Hello, I've had my airbrush / compressor for a few months, but I havent been using it as it sprays at 50 PSI and was having some noticeable inconsitency on spraying (lots of clogging, then shooting a blob of paint), possibly due to that.
But, As far as I can tell, I cant adjust the PSI at all, I've looked into it quite heavily, but nothing.
So... I'm wondering where I'd buy a 'good' pressure regulator with adjustable PSI? Preferably locally, not online.
Thanks
Edit: Ah, I see the title typo, accidently posted too early...

I got one off Amazon. You can get them at any home hardware store that carries air compressors. Home depot has them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00171BFKK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-1-4-in-Black-Air-Compressor-Regulator-with-Gauge-HDA70900AV/100082550

Best to get one with a water trap and remember that you will have to buy the fittings to fit your hose. Take it with you when you got shopping.

Ok, thanks! Atleast gives me a starting point, and worst case, I'll go with amazon.
My current one does have a moisture trap. Sadly, If it werent for that 50 psi preset it'd be fine.
I'll also remember the hose, I wouldnt have thought to bring it.

I've got two moisture traps, one on the tank side of my hose and another on the airbrush end of things. I'll get water in both of them after long sessions. But I'm also running 50 feet of hose from my compressor plus 16 feet of airbrush hose.

Fair enough, I'm only running with at most 6ft of hose, So it shouldnt be 'too' much of a worry. Moisture trap got pretty 'full' looking though (Lots of drops anyway)
Also, Not sure how the price is locally, but the first link of yours makes it seem alot better than I assumed! I thought I'd be down 40-50$ for an adjustable regulator to be honest.

A question to all came to me while reading this thread:
Is a water trap that big of a deal with acrylic paint? Keeping water out of an air tank to prevent rust makes plenty of sense to me but, moist air would almost seem like a good thing to me when using acrylics

Water in an airline in a bad thing period. You don't want it in air tools, paint sprayers or airbrushes. When in an air brush hose it doesn't mix with the paint, it shoots out in drops like your windex sprayer that hit what ever you're painting and cause defects and spattering in your paint regardless of type, oil, lacquer, acrylic or whatever. Areas of high humidity are more at risk of this than dryer climates but I've gotten water in my line all over the world. Water traps don't keep the water out of your tank, they keep water from your tank out of the air line. There will always be water in your tank so periodically drain your tank, it will extend it's life. Besides you wouldn't want water mixing with your paint throwing off your thinning ratios and the water coming out of your tank could be contaminated with rust from your tank so you don't want that crud in your paint.

I can dig everything you say since I've been around compressed gases quite a bit, but, if you are just using a 1/8 hp compressor and and airbrush with acrylic paint, the likelihood of actual water droplets forming in an air hose... clears during my test spray. Is it that big of a deal? I know I would sell you one in a heartbeat if I can add it to the price of the compressor I am selling you but...

Edit: I have several water traps on my tanks and compressors, including going into the tanks. It's Maine.

Just asking

Shalta

I got my regulator and moisture trap at Canadian Tire for my Badger compressor. As most of the fittings are universal, plus they sell adapters to change fitting sizes if needed.

Kevin

I used a WR Brown Speedy for decades. No tank, can't remember the hp probably 1/4 or less, 10 ft hose with a water trap I installed. Used it all over the country and world. Some places, drier than others, it would take a couple hours before it would start spitting water. Korea I'd have to empty the trap every 10 minutes or so. If I didn't it would spit water on my projects. There will always be water when using a compressor, it's the nature of the compressing gases. But it doesn't matter if it's acrylic or oil, you don't want water hitting your airbrush. That is the air that is applying the paint. The paint is already mixed and when it is driven by the air from the compressor that suddenly has drops of water in it it's not going to mix. It's going to splatter uncontrolled onto what every you are painting.

Thanks!
I'm pretty sure there's a relatively accesible (nearby) Canadian Tire here, So I might be able to go look tonight.

This is the one that I use, works great.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mastercraft-compressor-replacement-regulator-with-gauge-0587798p.html#srp

Both Micro-Mark and Model Expo sell separate regulators with moisture traps designed for hobby compressors. They also carry full lines of other hobby tools. You can order on line or by mail. I realize you said locally, but it may be difficult to find something to fit a hobby compressor properly with an accurate regulator. These are both very reputable companies with long histories in the hobby tool industry. Once you order from either company, they will send quarterly catalogs packed with all kinds of interesting and useful tools.
VR, Russ

Maybe. I'm planning to try checking around here first though, Saves the shipping time... Granted, It's going to take me untill mid-August before I get anymore painting done anyway.
Though, I'm not honestly sure if the Canadian Tire here will have it, I 'think' there might be a second store around here, but I have no idea off the top of my head.

A place that specializes in compressed gasses or welding supplies would have a regulator.

@Shalta- I got one at Tractor Supply, one at Home Depot and one at Wal-mart. Pretty sure I got one at Sears, once too, but that may be hard to do now.
To Patrick and the others. Thanks, I understand. I've always used water traps but only recently started using acrylics. I know what happens with enamel. My thought was that, with dry air coming down the tube, the first thing it wants to do is equalize. pressure and composition. When it hits the paint, is the dry air going to immediately start evaporating the paint, inside the air brush? Paint drying on the needle while you use it? Instead of starting the drying process outside the nozzle, it starts when the dry air contacts the H2O in the acrylic. So you thin the paint more, I get it.
If the air coming down the hose is atmospheric in relative humidity, the drying process would start later, closer to the nozzle if not outside of it. Just a thought.
Shalta, didn't mean to hijack your thread. Good luck with your airbrushing.

