Have any of you tied the wet blasters that they sell online for about $100. ? They attach to a pressure washer and have a siphon hose that goes into a bucket of abrasive media. Do they work?
I tried one. It sorta worked. Keeping media dry so it would siphon consistently was a challenge and the tip wore out pretty quick.
The only thing negative I've heard is just don't do an entire car, panels is fine if they're off of the car. The reason is that the water and media wash down into the tiny cracks and crevices then set there. The media keeps soaking up moisture and causes rust in places you can't get to clean out once done blasting. Supposedly the water helps wash the media into the tiny spots and when using an air blower afterwards to try and clean the excess media away the water and media are sometimes to thick to get it done. Makes sense but I haven't tried it, just other forums talking about it.... ..
They usually use sand and attach to a pressure washer in place of the wand. The issue with them is keeping the media dry so it will siphon up the hose. Sometimes we have a hard time doing that with a portable Sandblaster that uses air. I've got an old Craftsman sand blaster that I use for still small pieces that won't fit in the blast cabinet things like a dash board but I have battled damp sand every time I have used it.
What’s the advantage to this? Seems like water and bare metal is a recipe that is just asking for rust???
I’d think maybe not having enough compressor, or maybe less chance of Warpage? But ya, seems like a mess to clean up when done.
Yeah the biggest advantage (market wise) is keeping the panels cool so they don't warp and you don't end up with oil canning panels etc. Second advantage (again market wise), you don't end up with a bunch of dust all over you, in your lungs and in the air around you. Again not sure how well this works but I'd suspect the bigger professional units probably work real well but probably more hype then truth on the small cheap units. ...
The $350 one I bought uses a 'rinse' containing metal prep. (I think) I ordered it before open heart surgery and dont remember all the details
I bought one of the high end wet blasters that was demonstrated on you tube (Power Eagle)and used it with a 4200 PSI pressure washer on the 59 with green diamond media, It worked great , the clean up was a little tedious but the whole car was going to be blown apart for paint anyways. A shop vac and an air hose got it clean and then I went over the whole car with 60 grit until there was only shiny metal. Had to strip all the chrome and stainless off it, the glass was no good so it got blasted too.
I just watched the video that @Mike Miller posted, looks like a pretty slick setup. I’d imagine goggles are the only PPE needed?
@Mike Miller, what grit sand did you use? Was thinking more and more about it at work over night. Right now I don’t have enough compressor to run a siphon or pressure pot effectively, but do have a 3500 psi/4 gal pressure washer. 400+ tax seems reasonable for what I saw in the video. Free shipping as well.
If you let my wife handle it she could warp a piece of 6x6 oak and make the surface as fuzzy as a teddy bear.
The Jalopy Journal
