Jetblast

The Sparmax AC-501X may be worth considering - within budget, reasonably quiet, automatic & with a proper regulator rather than a bleed valve. Typically oil free compressor noise output is directly related to power / airflow, with around 50dbA being normal for a 1/8HP unit with 15 L/Min output or therabouts - quiet enough to have a conversation while running (the compressor that is!) without having to raise your voice. The "exhaust" noise associated with Sil-Air compressor (15 & 30 series only) comes from the unloader valve which is operated at the end of each run cycle, it's purpose is to reduce pressure on the motor / pump side so that the motor has negligible start up load to contend with. Easing the load at start up allows a less powerful & consequently quieter motor to be used & it's this which allows the Sil-Air 15 series models to run a 30dbA. Removing the unloader would require an increase in motor power / noise & that's you back up to 40dbA like the Sil-Air 50 series or Bambi's.

Mr Hobby Aqueous H328 FS15050 Blue or Tamiya X-3 Royal Blue appear pretty similar.

A few images I've managed to dig out if they help; Covers removed (moisture & gunk all normal); NRV; Healthy liner / piston / flapper; Healthy piston seal (worn seal material on seal edge);

An undercover Sparmax AC-500 I believe. If there is a audible leak from one of the cylinders when the compressor isn't running, it will be the non return valve for that cylinder. The NRV's aren't prone to failure, but can become gummed up with crud (shed seal material &/or mould) which prevents them from closing fully, these are pretty easy to access, strip & clean. Remove the 8 Allen screws holding the finned cylinder covers on, lift the covers off together & you will now be looking at the black or possibly silver cylinder plates with the NRV's mounted in the centres of the plates. Remove the cylinder plates & wash them in hot soapy water, possibly removing the NRV's for more thorough cleaning if they are obviously caked in crud. While you have the cylinder plates off, check the condition of the piston crown flapper valves & the piston seals - flapper valves can work loose, moving into the wrong position & can snap / break, piston seals degrade with time & will eventually wear our, usually signified by obvious scoring on the liner & quite a bit of noise while running. If you have a piston (bonded PTFE seal) or liner issue, the parts will be available (may take a bit of hunting right enough), but you will be looking at around £30/£35 for a single set & needless to say if one set happens to be toast, the other will not be far away, so £60/£70...

Yes - BSP-P fittings will not seal on the thread alone & require either PTFE tape or liquid sealant.

Yes, that's the correct part & no that isn't the best price.

www.air-craft.net is the website of Air Tech Equipment Ltd - We are an UK based online retailer specialising in airbrushing equipment, spares & accessories along with a selection of modelling related paint, tools, masking, abrasives, accessories & what not. Our website shows live stock levels & we do not support back ordering, so with the exception of the very occasional stock level errors, if it's indicated as in stock, it is physically in stock. We ship around the globe, using Royal Mail & Parcelforce in the UK, Royal Mail Airmail & Parcelforce / GLS in Europe & Royal Mail Airmail, TNT & UPS for orders beyond Europe, orders generally ship the same or next working day. We can accept PayPal, credit card or bank transfer as payment methods & for added security our website is HTTPS throughout. We are direct importers or official resellers for all the products we sell, are familiar with the technical aspects of all equipment listed & have a significant range of spares to support said equipment. We are happy to advise on any airbrush equipment related enquiries, but I'm afraid we don't have a team of receptionist & sometimes struggle to get to the phone during busier periods - If you don't get a reply & prefer not to leave a message you can email us on [email protected] & we will respond as soon as we can. Harder & Steenbeck - airbrushes, spares & accessories Iwata - airbrushes, compressors, spares & accessories Sparmax - compressors, airbrushes, spares & accessories Mr Hobby - airbrushes, spares, paints & accessories Neo for Iwata - airbrushes, spares & accessories Werther Sil-Air - silenced compressors & spares Benchvent - spray booths Tamiya - paints, tools, masking & accessories Swann Morton - knives & blades Olfa - knives, cutters & blades Micro-Mesh - abrasives Flex-I-File - abrasives & adhesives Model Craft - tools Ultimate Modelling Products - cleaner, thinner & primers Others - Xuron, 3M, Light Craft, Artool, Aircom, Adhesives, Brushes.......... Thanks for looking, Martin Ferguson, Air Tech Equipment Ltd.