Doesnt matter on the thread hijacking, I'm new enough to airbrushing that it's nice to know!
I get the feeling Walmart's out of the question here though, Not sure if it's just here, but they never seem to restock stuff, so if they had it, it's probably sold out, lol.
I 'think' I still have a few $ on a Home Depot gift card though, Plus I need to go buy a few blinds for my living area anyway. So, I'll have to keep that in mind.
I've got atleast 3 places to check out of this thread (+ A couple online backups), So I'd say this thread has got as much 'use' as I needed
I should be able to get that sometime this week, and test the PSI on fixing my Merkava's last airbrushed coat of paint, And I'm looking forward to it!

Acrylics aren't water based, they use solvents and carriers that are water soluble to allow thinning. They also contain retarders to slow drying and other things to help control drying and leveling. You can add retarders if you're experiencing drying problems. Tip drying is usually a sign of air flow issues at the tip so I back it down if I start having issues. I've had tip drying issues with every type of paint and it was usually to much air, not moisture in the air line. Alot of people here use tank nitrogen to paint with and that stuff is dry. No humidity in the lines and they haven't posted any issues. I've used spare tires when I couldn't fire up my compressor and that stuff is pretty dry.

Any welding supply store. Amazon is a doable as well.

Shalta- I am not a professional painter but I truly love the Grex micro-regulator that mounts under the airbrush. Really nice fine tuning after the primary regulator gets you close to your working pressure.
Pretty sure I understand Rain-out because I used to work on Medical Gas Systems in which dry Medical Air is so much more essential for pneumatically driven Medical devices than for an impact wrench, but I want to check this before I dig myself a hole. Let me know if this seems wrong.
Rainout (water in a pressurized gas system) occurs due to the temperature differential between the gas heated by the friction of compressing the gas molecules and the surrounding non-gas surfaces. Compressed gas is seeking to equalize; pressure, composition, and temperature. Air coming out of the compressor gets hotter the higher the pressure attained. A water molecule in the compressed air will remain vaporized until it can find a cooler surface to transfer that heat to. The bigger the cool surface, the faster the water vapor condenses. Metal is a great heat conductor. The storage tank is where most of this condensation occurs. That's why there is a drain for the condensate.
After living in the storage tank for a while, temperatures stabilize and the pressurized air begins to re-absorb the moisture from the walls through evaporation. Here is where the water trap does its thing when the pressurized air leaves the tank. The water trap creates its own temperature differential with flow restrictors. That and the metal top design causes condensation again and we get rainout in the water trap.
So, we have to have a high enough temperature difference and enough surface area to get rainout. If I run my compressor up to fifty psi and then choke it down to twenty or less, I will probably get rainout from the reduction. If I store hot gas in a cold tank, rainout. If I store compressed air in a tank at 60 psi and throttle it down to twenty, I will probably get rainout in the regulator. If i can't touch the head of my compressor when it's running, I will get rainout. Did I get that right?
If, however, I run a low pressure compressor with little choking required and a small damping chamber to alleviate pulses, and modern, efficient heat dissipation straight to an airbrush, not a lot of surface there for rainout. That's what I think.
As far as reducing airflow to keep paint from drying on the needle? That reduces the amount of dry air absorbing the carrier solvents (be they water or other vapors) inside the airbrush, meaning less drying inside the airbrush. That's what I said in the other post.
Using a consistent dry gas like nitrogen makes it easy to compensate with thinner so the dry gas is close to irrelevant because it's consistent.
I am not trying to talk anybody out of using water traps. I use them and the cost is negligible. But they may not always be necessary.

I agree. I use CO2 and avoided the need for a water trap. I use a regulator from a welding supply house and my airbrush has a valve to further control pressure if needed.
I use to have a Badger air compressor, a rubber diaphragm type without a tank. The compressor would heat the air as it compressed the air. As the air moved down the airline it cooled and the moisture collected on the inside of the airline and then was forced out by the moving air. So even the simplest setup needs a water trap if using a compressor. The humidity also plays a part. Arizona in the summer is more forgiving than Florida in the summer when it comes to using a compressor.

Relative humidity changes the equation because it sets the dew point temperature at which rainout occurs.. Higher relative humidity lowers the dew point temperature closer to ambient temperature. At 90% humidity the temperature at which rainout will occur is closer to ambient than a relative humidity of 20%. So, in Florida on a ninety degree day with 90% humidity, the dew point for compressed air in the line is much closer to ninety degrees than the dew point in Arizona would be on a ninety degree day with ten percent relative humidity. There is also the altitudinal pressure difference between fla and az but that's way too complicated and mostly irrelevant here.
Again, a new modern hobby compressor with very low pressure settings and little regulation will have less rainout than a 3 hp 150psi compressor throttled down to the same output pressure with the same relative humidity and temperature. Check with any compressor manufacturer on that.