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Cheapie 5 Gallon Sand Blaster problems

BKinzey

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Location
Hollywood, CA
Got one from Northern Tool. They all look about the same.

Using 30 grit sand, not the play sand. The ceramic nozzle lasted about 2 minutes :shock:

Still worked pretty well though until I released the deadman valve. Then the hose would fill up with sand and my next spray would be a 2 to 3 second fountain of sand until the hose cleared. I think part of this is due to the valve getting gritty and often didn't shut off completely :roll:

Didn't somebody say these worked fairly well? I'm not too pleased but I figure I'm probably part of the problem.

Any suggestions?
 

benni72

Member
89
0
6
Location
Rockwall, TX
i had the same problem with mine as well. burnt up nozzle's like nothing! i found that if you decrease the sand to a super fine spray and use more air the nozzle's last longer. the less sand the longer nozzle life. only problem with that is the valve does get clogged often. try to reuse the old sand, it gets super fine as you reuse it and makes it easier to pass the valve. i also found that using the smallest diameter nozzles will prolong its use. try to find half way decent nozzle's, example harbor freight, the ones i bought on ebay lasted about 2 minutes. oh just a hint what to expect in the future, that cheapo gun that came with the tank will self destruct to the point where the sand will wear out from the inside out. got a face full of sand when a 1/2' diameter hole blew threw the handle! good luck, adam
 

rmgill

Active member
2,479
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Location
Decatur, Ga
Don't use sand. Use something else that's finer that flows better. My cheapie siphon feed unit runs star blast nicely, it still cuts and it has low silica. No nozzle issues either.
 

rdixiemiller

Active member
1,760
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Location
Olive Branch Mississipi
Put your finger (wearing a glove) over the nozzle and trigger the gun. You will blow the sand back into the pot. When you start to blast, you won't get the stream of sand for 2-3 seconds. Also a good way to blow back a wet clog of sand. I used a Sears 5 gallon blaster for years, ran Fla. beach sand through it. Nice smooth finisy, although a bit slow. Eventually I wore through the side of the gun body.
 

BKinzey

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Hollywood, CA
I don't understand the finger over the nozzle bit. Air pushes sand through the hose to the nozzle. The valve on the end, a deadman, acts the same as having your finger over the nozzle :?: :?: :?: :?:
 

Xterratuff

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Okay, so I was planning on buying one of these sandblasters to blast my trailer. I was going to get the one from Harbor freight for 80 bucks or so. I don't want to end up spending a ton of money on nozzles and dealing with clogs every 5 minutes. Are the northern and harbor frieght blasters worth it or should I look into getting something else? The biggest project I have is blasting this trailer....
 

BKinzey

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Location
Hollywood, CA
I bought mine because a few people recommended them. I'm not sure it it was here or another board. I'm surprised at the problems I'm having.
 

maxim

Member
The one I use is good for small parts. It would take forever to do any project of any size. I have resorted to the twisted wire wheel on a side grinder. It works well and takes rust right off. Be warned however, if you use a twisted wheel, wear eye and hand and arm protection. The wire will break off and can become embeded in you. It would be bad in the eye. WEAR EYE PROTECTION!! I would consider a cabinet size sand blaster for small parts. I have heard that some attempt to recover the media and use it over. I have tried that and the media is so full of rust material it could not be reused.
 

disco

Member
33
1
8
Location
Houston, Tx
I have 40 pound pressure pot blaster from Harbor Freight. I've just started using it and am having the same problem with it just blowing a fountain of sand. I am still fiddling with the valve at the bottom to control the amount of sand coming out and am getting closer to where I want it. It's working better now so I would start there. I haven't burned up any nozzles yet.

