pipemakersforum.com

Greetings! I've been using one of the Cyclone benchtop models (the old blue plastic one) for several years and decided to "upgrade." Apparently Cyclone now makes a new smaller unit that's steel. I've tried it with the equipped foot controlled gun but it only puts out 5 cfm. Cyclone sent me a prototype gun with a larger nozzle that puts out 14 CFM. I'm still using my Bel Aire 80 gallon two stage compressor so no problems there. HOWEVER, even with the 14 cfm gun it does not draw media (70-140 glass bead) through the nozzle. Plenty of air pressure and I can see media through the tube but it's not coming out the nozzle. Cyclone says they tested it at 80 PSI before they sent it out and had no problems. I've tried it at every pressure from 60-120.

I'm getting pretty pissed and work is backing up - I've been at this two weeks with no resolution. I'm ready to send the whole thing back and start over, but who makes a decent benchtop cabinet these days that's suitable for use without a pressure pot?



Michael .

I have no experience with the newer Cyclone cabinet. I'm still using the E100. Siphon systems are pretty simple mechanisms. I upgraded the gun on mine to Skat Blast, and have been pretty happy with it. Is the air coming out of the nozzle without media? Or is there neither air nor media coming out of the nozzle? If it's just air coming out, I'd take the tube and front of the gun apart and make sure it's not clogged, and make sure your media is dry and not clumped together. If no air is coming out, that's a different issue.

Air is coming out but no media. The media is pulled to the end of the tube where the nozzle is but it is not coming out the nozzle. At least I can't see it coming out in a stream. I can shoot the gun at my gloved hand from an inch away and I feel air pressure but no heat, even after 20 seconds or more. Is 70-140 glass bead too fine?? I thought that's what I've been using but I reordered recently.

I would eliminate the variables one by one. See if it works if you remove the pickup tube and it siphons out of your hand. If not, take the front of the gun apart and make sure it's assembled properly. I occasionally have where the tube is clogged with sand. I'm not recommending the procedure, but in those cases, I press the nozzle against my glove and force the air back down the tube. Sometimes, it won't suck up media if there's too much or too little near the bottom of the pickup tube. Also, make sure there aren't any air gaps within the siphon/pickup tube assembly. It could be if you have a 14 CFM gun that it requires a different size pickup tube than the 5 CFM one.

It's siphoning. I can tell because the pickup tube is clear and I can see the media being drawn to the nozzle. It just doesn't come out the nozzle. I took the nozzle apart and there are no obstructions. Also put my finger over the tip and blew the air out the back. One thing is that this new system has the air tube inside the pickup tube. The air tube is thinner in diameter and attaches directly to the gun/nozzle. The pickup tube surrounds the air tube and has an opening at the bottom where the media is siphoned.

Is there anything upstream that could be a problem? My compressor reads 150 PSI, my regulator seems to be working. The air/water filter had a bit of condensation in it but I drained it and I still have the same problem. No condensation in the compressor tank when I bleed it from the bottom.

Here's a video - you can see the media is being pulled to the end of the pickup tube but there's nothing coming out the nozzle. When I take the nozzle apart I see no obstructions at all.

https://youtu.be/i3DDbu7P9g0

I'm not familiar with the siphon system you're describing where there's an air tube inside the siphon tube. Perhaps the 14CFM nozzle is missing a piece? It sounds like it's probably not getting enough suction to draw the media through. It's also possible your air supply is restricting the CFMs. I personally have all the power I need with the fine and medium Skat blast guns, which are less than 10 CFM, I believe. If their gun is a prototype, maybe it needs to go back to the engineer. Without seeing it for myself, I'm not sure of anything else.

I'm sending the whole thing back. Who knows - maybe there's some sort of weird mismatch happening. Thanks for the input!

My pick up tube is a tube within a tube, but the inside tube is the suction tube and the outside tube supplies the ambient air to the pick up area so that there is air flow to carry the beads.
You may have a mismatch between the tubes inside the pick up chamber of the gun. It is my understanding that the orifice from the compressor should be smaller than the outflow of the blast nozzle.

I had to study that diagram a few times Doc! Thanks for the detail. The orifice on the Cyclone system is definitely smaller in diameter than the outflow nozzle so that seems right. I went over everything with them in substantial detail and none of the solutions worked so I'm done. In the words of Spinal Tap, "Some things are...better left unsolved."