Tank vs compressor...preferences?

You might also find success (if not economy) at a dive shop.  My guess is that it would actually cost more to fill a tank, but you may find a certain convenience over hunting down your local welding supply/compressed gas dealer.

jcfay wrote:

Hello all - I've been monitoring this thread for a while and now I must chime in.  I am a newbie/returning to modeling and want to start airbrushing; I'm trying to decide as well what route to go.  The tanks sound great, economical, super-quiet, and portable.  But I'm a little leery of sitting next to a potential bomb (unless it's properly secured, of course) and so I've been leaning towards the compressor route (maybe I'll reconsider...).  Been doing a bit of reading and I was wondering just how "quiet" the badger cyclone or iwatas (sprint/super/magnifico-jet or whatever its called) are.  I'm familiar with the old pneumatic big boy compressors that will shread your ear drums, and while I'm sure these aren't like that, I want to make sure that my girlfriend won't abandon her currently supporting position regarding my new obsession.  Any people in favor/against auto-shutoff too?  There is no reservoir on these compressors as well, so as long as you're painting they're running, right?  Lastly, how easy is it to refill the CO2 tanks?  I'm in a fairly large city (Pittsburgh), are welding supply places common, easy to work with for refills?  Thanks all and muchos gracias

I wouldn't consider a CO2 tank a "bomb" per se....unless you plan on having it in a high-traffic area where it could be knocked over. :)

As for ease of refilling...the place I got mine is very friendly and it should only be a matter of taking it and saying "Fill 'er up!" and I'll be on my way.  Not sure how it'd be in your area, though.

Hello all - I've been monitoring this thread for a while and now I must chime in.  I am a newbie/returning to modeling and want to start airbrushing; I'm trying to decide as well what route to go.  The tanks sound great, economical, super-quiet, and portable.  But I'm a little leery of sitting next to a potential bomb (unless it's properly secured, of course) and so I've been leaning towards the compressor route (maybe I'll reconsider...).  Been doing a bit of reading and I was wondering just how "quiet" the badger cyclone or iwatas (sprint/super/magnifico-jet or whatever its called) are.  I'm familiar with the old pneumatic big boy compressors that will shread your ear drums, and while I'm sure these aren't like that, I want to make sure that my girlfriend won't abandon her currently supporting position regarding my new obsession.  Any people in favor/against auto-shutoff too?  There is no reservoir on these compressors as well, so as long as you're painting they're running, right?  Lastly, how easy is it to refill the CO2 tanks?  I'm in a fairly large city (Pittsburgh), are welding supply places common, easy to work with for refills?  Thanks all and muchos gracias

I figured as much, I'm going to try a 3lb. that my buddy is going to let me borrow. If I like it, then I'll go and invest in my own set up with a bigger tank.

Bgrigg wrote:

I think you would have a hard time even getting one model completed. That's a pretty small tank.

I'll second that.  Having played paintball, those little tanks don't hold a lot of air.  Better off with a larger one.

I think you would have a hard time even getting one model completed. That's a pretty small tank.

This might come off as dumb question, but do you think a large size paintball CO2 tank (I think they're about 20oz) would work for a model or two? I do very little spaying compared to some members who are building 10-12 a year or more. I personally have never done any paintballing so I don't even know if the valve would work. Just a shot in the dark...

Mine and Flatlanders (I think) are 20lb tanks.

The CO2 tank sounds good. How big of a tank would be sufficient? I'm looking at anywhere from a 3-10lb tank.

Flatlander wrote:

Just a disclaimer (I was chemman on the old board).  My CO2 use is really based on the complete use of only ONE full tank, which lasted two years.  Since I build about six to ten models per year, I estimate I got about 12 - 20 models out of the tank.  I have used CO2 for years, but my job required me to move regularly, and moving companies won't let you ship compressed gasses.  At least three times I have vented a whole bunch of CO2 right before I moved.  I don't use much CO2 when I paint - I have everything organized, taped down, ready for paint when I start.  Just psssst, psssst, pssst, and I'm finished.  If you do a lot of freehand work or paint complex camo, you might not get as many per tank. Nonetheless, I love my CO2 tank and even if I only got ten models out of a tank, the ease, silence, and cleanliness would be worth $1.50 per model.  I spend that on only one beer, and I needed a lot more beers when I had to face the compressor.  It pays for itself!

I'll second the part about beers vs compressor. :)  Love the tank so far, results are good and silence is golden. :)

Just a disclaimer (I was chemman on the old board).  My CO2 use is really based on the complete use of only ONE full tank, which lasted two years.  Since I build about six to ten models per year, I estimate I got about 12 - 20 models out of the tank.  I have used CO2 for years, but my job required me to move regularly, and moving companies won't let you ship compressed gasses.  At least three times I have vented a whole bunch of CO2 right before I moved. 

