TOPIC:

My airbrush compressor isn't doing so well

It's never been been particularly fast or powerful, or even cool running - but the last time I used it confirmed that it was really struggling to produce much pressure, thaking a very long time to fill the tank, and getting very hot. Hot enough to smell really hot Dismantling it for interest/scavenging/recycling (steel, aluminium alloy, electrical) showed it was suprisingly nicely made - but I suspect not only was the piston ring failing, but the valve flap on the top of the piston showed evidence of overheating & warping, which would explain the poor performance. I probably could have got more life out of it, but I also measured the capacity - an absolute maximum of 11.3cc

A direct replacement seemed a bit of a waste of time, the best thing would have been to get something that was the next step beyond the 24L compressor I'd already got, but that would have meant expense, possibly a small shed for it, and hard plumbing to the "workshop" & under the car port.

This may be a case of buy cheap, buy twice, but the cheapeast/best solution right now was to have a second, small compressor & have one in each location. I ignored the very cheapest, unbranded and BS branded units, and basically sought out the cheapest entry level brand one I could find - then used one of eBays 15% off codes

I already had a 1/4" BSP to Euro quick release fitting, so with a bit more thought on a better location for the compressor & a bit of soft plumbing, I'll be good to go

The "big" green compressor is excellent, but it's very loud & not that mobile - it's not one I can I can move/use indoors.

I bought another quiet, 3L tank one - this one is meant to be better as it has a cooling fan ... TBH I don't think it moves anything like enough air to be useful, and it really struggles to get to the 57psi pump cutoff point...

All looks, no substance. Very 2020 then.

Jonny wrote:

The "big" green compressor is excellent, but it's very loud & not that mobile - it's not one I can I can move/use indoors.

I bought another quiet, 3L tank one - this one is meant to be better as it has a cooling fan ... TBH I don't think it moves anything like enough air to be useful, and it really struggles to get to the 57psi pump cutoff point...

I have the équivalent mini compressor for airbrush. Modified by a friend and it works fine and no noise.

I bought a new hose for the little compressor & it's much better at getting to pressure, and holding it ... I still don't see why it needs to go to 57 psi (40-45 would be better), but it holds it for hours

Bit annoying that the old hose probably killed the old compressor (rather than just me being overly ambitious) - I really didn't think i needed to look at it as a comsumable than would go porous after a few years

Continuing the theme of being able to lose things in plain sight, right in front of me, I needed some more pliers - and got some small, 80s NOS Draper radio pliers, some current offering Draper standard radio pliers, and a pair of parallel pliers - the jaws of which always stay square with each other from 12mm down to nothing.

Good pliers is something everyone should have in their toolbox
I especially like the flat jaw one


Speaking of tools, I bought this multitool at my car parts/hardware/household place.
I like this a lot!
Good weight to it, have 7 tool shafts with differen type at each end, but the best bit is the spring lock tab that can hold the shafts at any length.
I bought it because my 4 in 1 tool, have allen keys that is falling out all the time.
Pluss this has 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3mm allen which is the most used size for us rc people.

And I bought a die handle as my old one is broken.
Need it when I'm going to build new suspension links.

More step drills - didn't need the smallest one, but it was cheaper to buy the whole set of three than just the two I wanted

Nice! With the hexa axle.

Tony's TP had a nice price on these JIS 2.L screw drivers so I had to get one >