21 Jan
2003
21 Jan
'03
3:58 a.m.
Discuss, please. What do *you* use instead of consumer
canned air?
I bought a small air storage tank at Sears. Its a 12 gallon tank or
something like that. I think it was about $40.
At first I filled my tank at my fire house off our breathing air
compressor, but that got to be a pain, so I bought a small air compressor
(also at Sears, also about $40)
The tank is good to about 200 PSI, and comes with a regulator assembly
and hose. The compressor is good to 250 PSI so it fills it nicely.
I added a coiled hose and blow gun attachment, and the system works quite
well. The compressor is a tad loud, so sometimes I walk away and close my
office door when it is filling (the tank does NOT have a blow off valve,
so I can't walk away for too long or I risk overfilling, so mostly I just
go deaf when it fills).
The only things I don't like are it doesn't last very long. So I find I
have to refill more often than I would like. Part of the rapid loss of
air is because one of my connections isn't air tight, so if I leave the
tank turned on, it slowly bleeds itself (it will go empty over night),
but in general, a 12 gallon tank just doesn't last long (way longer than
canned air however). Eventually I will replace it with a regular
tank/compressor unit, but I'm not in any rush.
Also, make sure you use some kind of a regulator so you can adjust
pressure as needed. The first time I used mine, I had the pressure up to
about 80 PSI and I went to blow the dust out of a floppy drive... I
watched the drive head rip clean off and shoot out the other side and
across the room. But the drive was real clean!
I generally keep mine at about 15 to 20 PSI for most work, going up to
about 40 if I am going after really encrusted dirt and dust on things
that are sturdy (like a power supply fan).
And the other major downside to all this... that dust has to go
somewhere... so my work bench now has to get regular scrubbing to remove
the crap that has gone airborne and resettled (and I'm afraid of what all
winds up in my lungs). Because of this, I have tried to move to a vaccum
for much of the initial dirt pickup, and switch to the air for the final
details.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
21 Jan
21 Jan
1:56 p.m.
On Tuesday, January 21, 2003, chris wrote:
And the other major downside to all this... that dust
has to go
somewhere... so my work bench now has to get regular scrubbing
If I can carry it out the door, I usually airblast stuff outside, downwind
from my house.
--
Jeffrey Sharp
23 Jan
23 Jan
12:20 a.m.
At 01:01 PM 1/21/03 -0500, Chris wrote:
And the other major downside to all this... that dust has to go
somewhere... so my work bench now has to get regular scrubbing to remove
the crap that has gone airborne and resettled (and I'm afraid of what all
winds up in my lungs). Because of this, I have tried to move to a vaccum
for much of the initial dirt pickup, and switch to the air for the final
details.
That's why I always use a vacuum cleaner with an upholstery brush to remove as much
dust as possible THEN blow the remianing stuff out using the blower port on the vacuum.
The brush really helps in getting the stuff out of cracks and crevices. I use a small
(~15" x 5" dia) AC powered vacuum made by Hoover. It developes plenty of suction
and vacuum and it's very compact.
The blower is also very helpful in getting water out from under the ICs and other
hidden places if I wash something.
Joe
10:31 p.m.
On Tuesday, January 21, 2003, chris wrote:
At first I filled my tank at my fire house off our
breathing air
compressor, but that got to be a pain, so I bought a small air compressor
(also at Sears, also about $40)
You mean one of those small, tankless compressors? I went to Sears last
night, and the cheapest tank-equipped compressor they had was $180.
Considering the potential cheapness of used scuba gear, that's way too much
to pay for air. Anyway, I'd always thought that those little compressors
weren't all that great. Am I wrong?
--
Jeffrey Sharp
11:05 p.m.
On Fri, 24 Jan 2003, Jeffrey Sharp wrote:
On Tuesday, January 21, 2003, chris wrote:
I lucked out on my small Craftsman tankless compressor. It was a freebie,
but it had been abused. It had used in dust-filled environment without the
intake filter. After it quit working, the previous owner then let it sit
out in the weather for a month or so. A few days of totally stripping it
down polishing up the head, etc, replacing the reed valves and seals, and
then a case washing made the thing look and work like brand new.
Interestingly enough, it is now over 20 years old, as I seem to remember
it was made in 1983. The original owner still had the manual, which has
the date of manufacture and a very handy breakdown diagram with a parts
listing. (Needless to say, they were quite surprised that I rebuilt it to
like-new specs. I guess thats just another example of how people throw
away stuff that is still usable...)
As far as usability goes, it's only 3/4HP, and can create up to 100psi. It
doesn't work very well if you open up the blowgun valve for more than
short bursts, but for removing dust, thats generally what you do anyway. I
tend to use it mostly for removing the really stubborn dust from things
like power supplies (while wearing a dust mask), and since it is tankless,
it is easy to transport. I prefer to vacuum out dust when I can, but with
the density of parts in switching power supplies, that is often very
difficult. Paint brushes also help in removing the really stubborn dust,
which seems to really stick to any sort of HV stuff.
-Toth
At first I filled my tank at my fire house off
our breathing air
compressor, but that got to be a pain, so I bought a small air
compressor (also at Sears, also about $40)
You mean one of those small, tankless compressors? I went to Sears last
night, and the cheapest tank-equipped compressor they had was $180.
Considering the potential cheapness of used scuba gear, that's way too
much to pay for air. Anyway, I'd always thought that those little
compressors weren't all that great. Am I wrong?
8004
days inactive
8007
days old
4 comments
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participants (4)
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cb＠mythtech.net -
jss＠subatomix.com -
rigdonj＠cfl.rr.com -
tothwolf＠concentric.net