I don't use much CO2 when I paint - I have everything organized, taped down, ready for paint when I start.  Just psssst, psssst, pssst, and I'm finished.  If you do a lot of freehand work or paint complex camo, you might not get as many per tank.

Nonetheless, I love my CO2 tank and even if I only got ten models out of a tank, the ease, silence, and cleanliness would be worth $1.50 per model.  I spend that on only one beer, and I needed a lot more beers when I had to face the compressor.  It pays for itself!

John - cool!  thanks for the feedback!  I can see one of these might well be in my future... I'll have to go feel out the welcding place down the street and see what they will charge me here... I might also contact my cousin who owns an airconditioning business and see if he can get it cheaper for me...

jhande wrote:

I remember long ago a friend of mine used an automotive air tank, the kind for filling up flat tires. He said that worked pretty good as he would stop at the gas station on his way home from work and fill it up with air. Wonder if anyone still has good experiences with doing that?

I've heard mixed reviews on those...pressure drops fast, from what I understand.

I remember long ago a friend of mine used an automotive air tank, the kind for filling up flat tires. He said that worked pretty good as he would stop at the gas station on his way home from work and fill it up with air.

Wonder if anyone still has good experiences with doing that?

springfinger wrote:

do you know what it costs to refill?

$13 from the place I bought the rig from...according to ChemMan here on the boards, he only fills his every year or two, so I'm estimating the same.

do you know what it costs to refill?

Here's an update for you guys/gals on my CO2 tank.  It works beautifully!  I shot a base coat for my F-4F last night and it was amazing!  I could hear my radio (classical music), and concentrate on what I was doing without being deafened by a stupid compressor.  Paint went on smoothly and perfectly, no fluctuations in pressure, no water spitting, no problems.  Pressure remained right at 20PSI the entire time I was shooting.

Total cost was $184 for the CO2 tank, complete fill and nitrogen regulator (they used a nitrogen one because the PSI adjustments were smaller than a standard CO2 regulator).  The welding shop I went to changed out the fittings for me for free.  Worth every penny of it!!

I'll post pictures on Monday of my F-4F so you can see the paint finish.  Looking forward to shooting Future with this thing as well!

cool - it would be interesting to see how you like it and a rough price on what it cost to get the thing...

Just a little update for those who are curious. I've requested a refund for the compressor I sent back to Harbor Freight and am picking up a CO2 tank this afternoon/evening. I'll be trying it out tonight after I get home or tomorrow at the latest. Looking forward to having silent instant air at my disposal.

Will post my results here as soon as I've tested it out!

Knight, I suggest you check out a CO2 tank. These are the same tanks they use for carbonated drinks. They are cheap to fill and when they run out you just take them back and swap them for a new one. Soft drink vendors can tell you where to get it filled. Since soft drinks are widespread, so are the filling locations.

I get maybe 15-35 models from each tank, depending on how much I have to spray. No noise, no moisture trap, no dirt - just clean, dry gas.

It is nice to just turn oun a valve, hook up the hose, and start spraying in blissful silence.

PS I have a large shop type air compressor that I have also used, and I still prefer the CO2 tank.

The badger 150 (sorry for missing that before) does not require a lot of air. Any of the compressors talked about so far would be sufficient. It is still a syphon feed though, which means that if you can get a bit more SCFM at a given pressure that wouldn't hurt.

As for the vacuum cleaner level, I really don't find it that bad. I have it about 10 feet from where I spray and can tolerate it just fine. I have a long hose, so if I was concerned about the noise I'd just pop it a ways away. I think that it's about perfect for the VLS and would be more than enough power for the Badger 150.

After giving it a bit of thought, I think I'd recommend a compressor based on what the person was willing to risk. I started off with a cheap used Harbour Freight Oiled monster comrpessor. It was so loud that my housemate thought there was construction going on down the street. That thing died on me a short while after I used it. I took a risk and blew $50 on a used compressor because I wanted to make sure I had enough pressure for the VLS. Then I went and got the H&C and I'm basically happy with it (other than I like to give it a bit of a rest along the way to reaching maximum pressure). I'm definitely the kind of person who would go wih the Harbour Freight airbrush comrpessor for $50 if I had a different airbrush.

Whatever compressor you get, if you find it pulses then the simplist solution is to get a longer hose from the hardware store. It'll act like a miniature tank of air and should cut out the pulsing.

