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CO2 airbrushing dangers


Hawkwrench

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1 hour ago, Jennings Heilig said:

   But regardless of what compressor you use, you get moisture. CO2 is completely dry 

 

Oooh , expensive moisture trap !  Neither is vastly superior over the other

except for a personal preference. They each have their pluses and minuses.

 

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Guys, calm down. If you smell paint, it is the solvent which is the carrier for the paint. Both VOC's and paint particles are hazardous to your health. The goal is to minimize breathing them as much as possible. Same with dust particles, especially resin dust.

 

Jennings, Mike and I both live in Oregon. With a moisture trap, compressor works great here! And being in Tuscon, I doubt you have to worry too much about humidity much anymore unless you go out in a storm!!!

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CO2 tanks should be harmless as long as they are secured. I guess you have to have them filled every now and then.

 

I've used my Craftsman shop compressor for years with a moisture trap on the compressor and a small moisture trap at the airbrush regulator and never had a problem.

 

Dan

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8 hours ago, Gazzas said:

 

I use a shop compressor.  It's a wee noisy and not overly expensive.  Hobby compressors are too weak.  I'd never buy another.  But I don't think I could fill my tires with a CO2 cylinder.

 

Gaz

 

You can, and I used to back in my jeeping days, a 10 pound CO2 tank would fill up your tires after an air down for three or more trips, depending on your tire size and how many friends you fill up. A company called Powertank makes a whole it, and its cheaper and faster than most vehicle mounted compressors.  For car size tires, IE huge 33 to 35 inchers a 10# tank would last forever. 

 

https://powertank.com/collections/10-15-lb-power-tank

 

IMG_0247-1600x1200.jpg

Mine being used by a buddy, back in the day, I didn't air down on that trip...

Edited by JeepsGunsTanks
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10 hours ago, Radub said:

 

I never wasted money on a compressor. I used to make my own compressors using fridge pumps. I only had two commercially-built compressors and they were worth their weight in gold. 

Radu 

I’ve done the same thing, used fridge compressor, but I piped mine into a “retasked” R-12 20lb holding tank, attached a manifold to the tank with drier and regulated outlets for 3 airbrushes with tank pressure and line pressure gauges and low and hi pressure switches. (The pump cycles on and off at preset pressures) When the guy in Home Depot helping me out with fittings found out was I was doing he told me the pump won’t last more than a couple of weeks without oil... that was over 10 years ago! Pound for pound I think it’s paid for itself many times over! Granted he may be right and I just got lucky... but I don’t think so.

thats all for now, I’m heading back into my laboratory... I mean hobby room.

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Is CO2 cheap and readily available in the US? 

 

Here in Aus it's a PITA to get. You have to make special arrangements with plumbing suppliers. I would imagine it really doesn't matter what your personal preference is, so long as you're happy with it.

 

Matty

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I never had a problem with moisture in my airbrush and I live in Ireland. YOU think YOU got "moisture"????? :-)

I mentioned that since I started painting models I only bought two compressors that are worth their weight in gold. The first one was an Italian Eolo 500, long gone out of production. My current set-up is a Revell Master compresaor. The compressor is on the floor, the regulator and moisture trap are mounted on the worktop, the two are connected with a relatively chunky "spiral" hose. From the regulator to the airbrush I have another spiral hose. At the bottom of the airbrush I have a smaller Iwata in-line filter/moisture-trap. 

I drain the tank at the end of each airbrushing day and there is quite a bit of mousture in there. Moisture never even "makes it" to the first moisture trap. The moisture condenses in the chunky spiral hose between the tank and worktop-mounted regulator/moisture trap and it drains down ino the tank.

To be honest, I have no idea where I could get a CO2 tank or where I could refill it. And I also cannot see how a CO2 tank "experience" can "improve" my trouble-free airbrushing. :-)

Radu 

 

 

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I'll stick with my compressor too as it's probably a country thing as on this side of the pond you can't walk into a hardware store and get a bottle of CO2.

Plus, any compressed gas can be dangerous depending on the circumstances.

