20 CFM @ 125 PSI. But for now, that one is adequate.

Actually, hard lines help dry the air and unfortunately, a water separator near the compressor won't work as effectively--it'll be overwhelmed by the hot, moist air directly at the compressor. That's why hard lines should always slope back towards the compressor so that as the water condenses, it will travel back to the compressor where it can be drained periodically. The farther the air gets from the compressor in hard lines, the less moisture it will have in it.

A neat alternative I heard about once is to put a coil of rubber hose (or better yet, copper tubing $$$) in a large bucket and fill it with cold water or ice, then run your air through that. The cold temps will condense the water out of the air before it reaches the next hose. When you're done, drain the submerged hose and run some air through it to blow out the remaining moisture. I haven't used this technique, but it sounds like it could work and you wouldn't have to invest in hard lines, just a second rubber hose.

I also thought about adding an automotive A/C condenser between the first and second stage cylinders on the pump and in front of the fan to help cool the air before it goes into the tank. The tube from the pump to the tank on my compressor has cooling fins on it and a larger "radiator" could only help. But I wonder what kind of flow restrictions it would impose?

[Guest BJM]

While we are on the subject of compressors - has anyone every actually heard of a tank exploding because of internal rust out?

I say this because I don't drain my tank that often.

[Matt Harwood]

I don't think they can explode, per se. I think you would probably get a slow leak or it would not hold pressure as the metal gradually rusted and got thin. No worries there.

I try to drain my tank once a month, but more often would probably help. You should see the slime that comes out. You can get automatic drains that do it for you on a regular basis, which can't hurt.

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

Gary, you will need a flexible hose to run between the tank and where your hard line starts. I had one made at a hydraulic shop and paid out my ... for it.Came away feeling like I had really been hosed....

This guy on ebay has these ever so often for much less than I paid.

Hyd hose on ebay

[Matt Harwood]

You can get braided stainless flex hose from McMaster-Carr. I think I paid ~$50 for the 2-foot long one I used. Just make sure you order it with the correct fittings. Check out page 242 of their online catalog at www.McMastercarr.com (I couldn't make a link work because of their nested windows). Getting one with a female union on one end will make installation much easier.

I'd also recommend a good regulator at the compressor output. I got mine from TP for not a lot of money and it is great for minimizing the compressor's ON time. My compressor fills the tank to 140 PSI, but I have it regulated down to 85 PSI, which will drive most tools and the blaster. That helps each tankful last longer between cycles.

Isn't this great? You bought a neat new tool and now it's snowballing into a major investment! It's like when I bought a new TV and had to buy a new entertainment center to house it, then new coffee tables to match that, and then a new couch because the new stuff made the old one look shabby, and then remodeled the living room because the new couch didn't match the paint.

[Bhigdog]

My local tractor dealer will make up hose in any common length/diameter with common pipe (or hydraulic) fittings for a reasonable amount........Bob

[Gary_N]

Jake:

I don't mind the noise of the compressor running so much as being nervous about what else will blow off the motor. I don't have that much confidence with it's durability.

For now, I'm justing running about twenty fee of hose from the compressor to the blaster with a water separator on the compressor side and a paper filter dryer on the blaster side. It's the same filter that I use with the Plasma Torch, my all time favorite toy.

Matt: That's the way I do things. Ready, shoot, aim. I must have this thing about turning all of my endeavors into major undertakings. Like getting married and then divorced two years later!! OK, maybe that's the..."let me see if I can spend...uh...I mean give away all I have as fast as I can thing"... Rather be spending that on some of the rust in the garage.

And speaking of which, the '47 Roadmaster Sedanette on eBay right now MUST be in my garage. Love that car! Wish I could make some room. Oh and Jake, not exactly your car, but I found a very nice '37 Chrysler Royal 2 Dr. Touring Brougham that would make a really nice garage buddy with the '47 Sedanette. If is wasn't for the payoff to the soon to be ex, both of those WOULD have a nice new home here in Maryland!

Gary