Airbrush Compressor

Even a novice artist or modeller, who wished to use the fruits of technological progress and buy an efficient, productive tool, understands: an airbrush needs a compressor. There are certain requirements for it. You can buy a specialized device that meets several criteria. And those who do not have such an opportunity or did not find a model with the necessary characteristics assemble an airbrush compressor from scrap materials and assemblies.

Airbrush Compressor Requirements

Noise figure stands for most consumers. Even those who need significant performance prefer to get the most noise-free airbrush compressor possible.

The second important indicator is weight and size characteristics. The smaller the device - so it is more convenient to place it in compliance with all the requirements of ventilation and cooling. Plays a role and supply voltage. There are other important criteria by which the source of compressed air is selected.

Maximum pressure

The practice of the work of a huge number of artists and modellers shows that the minimum pressure for working with liquid paints is 2 bars. But to choose a mini compressor for an airbrush with such an indicator is at least irrational. Device will work almost without interruption. This can lead to its breakage, as well as unpleasant incidents in the course of work. For example, to trigger the thermal relay and stop the air supply directly during painting or applying fine details with high accuracy. Therefore, you need to choose a compressor with a technical limit of generated pressure of about 5-6 bar.

Performance

Different types of airbrushes are characterized by their own steps of air flow, which are necessary for their effective work. An approximate picture is as follows:

• models with external mixing with adjustable air flow only consume 10-12 liters / minute;
• models of internal mixing, with double dependent regulation require 12-17 l / min;
• The most popular type of airbrushing among professionals with split dual controls may require flow rates up to 20 l / min.

Based on the above, recommendations for choosing a compressor look like this: performance margin up to 20-25 liters per minute, pressure up to 5-6 bar. If you can not buy a suitable specialized device, you can use a more powerful one. Productivity and maximum pressure is regulated by strapping.

Airbrush binding

Strapping elements are not necessary if you plan to work with an airbrush for a short time and there are no strict requirements for the parameters of the input air flow.However, they provide an opportunity to solve a number of specific problems with high benefits.

1. Clearly standardize the output pressure in the line, regardless of the characteristics of the compressor.
2. Ensure optimal operation of the supercharger, with shutdown intervals for cooling.
3. In general - to ensure long-term work of the airbrush in a stable mode.

Devices can be purchased as ready-made industrial solutions. But according to the description of the functional it becomes clear that it is not difficult to do some of them on your own.

Receiver

Compressor with receiver can work almost continuously. This is achieved by sufficiently long-term start-up, operation without overloads with long periods of cooling. The receiver is a tank for storing a gas stock under pressure, a kind of damping damper.

It is recommended to buy complete engineering solution. A compressor with a receiver is a fully-coordinated complex of devices. If it is impossible to purchase such a device, it can be created from separate units.

Important! The receiver for the airbrush must withstand the pressure, significantly (preferably several times) greater than the maximum rate of the compressor.

The construction of the highway is as follows:

• compressor;
• a receiver connected to its outlet;
• pressure switch, the task of which is to stop and start the work of the supercharger upon reaching the set value;
• output path, air supply hose from the receiver to the airbrush.

The principle of operation of such a complex simple enough. The compressor starts and runs in nominal mode. Air is pumped into the receiver. When the pressure in it reaches the set maximum value - the relay stops the operation of the compressor. Due to the sufficiently large capacity of the receiver air is fed into the airbrush long enough.

When the pressure drop reaches the value set in the relay, the compressor starts. The system with a receiver has an undeniable advantage: regardless of the power and performance of the supercharger, an air flow can be obtained on an airbrush with a pressure varying in a fairly narrow range.

Gearbox

The task of the gearbox - limit pressure maximum. This node can be a useful addition that is installed at the output of the receiver. In this case, you can achieve extremely effective work in the system.

1. The compressor receiver works as a pair, creating pressure that exceeds the needs of the airbrush.
2. The gearbox forms the optimal parametric of the output stream.
3. With significant performance of the compressor and the capacity of the receiver, the supply of high-pressure air allows the airbrush to work optimally for quite a long time without switching on the supercharger.

Thus, the gearbox not only helps stabilize the flow indicators at the airbrush inlet, but also increases the pause between compressor start. In addition, it is easy to work with different tools. For example, perform thin operations, setting the output pressure to 1-2 bar, paint large surfaces, increasing the value on the gearbox.

Separator (moisture trap)

Extremely necessary strapping element for those who constantly collides with condensate. Water droplets coming in from the air flow are a very negative factor. They cause not only a change in the characteristics of the paint mixture, but also the appearance of splashes and other undesirable phenomena.It can ruin all the work. Therefore, it is not recommended to neglect the separator for those who work in rooms of high humidity.

Protection and Automation

Other characteristics of the compressor do not play a decisive role, but they are important enough. Protection system in the form of thermal relay will not allow the blower to fail. It is extremely useful to automatically disable the compressor when the set pressure is reached. In combination with a receiver, a reducer model of this class will allow you to create a very convenient and efficient discharge station.

