The perfect multi-tool that I've been missing for my restorations? Airbrush Compressor Kit review.

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

2:25 Ahh... you're not alone in this! There are some radios where these fine wires extend outside the RF coils' housings. You can imagine the havoc blowing compressed air to clean the radio creates in such cases. Then again one wonders: why would they do connections that way in the first place? Why did they not use normal wires? It's all done to make the restorer's life much more entertaining, is the only answer I could come up...

[@electronicsoldandnew]

As good an answer as any 😊

[@isoguy.]

If I had seen a regular advert I would not have even considered purchasing one of these airbrush devices. However, seeing an intelligent, senctiat and knowledgeable person such as yourself demonstrating the virtues of an airbrush had me reaching for my wallet immediately. Brilliant demonstration of practical use. Some of the comments mentioned salt blasting, I wonder if the manufacturer would consider making an attachment specifically for this purpose. Thanks for the brilliant technical videos and it's also a good idea to let newbies know where they can get the most practical tools. Thank you

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I’m glad that my experiments help show the pros and cons in a real world situation. That’s the idea of the channel.

[@retro_tech]

Watch out with spraying alcohol!!! I would never do this with my airbrush because of the low viscosity of alcohol (compared to paint), it will create fumes which are bad for your health and which are flammable! Especially since you're basically using it as a pressure washer. If you do this, I would advise only doing it outdoors. Or, what I would do is: still apply the alcohol with a brush and then rinse it off with distilled water or just simply with air. Much safer. Another tip: always put the compressor on the floor. The first time I was using mine, it danced off the table due the vibrations and it hit the floor pretty hard. 😅 But even for normal painting it's a great tool to have when restoring radios. Enjoy your new toy!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thanks for the tips 👍

[@Radiocruncher]

That's a nice bit of kit Manuel and will come in very useful I'm sure. I have an airbrush but it uses aerosol cans for air. A compressor would be very nice. Regards Graham

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Those things go through air cans at a great rate, and they’re a bit expensive out here. That’s why I went for the full kit.

[@HyyskanPolttaja]

Manuel, you are a great salesman! Ordered this right after seeing your video. ;)

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Hope you like it. I sold myself on it first, and only got sponsored when I was actually about to buy it myself. So far, I love this little thing.

[@mamoynas]

NICE! You can make an attachment and use it as a small sandblaster for spot rust removal, it should be easy, you could use salt as a mild abrasive for testing. After rust is removed you can spot paint the aeria too!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Interesting idea

[@BjornV78]

As safety precautions, keep in mind that when you evaporate liquids like Alcohol, that those fumes are very flammable and that the pressure switch of the air compressor toggling on and off nearby will make sparks that can ignite those fumes. To get a air/alcohol mixture to ignite, there must be a certain ratio, above or beyond that, a spark won't create a ignition, but say never never. Also those fumes are not healty to inhale, so take care about the ventilation in the room you are working. About static sparks due the compressed air, forget about that, compressed air is very moist, static electricity is more common with very dry air. I use compressed air for almost 20 years on electronics and never had a issue, but back in the early 2000, i once used a vacuum cleaner because it was a rainy day, and didn't want to take the desktop computer outside, after i cleaned the inside,i turned the desktop back on, the behaviour was very weird, very long bootup time and programs like internet explorer and outlook start crashing at opening, while 5 minutes before, the desktop worked fine. The first thing i did was a memory test, and i found immediately the culprit, both Ram sticks gave errors (tested each stick apart). Since then, i never used a vacuum cleaner again to clean electronics. And as last tip, maybe you can attached the brush with a rubber band to the airbrush gun, so that you can clean with one hand.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

good tips. thanks 🙏

[@edwardhannigan6324]

Cool tool Manuel...You could also chill in your spare time and do some artistic spray canvas pictures of vintage radios..! Great little compressor..Good luck..Ed..uk..😀

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

3:15 If you carry the concept too far, you may build a contraption to turn this into a mini sandblasting tool. Granted, sand particles is not something you want spreading all over a radio but that's another problem. 3:55 You say that now but after a year's practice you might be able to draw the fine decorative lines on the radio cases or even (if you are that keen) repair damaged dial screens. That last one alone would justify the purchase of such a tool.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I’m a looooong way from getting that perfected, but I won’t give up 😊

[@DavidTipton101]

