Airbrush regulator

Pantherman

Pantherman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2022
Messages
3,309
Hi, new to airbrushing i decided to buy a regulator for my very old pt310 compressor so I can reduce the psi from 30 to around 18. Someone mentioned that I will damage the compressor unless I fit a tank. I have attached some photos and could use your help with this. Any suggestions.
Irishvic.
 

Attachments

  • 20220716_103131.jpg
    20220716_103131.jpg
    183.7 KB · Views: 4
  • 20220716_103116.jpg
    20220716_103116.jpg
    243.8 KB · Views: 4
It'll be fine . Better with a tank since it will provide smoother airflow and the tank acts as a moisture trap .
Why would adding a regulator damage it ? The machine turns on and off via an internal pressure switch so the regulated airflow will just decrease the cycle frequency .
BTW , plenty of photos online of this exact machine fitted with a regulator .
 
urumomo said:
It'll be fine . Better with a tank since it will provide smoother airflow and the tank acts as a moisture trap .
Why would adding a regulator damage it ? The machine turns on and off via an internal pressure switch so the regulated airflow will just decrease the cycle frequency .
BTW , plenty of photos online of this exact machine fitted with a regulator .
Click to expand...
Many thanks Urumomo. Just didn't want to take the chance as love airbrushing and didn't want to loose the compressor i have.
Forum to the rescue yet again.
Irishvic
 
Ya, I've got a 3-gallon pancake myself...old but still works fine.

Besides the regulator, a filter/water separator are pretty much mandatory on tanked air...
 
Just for reference - this is my compressor/airbrush setup
Compressor has two gauges - one is the tank pressure, the second is the regulated pressure going out (built in regulator)
Then the filter/water seperator
1/4" quick disconnect to 1/4" hose (I use this for the few air tools I have in the shop as well)
Air brush line is 1/4" NPT at one end - so the same quick disconnect there
Other end is 1/8" BSP - to a female quick disconnect
All my brushes have the 1/8" BSP male end - my Badgers with the Badger-BSP adaptor.
1657991113486.jpeg
 
BTrekker said:
Just for reference - this is my compressor/airbrush setup
Compressor has two gauges - one is the tank pressure, the second is the regulated pressure going out (built in regulator)
Then the filter/water seperator
1/4" quick disconnect to 1/4" hose (I use this for the few air tools I have in the shop as well)
Air brush line is 1/4" NPT at one end - so the same quick disconnect there
Other end is 1/8" BSP - to a female quick disconnect
All my brushes have the 1/8" BSP male end - my Badgers with the Badger-BSP adaptor.
View attachment 92458
Click to expand...
Nice, I think my next step is to get some quick release fittings. Thanks for the advice and photo, like the airbrush. I am using a cheap timbertech one but it works OK for me just starting up.
Irishvic
 
I used an older version of one of these for a long time.
Found it on clearance at Home Depot and needed something to drive nails and staples anyways.
1658152224621.png
No complaints on how it worked for me. If I could do anything differently I'd buy a longer hose so I could keep the compressor much further away than at my shins. It has "Silent" in it's name.. but it is not quiet, lol. The second tank and proper storage had it working really well even without a moisture trap

I've got a Badger branded compressor (one tank) that I picked up from an old coworker and it is about as loud as the home improvement grade one pictured above WITH earplugs in, lol.
Biggest thing I miss about the home improvement grade one is that it has two outlets, and allowed me to have both of my ABs in the workflow.

The new model pictured above is wildly overpriced in my opinion... But COVID and Inflation is definitely a thing. This pictured model is currently running the same or more cash than the Badger Aspire Pro TC910 (I think that's still Badgers highest model offering...)

After reading through this... I think I'm going to keep an eye out for a small tank at garage sales or the Re-Store... currently my badger compressor cycles like it's cool only having a 1 gallon tank.
 
I honestly have no idea why it never dawned on me to look for a second tank, lol.
I was probably too enamored with how easy it was to pick up the badger compressor and move it to think about adding more mass and weight, lol.
 
Marktastrophe said:
I honestly have no idea why it never dawned on me to look for a second tank, lol.
I was probably too enamored with how easy it was to pick up the badger compressor and move it to think about adding more mass and weight, lol.
Click to expand...
Despite having the 3-gallon pancake - I'm still looking to add an external tank...more for the shop work than the airbrush, but it'd get used there too.
 
I've always run off of the 11 gallon tank sold at Harbor Freight -- charged up with , now this : https://www.harborfreight.com/air-t...-hand-carry-jobsite-air-compressor-64596.html ,, but it was only 125 bucks when I bought it , previously charged up with an old Craftsman , 3 gallon compressor ,
but , the point being , I run off the tank only for quite a long while so I only have compressor noise for a few minutes when recharging it .
and that Harbor Freight compressor is definitely the quietest compressor I've ever been around , much less owned :D
I bought it when one of my old Dewalt compressors wouldn't run ( was sure it was the switch contacts and it was ) and I didn't have time to screw with it so I just bought the one above and immediately swapped it out at the bench after it came back to the house from the job since it is 1/4 the noise of that old Craftsman compressor .
 

Similar threads

J
Airbrush and compressor
2
Replies
32
Views
3K
PlstcJunky
P
Pantherman
Airbrush needles and nozzle
Replies
11
Views
1K
Pantherman
Pantherman

Latest posts

Back
Top