Would I be able to run a sandblaster without two hoses attached? I’ve seen some blasters do this. It really slows down the flow when you have a four way pipe. I have a 3/4” connector that screws into the 1” hole, I would be able to wrap a 3/4” hose around. If I use a 1/2” four way pipe with the second hose attached, I would be forced to use 7/16 or 3/8 insert and smaller hose and keeps clogging. My air compressor feeds into the top, then there is a red hose that runs into the four way pipe coming out of bottom, and the actual hose with the nozzle on the other side of the four way pipe. I believe it’s just a pressure valve, but my compressor has one too so not sure if I need one when I could just plug the pipe off.
what you need is called a 1/2 cross,put a 1/2 ****** in the bottom hole then a 1/2 valve the same as the air one on the hose you have,it should be inline to shut the air off?,the valve on the bottom is used to regulate the amount of sand that comes out,i have used 1/2 water hose ******s from the hardware store,they will last a long time,they are metal and have ridges to hold the hose on with,look for a TIP tools website and see how they are plumbed,you dont need all their fancy parts,you can get it locally with a little scrounging. Haarvey
there should not be a four way fitting, just a tee mounted under a valve that regulates the sand. the air p***es through the tee and the valve allows a regulated amount of sand to fall into the air stream.
there should also be a tee at the top. the red hose you have shown should be cut and connected to the lower Tee. then there should be a tee above that valve that you put supplied air to.
Some of those units are pressurized and some operate on a venturi effect as tb33anda3rd mentioned. What you have is a pressure pot blaster. look at the sandcarving video in this search. It has the hose layout you need https://www.google.com/search?q=pre...1.69i57j0l5.8842j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Thinking about it, it still works the way he mentioned in that the air going thought the T and past the connection to the sand container is what draws the sand into the hose and nozzle to blast with. I've got an old Sears setup that is basically a bucket with a suction tube down in it with a hose connected to the tube and a nozzle that you connnect the air hose to. It works ok for small stuff but you really need the correct and dry sand.
This is the way the seller I bought it from had it setup, basically kept on blocking up no where to go. Bottom four way pipe was plugged. He had the blaster hose connected to the black tip right side first photo. I will look at other examples.
This model is the ALC Keysco 40002. They look very similar to me. Looks like it is the correct way to setup the blaster. That is a nice sized 1” hole though, and my copper 3/4 adapter fits well. I want to use a 3/4 hose, and the way it’s supposed to be setup is very limiting.
Great video you reccomended. Based on the drawing, it looks to be that air from your compressor runs through both hoses. Air runs into the pot pressurizing the pot, and air gets sent through the other pipe further pushing the media through your blasting hose. I’m not too sure what would happen if I just relied on air pressure going into the pot, and not through the second hose running through the four way pipe. That would allow me to use a bigger adapter, for a 3/4 hose. If I have to use the four way pipe, stuck with a much smaller tip.
The valve you have on the hose going to the bottom outlet needs to be open all the time,the setup looks to be plumbed right other then that,that is how these blasters work,i have used one the same for the last 30 years,you need a 4 way cross on the very bottom so you can clean it out when it clogs up,the media valve needs to be at a 45 degree angle so not too much sand will come out and clog the nozzle.I normally use a 1/8 size nozzle on mine,if you use bigger it will take a lot of air to run it,these are not hard to use,just takes a little bit of adjustment to set up right.These will never be like the big commercial blasters you see setup at jobsites ,same idea but on a much smaller scale. Harvey
Double check your sand grit size. Too big and it will jamb up in the bottom valve or the tip. The ball valves are not the best in that situation, horrible actually, a gate valve is much better to meter the sand flow. Ball valves are ok for air/gas and water or full on/off . Go up to Home Depot and get both styles in your hand and look through both valves at 1/8 or 1/4 of the way open. So your bottom ball valve will easily be capable of delivering too much sand or not enough by its design. Some place within its swing to full open will be 1 tiny precise sweet spot where the average sand flow rate is ok. Going by the term average that means that 1/2 the time , the flow rate will be too high to WAY TOO HIGH and the other 1/2 the time, the flow rate will be too low to WAY TOO LOW- but ONLY when averaged together the Flow rate will be ok. Change the bottom valve arrangement to include a gate valve to meter the sand flow below a ball valve that's open or closed and you'll be happier and finish quicker with a better job and use Less sand. Running a touch low on sand flow stops hose jambs, a touch high on the flow maybe gets done quicker with a hose jamb or 2 or 22 that you have to stop and fix.
Mine is plumbed the same as what yours was with the four way " T " at the bottom. I put full air pressure to the tank, and full air to the nozzle ( gun ), then regulate to sand flow from the tank. Start out with no sand flow and slowly open it till you get just enough sand to do the job. To much and it just stops up. Every once and awhile I have to wash out the tank and s****e around the bottom to keep it clean. I don't use it everyday so it builds some rust from setting. The clean out on the bottom of the " T " fitting should flow sand very easy when you pull the plug, if not, then you have rust or crud build up. Mine has a small stand pipe at the bottom of the tank with a couple cross drilled holes for the sand to flow through.
I was not using fine sand, that was the problem and using a finer grit worked well. I would love to use a 3/4 " hose instead of a 1/2 ", and figured out how to do that. This is setup comes with a 1/2 " ball valve, I can use a 3/4 " ball valve or 3/4 " gate valve instead. Reason being I am going to blast three or four cars, and want to run a 1/4 " nozzle.
The four way was used with an additional valve at the bottom hole. This was for a pressure clean out. Bones
Blasting 101 is a good read...…………. http://www.texasblaster.com/index.php?dispatch=pages.view&page_id=6 Also, here's a compressor/nozzle match chart...……….. http://www.texasblaster.com/index.php?dispatch=pages.view&page_id=8
The Jalopy Journal