That looks perfect for someone like you working from an apartment Manuel, nice of Banggood to send one to you 🙂

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I agree. Size is always an issue for me (that didn’t come out right) 😊

[@midmodaudio6576]

Very nice tool, I've considered getting one for my projects. Spraying the alcohol is a great idea. One suggestion though, before spraying alcohol, spray just air while using a dry brush to loosen the dust. This way there should be less dust/alcohol slurry to clean up.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@JWimpy]

That was amazing. I will have to try that. I am always looking for better ways to clean old radios. Recently I purchased an oscillating brush from Amazon that works wonders on really stubborn crusty dirty chassis. It is a Rubbermaid Reveal Power scrubber.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@jamesmdeluca]

Greetings: Ideas: 1. Add a brush to the output of the nozzle so you can spay & brush with your right hand (just like the phono cartridge that has a brush jut ahead of the grooves). Any diy gadjet should permit flipping flipping the brush down and out of the air-stream while blowing only air (see #2) 2. Hopefully this sprayer can pause the liquid dispensing to permit air-only spraying to dry off the liquid. (Flipping up would make brushing difficult.) Don't forget you sprayer adjustment setting. Maybe that ability to add a second sprayer is used when you need to switch to air-only. How hard is cleaning when switching to different liquids? I believe water is the part that controls the alcohol percentage in the various strengths of IPA. Wooden shaft cotton swabs (available single or double-ended) may be more expensive but are easier to use than your split tip chop stick. BTW: Adding a small spring above the split may help prevent over splitting. You may find that lacquer-thinner or acetone are better for certain jobs. Use an open top box as a small spray booth.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

All good ideas, thanks. The air-only option is shown in the video, as is the spring on the chopstick.

[@matambale]

Trouble I've had with cotton swabs is all the fibers they leave behind. Really appreciated M Caldeira's makeup cleaning pad idea - those are dense and look like they won't shed fibers everywhere.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

They don’t shed fibres like the cotton swabs, and they work out much cheaper too.

[@matambale]

@@electronicsoldandnew Just bought some! (well, the Mrs. bought some for me)

[@EsotericArctos]

I think two things are great in a tool kit for restorers and makers. An Air Brush kit, and a 3D Printer. Maybe not so much a 3D printer for the older tube equipment, but in general I have found those two tools the most used tools in my kit, other than the soldering iron.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I am putting off getting the 3D printer for now due to the space constraints I have. Otherwise it would already be in use 😊

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

17:41 Is there a name for this particular type of addiction? 20:55 If you get too carried away, remember to leave a window open! ;) 21:20 Cleaning tuning capacitors is probably the first or second use for this that came to my mind. 21:31 Not sure if it is a great idea, but would you ever consider rubbing with some aluminium foil to remove the rust? It works well with painted surfaces as it's too soft to remove the existing paint (as opposed to sandpaper) but I don't know whether it can be painted on subsequently. It also can leave a big mess of small aluminium flakes.. :(

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I will be trying this on multiple radio parts, including tuning caps. I use wet and dry sandpaper (1200 grit) which is extremely fine. Never tried foil.

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

@@electronicsoldandnew The aluminium foil is only a temporary solution used to remove blemishes due to rust breaking through paint/plating. The aluminium acts like a mild abrasive (and possibly also reacts with the rust?). The point is that it does not remove the existing paint/plating or does not mar it gravely. It can be tried for example on plated metal inserts that are used for decorating selector/volume knobs. As it's only temporary though, you need to seal the surface with some varnish to prevent the bare iron areas from re-oxidising.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@nonsuch]

Very nice. I may have to get one for the same reasons you do.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@69uremum]

I use a dental air/water syringe for cleaning with isopropyl and compressed air for cleaning.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@deepblueskyshine]

On old prolongly baked dirt on paper-phenolic board and metall chassis spraying it initially with common household degreaser (for examle the yellow Meglio) is far more effective, after which brush, air and spirit will push the dirt and active surfactants out and dry water component before it soaks into the board.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

👍

[@anssiw737]

Water is good thinner for those acrylic paints so no need for harder chemicals like wind shield wiper fluids. Just keep on spraying but be aware that you might get addicted, I did long time ago😁

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I will fight the urge 😊

[@anssiw737]

@@electronicsoldandnew Createx wicked paints are really good acrylics and they also have acrylic clearcoats, matte, satin and high gloss(4050 is the gloss version). With them is better to use their reducer (4011). And don't use acetone or similar because the seals of that brush are not teflon, so IPA is good.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Thanks

[@geirendre]

And the best part of spraying alcohol like that and sit there and inhale the alcohole fumes is that the cleaning just gets more and more fun as you go on. By the time you're done with the radio, you'll be dancing on the ceiling 😄

[@electronicsoldandnew]

true 🥃

[@jamesmdeluca]

Wood alcohol, not good for you. Denatured alcohol is made from ethanol, so the worry is now about the denaturing ingredients. Is there a feature to permit switching to air-only while there is liquid in the reservoir?

