Wouldn't trade my Harbor Freight Cheapie Sandblaster for the World - Really does the job, BUT it requires careful discipline (and preparation) to get it to work properly. I'm running mine with a 5 HP gasoline powered Sears compresson mounted on a 20 gallon tank (I think).
First - if your hose if filling up with sand each time you start, you've probably got the bottom value - the one that controls the amount of sand picked up by the airstream open too much (I'm assuming that yours operates like the big HF unit). I always start with mine closed (the bottom value) and crack the air about 75% (the top valve on my unit). Then I open the nozzle (your deadman switch) and simply let an airstream jet out toward the project and then slowly crack the sand valve open (again, the value on the bottom). Typically, the sand valve only gets opened 1/8 - 1/4 - the idea is that the air rushing past the sand flow in the manifold sort of "pick up the sand" as it rushes by. The quick fix (again on my unit) if the hose is filled with sand is to turn off the sand value and open the air value all the way and it will purge (i.e. waste) all the sand in the hose.
Here's my additional suggestions that I previously posed on the H1Forum:
I also purchased the Harbor Freight 110# sand blaster. It worked horribly out of the box. But, I was in the midst of a job - sandblasting an area that needed to be repaired on my backhoe so I couldn't stop - really needed the sandblaster to work.
Spent a couple hours figuring it all out, made some adjustments / modifications and now it works GREAT - I wouldn't trade it for the world - and I've used a lot of different sandblasters. The modifications:
1) The sand HAS to be dry - this is true for most sandblasters, but this one especially so - the 110# IMO is still a large size home unit so they are a little more sensitive than the big industrial ones. I purchase play sand from Lowes which is stored inside the store. If I purchase cheaper play sand from Walmart - you can see the moisture inside the bag because it is stored outside - and I suspect that moisture is one of the ways the vendor delivers the product to Walmart by weight. If the sand is wet I spread it out on plastic in the sun to dry before I sweep it up for step #2 below. UPDATE: drying sand in the sun (at least in damp Florida is a real pain in the neck - I've gone back to purchasing the dry, but slightly expensive sand from Lowes)
2) You MUST sift the sand - or spend lots of time taking the nozzle, manifold (the part at the bottom of the tank) apart - constantly. I just pulled a window screen off my trailer (a 1966 single-wide - the "Star Regal" model - not to put on heirs). At any rate, I pulled off a window sreen, frame attached and set it on top of a 5 gallon bucket - you'd be amazed at what sifts out of playsand - or any other type of sand, especially if you're recycling your blast media. All those little peebles are guaranteed to clog the sandblaster - you can either take the extra 4 minutes per refill to sift, or stop every 20 seconds of blasting and clear the jams from inside the unit. UPDATE: I've also used some very expensive, "slag media" from a friend - very sharp little particles - absolutely did not like it as much - play sand works great IMO.
3) MOST IMPORTANT - after the close nipples are installed firmly on the manifold - maybe even installed on the bottom of the tank - although I didn't do mine in this way - run successively larger drill bits down the manifold from the nipple where the heavy black blasting hose attaches at the bottom of the tank. The problem here is that the close nipple from the bottom of the tank to the center of the manifold sticks way into the manifold - it cuts off the passage by at least 50% which causes a ton of jams. Start with a bit that fits inside the end nipple (again the one where the black hose attaches). After you've cut off the protruding end of the center nipple (protruding on the inside of the unit) then move up 3 or 4 drill sizes (I use a standard drill index) to open up the ID if the end nipple. Go slow through all of this because the drill bit wants to catch the ragged end of the middle close nipple - I broke a bit in this process, but got it out easily. Again, this is the MOST IMPORTANT modification.
4) Moisture is a problem no matter where you are, I live in Florida where it is especially humid - bigger tanks help and I also use a variety of moisture traps.
Once this is all done - and it took me about the time it took to write all this down, you'll be amazed at how well this "Cheap" sandblaster works.
Let me know how this works out if anyone tries it.
Good Luck,
MaximumBob
