Most Commonly Asked Questions.
Don't hit buy. Free advice.
HAVE QUESTIONS REACH US ON OUR ONLINE CHAT PORTAL. For faster customer service.
Small pots are awesome. Out of the box they will work.
Clogs, low performance, and unreliable operation are caused by OPERATOR ERROR.
Helpful tips:
1. Always sift Media (Even New
Bagged Media)
2. USE clean DRY air water traps
3. Match nozzle orifice to your
CFM. CFM is KING.
4. Clogs are caused by moisture
and humidity.
5. Adjusting the mix correctly is
How to obtain power and
Efficiency.
6. Pressure drop or excessive use
Of Pressurized air. Look for the
Obvious leaks. Make sure your
Compressor is big enough to
Use with your nozzle size and
Set up.
Here's a perfect example.
110lbs pot with a 1/8 nozzle you
Connect your pot to your 60
Gallon compressor
You blast for a 20 40 seconds
Then your pressure drops and
Your compressor can't keep up.
Small compressor means
Limited performance and
Limited blasting times.
Kits we offer: subject to change. Need a specific setup. Reach us on our online chat portal.
⚠️Conventional Kit. Base kit.
This kit has the mix manifold located at the bottom bung of the pot. Basic and reliable.
⚠️Relocation/Elevated Kit.
This kit relocates the mix manifold to the side of the pot
💯Need some guidance please contact us via our online chat, or call us during regular business hours.
⚠️Remote Manifold Kit.
This Kit was designed for surface prep using any small pot. Will fit all small pots with 3/8 or 1/2 bottom bung discharge.
This is a special order kit.
🆕Midnight Red light or Blue light Special Kits:
Our Midnight Special Kits or Red Blue light special are kits that save you money.
We offer you a good quality blast hose on these kits.
⚠️The basics are sometimes overlooked.⚠️
Air compressor selection.
Reciprocating air compressors are not ideal for Media blasting but they will work, invest in a high quality name brand Two Stage 80 gallon compressor. ⚡KEEP AWAY from small cheap air compressors, as as a golden rule I always say if it plugs into a standard 110 residential outlet get a better compressor. See pics on most common compressors.
It's important to purchase your compressor with spec's and applications for your needs.
Entry Level:
14 to 17 CFM at around 90 psi 220v TRUE 5 HP. 1/8 nozzle or 5/32 nozzle with some recovery time.
Semi Intermediate Level:
18 to 26 CFM at around 90 psi 220) 230v TRUE 7 HP. Nozzles 1/8, 5/32, 3/16 with 1/4 having some recovery time.
Intermittent Level:
27 to 39 CFM at around 90 psi 230v TRUE 10 HP nozzles 1/8, 5/32, 3/16, 1/4, and 3/8.
Media selection.
Consider all media as dangerous or hazardous. ALWAYS TAKE Safety precautions.
Use approved Respirator, hand ear, and eye protection.
Hard and soft media along with MOHS scale chart is shown. Also media shape will help in removal of stubborn coatings.
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Troubleshooting guide.
Clogs. Caused by moisture in media screen media, extended periods blasting will cause moisture. Use a dryer system. Water traps and water separators will not work in most areas where humidity and moisture is present.
Low CFM to Nozzle Orifice size.
Low air capacity and low CFM will cause recovery time.
Small cheap compressors will always cause problems. Air starvation due to small capacity compressors. Upgrade compressor to match nozzle orifice needs.
Excessive media waste.
This is caused when the operator is not correctly adjusting the mix.
⚡Over powering the nozzle.
This is a common issue with operators that fail to adjust correctly. The nozzle orifice can only move a certain amount of product. Overpowering the nozzle is when the operator opens the air throttle to much, this cancels the media flow over whelming the nozzle orifice.
The best policy is slow and steady.
1. Open the media ball valve 1 quart of a turn.
2. Then Open the air throttle ball valve slowly in small increments until the blast stream equalizes and produces a constant stream. The stream has an almost blurry distorted appearance. Adjusting the mix correctly produces power, conserves media, and produces quicker results.
Removing stubborn plastic rubberized coatings.
This is one of the most asked questions . First you have to have the power, Air power. The more air power the better. This is where CFM comes into play. CONSTANT CFM.
See images for compressor selection and nozzle selection.
Wearing out parts.
All parts wear out, the longevity and reliability are always subject to the following:
*Media MOHS hardness.
The media hardness will affect wear. See MOHS scale. The higher the hardness the faster the wear. For example aluminum oxide and slags will wear out parts faster than silica.
* Running the pot to empty or almost empty will destroy lower end parts faster. This includes your mix valve, lower manifold, steel barb and blast hose close to the manifold, around 2 to 4 inches of hose will wear.
Never run your pot to empty. Never shake your pot. Running your pot to "almost empty"will equalize the pressure in your pot causing wear. This will wear out parts quicker.
Sharp media will also cause wear. angular or sub angular media such as aluminum oxide, coal Slag and crushed glass under high pressure will wear out parts faster.
High Psi. This will definitely wear out parts. Most small pot blasting is around 60 to 90 psi. Most small pots have a safety valve that opens at 115. Parts will wear and fail with extreme use.
⚡⚡A very common question.
Blast size on substrate.
This has many variables. For example. CFM and matching the nozzle size. Coating type and distance of nozzle to surface.
For example if you're using a 1/8 nozzle you are not going to aggressive removal results.
Distance from nozzle to surface blasting. For example the farther the distance the larger blast profile.
Here is a perfect example.
Removing powder coating or other durable and difficult coatings. For some coating your going to have to get closer to the surface in order to remove difficult coatings. You're not going to remove stubborn rubberized plastic coatings using a small nozzle orifice or a spread nozzle.
🌀🌀Water injected VaPorizer nozzle holders. These nozzle holders are awesome. Let's be real, most media blasting is done dry but wet blasting has its place.
Use a wet blasting system to suppress airborne contaminates. Clean aluminum magnesium copper brass and other soft metals including engine/transmission cases. Remove powder coating, rubberized, plastic coatings. Our system uses a press valve, this along with a stainless steel 003 nozzle provides a metered injection of water, no mess no excessive water.
Here's some advice on removing stubborn coatings.
1. Entry level air compressor CFM around 14 at 90 PSI. This is ENTRY LEVEL. The more CFM the better the performance.
2. Media selection ANGULAR SHARP. For example crushed glass in medium works excellent.
It cuts better and works excellent with a water nozzle.
3. Constant high pressure AIR. MAINTAINING constant air pressure. This is difficult using a reciprocating air compressor. So you will experience recovery time.
4. At a 35 to 45 degree angle.
Position your nozzle at a 35/45 degree angle to the surface you're blasting. Pressing and quickly releasing the water valve button. A little bit of water goes a long way. Powder Coating, rubberized plastic coatings, automotive coatings, masonry paint, and lacquer paints tend to melt and spread when blasted in dry mode. Water will cool down the charge and fracturing the coating.
Dual mode Nozzle Holder with dry and wet mode.
How to use see our how to use section.