[@electronicsoldandnew]

If you just press down, only air comes through.

[@Dutchamp]

The solution to this cleaning is very good. Only.... This compressor isn't made for high pressure and long hours. Mine was dead within a week. So I would go and look for a higher volume and some bigger compressor.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I’ll keep an eye on the heating aspect as I use it more.

[@robtitheridge9708]

Dam no shiping to the UK

[@olegrovnyakov8474]

That water based acrylic should be handy stuff. However, how durable that paint is? I mean mechanically - will it survive if say you try to scratch it by nail?

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Depends on the item material. If it’s too smooth, I expect it will scratch off.

[@bofor3948]

Will that cup on the top of the air brush take a plug in tank intead of the cap for a larger capacity? So that you don't need to keep stopping to refill with alcohol. The results on the respray of the speaker in the "James Bond Radio" looked good.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I’m not sure what can be adapted but I think the capacity isn’t too bad as it is. Since the refill is alcohol, it’s easy and not messy at all. Yes, that speaker was my first ever experience with an airbrush 😊

[@matambale]

Brilliant - and dare I say, this becomes a mini flame-thrower. Let's be careful out there!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

😊

[@TrevorsBench]

I would be concerned about sparks. Using compressed air can create a static charge, be careful

[@19janiboy96]

Not really, most of the stuff he restores is Valve based. I've worked in a renowned Audio repair shop and they've been in business for 30 years and never had a problem with it.

[@MrHBSoftware]

static charges or sparks dont matter on valve equipment..compressed air is used for cleaning computers instead of vaccum...i was always taught that vaccum cleaners create static charges so we should use compressed air to clean dirty computers....could it be wrong line of thought?

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Makes sense to me

[@TrevorsBench]

@@MrHBSoftware Moving air creates a static charge, it doesn't matter if it's compressed air or vacuum

[@MrHBSoftware]

hi..beware that some ceramic tubular caps absorb the alcohol and short circuit...has happened to me various times so i gave up doing that and went back to cotton swabs...why dont you try brake cleaner? dries instantly, no residue...problem is that everything looks hazy after using it, it dries so fast and removes grease so well that mettalic parts tend to rust faster too... brushing wd40 after cleaning makes everything look good and shiny but then you have the problem of dust sticking to the chassis...so i still couldnt find an optimal solution...but it certainly is not spraying alcohol

[@danielsaturnino5715]

Does it work with poncha? And do you get dizzy with the fumes? :D Edit: next project sugestion, a fan on the bottom of a box with a filter in fron of it. It sucks and holds overspray.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

Poncha still not tried out. Must do that 😊

[@KB1UIF]

Haha, "Probably more stuff than my wife knows about" lol, ain't that the truth, I think we've all been there !!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

😊

[@RocRizzo]

A mini power washer!

[@electronicsoldandnew]

True 😊 It’s really only useful for small surfaces, like we get in restorations.

[@scotshabalam2432]

I picked up a setup that does this exact thing for $3. It's just a plastic spray bottle....

[@Stan-mh7bf]

18:46 :D

[@electronicsoldandnew]

😊

[@alfredneumann4692]

I don't like pressed air in a workshop. You broadcast the dust all over the room and the furniture. I have a cellar for diy .... work with wood and metall and no compressor. I use a shopvac, thats much better. Only my 2cent. And with blowing the alcohol you should wear a mask.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I agree about the dust, but the alcohol … could make happier restorations 😊

[@alfredneumann4692]

@@electronicsoldandnew :-)

[@mackfisher4487]

Chopsticks are better

[@electronicsoldandnew]

😊

[@mackfisher4487]

@@electronicsoldandnew Manuel you know I had comment, as a member of the NF society for reuse of chopsticks.

[@electronicsoldandnew]

I understand completely 😊