Quote:
Originally Posted by rwhite692
Hi Darren,
On the last cabinet I built, I used the kit from TIP which came with a foot-pedal air valve. I was not all that happy with it. That valve only had a 3/8" internal port, which was fine since on that cabinet, all my hoses were 3/8. We also eventually wore that pedal out and it was not rebuildable...
Having some experience using (rebuildable) solenoid valves in industrial applications, and since I am now running 1/2" hose throughout, I wanted to use a solenoid valve this time around. Solenoid valves like this when used for switching clean dry air, will typically last for many millions of cycles in industrial applications, so I doubt I will ever wear this one out.
In addition, the use of the solenoid valve means a lot less clutter down on the floor, since the air hoses don't need to go all the way down to a pedal sitting on the floor, and then back up to the cabinet/gun.
One potential drawback of the solenoid valve vs. a foot pedal air valve, is that it is not possible to finely control or "throttle" the air pressure, it is either ON, or OFF. But as I recall, I was never really able to get much measure of fine control using my old foot pedal air valve, nor did I really ever find myself needing or wanting to do that, anyway.
I can imagine that if someone was using a cabinet to blast delicate things (like antique electric motor armatures, for example) and things like that, using walnut shells or some other fine media, maybe that kind of capability would be desired, although, you can really get the same effect by reducing blasting pressure to begin with, using the regulator, and or varying the gun position vs. the part being blasted, to get the desired effect.
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Thanks for your feedback. I own an industrial distribution business, so I know a thing or three about solenoid valves!
But you answered my question perfectly. The clutter removal is great idea. The air hoses tend to make a mess out things.
Darren