Mine sandblaster sucks!!!

[wpala]

Hi there I have a HF type of sandblaster unit with the gravity fed system and it pisses me off, 85% of the time the thing is just blowing air with maybe 1 % sand then it will start spit sand for about 30 seconds then nothing I have even a wire inside a cabinet to clean nozzle but that just helps for another 10 sec and back again just to air, is the gun that came with the unit? or just the gravity system is so inferior any help and pointers will be appreciated

Paul

 

[SWARFEATER]

screen your sand,everytime, screendoor screen is good enough. make sure you are not pumping water from the compressor. make sure your sand is dry to start with. these 3 things will do exactly your problem.

 

[xalky]

There's a vendor on ebay that sells a kit with a foot operated valve , larger siphon hose and mechanism, and an awesome gun to improve their performance. I installed one on mine a couple of years ago. It's a dream to use now. I'll try to find the link for it if your interested.

 

[Long Roof]

+1 to both of those replys. It doesn't take much of a clump to clog up the system. I use glass beads and they will clump up if they have set for a long time in the blast cabinet. If you are just getting air coming out, cover the end of the nozzle and pull the trigger. That will back purge the all the way through the pick up tube and dislodge a blockage. You should get a good stream of media to blast out then. If the problem keeps happening it is probably time to sift all the media.

 

[PatMiles]

There's a vendor on ebay that sells a kit with a foot operated valve , larger siphon hose and mechanism, and an awesome gun to improve their performance. I installed one on mine a couple of years ago. It's a dream to use now. I'll try to find the link for it if your interested.

I'd like to know who the vendor is.
Pat

 

[xalky]

Pat I sent you a PM. I decided to post this here. This is an awesome kit. Everybody should have one on thier HF blaster.





Hi pat. It took me awhile to find it. Here's the expired link to the ebay listing. http://www.ebay.com/itm/UPGRADE-KIT-...p2047675.l2557

I did some more digging, and here's the link to the company, you should probably just call them and request the kit they had on ebay. It's a really nice kit. There's no siphon tube, the abrasive gets fed in from the bottom trap door, it comes with a really nice gun, and foot pedal. It's worth every penny and then some. http://www.tacomacompany.com/ http://www.tacomacompany.com/

Nobody else makes a kit like it. You have to drill a few holes to adapt it to your cabinet, but it's fairly straight forward and comes with great instructions too.

Marcel

 

[cvairwerks]

One thing that I do with my big cabinet, is to knee, or bang on the front angled face every so often and impart a vibration to the hopper section. Even dry beads can get stacked up and not flow down to the pickup. The vibration causes the pile to collapse down to the pocket around the pickup.

 

[PatMiles]

Marcel,
Thank you for the info.
I have a benchtop blast cabinet (don't have enough real estate in the garage for a big one) but still will be calling the good folks at Tacoma tomorrow. This kit looks like the cats pajamas.
Take care,
Pat

 

[Malave16]

Theres only so much you can do on a syphon system without issues. Personally i would get rid of it and get a hold of a pressure pot system and adapt it to the cabinet. The beauty of it is that its portable too, so you can disconnect it from the cabinet and blast outside for larger parts that wont fit the caninet.

 

[chuckorlando]

My pressure pot cost less then my cab. Two diff worlds for me. If it's real big or real tough I will set up the PP and some tarps and face mask and hood and sealed goggles etc, etc. For most things I pen the door, hit the light, hit the vac, and go. If I had a room to blast i would use the pp more as it works well