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setting up that blasted blaster...
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 2:51 pm
by Cheryl
Okay, who'm I gonna call? (Warm-glassers!) Got the blasting cabinet, the pressure pot, the (baby) compressor. Now what? Where do I turn for the, ahem, wiring diagram? This stuff doesn't exactly look "plug 'n' play" to me.
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 3:05 pm
by Tony Serviente
Congrats Cheryl, you have lots of fun ahead. It would be hard to talk you through it, but any good mechanic should be able to help you figure out the plumbing end of it, and for that matter a plumber too! There are many variations on setting up a blaster, and everybody has their favorite way of doing it. Only advice I'll offer is to have ball valve shutoffs at both ends of the air line, and where any other air driven device may have a take off. If you have the plumbing figured out and it's only the electric to deal with, call an electrician. Even a small compressor can draw enough to exceed a typical homes outlet capacity, and you'll either have to use a dryer circuit or have a high amperage line run to the compressor.
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 3:23 pm
by Tony Smith
Cheryl,
I'll send you the schematic, photos and a parts list.
Tony
My hero!!
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 3:47 pm
by Cheryl
Tony, if you can do that, I have a great general contractor...but he definitely needs guidance when it comes to my toys!! (It didn't help when the kiln specs I got from the mfr were wrong, either.)
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 4:39 pm
by Lisa Allen
Cheryl-
You can also go to
http://www.tptools.com, click on Tips/Technical at the top of the page and then click on Air Line Hookup - Metal Piping Diagram.
Just got finished installing one for myself and this was tremendously helpful, gives the diagram and the parts list.
Lisa
Matter of fact, here are a couple of shots of my airline, the "Kadoodler". The compressor is visible in the second shot just outside the window, drilled a hole in the wall to connect the line to it.

where does the pressure pot go?
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 5:22 pm
by Cheryl
Thanks, Lisa, for the pix and the link. But where does the pressure pot belong? Just anywhere between the compressor & the cabinet?
(Yes, this is the same gal who spent hours - and 3 trips - to Home Depot yesterday to connect a high pressure hose to a faucet adaptor - and still ended up with the wrong part!! I swear, officer, I just need a 1/2 (male) to 3/8 (female) adaptor...)
Re: where does the pressure pot go?
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 5:27 pm
by charlie
Cheryl wrote:Thanks, Lisa, for the pix and the link. But where does the pressure pot belong? Just anywhere between the compressor & the cabinet?
yes. the pressure pot should have a place for input air. the air goes through a valve to the bottom of the tank, where it joins another valve that is tapped into the bottom of the tank. the air pressurizes the tank, forcing the sand out the bottom. it also runs through the other valve and mixes with the sand coming out the bottom through your gun.
(Yes, this is the same gal who spent hours - and 3 trips - to Home Depot yesterday to connect a high pressure hose to a faucet adaptor - and still ended up with the wrong part!! I swear, officer, I just need a 1/2 (male) to 3/8 (female) adaptor...)
take your pieces to home depot. it's lots easier to find the right ones with it in hand.
Re: where does the pressure pot go?
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 5:41 pm
by Lisa Allen
Cheryl wrote:Thanks, Lisa, for the pix and the link. But where does the pressure pot belong? Just anywhere between the compressor & the cabinet?
(Yes, this is the same gal who spent hours - and 3 trips - to Home Depot yesterday to connect a high pressure hose to a faucet adaptor - and still ended up with the wrong part!! I swear, officer, I just need a 1/2 (male) to 3/8 (female) adaptor...)
I don't use a pressure pot, but i believe that it would go at the end of the airline system, next to the cabinet. In pic #1 you can see a moisture trap and a regulator, then the hose. The pressure pot already has a regulator, so your set up would be just like mine without the regulator, so it would go moisture trap, hose into the pressure pot, hose out of the pressure pot into the cabinet.
This is my best guess!
Lisa
Home Depot
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 5:42 pm
by Cheryl
Seriously, I'm considering asking Home Depot to sponsor me, or at least thanking them when I get my McArthur genius grant
The truly hard part is explaining to them that the reason I want to put a "y" on my faucet is to hook up a hand-held shower hose so my tile saw gets more water, and simultaneously be able to add water to the utility sink which serves as the saw's water feed. I think they may have more patience (sometimes) for the "normal" requests...and mine are never normal
(but you knew that)