Need an air tank... any reccomendations?

Are you wanting to hook your compressor to the air tank or just air it up with your compressor? Sounds like you want to hook it up and if that's the case that tank should work fine. Depending on the type of air comp you have it might run for a while to fill it though. I bought a 2 gallon tank off of Ebay (got outbid for the 1 gal) for my Iwata Smart jet and while it works good it takes the comp about 90 seconds to fill it and shut off.

What kind of compressor is it?

Piston? Diaphragm?  

Thanks HK and Mike....

I want to hook the compressor (Sears 100psi 1/2 HP Piston) to the tank so I can run the brush off the tank with the compressor intermitantly turning on to refill it.

Does that help?

Black Sedan wrote:

Thanks HK and Mike.... I want to hook the compressor (Sears 100psi 1/2 HP Piston) to the tank so I can run the brush off the tank with the compressor intermitantly turning on to refill it. Does that help?

OK. What you need is a tank with more than one fitting though don't you? 

You need an inlet, an outlet, a drain cock, a pop off valve and a pressure gauge right?

I used one of the 5 gallon tanks from this place when I connected it to my Jun-Air silent compressor.

http://www.kmwperformance.com/products/AirTanks.aspx

Here is how I rigged mine:

I have from left to right, the tank pressure gauge, pressure switch, safety pop off valve, and regulator moisture trap. On the top of the tank is where the compressor inlet is and on the bottom of the tank is the drain cock. You will also need a one-way check valve on top on the tank airhose so that the pressure of the airtank does not press against the compressor motor and make it very difficult to start up. I blew a few fuses when mine wasn't working right.

Hmmm.... I am wondering if I shouls get this instead:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47407

It's $70 and I don't need to worry about rigging it up with all the gadgets... might even save a few bucks this way as well...

 

 

Black Sedan wrote:

Hmmm.... I am wondering if I shouls get this instead: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=47407 It's $70 and I don't need to worry about rigging it up with all the gadgets... might even save a few bucks this way as well...

You could always give it a try and if it dies on you fast take it back and get a refund.

That looks real similar to the little cheap one CH sells at Walmart and I hear they get hot fast and die young...of course that is from people using it hard.

Maybe you could go and listen to it and see how loud it is.

For $99 you could also get this one from Sears:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00915310000P?vName=Tools&keyword=air+compressor 

Hmmm.... that might be an option. Thanks Mike!

Just as an update. Mike I took your advice and got a Craftsman ($95 2gallon Horizontal)

Basically this guy with a Craftsman brand label on it.

 

Black Sedan wrote:

Just as an update. Mike I took your advice and got a Craftsman ($95 2gallon Horizontal) Basically this guy with a Craftsman brand label on it.

So how is it my friend? Quiet enough? Are you happy with it?  

Works well so far and since it's an wet compressor (30W oil) it is quieter then my old diaphram unit. It has 2 quick-connect ports so I can run a wide brush and a detail brush at the same time. Also adding to the goodness is 20psi I can spray for a longtime without having to recharge the tank.

The only thing that would make this unit "perfect" would be a 5 gallon tank so you could spray a complete job without recharging.

8/10... would reccommend... and at $95 a darn good buy

Since it is an oil lubed compressor (the best kind), I would strongly recommend that you get a oil/water seperator between the compressor and the airbrush.

I don't think even a 5-gallon tank would allow you enough pressure to spray an entire model without the compressor coming back on unless it was maybe a 1/72 model or something.  

 

I have a small aircompressor (CH w/20 gal tank) which does double duty for for me.  It gets dragged to a hanger on a regular basis to run comp checks, and air tires & struts during annual inspections.  Unfortunately, it's oiless (never again!) and quite noisy, so I keep it on the other side of the basement (run air thru pvc pipe to the modeling area).  Biggest problem was that if I was doing a long night modeling, it would come on at wee hrs of the morning (drove the dog nuts, which didn't set well with SWMBO).  Since my regulator and water trap are secured to one end of my modeling desk, I simply took an old surplus low pressure oxygen tank, removed the line connection fitting from one end of the tank and replaced it with a t fitting with a shut off valve and quick disconnect  male air fitting on the inlet side of the T (the side from the aircompressor) which allows me to pull the compressor when I need to and not lose the air in the tank or system.  And since my regulator is at the far end, I open the compressor regulator to its max pressure and leave it there.  The time between the air compressor shuting off and starting again has been effectivly tripled.