Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

I'm running 3 filters.

40 micron from Harbor Freight - includes pressure regulator and gauge (more on this below)

5 micron Sharpe 606A from Spraygunworld.com

.01 micron Motorguard M60 from Spraygunworld.com

I *almost* regret the Harbor Freight unit, though. Internally it's just like the Sharpe unit, and I thought it looked a lot like it, so that's why I bought it (I thought Sharpe might just be rebranding the HF stuff - hey, it happens in other places). Anyway, the Sharpe filter is a MUCH nicer piece than the HF unit. The HF unit is - well, Harbor Freight Chinese cheap. I figure it'll work OK as a main filter, but I wonder about its sealing (I have concerns about how it seals - the top and bottom are held on by ungasketed acorn nuts - the curved part of the acorn tries to do a metal-on-metal seal... will it hold 175 psi? Guess I'm gonna find out! If it doesn't, I'll get the Sharpe regulators that look nearly identical - their enclosures are built with 4 screws in the top, and a cork seal and a nice sturdy aluminum housing, as opposed to the cheap HF stuff).

And as the resident Beer guy, it's not a still... it's a wort chiller. I was EXTREMELY close to getting in to homebrewing, but I don't drink enough beer to justify it. I like varying my beers (rarely buy the same thing twice!), and to brew up a huge batch of beer just doesn't fit my style... But anyhow, yes, when I was fabbing up the igloo cooler, I did think of that.

1fastWS6

iTrader: (3)

You just need more friends to help you 'dispose' of the large batches of beer!

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, but then if I gave them beer, they'd work even less!

Last night it took me 4 hours to drill 4 holes in my concrete. I burned up 2 cheap Chinese electric drills drilling the first half of the first hole. One smoked a lot and then the gears stripped out (it was a TERRIBLY cheap drill, I took it away from my mother-in-law - she got it for free, and I did not want her using it - it was a "Hercules" brand 1/2" Hammer Drill - it might have weighed 2 lbs, probably less - I even broke teeth off of the drill chuck when tightening it - and it was brand new!)... the second drill would only work for a few seconds and then stop (it wasn't over heated, wasn't even warm - it's 5 years old, which is pretty good for a Harbor Freight cheapie, but, it's dead now). I ended up using my air drill, and my old air compressor. That took F...O...R...E...V...E...R...

But it's done now. The new air compressor is mounted on footpads from Grainger, and bolted to the floor. I also removed the cheesy water drain petcock from the bottom of the compressor and installed an elbow, a length of pipe, and a ball valve that sticks outl from under the front. That'll make it a snap to drain water out of the tank. You'd think that for a compressor that normally retails for over a grand, they'd include $5 worth of pipe to do that.

I gotta go buy a new drill today... Going to get a GOOD one this time.

And I gotta buy a new water heater too. Great. Another big tank to wrestle with.

By the way, those cheap hammer drills are all over ebay. This looks exactly like what I took away from my mother in law:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=4630040285

I even tried using the concrete drill bits that came with the drill on my concrete. They MELTED before even dimpling the concrete.

Cheap tools are funny sometimes.

(I purchased a Vermont American concrete bit to do the "real" hole - and it still looks fine )

jimmyblue

iTrader: (11)

I've had good luck for small jobs with my Black & Decker
hammer drill, but one tool that kicks all sort of concrete
*** is the "rotary hammer" I got from Harbor Freight. It
is pudgy, comes with a set of long masonry bits but I
also bought an assortment of larger (1' long) bits up to 1"
so I could run conduit through cinderblock from one side
and a few chisels as well (for busting out hardpan rock).
It's SDS and works as a baby jackhammer as well as drill
and hammer-drill.

I bought the extended warranty on it since I knew I would
abuse it; smoked the first one chiseling hardpan, took it
back and they replaced it (didn't even want the box back
so I kept the extra spare brushes and bits and grease).

You can get through the slab in about a minute a hole,
with this puppy (though rebar is still a bitch).

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

Yah, if I ever need to drill concrete again (which after last night, I'm not real enthusiastic about it), I'll ask around to see if any buddies have a hammer drill I could borrow. I'm just going to go buy a nice name brand (Milwaukee probably) corded drill. Though my Hitachi angle grinder is my current favorite tool - nicely balanced, heavy duty, stays cool, and grinds like crazy (hmm, if my wife would only pose like grinder girl ) - I may look at their drills as well.

