Sand blast cabinet issue !

[timsyfz]

I did a search on sand blasting to find out where to put this question, and did not come up with a better place so here it is.

I have a friend who is having issues with his new sand blasting cabinet. It is an Harbor freight model (the same as mine), and he cannot seem to get it to suck the media out of the basin... I was hoping some of you guys might have some thoughts I could share with him... My impression is that there is something wrong with the gun itself... opinions will be helpful thanks. He made a few videos of what he tried:

http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i2...t=VID00003.flv
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i2...t=VID00005.flv


Thanks guys in advance !

[aszumilo]

Occasionally mine will do the same thing. Make sure the media is not clumped and the pickup tube is in the media at a good depth. Does he have air coming out of the nozzle when he pulls the trigger? If he does, put a finger over the nozzle and pull the trigger. This will force air down the pickup tube and dislodge any clogs.

[goincrzy]

Originally Posted by timsyfz

I did a search on sand blasting to find out where to put this question, and did not come up with a better place so here it is.

I have a friend who is having issues with his new sand blasting cabinet. It is an Harbor freight model (the same as mine), and he cannot seem to get it to suck the media out of the basin... I was hoping some of you guys might have some thoughts I could share with him... My impression is that there is something wrong with the gun itself... opinions will be helpful thanks. He made a few videos of what he tried:

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket
Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket


Thanks guys in advance !

The pics or vid did not work..... What kind of media is he trying to use?? if the media is to big it will continue to clog the hose and just wont fit.. I bought a bag of walnut shells I think awhile back thinking all media is the same. Not the case, the shells were to big and I could not shoot at all, kind of seems like the problem your friend is having.... I now use basicaly a black sand is what it looks like.. Shoots great and cleans good.. Make sure your buddy has a good moisture seperator on the air to the cabinet too.. If moisture mixes with the media it will clump and clog the gun too.....

[SCOTTRODS]

Originally Posted by timsyfz

I did a search on sand blasting to find out where to put this question, and did not come up with a better place so here it is.

I have a friend who is having issues with his new sand blasting cabinet. It is an Harbor freight model (the same as mine), and he cannot seem to get it to suck the media out of the basin... I was hoping some of you guys might have some thoughts I could share with him... My impression is that there is something wrong with the gun itself... opinions will be helpful thanks. He made a few videos of what he tried:

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket
Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket


Thanks guys in advance !

There can be about 6 items that cause the issue.

1) Too much media in the hopper. The suction has to be able to deal with the weight of the media. Too much and it will not be able to work past the weight constraints.

2) Too little media in the hopper. Another poster asked if there was still air coming from the gun, but it matter not, if there is too little or too much media, the result is the same, no media to the part being cleaned.

3) Yes,... they hit this one already too. large grained media will cause the gun to clog. Sometimes it will clog the entire gun,... sometimes just the meida pick-up tubing. Either way, it's an issue.

4)Wet blasting media. Lumpy stuff. It gets to where the gun can't pick up due to the clumping. This usually happens at the opening of the picvk-up tube. You can cover the Blast nozzle, and Pull the trigger and force air out the pick-up tube to clear the opening, but if it's too wet, It's gonna clump back up really quick.... get used to this "back Flushing" method of cleaning out the pick-up tube. It works for almost any clogs.

5) Not enough Air volume. The pressure is only semi important when Sand Blasting. You can have 200 psi at 1.7 cfm and you'll have a wish sandwich.... No meat to do the job with.

6) Cheezie Blasting Gun. If you got the cool gun that comes with the HF cabinet, you have one of those with the ceramic insert in the blasting tip area (called nozzles). I couldn't find new nozzles for mine when I used one of those up, so I went to the Northern Tools and bought a cheapy replacement gun, that uses nozzles I can find replacements for.... Best $29.99 I spent on blasting. You can also get different sized nozzles and orifices that match. I use a compressor that actually gets really close to 10.4 cfm at 90 PSI... I run it just over 60 PSI, so I figure I'm shooting about 11 or 12 cfm. It's very slow and tedious still, but gets the job done.

Just my $.02 worth.... I started out with just 3 items, and as I wrote I just kept remembering ways to have blasting gun issues..... hope this helps.

[timsyfz]

Great input guys ! ! Thanks a bunch.. I will forward this info to him !