What do you use to supply air for air assist

[Roy Nicholson]

I'm thinking of connecting up the air assist on my laser.

Can someone suggest what air supply I should use.

I thought the other day someone said they were using a compressor...

I have two available but thought I should find out what others are using.

I think iot will be handy when my laser is back in action...


Regards


Roy N.

[paul mott]

Hi Roy,

This is what I use, it is an oil-less, aquarium, piston pump, cheap as chips from China and despite all the bad reports of Chinese stuff this works extremely well and I am really pleased with it.

http://www.cooperman.talktalk.net/files/27_files/image624.jpg

They are available on eBay in varying sizes with differing flow rates - take a look.

Paul.

[Amy Shelton]

I use Porter Cable "Job Boss", 4.5 gallon air compressor. It may be overkill, but it doesn't have to run all the time. I had another one, a different brand, and it was just 2 or 3 months old when it slowly lost pressure and quit, during the middle of a vectoring job! Even over the noise of the laser and the exhaust, I was able to notice it and stop the laser. I try to pay attention to all the noises to make sure everything "sounds" right. We got the other one repaired, but since I "borrowed" the Porter Cable from my husband, I guess it's considered "mine" now?

[Mike Null]

Here's a recent thread on the same topic. There have been several others so a search would be worthwhile.

http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=143177

[James Terry]

Mine is a dual piston "medical style" that has very good strength for this purpose. The hiss from output of the nozzle is much more noise than the compressor running. It gets hot though and the tiny little air hose gets too hot to hold but that is probably normal for this kind of thing.

I always turn on my blowers and compressors before starting a job. I worry that the surge current needed to start compressors might be enough to electrically 'bump' the laser as it is drawing current too. I prefer to not use a compressor that will shut off and on while I am using the laser. Of course a nice 230V shop air system on a private circuit would mitigate any problems, but sharing a blower, compressor and high powered laser on a single 20A circuit could be cause for concern when the air is turning off and on and drastically changing the load.

http://www.webglider.com/laser/2010/DSC07150.JPG
http://www.webglider.com/laser/2010/DSC07149.JPG

[Bill Cunningham]

something like this, but a tad bigger.

[andrew zen]

I like the idea of an air pump. Piston powered even better.

cgi.ebay.com/Piston-Septic-Air-Pump-Aerator-70-lpm-AFFORDABLE-/330446650886?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf027be06

And even bigger one:

cgi.ebay.com/Piston-Septic-Air-Pump-Aerator-110-lpm-AFFORDABLE-/380246651978?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item588877744a

It also has the same end (3/8") as the epliog Legend 24EX that I have.

Wouldn't this be enough for air assist? And you can use it for your septic tank and koi pond as well. :)

There are a lot of used Gast pumps including this one.
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130403927332&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:enWhat to do.....

[Dan Hintz]

I use a 33-gl Craftsman... noisy as a beast, and it takes 8 minutes to refill from empty, but I can get an hour of laser timer between refills using around 10psi.

[Joe Flores]

Dan,
The 10 PSI is that controlled at the laser or compressor.
Also what size hose is connected to the compressor.
Thank you, J. Flores

[Dan Hintz]

Since the laser dial is hard to get to, I set the dial at the laser for 10psi... that way I only have to open the flow at the compressor a "handful" of turns. The hose is a standard 3/4", 50' black rubber hose from Sears... very flexible, and at such a low pressure I don't worry about pressure loss due to hose flexure. It all runs to a moisture trap and dessicant unit just before entering the laser.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

I used a big cast Iron shop compressor for a while. Could run a long time before it kicked in and refiled the tank.

I got back into woodworking so I needed my compressor back so I broke down and picked up the one sold by epilog. That is one nice little compressor. Its very quite and has lots of built-in protections. I wired a sensor to the air selonoid on my Epilog and only turns on when the laser turns on the air assist.

It puts out more than the 30PSI rated on the laser so I run it through a regulator and moisture seperator.

Works great but a little pricey.

[Bill Cunningham]

A cheap compressor is probably right at hand.. Years ago, I pulled one out of a scrap household deep freezer.. They are designed to run long and fairly quiet. The one I scavenged, was fed into a small receiver (a old scuba tank), and used to run a air powered pop rivet gun.. Once, just for the heck of it, I wanted to know how much pressure it would produce, so I just let it run building up pressure in the tank (rated for a working pressure of 2250 psi). The Little freezer compressor got to 300 psi, before I chickened out, and pulled the plug. These compressors are a sealed unit, and I had no idea of what was inside the sealed domed case, so I figured I better not push it far enough to maybe explode..:eek:

[Anthony Scira]

I am using a Gast Compressor. The price was right. It was FREE ! Can not believe what some Aerospace companies literally throw away. The only thing wrong with it was a frayed cord.......oh well I am not complaining !

Only drawback is it has carbon vanes and you have to keep the little oil jar filled. Other than that its quiet and meant to be used continuous duty.

[Dan Hintz]

Anthony,

I assume you're using an oil trap somewhere on your line? Even with a trap, though, there is still a mist of fine oil droplets in the line... not something I'd want to chance with my optics.

