upgrade compressor?

Johnny, Hi, I had the same compressor which I used daily for about two years, but than it got less than dependable, so quit and went back to my harbor freight two gal. pancake. It will build 125# of pressure and be dialed to what I need to meet my brush needs.It's a little noisey but charges quick and will hold for days.For $59.00 it's never let me down. keep on modeling , Aardvark

I too have a harbor freight 3 gallon $60 buck compressor.  Works great, consistant pressure, just noisy.  With a 20% off coupon its a deal.

In my opinion, if you are getting good results, don't bother. A tank would reduce the starts and stops of your compressor and cool down the air and make your moisture separator more effective, but in tests I've done I can't see any difference in airbrush function.

Don

Thanks so much Don, that's really helpful. Smoother, cooler, and drier all seem beneficial? I saw on your site that you run your compressor into a tank, so that must have some positive role. Just not enough to bother going out of your way to add?

And thanks Aardvark and Route62, I'll be sure to check out the harbor frieght offerings.

cheers

-J

The tank was an experiment.  I have since torn it down and just use my Badger TC-910 compressor.  Thanks for bringing that up.  I will add a comment to the page.

Don

Thanks Don. I reread your posts on compressors and the review of the Badger.

I'm still considering adding a tank for better regulation and moisture control, but am probably not going to worry about it much. A 1 gallon tank isn't all that expensive, and I'm an experimental fellow, so I might still just do it in the name of science.

-J

Johnny1000

Thanks Don. I reread your posts on compressors and the review of the Badger.

I'm still considering adding a tank for better regulation and moisture control, but am probably not going to worry about it much. A 1 gallon tank isn't all that expensive, and I'm an experimental fellow, so I might still just do it in the name of science.

-J

 

You could plumb your compressor into a 3 liter coke jug for a one time experiment.

A couple of years ago I changed from years of compressors with air tanks to a quiet Iwata compressor (tankless).  That little compressor puts out a very pronounced pulsation.  I was apprehensive, but found absolutely no effect from the high frequency pulsation. In fact, I found most of the pulsation I felt in holding the brush was mechanical vibration carried over from the compressor down the hose!  However, with no tank I am sure the air has some pulsation.  However, the high frequency of the pulsation, compared to the velocity the airbrush is moving during painting, has no effect on the spray pattern.

Comressor tanks are a military industrial complex conspiracy to shake us all down... I knew it!

Or rather, I didn't.  But I'm going to stop worrying about whether or not my compressor is somehow deficient in ways that I am not yet able to detect.

Thanks all

-J