How much media do you put in the bottom of a sandblast cabinet? Not as much as you think.

[@adrienbetournay4699]

Wow, thank you. I removed a five gallon bucket of sand from the reclaim hose. Working great now.

[@blastitall]

Fantastic

[@Tahu2323]

I just got a harbor freight cabinet and upgraded to gravity feed and got a dust collector to pull out the dust so I can see. I have a 5hp 20 gal compressor and I’m using aluminum oxide media to sand blast some rusty car parts. It was going pretty well for a while but after an hour of blasting things I just couldn’t get it to continuously feed media. I tried adjusting my gravity feed valve and changing to all the different tips and it would work for a second and then stop feeding. I can repeatedly pull the trigger and it’ll do great but that’s not ideal. I have 5/8” line that’s about 3’ long going from the bottom to the gun to feed the media. Is this hose too large? I can see the media filling up the hose as it comes up through the gravity feed and I see air flowing through as well tossing the media around but I just can’t get it to stay continuous the whole time. I was not running a water collector but the media seems like it has no moisture in it. Any tips on changing this setup to work better? It was doing fantastic and working pretty quickly to start so I know it works but something just isn’t quite right about it.

[@blastitall]

There are a number of factors, but let's start with the compressor and work our way from there. A 5 HP compressor will give you around 17.5 CFM at 80 PSI. The gun that comes with Harbor Freights sandblaster is around 21 CFM, despite what the website says. That means once the tank reaches a certain point the compressor will kick in and try to fill, but it cannot keep up with what is being used. The media flow eventually slows and becomes useless. This video explains the gun: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpe1i2BrmMmfj5Y This video explains the compressor: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioLSlmOlq5mAlcU This shows the different size air jets and what they need: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZK6qXeegqycf80

[@onebadsavage26]

Okay. My blast cabinet doesn't work at all. I do have a lot of media in it so I'll fix that. I have lots of suction at the gun pulling through 3/4" hose kept as short as possible. When I pull the trigger the media hose thumps as if the media is hitting a dead end, it will blast for 1 or 2 seconds and stop until I put back pressure in the hose to blow it empty, then it does it again thump and 1 or 2 seconds of blasting. Can this be caused from too much media? My unit is "upgraded" to pull from the bottom of the hopper if that makes any difference.

[@blastitall]

This can be caused by a lot of things. If you want to hop in chat when we are back in the office on Friday, would be happy to troubleshoot with you. blast-it-all.com If you want to check before hand here is a short list To much media in the cabinet - Sounds like you addressed this one already Media and Air hoses are reversed - sounds dumb, but it happens a lot In proper pairing of nozzle and air jet - If it is the wrong nozzle with air jet it may not pull media. Check our youtube for a video on this. Air has to get in with the media to make smooth stream - make sure there is some kind of air intake on the media valve Everything Dry - Media and air need to be nice and dry - Clumpy media doesn't pull Pressure should be 60-80 PSI - Higher pressure wares out the media faster and lower pressure goes slow Partial Blockage - debris can cause media to completely stop the gun but sometimes it can be a larger piece just behind the nozzle that causes it to partially block Media is too big for nozzle - if you are using a smaller nozzle and larger media it can actually dam up inside the gun effecting flow

[@hhman]

I have a reclaim on my unit, I almost exclusively use the cabinet to prep steel parts for powder coat. I currently use aluminum oxide and a 5/16 nozzle. Is there something better out there?

[@blastitall]

Aluminum oxide is the media of choice for powder coat prep. What grit size of aluminum oxide do you use?

[@hhman]

70 grit. But it is Harbor Freight brand lol.

[@blastitall]

@@hhman That should still work well.

[@BimmerFix]

Great video! Do you see any issues mixing aluminum oxide and steel shot?

[@blastitall]

Yes. Steel shot is much more dense than aluminum oxide which makes recovery more challenging. But the biggest issue is the explosive hazard that is created when blasting with the two.

[@BimmerFix]

@blastitall what do you mean by an explosive hazard? I've mixed them together unknowingly. I have a metering valve. The biggest issue it seems is my flow is not good and it's clogging.

[@blastitall]

@@BimmerFix The flow issue is most likely related to the density and weight. Steel Shot 300lbs per cubic foot Aluminum Oxide 240lbs per cubic foot When you say "mixing" if you mean using them at the same time, that is a bad idea. If by mixing you mean switching back and forth, you need to make sure everything is cleaned out when switching. This is from the SDS for steel shot Particles liable to produce a fire hazard are the following: •Metal dust. •Plastic dust. •Dust produced when blasting metals coated with paint, rubber, etc... The SDS can be found here: blast-it-all.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/SS-SDS.pdf

[@BimmerFix]

@blastitall thank you for your reply. In this case, any blasting is a fire hazard, it seems. I guess the mistake I made, I dumped 50lbs of AlOx and 50 lbs of steelshot together in the blast cabinet. Then I realized that's too much, so took most of it out. Still can't blast with good flow...BTW bag of 50lbs steelshot was 5 times smaller than 50lbs bag of AlOx. Should I just throw it out now? I figure there's no way to separate them now...

[@blastitall]

Yes and no to fire hazard. Aluminum oxide, glass bead, and crushed glass are not listed as fire or explosion hazards. However, organic media, steel shot, and some others are. As for the mixture. I don't think there is a good way to unmix that.

[@larryrussell4905]

Great video. Learned something which is always a good thing. Question: How often "Should" I need to change the liner in the window? Seems Like I need to do it too often. After 2 hours of blasting it gets hard to see and after 3-4 almost impossible. The unprotected glass below the liner is still clear making me wonder if the liner is really needed. Thanks

[@blastitall]

Some things we blast throw more media back at the glass than others and most media can frost the glass fairly quickly. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5_Lfqtneph_g6M But the protective film has a tendency to statically attract dust. I sometimes wipe the film before starting to blast. The best way to help with this is make sure the dust collector and air flow through the cabinet are working properly. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHm3gGiBgr-ea7M

[@diepso]

Im bout to install a reclaimer to my cabinet. When you say put the media in the reclaimer. Is your reclaimer plumbed to feed yhe gun?

[@blastitall]

Our reclaims feed the gun, so the media is continually air washed and you can keep blasting.

[@michaelslifecycle]

I’m learning about this after finding blasting media in my package for a bike part. I’m honestly kind of mad because idk if I could breathe this in or if it’s toxic. I feel like it’s a little unprofessional to put a metal part into packaging with blast media all over it. Do you think I’m overthinking it? There were a bunch of tiny metal looking balls in the bottom of the packaging. I’m just concerned I might’ve breathed them in or something.

[@michaelslifecycle]

After further research, I believe my parts were actually shotblasted with steel balls. They seem pretty heavy like they wouldn’t fly around in the air like sand would. Are these also toxic to breathe in? Sorry, I’m just learning about all of this now and just paranoid about the toxicity of these packages I’ve received.

[@blastitall]

Without knowing exactly what the media is, it would be hard to say. Most commonly used media is not considered toxic, but would never recommend breathing media dust. We always recommend the dust is removed from the environment.

[@michaelslifecycle]

@@blastitall Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate it!