Wow, thanks for the quick reply. In any case, I stated I've got a Badger 150 dual action ab to start off with, and I'm not yet familiar with what kind of CFM at what pressures is a good setup. The paasche d500 I mentioned has relatively weak stats of 0.5 CFM at 20 PSI, whereas a badger 180-11 is spec'd at 0.90 cfm per 20 PSI.

In any case, thanks for your input, it's exactly the type of information I'm looking for. Vacuum cleaner decibel levels make me sad :(. At least you've got a tank to get some quiet time for yourself.

Perhaps an inner tube will do nicely for my purposes.... or that damned out of stock garage sale Badger compressor..

jagerk -- you pretty much figured out the china thing. Another interesting thing is that a lot of companies are actually the same stuff from china. I wouldn't be surprised to discover C&H has the same electric motor as the central pneumatic one. Doesn't this look suspiciously like C&H's product?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47407

I also don't find any of their stuff all that unreliable. It's pretty decent stuff. Whether or not that $50 compressor will work for you is a matter of your airbrush. I have a Paasche VLS and find it uses more air than most other airbrushes. .7 CFM at 30 PSI is simply not enough for me. I need around 1 CFM at the pressure to get a good spray with some of the things I'm putting through my airbrush (I could probably thin them more and reduce pressure, but I'm currently getting good results).

I use the C&H 2050 and find it is about as loud as a vacuum cleaner, but more distinct. I also find that it struggles with the last (getting from 90 to it's cut off at 100). It does it, but the engine starts making a cyclical pulsating sound like it's really working hard. Usually what I do is start it up, stop it at about 50, start it again after a few minutes, stop it at 75 and then wait a bit longer and then go for the last 25. That way, it seems to never make that sound and doesn't sound like it's working too hard. I suppose that's not the best review of the thing to say that I fill it up in stages because I'm afraid it can't take doing the job it was designed to do. I got it for considerably less than that link you provided, so I consider it a good buy.

I'm at the point where I honestly don't know what I'd recommend for anyone else nor what I'd get if I had to get a new one.

Hi folks,
I was wondering if anyone had personal experience with the compressors listed in Harbor Freight. Specifically, whether anyone knew if the previously mentioned, $50 Central Pneumatic kit http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=92403 is quieter than a Paasche D500. For the price, it comes with a (semi-adjustable) pressure guage & filter, teflon tape, et cetera, whereas buying a new pressure regulator/filter would be very nearly half the cost.

I recently purchased a used D500 off of Ebay, and now I'm slightly regretting being hesitant on buying the Badger rebuild compressor offered in their garage sale.. but seeing as I'd probably need a moisture filter anyway, perhaps getting the kit from harbor freight may be the way to go. For the record, I'm choosing to start with a badger 150, as dual-action was a universally suggested choice.

From what I've researched, Central Pneumatic is a Chinese outfit with hit-or-miss products, (much like Campbell-Hausfeld, an American company), with no website to investigate. Also, as far as I can tell, Airbrushcity.com rebadges many of the compressors from Harbor Freight and slaps their logos on, and charges a premium to their customers.. observe the similarities in heatsinks on the top of these compressors:

http://www.airbrushcity.com/1601.htm

In any case, in testing the Paasche D500 I feel like I really should be operating power tools..

While I'm on the topic of (hopefully) quiet compressors, I also was wondering if Campbell Hausfeld's 2 gallon FP2040 "quiet compressor" was indeed as advertised.
http://aircompressorsdirect.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=3_180_26&products_id=119

Several posts in this forum show that there is indeed a huge difference between the FP2040 and the FP2048, but how comparable are these tank compressors to the small airbrush diaphragm compressors? I know the tanks will enable a steady supply of air, but the initial tank pumping may also be a bit loud..

Thanks for any advice.

Well, I contacted Harbor Freight about my tank never filling, and the technician I talked to said it sounded like the Pressure Control System. They're sending me an RMA label so I can send it back, and then I'll be getting a new one once they receive this one. Hopefully I'll be all back up to speed in a couple weeks...not sure what I'll do in the mean time...just a lot of building, priming and seam-work I guess. :(

How easy do you think it would be to attach a pressure regulator to it, so I can vary the pressure coming out?

QUOTE: Originally posted by knight667 QUOTE: Originally posted by T_Terrific I have a dumb question. Why not just buy the Harbor Freight Air Brush Compressor? I have one and it is nice, small, and relatively quiet, and easy to switch on/off. You mean this one? http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=92403

Yep, that's it

after shipping that 10 gallon tank will be around $40. for that you can get two 7 gallon air tanks from walmart. thats the route i'm taking.

tho9900, thanks and I have enjoyed it already.
Mickey