I bought a 100 pound bag of fine sand (Quikrete Fine Sand No. 1961). It looks more consistent than play sand. I want to build a blasting cabinet. If I can get that sorted out, I'll buy some real media. I have a siphon feed too. When the pressure pot works, it's a monster compared to the siphon feed. Keeps my compressor awful busy too. Both the blaster and the compressor have water seperators and everytime I open them I get water out of them both.
 

jasonjc

Well-known member
5,325
283
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Location
Gravette Ar.
If you are going from the compresor to the blaster with a rubber hose. the air maybe staying too hot and not letting the water vapor condence enought for the water seperators to remove it. I have to hook mine up at the other end of the shop after the air go thought about 60' feet of PVC pipe. And it works alot better that way.
 

rmgill

Active member
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Location
Decatur, Ga
A pipe system or better yet, a black/galvanized pipe system makes a huge difference. I added a manifold pipe system on the wall of my garage and where I'd been having condensation coming out of tools it all went away. I did add a water separator/filter and a regulator, but having all that setup is very VERY handy for what I'm doing. Adding hose reels on the ceiling of the garage has been even more handy. Now I just need to get the garage cleaned up so I can use more of it again.
 

disco

Member
33
1
8
Location
Houston, Tx
Thats good info about the air staying hot. Once I start working the compressor, the entire tank (60 gal) gets pretty warm. I never thought of that being part of the problem. I have plans of running pipe down the middle of the garage with a drop or two. I guess I have to move those plans along a little faster now.

Do you have a separator in front of every reel/drop?
 

rmgill

Active member
2,479
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Location
Decatur, Ga
I have a separator on the low point of the lines. It's not that long ~10 feet. But I have a split and then a dogleg to then feed an oiler for the air tools. One point is just dry filtered air. The other is oiled and dry/filtered air. A good thing to do is to put in a Tee (A T on it's side) so the bottom goes to a valve, the top goes to your tools. The source of air comes from the side. This allows air to flow but water wants to run down into the drip leg that you can empty every so often.
 

derby

Member
818
7
18
Location
S.E. MI.
I have a 40# pressure pot also.cheapie ($89)from the traveling tool tent sale.(Chuck Homier) It worked well after a little fiddling.The water seperator is very important.I have one at the tank and at the pot.I was amazed at how much moisture got past the first drier.once you get water in the pot it gooes everything up.I also do not use sand ,I used 80 grit garnet.I would power wash anything to remove the large stuff as it will save time and money on the blaster.I would not want to do a whole trailer with it.I did burn up a nozzle with 50# of abrasive,the one's from TSC fit my pot as it is the same as the Clark pot blaster there,just alot cheaper.($149)
 

MaximumBob

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Wouldn't trade my Harbor Freight Cheapie Sandblaster for the World - Really does the job, BUT it requires careful discipline (and preparation) to get it to work properly. I'm running mine with a 5 HP gasoline powered Sears compresson mounted on a 20 gallon tank (I think).

First - if your hose if filling up with sand each time you start, you've probably got the bottom value - the one that controls the amount of sand picked up by the airstream open too much (I'm assuming that yours operates like the big HF unit). I always start with mine closed (the bottom value) and crack the air about 75% (the top valve on my unit). Then I open the nozzle (your deadman switch) and simply let an airstream jet out toward the project and then slowly crack the sand valve open (again, the value on the bottom). Typically, the sand valve only gets opened 1/8 - 1/4 - the idea is that the air rushing past the sand flow in the manifold sort of "pick up the sand" as it rushes by. The quick fix (again on my unit) if the hose is filled with sand is to turn off the sand value and open the air value all the way and it will purge (i.e. waste) all the sand in the hose.

Here's my additional suggestions that I previously posed on the H1Forum:

I also purchased the Harbor Freight 110# sand blaster. It worked horribly out of the box. But, I was in the midst of a job - sandblasting an area that needed to be repaired on my backhoe so I couldn't stop - really needed the sandblaster to work.

Spent a couple hours figuring it all out, made some adjustments / modifications and now it works GREAT - I wouldn't trade it for the world - and I've used a lot of different sandblasters. The modifications:

1) The sand HAS to be dry - this is true for most sandblasters, but this one especially so - the 110# IMO is still a large size home unit so they are a little more sensitive than the big industrial ones. I purchase play sand from Lowes which is stored inside the store. If I purchase cheaper play sand from Walmart - you can see the moisture inside the bag because it is stored outside - and I suspect that moisture is one of the ways the vendor delivers the product to Walmart by weight. If the sand is wet I spread it out on plastic in the sun to dry before I sweep it up for step #2 below. UPDATE: drying sand in the sun (at least in damp Florida is a real pain in the neck - I've gone back to purchasing the dry, but slightly expensive sand from Lowes)

2) You MUST sift the sand - or spend lots of time taking the nozzle, manifold (the part at the bottom of the tank) apart - constantly. I just pulled a window screen off my trailer (a 1966 single-wide - the "Star Regal" model - not to put on heirs). At any rate, I pulled off a window sreen, frame attached and set it on top of a 5 gallon bucket - you'd be amazed at what sifts out of playsand - or any other type of sand, especially if you're recycling your blast media. All those little peebles are guaranteed to clog the sandblaster - you can either take the extra 4 minutes per refill to sift, or stop every 20 seconds of blasting and clear the jams from inside the unit. UPDATE: I've also used some very expensive, "slag media" from a friend - very sharp little particles - absolutely did not like it as much - play sand works great IMO.