[Anthony Scira]

Thanks for the heads up Dan. Something I have not considered. But so far its been pretty clean operating (2 years) The air goes through built in filters and then one of those desiccant filters. It has a clear chamber and I see no unusual oil marks in there so I am assuming any oil is staying inside the machine.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss ! :P

[Nancy Laird]

We have a 60-gallon in a separate bump-out for the workshop that hubby runs his air tools from, and he ran a line between the two buildings for air for my 40W - it just has a valve to open and close and I have immediate air. The compressor stays on just about all the time, so I have air whenever I need it....and no noise to add to the noise of two lasers and a blower fan!!

[Shawn Conklin]

Didnt want to start a new thread just for a random 'good buy' so I dug up this post from a bit ago.

Just picked up a GAST compressor off ebay. They have more. I offered $64 and with shipping the total was $75.

They are rated up to 100psi but mine was shimmed to put out ~40psi. I put on a $15 regulator from the hardware store and set it to 30psi.

Works well. It is just a bit louder then the helix I have but actually a more plesant sound then the epilog fans :-) .... both are quieter than my filtration unit though so I don't notice either when engraving.


Anyhow. I am not clear on the link posting policy for stuff for sale so Ill say its on the bay and 290457905373 will find it in search. ... or "
Gast Compressor/Vacuum Pump LOA-115A-HB"

[Robert Walters]

This is what I use, it is an oil-less, aquarium, piston pump

Hey Paul,

I saw those in the hydroponics store the other day.

1) The connectors seemed smaller than typical, how did you connect a regulator and dryer to it?

2) How noisy is it?

[Gary Bernat]

Also check this link.. http://www.harborfreight.com/1-5-hp-58-psi-compressor-and-airbrush-kit-95630.html

[James E Baker]

All this talk about using fish tank air pumps for air assist has me just a bit confused.

Maybe it's a bit different for the Epilogs, but the section in the ULS User Guide covering "Manual Air Assist" states:

If you choose to provide your own source, it must be capable of supplying 50 PSI (pounds per square inch) (4.1 bar) at a constant rate of 2.5 CFM (cubic feet per minute) (4.25 cubic meters/hour).I can't see a a small aquarium pump maintaining that kind of flow rate.

When my 3 cu ft/min compressor failed and was out of service until I could get it replaced under warranty, I hooked a small 1.0 cu ft/min pancake style oil-less compressor up to my VLS4.60 as a test. With the regulator on the compressor set to 40 psi, and the VersaLASER's regulator for the cone path set to 10 psi, once the charge in the storage tank had run down, the best the pump on the 1.0 cu ft/min compressor could maintain was about 6 psi on the VersaLASER's cone path gauge.

The Gast Compressor/Vacuum Pump LOA-115A-HB mentioned earlier is rated at only 0.83 cu ft/min open flow.

Am I missing something obvious here? What sort of pressure are you guys running?

[Shawn Conklin]

Unless its in some random back corner of the documents/web Epilog doesn't specify flow rates just PSI. Which is stated as 30PSI MAX.

There is a blurb comparing the 2 lasers in this post. Looks like the ULS requires more beef for more features?

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=67576

[paul mott]

Hey Paul,

I saw those in the hydroponics store the other day.

1) The connectors seemed smaller than typical, how did you connect a regulator and dryer to it?

2) How noisy is it? http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/buttons/quote.gif (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=1492503)

Hi Robert,

These pumps are usually supplied with the low end laser machines from China and as my twin cylinder Roc-R is really quite noisy I wondered just how much air assist is really necessary so I decided to try out one of these Koi pond / aquarium pumps.
It is mounted on AV feet and the noise of the air escaping from my nozzle is greater than the sound of the pump motor running. I have not found any necessity to dry the air but I do adjust the flowrate using another simple and cheap aquarium product designed for regulating the flow through pond air diffusers etc.


:D:D Sounds like James could blast through without the laser just using the air :D:D (sorry James - just my warped sense of humor).

Paul.

[James E Baker]

Unless its in some random back corner of the documents/web Epilog doesn't specify flow rates just PSI. Which is stated as 30PSI MAX.

There is a blurb comparing the 2 lasers in this post. Looks like the ULS requires more beef for more features?

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=67576
Thanks for that link. It answered a lot of questions.

[James E Baker]

:D:D Sounds like James could blast through without the laser just using the air :D:D (sorry James - just my warped sense of humor).
Reading this post (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=67576) seems to indicate that the ULS needs most of its extra airflow for the air curtains on the optics protection path.

The airflow requirements didn't worry me when I had the 3 cfm compressor hooked up, but the little 1 cfm unit just couldn't cut the mustard. I plan to fit a 220V 20 cfm compressor into the workshop (primarily to run a sand blasting system) and I'll run an air line feed from that.

Currently I leave the compressor switched on all the time and control the air to the VLS with an inline 7 cfm rated solenoid air valve which operates from the same remote control switch that my extraction blower is fed from.