We are still here, but previous posts have disappeared into the ether with a forum issue I'm afraid - I guess you could call it a post apocalypse..... We will try & get some relevant posts up over the next week or so

Not sure about Future & you may have to polish afterwards. Heavy wax (furniture, car, whatever) seems to be useful for filling deeper scratches, pile on & polish off - the scratch may remain visible when finished, but it should / might read properly.

If there is oil spillage it's most likley coming from the cover seal or air intake filter - this can be caused by moving the compressor & letting the oil slop about inside or running the compressor on an incline. The only other place the motor case can leak from is the sight bubble, unlikley, but if the gasket / seal has failed, possible. A reducing oil level with no spillage suggests that the oil is passing into the air tank, this can be caused by oil passed it best, motor/pump overheating or at worst a worn head. This can be easily checked for by filling to pressure & draining from the drain screw - a small amount of oil is not unusual, but mainly oil is.

I've found time between mixing & spraying with some Tamiya & other metallics to be an issue, the less the better so there isn't such an opportunity for separation. You can generally see which paints will be worst affected by watching the surface after you have mixed & some will start rapidly doing their own thing as soon as you stop mixing - I'll typically try to get it mixed, in the cup & sprayed as soon as possible & for larger jobs will prepare what's required, but only put a few ml of paint into the cup at a time, stirring & refilling as I go, it's a pain but helps prevent settling.

-presumably it's rust and water? Yes. -should I therefore drain the tank from the valve at the bottom? Yes, although you might find that little comes out as the drain plug may be blocked with sediment - if that's the case, depressurise the tank, remove the drain screw completely & stick something like a fine screwdriver or a bent coat hanger into the hole to clear it. -Is it still safe to use, will there be any breach in the pressure vessel? It should be, but who knows really. Rusty water being pumped up into the regulator bowl suggests that the water level in the tank is close to being on level with the tank of-take which suggests that condensate has been accumulating for some time? Best practice is to drain the tank via the drain screw at the end of every session where you will get a little bit of moisture, but not enough to make a big mess. Failing at the end session I would advise once a week or so at minimum.

I get the impression that once something is initially accepted into RM's system, via depot or hub it gets the green stamp to proceed without any further intervention, that's fine, but I get the impression that; Deliveries from abroad are accepted into the system on the basis of being properly checked at the originating location without question. Deliveries originating from the UK regardless of their destination are far more stringently checked. I've had numerous deliveries end up at RM's National Returns Depot in Belfast for "fake" reasons, one of which sticks in my mind - Customer orders a compact spray gun on Special Delivery & it gets sent straight to Belfast after x-ray scanning as it resembles a firearm (pistol grip I assume), a replacement order sent out by 2nd class post (to avoid air), but due to spare air capacity it ends up going by air, the paint cup union rattles much like a rattle can assuring an x-ray inspection, inspection reveals a metal cylinder-ish thing (the paint cup) which must be an aerosol & the 2nd order is on it's way to Belfast as well..... To add insult to injury it took several weeks to get the stock back on the shelf.

RM will not accept hazardous goods per-se, but they are doing end point delivery for the vast majority of Parcelforce deliveries & these can legitimately contain declared hazardous goods...... confusing. A guess tells me that this is because RM can't guarantee "by road" transport for UK deliveries & regularly use air for premium services & when contracted air freight space allows, not so premium services as well. Parcelforce on the other hand trunk by road & avoid the complication of air. It still doesn't answer why all sorts of hazardous & prohibited items are coming in from abroad by regular (and sometimes unbelievably cheap) mail, ranging from "regular" hazardous goods like aerosols, to fireworks & a whole lot more....

