EsPeGe
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hi all, as some might know I've just painted a bike. It was done with high quality spray cans. It came up pretty good but given all the time currently on my hands with nowhere to go I want to do another one to get it right and this time I'm buying a spray gun. To run it I need a compressor, obviously. I need some help with this so hopefully someone out there has some experience.
My main issue is the cost of a good compressor, best part of 1K. Now I'm only a hobbiest, I'll paint the ocassional surf board or bike or maybe some art every now and then so I don't want to spend that much. But to get one that will run the gun I want it seems the cheap ones may not be up to it.
So.... I'm gonna get technical. The gun needs 7.59CFM (cubic feet per min, 232Litres/min in normal speak ) at 29PSI. Technically a compressor needs to meet that, most compressors, in fact pretty much all but the smallest get up to around 120PSI so no issue there. It's the volume that counts a lot of them out.
But from my understanding, and this is where I'm hoping someone can help, If I've got a big enough tank the volume doesn't matter, just the PSI. The compressor pressurizes the tank which then runs the gun. The compressor should only run to re-pressurize the tank when you have used enough air to drop the pressure below required. Now, if I was painting a car that would be an issue as I am spraying for longer durations and running the pressure down so the compressor would be running more and then volume becomes an issue. But because it's only a bike, you're done in under 5 minutes (per coat of course) then as long as the tank is big enough I should be good right? I might then be able to get away with a smaller compressor with a good size tank?
I hope this makes sense and someone out there can help.
Cheers all, Scott.
My main issue is the cost of a good compressor, best part of 1K. Now I'm only a hobbiest, I'll paint the ocassional surf board or bike or maybe some art every now and then so I don't want to spend that much. But to get one that will run the gun I want it seems the cheap ones may not be up to it.
So.... I'm gonna get technical. The gun needs 7.59CFM (cubic feet per min, 232Litres/min in normal speak ) at 29PSI. Technically a compressor needs to meet that, most compressors, in fact pretty much all but the smallest get up to around 120PSI so no issue there. It's the volume that counts a lot of them out.
But from my understanding, and this is where I'm hoping someone can help, If I've got a big enough tank the volume doesn't matter, just the PSI. The compressor pressurizes the tank which then runs the gun. The compressor should only run to re-pressurize the tank when you have used enough air to drop the pressure below required. Now, if I was painting a car that would be an issue as I am spraying for longer durations and running the pressure down so the compressor would be running more and then volume becomes an issue. But because it's only a bike, you're done in under 5 minutes (per coat of course) then as long as the tank is big enough I should be good right? I might then be able to get away with a smaller compressor with a good size tank?
I hope this makes sense and someone out there can help.
Cheers all, Scott.
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