 

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I personally use nitrogen in gas form, yes it displaces oxygen but unless your spraying in an airtight shoebox it’s perfectly safe. The start up cost can be sort on the pricey side , purchasing your first tank and regulator but refills depending on the size of your tank is really cheap and a full tank can last for months if not years. It’s clean, moisture free and extremely quite.

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10 hours ago, LSP_Matt said:

Is CO2 cheap and readily available in the US? 

 

Here in Aus it's a PITA to get. You have to make special arrangements with plumbing suppliers. I would imagine it really doesn't matter what your personal preference is, so long as you're happy with it.

 

Matty

 

Not too expensive, no, especially when one considers that a full 20lb tank can last a couple of years before needing a refill, and yes, easily available from a variety of locations.

 

And I agree, if what someone already has, works well for their personal taste and needs, more power to them.

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15 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

It depends entirely on where you live.  Try airbrushing in the summer in Florida.  You could have a moisture trap the size of a small car and it won’t help.

 

But it’s your model to ruin Mike.  Have at it. CO2 has zero down sides for our purposes.

I dislike this sort of "mine is better than yours" nonsense.

 

People spray with CO2 cylinders, and with compressors with moisture traps, and both work. I don't hear a steady stream of compressor users complaining about ruined models because of moisture? Am I missing something here?

 

To me, if you've a compressor, and you're happy with it, carry on. Equally, if you use CO2, and you're happy with it, carry on. Neither one is right or wrong - compressors seem to work out cheaper in the long run, are more transportable, never run out, are theoretically safer (although the risk is negligible to me) and take up a little less space; whereas CO2 tanks preclude the need to use a moisture trap, guarantee 100% dry air, don't require a power source (which could be handy) and create no noise whatsoever - handy with young kids, or thin walls, or neighbours with bat-like hearing.

 

I've got a Jun-Air 15 litre compressor, with 2 moisture traps. Never had a problem, other than lifting the bloody thing up to the attic room, as it weighs an absolute ton. And it's quiet enough.

 

I'm not one for willy-waving, but if that breaks (which it won't, they are bulletproof and will outlive me), I'm planning on getting a monster sized gas cylinder, powered by unobtanium, a single filling of which lasts 125 years, which is pre-programmed with all WWI & WWII Camo schemes, even ones that are as yet unknown. You just wave the airbrush in the general direction of the model.

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On 10/16/2018 at 9:00 AM, Gene said:

Keep in mind that CO2 is the principal out-gas product of photosynthesis of plants.  It sinks lower than O2 and as mentioned above in concentration will displace O2 - that's the danger but good ventilation will solve that issue.  I've used compressed CO2 for airbrushing for years and over time,  my friends have not noticed any abhorrent behavior in me (I do wonder about them sometimes).

Actually it's oxygen that is the outgas. Plants take in C02. Anyway, I'm really curious about C02 for airbrushing. Might have to try it some time.

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3 hours ago, DeanKB said:

I dislike this sort of "mine is better than yours" nonsense.

 

People spray with CO2 cylinders, and with compressors with moisture traps, and both work. I don't hear a steady stream of compressor users complaining about ruined models because of moisture? Am I missing something here?

 

To me, if you've a compressor, and you're happy with it, carry on. Equally, if you use CO2, and you're happy with it, carry on. Neither one is right or wrong - compressors seem to work out cheaper in the long run, are more transportable, never run out, are theoretically safer (although the risk is negligible to me) and take up a little less space; whereas CO2 tanks preclude the need to use a moisture trap, guarantee 100% dry air, don't require a power source (which could be handy) and create no noise whatsoever - handy with young kids, or thin walls, or neighbours with bat-like hearing.

 

I've got a Jun-Air 15 litre compressor, with 2 moisture traps. Never had a problem, other than lifting the bloody thing up to the attic room, as it weighs an absolute ton. And it's quiet enough.

 

I'm not one for willy-waving, but if that breaks (which it won't, they are bulletproof and will outlive me), I'm planning on getting a monster sized gas cylinder, powered by unobtanium, a single filling of which lasts 125 years, which is pre-programmed with all WWI & WWII Camo schemes, even ones that are as yet unknown. You just wave the airbrush in the general direction of the model.

Don’t worry mate, Mr. Holy is just compensating...

Cheers

Alan ;)

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