Sodablasting equipment?

[tweetytek]

Have bought a Suzi 500GS which runs fine, solid engine and frame but engine and frame paint (black, gold, silver , red - grrr) has seen better days. Few areas of surface rust. Lots of grime. I am also half way through the clean up and sand of my fizzie engine and frame.

I'd like to sodablast the two of them as a clean + prep for respray. A PSI of 90, maybe 100 tops should be okay to take paint off however I am unsure what CFM I would need and whether this relates to the regulated  PSI ? The CFM will dicate the nozzle size, I'm thinking 3-5mm nozzle size to get some accuracy and avoid overshoot.

Can anyone recommend suitable (not over the top) soda blasting equipment; ideally I'm looking for a single unit but a few pals reckon that I'd need a compressor + a portable sodablasting unit. not sure which units would work well - so many choices out there so ideally looking for recommendation based on actual working experience gained using a specific unit/combo

Please dont tell me I'm a nutcase or doing the wrong thing or an idiot - I'm over 50 and been riding stupid, cool and dangerous bikes for over 40 years (I started motocross at 10!) - I'm already and idiot! thank you

[stevierst]

Just leave it outside all winter and the paint will fall off on its own 

That's what happened to mine   

[darrsi]

Sorry, i couldn't resist 

[tweetytek]

oh well that's just bloody typical darrsi ... you never fail ... consistently imaginative as usual 

[tweetytek]

just to add a bit of detail,

the tool I am using requires 7CFM but I'm not sure if that is FAD or DISPLACEMENT?
Compressors are quoted in DISPLACEMENT CFM but the FAD is what it actually delivers , no ? , so when looking for a compressor should I be looking for compressors with a DISPLACEMENT CFM of around 13-15??

The application for the compressor will be short bursts, say 10 to 20 seconds, of soda blast around bike parts (off the bike) so I'm thinking a 100 litre tank that displaces around 200 litres per minute at around 7 CFM DISPLACEMENT, would allow 30 seconds of blast before the compressor kicks in and i have to wait 30 seconds for the tank to fully recharge?

Is this powerful enough?
http://www.sipuk.co.uk/sip-06245-airmate-hurricane-v300-100-compressor.html

[tweetytek]

 

[tweetytek]

Well.tips for foccers who were considering sodabladt to clean engine or metals...

My compressor arrived today, a Clarke 25 litre with 8CFM upto the job according to the seller.
BULLSHIT!
Connected a3mm blow gun nozzle and fitted a soda container.
the compressor kicks in every 10 seconds or so and one needs to wait 10 seconds for the air to be delivered again.
 So, Unusable. Totally

Having undertaken some further research having relied on the seller far too much... It appears that the CFM you need for the job is around 8CFM in what is called 'free air delivery' or FAD. The capacity of this compressor is 8CFM DISPLACEMENT which is a theoretical capacity and not the ACTUAL capacity measured in FAD. also, the tank size of 25 litres is far too small. 100l would be more in tune.

So there we are. If you are considering using soda cleaning, and it does bring up metals rather nicely, then ensure you plumb for at least 100 lite tank with at least 8CFM FAD capacity, with a PSI of at least 100PSI