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Airbrush Connection to CO2 Tank

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Paul Scherer - 21 Dec 2005 00:42 GMT
I appreciate all the help with my previous posts over the past few months.
This forum is proving to be very helpful!

And now for one more dilemma to see if the crowd has an answer.  I'm a
homebrewer and I keg my beer -- which is driven by a C02 tank.  I'd like to
make it a dual purpose CO2 tank and use it with my airbrush.  I got the idea
from a modelling magazine I read -- too cheap to buy a compressor (I'd
rather have an Iwata).  The article said I should ask the local hardware
store for fittings to make it work.  Try as I might, I came up empty handed
after trying one small and one large (starts with an "L") store, as well as
an auto parts store (they sell airbrushes, don't they) and the place I go to
fill the tank.

Does anyone have a setup they can show me or describe?  The C02 place told
me they didn't have anything (hard for me to understand that since it's a
welding supply shop).  I'm sure it can be done...I just need some
experience...

Thanks again, and Merry Christmas!

Paul
Francis X. Kranick, Jr. - 21 Dec 2005 04:17 GMT
> I appreciate all the help with my previous posts over the past few months.
> This forum is proving to be very helpful!
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> Paul

Paul -
    I also use CO2 for my brush but it's not sharing anything - I buy my
beer!  Unless you're blessed with a 20+ pound cylinder, you may find
yourself running out for refills regularly.  Anyway, I'm using a
regulator/gauge combo used for beer/soft drinks.  There should be a tap
on the side of the regulator with a setscrew on three sides of the
regulator - at least mine does - they're at 9, 12 and 3 o'clock when
viewed from above..  FWIW, the brand of my regulator is TapRite or
somesuch name...
    So, at the 12 o'clock position is the pressure gauge.  That's best left
alone.  The screws on either side of that can be removed and pipe
nipples can be threaded into the hole, allowing you to tap into the
pressure stream.
    What I've done is to get a secondary regulator (from Sears, ~$20) and
use this to sub-regulate the gas to a finer degree than the TapRite
regulator.  The TapRite steps the pressure down so the Sears unit can
drop it further for airbrushing.  The Sears unit also has setscrews to
connect another pipe nipple and then attach a reducing fitting for the
airbrush hose.  IIRC, it's 1/4" NPT down to 1/8"NPT, all connections
with Teflon tape, of course.
    I've got a picture of it somewhere if you'd like me to illustrate my
rig.  It sounds a little Rube Goldberg but it's not bad at all.  Been
using it for years without issue.  I got several CO2 fire extinguishers
changed over with a new valve so I have backups to boot.
    Please let me know if I can offer anything else.

Frank Kranick
The Keeper - 21 Dec 2005 08:19 GMT
I've got two Norgren regulators and I just bought a new one for a
friend who's getting a CO2 setup. I've looked all over, the best place
to buy one is your local beer distributor. They'll have the two gauge
type. One reads the tank pressure and the other the delivery pressure.
This was $40 and I didn't have to chase around. Odd that the industrial
gas supplier doesn't sell these, isn't it? Couldn't find anyone to
repair my broken Norgren for less than $60 either.
hth
The Keeper
Don Stauffer - 21 Dec 2005 15:12 GMT
> I appreciate all the help with my previous posts over the past few months.
> This forum is proving to be very helpful!
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> Paul

Don't know anything about what is on a CO2 bottle, but most of the
airbrush hose adapters I've seen go on a quarter inch pipe fitting, so
you need an adapter for whatever is on the bottle regulator to 1/4 pipe
fitting.  As a matter of fact, aren't all regulators standard pipe
fitting?  If there is a regulator on it, the output of the regulator
should be a pipe fitting, and you just need an adapter from that output
to quarter inch.
The Keeper - 24 Dec 2005 06:51 GMT
Don's reply indicates I might not have understood the problem. Paul, do
you already have a regulator? If so, the adaptor to go from the 1/4
inch NPT thread at the end of the regulator to the airbrush hose is
usually supplied with your more expensive airbrush hoses. If you need
one, check local art or craft supply stores.
hth
The Keeper
Don Stauffer - 24 Dec 2005 16:01 GMT
> Don's reply indicates I might not have understood the problem. Paul, do
> you already have a regulator? If so, the adaptor to go from the 1/4
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> hth
> The Keeper

My first airbrush, which came with Propel cans, did NOT include such an
adapter (1/4 inch to 1/8 inch, but my local hobby shop had them).
Turbo Viking Driver - 09 Jan 2006 13:05 GMT
shouldn't we use Oxygen in our tanks - help the air in our homes!  [;-)

Even Nitrogen is better than CO2 in an enclosed room.!

I simply use a portable $20 tank from walmart that I fill to 120psi
using my house compressor [that I use for tires, etc] - I then run it
at 20-30psi using the Rube Goldberg devices descrbied by another poster
- actually, an adapter to get the fitting to work and then a gauge with
a needle valve to pressure.  Pretty simple - oh, yeah, you need a water
trap when not using a dry gas. . . too bad argon is do expensive and
helium does such a crummy job in an airbrush  . ..

joe
William H. Shuey - 09 Jan 2006 21:02 GMT
> shouldn't we use Oxygen in our tanks - help the air in our homes!  [;-)

Great idea, as long as you ignore the fire/explosion hazard!

                    Bill Shuey
 
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