Compressor Air Regulator Leaking - Help!

[Melbee]

Well, after letting the first coat of Epoxy Brunox Primer/Rust Converter dry in my air tank for several days I gave it a good rinse and dried it out. Yesturday I put in the second coat and rolled the Air Tank around till it covered the whole inside again and now it's drying out. This stuff looks like it's going to do a good job, this inside of the tank looks black now instead of rusty brown and I'm sure it will deal with the water better. I'm just waiting for the new Air Regulator to arrive and I'll be back in business.

I haven't been airbrushing because although my compressor doesn't need this extra Air Tank, I do notice a slight surge in air pressure (which is one of the reasons I put this extra air tank on) when the motor kicks in. I find this disconcerting because if I'm doing something delicate it can cause the paint to spider or something and I don't want to risk it. I'd forgotten it did this until I took the tank off. No worries though because I've had plently to do planning some other pictures and using Photoshop to mess around with the ideas It's good for my learning processs with photoshop too :glasses:

 

[Immortal Concepts]

Well I hope you learned now why you should drain your tank after every use .

 

[Melbee]

Well I hope you learned now why you should drain your tank after every use .

Well the irony is, that my Air Tank was actually completely dry inside when the Regulator failed and I think it was because it was dry that the loose rust bits were able to be taken with the air flow into the Regulator and block it up. I think that when it was wet inside the water kept the rust particles down Obviously it was the water that made the tank rusty in the first place and did the main damage to the Regulator so "Yes, Sir!! I learned my lesson to drain my Air Tank after every use!!!"

 

[Melbee]

@Madbrush I heated the fittings before trying to unscrew them from my Regulator and it worked. Thanks for the tip. The melted Locktight is very sticky, do you know what it the best stuff to remove it from my spanner? Would Turpentine or White Vinigar or Bio Ethanol or Acetone work. I'm only mentioning stuff I have at home I even have lighter fluid from my old smoking Zippo days.

The Regulator arrived, the Air Tank is prepared and all the fittings are cleaned up and put back with Non-hardening Thread Sealant. I just need to go get a 1/4 to 1/4" fitting because they sent 2 x 1/8 to 1/4" with the new Regulator. I could use the one I salvaged from the old Regulator but it's rusty inside and I'd rather just buy a new one than try and clean it up. Anyway I should be back in business later today

 

[AndreZA]

It is so cool that you do this all by yourself. A women that is handy with a spanner. That is a winning recipe. Hope you can cook as well.

 

[Melbee]

It is so cool that you do this all by yourself. A women that is handy with a spanner. That is a winning recipe. Hope you can cook as well.

Ha Ha Ha!! Nice one AndreZA!! and yes I can cook too. I grew up with two brothers and my Dad was a Woodwork and Metalwork teacher so I learned loads from him. I love messing about with tools and making and fixing things. I don't think twice about it except that my hands are getting abit too weak for my liking I was also one of the very first girls in the UK to be taught Technical Drawing at school.

By the way, I learnt cooking from my Mum and I also learnt that a girl/woman can do anything. She used to make metal sculptures by Welding!! Go Mum

 

[Madbrush]

It is so cool that you do this all by yourself. A women that is handy with a spanner. That is a winning recipe. Hope you can cook as well.

All women are handy with a spanner, it's just that some are handy in ways we would prefer them not be, like when we come home on a Friday with a penny short in our wages,

@Melbee , I'm not sure how you should clean the residue but I would assume either acetone or special thinners should deal with it, I believe that thread lock has similar ingredients to super glue.

 

[Melbee]

@Madbrush the acetone did the trick, brilliant! Yeah you've got to be careful of women with spanners!! Ha Ha Haa!

It took me hours to get my Air Tank back together and air tight but it's been sat now for a few hours full of compressed air and the motor hasn't kicked in yet which means it's not leaking I had to put plummers tape on most of the threads because the non-hardening thread sealant didn't hold up on some of the fittings. I had trouble getting the Regulator to be air tight and straight up but a few extra wraps of plummers tape did the trick. All seems to be working again and has passed the test so I'll be painting again tomorrow and testing out the new paints Then back to my lastest artwork using excellent Com-Art paint.