Types of compressors used

The main thing to understand is that all compressors are divided into oil and oil-free. The first represent the largest segment of the market offers. it reciprocating compressorsOthers are not of interest for working with an airbrush, since they have either huge dimensions and noise, or an excessive minimum performance.

Important! The danger of an oil compressor is the ingress of undesirable impurities into the paint-air mixture. This can cause a wide variety of layer irregularities: from splashes and blots to paint lagging behind the surface due to poor adhesion.

Oil that gets into air in reciprocating compressors is an undesirable element. Therefore, you should choose a device that has an oil filter installed, or purchase such a node separately, if the compressor as a whole satisfies all needs.

Oil-free models are most often membrane compressors. They have a fairly high endurance, performance. And most importantly, in most cases, the membrane is a quiet compressor, which is important for artists who work long hours, in a small workshop or in their own apartment with relatives sleeping behind the wall.

Oil models are not very popular among artists and modellers. Quiet and small can not provide the desired parameters of pressure and performance. More powerful emit heat, stop automatic - they are very difficult to use without strapping elements, if you want to work for a long time airbrush.

Membrane oil-free pumps are highly sought after. They are able to:

• act without respite for a long time;
• make noise often no louder than the power supply unit of a personal computer;
• provide convenient installation due to compact dimensions;
• to form the required parameters of the air flow.

Today, specialized membrane models for working with airbrushes are on the market. from Sparmax and JAS. The latest brand has its own kind of clone. Miol compressors differ from JAS only in the country of origin. The first is Ukraine, the second is Russia. No other differences in design features and product parametric were found.

Build a compressor for the airbrush do-it-yourself

For those who want to get an excellent pumping station literally from improvised means, two ways are open. However, you need to make one remark right away. To assemble a homemade airbrush compressor with good data, you need to immediately plan the creation of a strapping in the form of a receiver of sufficiently high capacity. For this fit gas cylinder or fire extinguisher housing, which is not difficult to get.

Create a receiver

The ideal option for a homemade receiver is the fire-acid fire extinguisher case. Convenient OHP-10. It holds 8.7 liters of liquid carbon dioxide, the total volume is 10 liters. For the construction you need a pressure switch, adapter, cross, valves, tee, also recommended immediately install gearbox and water traps (automotive, fine cleaning). The process of creating a structure is as follows.

1. From the fire extinguisher released the rest of the gas under pressure.
2. Removed all starting and feeding devices.
   
3. Set the crosspiece and pressure switch.
   
4. Mounted tee to connect the pressure gauge and gear with a separator - moisture trap. This phase of the work must be done carefully. The gearbox must be correctly oriented for the correct location of the drain hole.
   
5. The input moisture filter is assembled and connected via a hose to the receiver inlet.
   

This binding unit will allow to assemble any injection station, with condensate filtration and full control of the outlet pressure.

Station based on the compressor from the refrigerator

To simplify the consideration of home-made, the creation of a receiver with a control system was considered separately. Any supercharger can be connected to such a unit. For example, collect the airbrush compressor with your own hands from the refrigerator. For this you will need:

• dismantle the refrigerator compressor and its power supply and protection system;
• carry out the necessary work to create electrical wiring;
• place the receiver and compressor on the same platform;
• install an air filter at the compressor inlet, connect a pressure switch to control the start-up.

The system assembly is as follows:

Automobile compressor

The compressor with a receiver for an airbrush can be created from a car designed for tire inflation. In this case, for individual models will have to solve the problem of providing power. Designed to work from the cigarette lighter compressors can connect to the conversion unit from the PC.

1. Parallel straightening units for outputting maximum current. Bite from the connector of the motherboard and any power hard drive yellow wires.
   
2. The external power control system is locked. To do this, from the connector of the motherboard bites off the green wire and any of the black ones shown in the diagram.Wires are soldered together.
   

   

Now the power supply can be switched on without the participation of the motherboard. Depending on its design, this happens either when plugged in, or by pressing a button on the case.

To connect the car compressor, it is enough to connect the yellow wire from any power interface of the hard drive to the power supply unit with the interface plus, and the black one with the minus. You can use the appropriate socket, or disassemble the plug.

For a neat appearance, the power station and compressor are assembled on the same platform.

Use car compressor which powered by 220V - as simple as possible. It is enough to attach to the receiver. This node will do all the necessary work on adjusting the airflow parameters of the airbrush. How to assemble the receiver - described above.

Conclusion

To get the full pleasure of working with an airbrush, it is enough to choose the right compressor system. This is not difficult to do by analyzing a number of parameters. And if you pay attention to the strapping, it is easy to guarantee even continuous operation for hours without overloading the supercharger. The air supply station can be assembled independently using the available equipment.In a word, today nothing can prevent an enthusiast or professional from learning and improving their airbrush skills by creating beautiful looking paintings or unique models.