Siphon feed blaster won't feed
 

I have a siphon feed sand blaster, I just opened it up tonight, cranked up the compressor, and..... nothing. Just air. shook it around, got a little here and there but only enough to tick me off. I'm running a 150 psi large upright tank compressor at 80-125 psi. i've tried completely submerging the end of the hose. i've tried just resting it on top of the media, I even tried taping a funnel to the end of it and gravity feeding the thing. Has anyone else had this much trouble with a siphon fed blaster?

oh, btw, I'm using medium Black Diamond Blasting Abrasive. not sure if it makes a difference or not

Purchased a HF cabinet with the siphon feed, found reaching the correct balance between air and medium is important. Also, condensation becomes an issue, the gun/nozzle kit came with a 6" long needle type tool used to clear the gun/nozzle, which I have to use quite often. Not familiar with 'Black Diamond' wonder if the medium too coarse; I use a find 'glass bead' medium and works fine; although, process can be a pain in the backside.

For testing purposes only, may try using sand, again for testing since it's very harmful. If find the sand works then shop for a less toxic, less coarse medium, should be using a respirator mask.

Word of caution, medium can travel couple hundred yards, you do not want to upset your neighbors? :-huh

I'm using it in my garage, its everywhere lol I tried again, and found that, at least with this heavy (medium) of grit, I need to hold the siphon hose with one hand, and the gun with the other, so I can just barely touch the hopper with the siphon opening. otherwise it tried to suck up too much and would clog. I did find, that sticking my finger over the tip, then pulling the trigger, it would blow back pressure through the siphon hose and unclog it that way. I do want to try it with a finer media though. I think once this job is done, I'll be building a blasting cabinet lol

Purchased the HF $200 cabinet w/ dual doors, and 20% discount reduced the cost even more; peased with the quality. For large items open a door, taped an engine bag and able to blast the larger items.

Suggest make a project price list to determine which would be the least expensive. The cabinet I purchased works great, once I have gone thru the medium and the hopper is full, open the bottom shoot and dump the used medium into a container, screen, and start again.

Rather than purchasing a siphon blaster I decided on a cheap pressure blaster, I routing it thru my cabinet, O'MY. There is a sleeve on the back of the cabinet for standard shop vac hose, a must if one want to see what they are working on.

With regards to medium, I ran a search on local blasting equipment suppliers and happened upon a suppliers for large scale businesses and pleasantly surprise they welcomed individual purchasers, helpful staff and medium dirt cheap. Anyhow, food for thought?

In my siphon feed I use the 30 - 60 (fine) @ 90 psi, Black Diamond stuff from Tractor Supply. Works good on headers, body panels, etc. I tried the 20 - 40 (medium) grit...it worked but not as well.

For info purposes: Mentioned stumbling upon a cheap source for purchasing a variety of abrasive blasting material: Kleen Blast Abrasives, they primarily cater to large industrial businesses, several years ago purchased a few 50# bags of assorted abrasives, felt strange dodging Semi Trucks hauling material and here I am asking for a few 50# bags? Today found they added couple more locations in NoCa, SoCa, Washington, and Oregon. Anyhow, thought I would mention if member happens to reside within close proximity and able to stop and shop. See where they will also ship but not sure since I have not compared to other sources.

Anyhow for what it's worth, food for thought? :confused:SS

Specialty Abrasives & Blast Media, Contractor Abrasive Blast Equipment, Industrial Abrasive Blast Equipment: Kleen Blast

My experience
 

I’ve tried about everything that’s been mentioned above. No matter what abrasive I’m using, I hold the gun and drag the suction line across the medium. It just works best for me. I have been going to Home Depot and getting the playground sand because it’s cheap. I don’t know if that’s good or not but it works for me. I borrowed a soda blaster from a friend that he got at HF. For some small up close work that is not to thick with paint or whatever you’ve trying to remove, it works great. I don’t like the cabinet except in certain circumstances because I do things that are greasy. The black media clogs to easy for me.

IIRR...do a youtube search and there are a couple of gents who had the same issue but also the remedy...………...

media must be dry. as in almost zero moisture content or it will clump and not work.