Edit: Turns out my work had a Bosch hammer drill that I could have borrowed. It's sitting on a shelf about 30 feet from my desk. NOW they tell me.

1936FordPU

iTrader: (3)

Have you drained your air compressors...ones that need oil in them and run quieter...and noticed a milky substance when draining them? Im curious if its supposed to be milky or If somethings wrong with my compressor.

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

To answer your question about milky water:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=3913

Same question there. It's normal.

As for an update here...

I got my compressor up and running on Friday, it's quieter than my old C-H oilless compressor... more of a lower frequency noise than the midrange "about to fly apart" noise the C-H compressor makes. Still loud, but in a different way.

I need to get a hose to run from the I-R compressor to the copper tubing. That's all I lack for being "done".

GM Muscle

iTrader: (9)

Looks great so far.

That HF filter isn't the greatest. I'm thinking of Ebaying mine and getting a DeVilbiss unit at the local jobber. Mine took 160 psi no problem but it doesn't seem to flow for ****. Once I installed that filter the regulator on my gun seems to fluctuate 5psi or so, you can't let off the trigger and get back on it quick in tight areas, you have to give it a second or two for the psi to settle (real annoying). With my old regulator and smaller filter from my nitrous pump it stays dead on, as soon as you hit the trigger the pressure has settled, I'm back to using that for now.

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

That sucks to hear about the HF filter. Though, where do you think the restriction is - the filter section, or the regulator? I seem to recall looking at the Sharpe filter, and one of them (right now I don't remember which one) had a larger gap on the metal disc that sits right below the 1/2" NPT input line. I *think* the HF unit had a tighter gap at that ring... which would directly impact air flow through the unit. I'll have to look again though. Thanks for the heads up. Yeah, the DeVilbiss units sure look nicer, Spraygunworld.com has 'em for about $78 or so.

I've attached the latest pics (wife took the digital camera this weekend). Compressor feet with exposed water valve, the top front of the compressor and the finished wall for the paint filters. You can see my "wort chiller" mounting there as well. Air goes in to the HF filter, up through the chiller, down to another filter / watertrap, then through 1 more filter before going to the gun.

I ran the compressor Friday night up to shutoff pressure, and closed the valves. It did load up pretty warm Friday night, but I came back Saturday and it had stabilized right at ~151 psi on the gauge. I haven't opened or run the unit since, and it's still at ~151 psi on the gauge. No leaks in the compressor anyway.

daryl2cb@yahoo.com

iTrader: (2)

while it would be nice to show off that IR compressor, it is loud. A shop I used to have the run of have that same one, or similar Ir, couple years older of course. But I built a 3/4 ply wood box around the compressor with a full lenght door, then we put 3/4 insulation board and expanda foamed the inside, with the door shut it sounded like it was barely on. It was great, but we always have customers pokeing around in the shop, so I got tired of kicking it off. Just a suggestion, makes working with those morning hangovers alittle more bareable.

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

I agree. But it's FAR more pleasant than my C-H compressor.

If you take a look at this picture:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/attachmen...chmentid=60393

You'll see on the right edge, in the middle of the picture, a capped 3/4" line making a run off to nowhere. Future plan is to pour a small slab in the shed area outside my shop for the compressor, and plumb it in right there.

GM Muscle

iTrader: (9)

Well it's official, the HF filter blows. I had some more spraying to do today so I figured I'd give it a shot without the HF regulator. My desired psi was 35 at the gun and with my old regulator and mini filter I would get 35 psi as soon as I hit the trigger. With the old regulator and HF filter, it would start at 40+psi then works it's way down to 35psi or so. Luckily I was only spraying primer so I didn't care that each pass was inconsistant. Guess I will put the HF setup on my nitrous pump/general line and get a name brand filter for the HVLP line.

78LT383

I had no idea that copper tubing would handle that kind of pressure. Does anyone know what it's rated for?

I've not seen black pipe rust very quickly indoors, but haven't really seen it in a non-climate controlled building after extended periods.

