Need some help with my air compressor setup

[Kathy Marshall]

I posted yesterday about setting up my big air compressor, today hooked everything up to give it a test run. I found the box with the hoses and accessories, it had a couple of heavy, long hoses, a couple of 1/4" coiled hoses, a regulator setup and some extra quick connects (I lucked out and all of the connections match what I have on my portable compressor and air tools).

I attached one of the big hoses to the compressor, then attached the regulator (which has a short section of hose) to the big hose, then attached one of the coiled hoses to the regulator and then popped a little air blower to the end (wanted something simple until I knew what the output from the regulator was).

I turned the compressor on and let the tank fill (130 psi), then turned the knob on the regulator to about the lowest setting. The flow from the air blower was low, but the gauge on the regulator was reading the same as the gauge on the tank. shouldn't the regulator gauge show the output pressure and not the tank pressure? Makes it a little tough to set the correct output pressure for specific tools if the gauge is reading tank pressure.

So I'm wondering it the regulator was set up wrong. I took some pics of the setup and there's a little arrow beneath the gauge. Does the arrow indicate the direction of air flow? The black hose it's pointing to is the short pigtail that connects to the main hose. Should it be pointing to the yellow coiled hose?
Should I just switch the fittings/hoses around or is there some other problem with it, or is my assumption that the gauge should read output settings wrong?

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Thanks!

[marty shultz]

The arrow shows the direct of flow. The tip of the arrow should point to the tool you're using. The gauge shows the outlet pressure. There may be an additional pressure drop from the regulator to the tool if the hose is long. Most tools accept a fairly wide range of pressure. However, spray gun performance is fairly sensatitive to pressure so I use a regulator and I have an additional gauge at the gun.

[Jim Neeley]

For spraying, you can get a small regulator to mount right to the gun. With that setup you use the main regulator to drop it to within 20-40 psi or so of where you'll run the gun and fine tune it with the "small" regulator. This provides you extra air to the gun if the run to the gun is long or the hose is a little small. Since you set the gun while it's flowing air, that's easy with a regulator local to the gun.

Just my $0.02..

[John Kent]

HI Kathy,

You have been busy, and you are right about that being a two person job. That heat will make a you feel like you are getting old.:eek: Marty is right about the arrow pointing to the direction of air flow. Looks like you just need to turn your regulator around.

Good luck!!

[Kathy Marshall]

Thanks guys!
I switched out the fittings and it works like a charm now.

John, I was definitely feeling my age +10 on sunday afternoone!

[Luther Oswalt]

Kathy - Here is a very good site for air compressor items and information if you are interested. TP Tools and Equipment!
Leo

[Tom Winship]

Kathy, what are you spraying? Or are you setting it up to spray. I need to spray some flatwork toys I built for mission work, and am thinking about lacquer.

BTW, I have a upright freezer that is probably older than you and still works. No kidding.

TW