3) MOST IMPORTANT - after the close nipples are installed firmly on the manifold - maybe even installed on the bottom of the tank - although I didn't do mine in this way - run successively larger drill bits down the manifold from the nipple where the heavy black blasting hose attaches at the bottom of the tank. The problem here is that the close nipple from the bottom of the tank to the center of the manifold sticks way into the manifold - it cuts off the passage by at least 50% which causes a ton of jams. Start with a bit that fits inside the end nipple (again the one where the black hose attaches). After you've cut off the protruding end of the center nipple (protruding on the inside of the unit) then move up 3 or 4 drill sizes (I use a standard drill index) to open up the ID if the end nipple. Go slow through all of this because the drill bit wants to catch the ragged end of the middle close nipple - I broke a bit in this process, but got it out easily. Again, this is the MOST IMPORTANT modification.

4) Moisture is a problem no matter where you are, I live in Florida where it is especially humid - bigger tanks help and I also use a variety of moisture traps.

Once this is all done - and it took me about the time it took to write all this down, you'll be amazed at how well this "Cheap" sandblaster works.

Let me know how this works out if anyone tries it.

Good Luck,

MaximumBob
 

MaximumBob

New member
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Xterratuff said:
Okay, so I was planning on buying one of these sandblasters to blast my trailer. I was going to get the one from Harbor freight for 80 bucks or so. I don't want to end up spending a ton of money on nozzles and dealing with clogs every 5 minutes. Are the northern and harbor frieght blasters worth it or should I look into getting something else? The biggest project I have is blasting this trailer....
I would highly recommend the Harbor Freight unit - but, make sure that you get the biggest one that they sell. Seems like I purchased it on sale for around $100. One of the distinctions is that it is made in Tiawan, not China. Not signalling any huge quality different, but I've had very good luck with mine subject to my modifications above.

Also, as I've read through the posts someone mentioned silica - playsand is FULL of it (100%?) - not good to breath - I use a poor man airhelmet that I made out of a $14 blow dryer (Walmart) and a 25' flexible drainage hose from Lowes for about $7 - all duct taped together.
 

disco

Member
33
1
8
Location
Houston, Tx
I'm working on making a blasting cabinet. I will attach a shop vac (Rigid brand actually) with a HEPA type filter to the cabinet. I'm not sure if that alone will cut it so I also have a two cartridge mask I'm wearing. I think if I buy more outlet hose, I can pipe it outside and get away with not wearing a mask entirely. The shop vac moves way more CFM of air than the compressor so I should have lower air pressure inside the cabinet. No dust should escape.

Has anybody else done anything like this?
 

MaximumBob

New member
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0
0
I've not used the vacuum system personally on an enclosed sandblaster, but I've heard good things. Check out the Lowes rigid suction hose - the stuff I used for my poor-man's air helmet. It is sold in the same department as the sump pumps and is substantially less expensive than vacuum hose.

PS: Harbor Freight has the big sandblasting unit on sale for $119 - it is the biggest unit they sell and the one that I purchased and have enjoyed a great deal after modification.
 

rdixiemiller

Active member
1,760
3
38
Location
Olive Branch Mississipi
BKinzey said:
I don't understand the finger over the nozzle bit. Air pushes sand through the hose to the nozzle. The valve on the end, a deadman, acts the same as having your finger over the nozzle :?: :?: :?: :?:
A pressure pot blaster pushes sand. A cheapie siphon blaster sucks it through. On a siphon blaster, covering the nozzle and triggering the air will push the air back through the sand hose to the pot.
Dry sand is critical, and screening it is a must. My 30 year old Sears unit has a built in screen on the top cover.
 
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