BLk01SS

iTrader: (7)

Setup looks really sweet man!! For a hammer drill, You should've got a Dewalt cordless drill with the hammer mode. I have one of those things and it works great, and you can use it much more than just a staight up hammer drill. I also have a Milwaukee hammer drill, it works great as well.

I may holla at ya some. I'm going be plumbing my shop very soon. I'm considering building a paint booth on a new addition to it as well. I'm gonna need some advice on that cooler.

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

This link contains burst info for copper tubing. Note that there are several levels; I used Schedule L tubing (medium wall, hard) for all but 2 feet - I ran out and used 3/4" Schedule M (thin wall, hard) for the last 2 feet of the top run. The real concern is with the solder joints; those will be the weak points. Pipe should have no problem.

As for the hammer drill, well, I'll probably never need one again, and if I do, I'll snag it from work. I did buy a new electric drill - a 1/2" corded DeWalt unit. Love the sound of the metal gears in there. I do not like cordless power tools. I do not like relying on batteries - especially expensive proprietary ones.

And holler when you're ready! I should have sandpaper next week (a ton of it!), and am going to start surface prep. The custom tube tying the compressor to the copper is scheduled to ship on the 26th - so I may have it by next weekend.

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

Had a couple minutes out in the shop, I popped the canisters on the Harbor Freight air filter, and the Sharpe air filter. Air comes in from a 1/2" NPT fitting on both of these, and then has to pass the edge of a metal disc.

Compare the gap for the metal disc. The tight one is the HF unit, the wide one is the Sharpe. There's the answer why the HF unit isn't flowing very well. Not sure how to fix it; something I'll investigate. Could be as simple as adding a thick washer between the metal disc and the top of the unit.

99.9percenter

iTrader: (2)

Do you put ice water in the cooler? Tap water? What makes it cold?

GM Muscle

iTrader: (9)

Great comparison. After doing some more research on air compressor system pressure loss and CFM loss I redid my whole set up and gave the HF another try. Basicly, their is now only one quick connect in my system and no Ts or shut offs (except at the compressor). The pressure at the gun is much more stable now, not perfect, but much better. I think if I put a real regulator on the gun the problem will be solved. The Air Valve they send with the GFG-670 is just that, a restrictor type regulator, not a diafram style. With a real regulator the pressure should be more stable on the gun side. Anyway, I sprayed again with the HF filter and the gun worked flawlessly, I was laying down sealer with no orange peel, and no runs or sags. Every single pass was consistant.

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

Yes. Plan is to put a little water and a lot of ice in there. Or the reusable cold bags.

That's good to hear the the HF filter is at least workable. I'm still waiting on my compressor to pipe line...

I ended up purchasing an extra gun regulator, didn't realize at the time that the DeVilbiss gun came with one. I wonder if it (the Sharpe HVLP regulator) is better than the DeVilbiss unit. They're probably the same, but I'll have to check it out.

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

Well, it's done. I put it on line this morning.

My "big hose" got here from McMaster-Carr yesterday. The install angle is a little funky because (1) I bolted down the air compressor before I got the hose, and (2) I plumbed up the copper before I got the air compressor. Hey, it works. Hose cost about $30. 2 feet long, 3/4" NPT rigid male on one end, 3/4" NPT swivel female on the other, 300 psi working pressure rated, oil resistant.

I've already changed things up too. Did that before I even pressurized it. I changed the gun end to have a 3/8" quick connect fitting, and have a hose with 3/8" quick connects on them. I'm going to put the same size on the guns as well. HVLP means volume, right? 3/8" fittings will work better than 1/4" in that regards. I also left a 1/4" quick connect at the end as well, so I could use it for stuff like my air blower accessory.

I also removed the Harbor Freight regulator on the paint end, and put a 3/8" Campbell-Hausfeld regulator in there. This way, the smallest fitting in the paint line is 3/8".

The tank loses no pressure (it's been at 150 psi for what, two weeks now?). I'm watching to see how quickly the whole system loses pressure. I did catch a couple leaks (mainly at those Harbor Freight filters, like I mentioned previously I thought they would). I'll probably just close the ball valve at the tank when it's not in use.

Turned out pretty well. Paint project #1 is today if the wind calms down a little... set of bookshelves for my wife.