123910 is the correct kit. 123911 has an extra two needle seals for the CR Plus's long life, triple needle seal - you can fit / use this with the Silverline but you would also require the longer needle seal retaining screw (126470 / £2.50).

Sparmax make a "nozzle repair tool" for this, probably better called a nozzle thread extractor - it's basically a fine steel pin with a pointed tip that has flattened edges much like a straight flute screw extractor. Insert the tool into the nozzle thread, push to allow the edges of the tool to grip & then unscrew, the flutes gripping the inner side of the nozzle thread.

No answers as such, but a couple of things that cross my mind; Solvent pop A layer of solvent paint over another layer that hasn't fully outgassed can cause bubbles to form from the evaporating solvent being release from the lower level. The bubbles often pop, leaving a cratered, pitted look & the problem can be exacerbated by over heavy top coats Moisture blisters Leave a similar cratered finish as above & is caused by fine moisture in the airflow or high humidity. This may not be apparent (or at least as apparent) with acrylics. It might be worth sticking something like "common spray paint defects" into /-insert favourite search engine here-/ & having a look through the results. The vast majority of hits will be from the auto refinishing game, but generally speaking they are applicable

Not a problem & thank you!

It does sound like the valve closure screw is too tight - just back it off until you find it comfortable.

The HP-B+ may give the margin that your looking for (or HP-BH if you want / require the MAC valve) & should also feel more than familiar if your using an HP-CH already, as excluding the 0.2mm nozzle, smaller paint cup & shorter nose, the HP-B+ / HP-BH are basically the same as the HP-C+ / HP-CH. The CM-B (0.18) would probably be the optimum choice & realistically hard to beat, but it comes at a substantial price hike over an HP-B+ (give or take twice the price). Other viable alternatives would be the Mr Hobby Procon Boy FWA Platinum / PS-270 (0.2mm - it's pretty similar to the HP / Hi-line series, supplied with MAC valve, crown cap & paint cup lid, but doesn't have the short nose or small paint cup of the Iwata "B's") or the Mr Airbrush Custom 0.18 / PS-770. The PS-770 is very similar is spec & build to the Iwata CM-C+, but has an 0.18mm nozzle set similar to the CM-B's, it doesn't however have the specially hand matched / fettled head treatment that the Custom Micron's do.

Johndc - After being switched on the manual model continues to run & once tank pressure is reached excess pressure will bleed through the pressure relief valve - the bleeding will continue until the tank pressure is reduced by consuming air from it or until the compressor is switched off. The automatic models have a pressure control unit mounted at the front (the grey / black plastic housing that you will see on most current Werther models) which monitors tank pressure, cuts the motor of once max. pressure has been reached, relieves residual pressure from the head & then re-starts the motor when the pre-set lower pressure limit is reached - & so on & so forth as required. Hope that helps.

That's a Sil-Air 15 Export re-branded fro Rotring, it's a bit older that the current model, but generally similar. I imagine that the original manual was a re-print of the Werther manual, the current Werther manual should get you going (It's more focused on the automatic models, but other than that should do you fine); http://www.air-craft.net/acatalog/Sil-Air-Manual.pdf

That's correct, it's a basically a TC-620X in a side by side arrangement with Revell stickers on it. A remote regulator will be fine - no need for two, just use the existing one. The dimensions don't seem to be listed on Revell's site, if you need them I can find them somewhere.

That's correct, the power switch is on the left of the motor at the front.

googsy - In selling the 610 over quite some time I can say that we have not experienced such an issue with the regulator assembly, not saying it's not possible, but two in a row seems odd. Regarding the 610 being nosier than the eBay special, the 610 has a similar noise output to any other oil-free compressor in the 25L/Min class & I'm not aware of Chinese units in this power class being quieter. Oil-free compressors in the 10>15 L/Min class are noticeably quieter than the 610 (& other compressors with a similar output), for a like for like comparison to these you would be looking at the AC-501X.