HF soda blaster

[JointTech]

got the 15 pound soda blaster today. They didnt have any soda... So I went to a powder coater down the road and he was nice enough to sell me 30 pounds.

1. There is a 1/2" hole to fill the tank. yea seriously. 1/2". !~!@#$ing impossible to fill the thing.

Even with a funnel unless your soda is bone dry it doesnt flow into the tank. So Im using a peice of wire to shove it in. After about 30 minutes of filling I have it about 1/5 full.

2. My media must be dampish because it spits and sputters like crazy.

I saw a few people that had the idea of putting a vibrator inside the tank. Hilarious, but no vibrator I've seen would fit in a 1/2" hole.
Second idea was a guy duct taped a palm sander to the side of the tank to keep the soda around the pickup tube.

another guy said drilling a few more holes in the pickup tube helped.

So all that said I wouldnt recommend this piece of crap. Im going to make the modifications to it and see if I can at least make it useable. As it is now its a boat anchor.

I read I can put the soda in the oven to dry it out. Anybody done that or have any idea of temp or time in oven?

[Sillyoldman]

I also have the same blaster. It's a pain to fill but works pretty well. Get some dry soda before you heave it through a wall.

[JointTech]

how do you dry the soda? The stuff from HF looks like it comes in a paper bag so I assume it has as much moisture as what I have.

Is there any chain type store that might carry it? I checked everywhere I could think of and nobody stocks it. Hmm does wally world have big bags of arm and hammer? Costco maybe?

I feel like if I could get the stupid thing filled all the way up it might work but I don't have 4 hours to do it

[Tx Firefighter]

I strongly disagree. You got crappy soda or something.

For two years now, I've used the HF soda blaster and couldn't be happier with it. It's made me a lot of money over that time (powdercoating shop). I buy the soda at HF. Never a complaint. Yes, its a bit tedious to fill through that little hole, but the machine's performance is well worth it.

I just used it yesterday actually.

[JointTech]

well nobody but that local blaster had any soda and I wanted to work on my stuff today so I returned it and got a pressurized pot blaster I can use with my normal blasting media. More cleanup but at least it works. I don't disagree it was mainly the soda. it was definitely not flowing well.

[83 Silverado]

HF and East Woods sell's a conversion kits for most pressure pot blasters, be a lot easier to fill now that you have a blaster.

http://www.harborfreight.com/garage-...kit-60618.html

[JointTech]

I saw those. what does the kit actually do? whats different in the way it blasts vs sand/glass bead? The HF soda blaster cost twice what the pot blaster does.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by JointTech

well nobody but that local blaster had any soda and I wanted to work on my stuff today so I returned it and got a pressurized pot blaster I can use with my normal blasting media. More cleanup but at least it works. I don't disagree it was mainly the soda. it was definitely not flowing well.

Just keep in mind its quite a difference between the two medias. Soda blasting is great for aluminum and delicate stuff but it's not too great at removing heavy stuff. While more aggressive medias are good for rust removal and peening out surface irregularities.

Here is the kind of stuff I use soda on. Throttle body rebuild. Its tops on delicate aluminum.





More aggressive media would have really destroyed the aluminum.

[83 Silverado]

The soda uses a different manifold for flow control, this is from the Eastwood site http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=s7mGGCVwl-E

[JointTech]

so somebody is conspiring against me.
Filled the new HF pressure blaster with Kleenblast 30/60. Constantly clogs.
fiddling with the abrasive valve Im able to get it to run a little before it will clog itself up again.. grumble.

I saw one review say it needs 80grit so Im now on the hunt for more blasting material. Kleenblast's finest is what I have at 30/60. I found some 80grit silica at Whitecap but it isnt dried and Im worried I'll be back to the same problem i was having with the original soda blaster. Oh and I dont really want silicosis...

So Im going to bite the bullet and order the HF blasting material. and then wait, and hope it actually works. I really want this hood finished so I can paint dang it!!@#$$%%.
I could have used my air tools and done an hour a day at this rate and been done already. I swear I spend more time trying to save time..

[JointTech]

I found some tips online to keep the tip from constantly clogging.

Open all the air valves and then slowly open the media valve on the bottom until it starts flowing. Full open clogs every time. This is in direct contradiction to the instructions that come with the unit and will probably eat up that valve pretty quick.

Get rid of the ceramic tips and shutoff valve at the hose tip. Replace it with a quick connect fitting. the orifice is much bigger.

make the air dryer.

I blasted for a couple minutes this afternoon with out clogging

Its so loud I gave my neighbors a break and will come back after business hours and do some more.

I'm using 30/60 kleenblast. I want some 80 grit AO. In doing research on this blaster I came to a bunch of talk on blasting warping panels that has me a little worried.

Whats the best media for paint removal from body panels that has less chance of warping panels. (and dont say soda hahaha)

[Eric15chevys]

HF has small inline desiccant dryers. It really helped me while small shop blasting. I just made sure that I had several projects ready to go in the same day because you can't seal them back up very well.

[JointTech]

i might have to try one. But for now I gave up on that thing. I took the gun out of my blast cabinet and attached a 5ft hose on the intake and stuffed it in my bag of media. Doesnt clog... works great.

I drove past an abrasives and tools store today I didnt know about so Im going to pickup some 80grit AO and give the red monster one more try.