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Using Air Compressors

To a modeler, an air compressor exists for one thing only, to power our airbrushes  (or sometimes to air up our tires for our bicycles or cars to get to the hobby store). But, so much has been written about them or asked in forums about air compressors, that I hope this article will take my years of selling, using and fixing air compressors to help you fellow modelers. By the way, I am a novice modeler, at 56, and still intimidated by my airbrush. But, let’s go forward and explain and de-mystify air compressors.

Air compressors compress air. They take in room air, or in very dusty locations, they can have an outside intake with a rain cover. So, from the very beginning, we have to pay attention to the intake filter. Now, this could be a piece of sponge or a pleated paper filter, or even metal mesh.

TIP 1
Clean your filter! Remember, like a computer, GIGO, garbage-in garbage-out. Sponge intake filters can be cleaned in soap and water and THOROUGHLY dried (or replaced). Sometime a drop or two of oil squeezed into a clean sponge filter helps traps dust and dirt particles. Metal mesh intake filters can be washed and cleaned, if dried quickly to prevent rusting. Paper air intake filters need to be replaced, just like your automobile intake filter or your furnace filter.

Now that the air has been taken into the compressor itself, we can look at the different kinds of compressors. Different style air compressors are rotary vane, rotary screw, reciprocating (with a piston or pistons moving back and forth) and diaphragm (a flexible fabric reinforced rubber piece that flexes in and out). Reciprocating compressors come in single-stage which are usually good to 100 PSI, or two-stage, with an intercooler between the stages, for pressures higher than 100 PSI. Then, you have the lubricated types (lubed) or the non-lubricated types (non-lube). The non-lubricated compressors use a diaphragm, if it’s a diaphragm compressor pump, or Teflon® piston rings if it’s a reciprocating compressor pump. An advantage of non-lubes is that you can’t have an oil problem. The disadvantage is that Teflon piston rings and diaphragms have a shorter life than a properly lubricated piston (reciprocating) compressor. The disadvantage of a lubed unit is carryover oil (see coalescing oil filters later in this article).

The lubricated compressors require oil to lubricated the moving parts, like the bearings or bushings on the crankshafts or the piston rings. Use the manufacturers recommended oil only. Here’s where intake dirt can damage the bearing surfaces or the walls of the cylinder or cylinders.

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Air compressors that are lubed need to have the oil changed regularly, just like we should be doing with our automobiles. I’ve gone back to oil changes in my car every three months regardless of the miles, because Jiffy Lube bribes me with two free frozen custards with each oil change.

What do CFM and PSI and HP and gallons mean? CFM means Cubic Feet per Minute and indicates the volume of compressed air the unit produces, usually stated at 60 PSI. PSI is pounds per square inch and represents the pressure of the compressed air. HP is horsepower and this, of course, is the power of the compressor. Gallons refer to the capacity of the tank.

What about a tank? That’s your decision, but getting one is a good decision. A tanks stores compressed air. It also dampens the pulsations caused by the pumping action of the compressor. If nothing else, it keeps the compressors from having to run continuously and gives your ears a break. It often allows the air to cool a bit and drop out some water before it goes down the line.

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A tank should have a welded-on label from the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) or equivalent for the rest of the world. It assures that the tank was made in accordance with standards that make the tank safe. Big deal? Well, take the square inches of the surface of your tank and multiply that by your PSI (remember, pounds per square inch). You have a bomb in your modeling area!

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Drain your tank regularly to prevent it from rusting out. When the hot compressed air expands into the tank, it cools and moisture drops out, just like a spray can of paint gets cold after using it.

Now, it’s time to leave the tank and head toward the finish line. Other than screw-in fittings, your choice is to use connectors; those pop/on-pop/off brass or silver colored devices.

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Connectors have either a male, female or barbed end for, respectively, female, male or hose connections. Make sure the type and size match what you want to join it to.

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The business ends of connectors are NOT the same. Make sure the parts that join together are the same profile. There are about three very common, but different profile connector ends on the market.

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When you use threaded connectors, you shouldn’t need to wrap the threads with Teflon tape, as the brass is soft enough for the male and female threads to seal to themselves. But, go ahead, for the few cents a roll of Teflon tape costs. It’ll help cut down the hissing and the work the compressor has to do. Remember, wrap the tape just a few times around the threads in the direction where screwing on the other piece helps push down the tapes, rather than unraveling it.

As the compressed air leaves the tank, you want to have a real compressed air filter in the line. These are made with a sintered brass filter (little brass balls heated and pushed together) inside a clear chamber, usually with a way to drain any moisture that collects at the bottom.

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The filter should go before the regulator or anything else in the line. The higher the pressure, the better a filter works. Filters need to be replaced periodically when the dirt clogs the spaces between the sintered brass balls. Many businesses use a pressure gauge on either side of the filter. When the pressure drops greater than 10 PSI, its time to change the filter element.

After the filter is where you want the pressure-regulating valve (PRV). Remember, the PRV, also called a pressure reducing valve, goes after the filter!

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This is a biggie. You can’t go from 50 or 100 PSI down to a steady 6 or 10 PSI with just one PRV.  PRV’s can’t handle it. Use two in a row. The first one should be set at about 5-10 PSI higher than the pressure you want your brush to operate. The second should be set exactly at the pressure you want your brush to operate. If you want a steady, reliable pressure, this is the only way to go. Air is made in pulses. Air pressure gauges and PRV's read and give AVERAGE pressures. Remember, the statistician that drowned crossing a river with an AVERAGE depth of three feet! (And he wasn't a midget!)

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This tip is for modelers using lubricated compressors. Oil gets past the piston rings and loves to find your paint. Sometimes you think the problem is water, but it can be oil. The only solution is something called a coalescing oil filter. This is specifically designed to trap oil out of the system. Don’t use one and you run the risk of what a fraction of a drop of oil can do to your otherwise perfect airbrushing.

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If you are running a hard line, rather than a hose, from a lubricated compressor to where you paint, don’t use plastic, even CPVC (hot water plastic pipe). It may handle the temperature, but the bypassed oil will weaken the plastic to destruction. Do you want your work area to look like a battle-wrecked diorama? Bite the financial bullet and use black iron pipe or galvanized pipe.

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Put drops (air lines pointing down) anywhere you want for other pneumatic tools, from impact wrenches to (please, low pressure) blowguns. If you have a tool that you want lubricated regularly, here is the place to put in a lubricator.

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Have a drop at the lowest place in the line with a quarter turn valve. Moisture will collect here and you can crack the valve periodically to vent it.

Well, what do we do about the water?

The only two ways to remove water from a compressed air system are to use a refrigerated air dryer, which is not economical unless you are using the compressor for instruments or other critical equipment needs, or a desiccant system. One types of desiccant system is the twin tower design where a reusable desiccant is heated in one tower, while the other tower full of desiccant is trapping the moisture. Then, when the working tower is saturated, the other tower takes over. This is too expensive for the hobbyist.

The other system has a desiccant that absorbs the water. This type has to be refilled with desiccant (if designed to do so) or replaced. Many modelers start experiencing problems, but are puzzled as to why. The culprit is probably a used up in-line desiccant water trap that is no longer able to take moisture out of the system.

I hope this is of some help. Now, if some of you want to help me get over my fear of the airbrush, we’ll be even!