Spec me an airbrush compressor

[Jed Shields]

Hi guys and gals,

I'm about to treat myself to a new Harder & Steenbeck Infinity CR Plus 2 in 1 airbrush and need some advice on a new compressor. I've currently got a cheap Expo AB602 which works fine, although a little noisy. I think I paid around £50 second hand. Are there any suggestions for upgrading? Ideally something quieter, with a larger tank capacity. I've spotted the Sparmax TC-610H which looks good, might be quieter and has a decent tank. But... is it worth it? I can get it for around £200. I like the fact that it can be placed on the floor next to my desk, rather than taking up space on my desk. Any other suggestions? Or should I stick with what I've got?

Cheers,

Jed

 

[andybird123]

the compressor that pretty much everyone uses can be found under names like FD186, AS186 or "airbrush compressor with tank" on the usual market place sites - having a quick check it looks like the FD186 name is the current lowest price available with prime

I've had mine for well over a year and its been completely faultless and has all the features you would want out of a compressor, there are a whole bunch of professional mini painters that recommend it

I don't know how noisy your current one is, this one is not exactly silent but then its also no where as near as loud as my Stanley compressor, and only comes on for a few seconds at a time so mostly I work in silence as it has a huge tank, it does also come with a hose long enough to place it on the floor and its on rubber feet so doesn't vibrate the surface either - there are a load of youtube videos with it so you might be able to get an idea

 

[roman59]

I use a Sparmax TC610H Plus, great little compressor, the tank fills with air really quickly, comes with a nice long hose too.
Normally it sits on the floor when I am airbrushing, its pretty quiet and also the housing does not get very hot at all unlike the cheap compressor that I had before the Sparmax.
Well worth the money in my opinion.

Cheers all

 

[Jed Shields]

Thanks guys, I went with the Sparmax 620 in the end, I found a decent deal. Unfortunatey they're waiting for stock so I need to be patient :/

 

[Werewolf]

Only just saw this and was going to say something like a Sparmax or Iwata.
They're more expensive than the ebay specials, but the build quality tends to be better*, a bit like the difference with the brushes, I'd prefer a £200 brush that I can get spares for and know the quality to a £25 one that might be off from the word go.

I've been using a "little cars" compressor which is basically Sparmax for ~10 years now and it's been pretty much faultless. The only issue I've got is that I think I need to replace the bottom half of the water trap/pressure regulator at the front as the spring for the moisture release seems to have lost of of it's stiffness (so after pressing up to release the moisture I sometimes have to pull the release nozzle down), as it's part of the water trap I should be able to buy a replacement trap and just swap the collector/trap bottom over.

I think you'll enjoy the combo, the H&S brushes are really nice and easy to maintain once you get the hang of them, I've ended up with 3 (infinity 2in1, infinity alu 2in1 and an Ultra 2in1) and prefer them to my Iwata, but part of that is the Iwata is for larger projects and has a much bigger non removable cup.



*Several friends bought the "AB" whatever compressors and all had one issue or another, some were simply poor assembly (things not tightened up fully), but one took a lot of work - I suspect the main difference is in QC.

 

[Ceryndrion]

I've been using a sparmax 620 for the last 9 months or so, upgraded from an ebay special, and it has been a pleasure to use, I don't worry about reliability, I know it will power through and get the job done, and do it well... good choice..

 

[Bigpig]

Did you get the Harder & Steenbeck airbrush?

You won't regret it once it's in hand. Oozes quality.

I was a bit taken back by how H&S handled my problem.

I have the Cult of paint infinity and it recently developed a slight niggle. (Trigger) Was getting no were with the shop it was purchased from. Now I wasn't forcing the matter but they seemed so disinterested. So I started looking around to see if I could buy the part from any other retailer's but couldn't spot any for sale for my airbrush.

The trigger for airbrushes from H&S range from £19-25 quid.

I sent one mail to Harder and Steenbeck asking do they sell parts or even if they carry spares.

They had the replacement part ready to ship before I could reply to their first response which was asking is my address correct.

They simply have customer care that matches the quality of their product.

 

[Werewolf]

One of the things I've liked about H&S is that they make all the spares available, listen to feedback and have good CS. It's one of the reasons they can charge a premium compared to random brand brushes.

About 3 years after I bought my brush they updated the model to have a triple needle seal to help solve an issue with paint making it past the original single one, what impressed me was they made it it so it fitted the original body (just the seal and retaining nut/screw was changed), and made a set with the the 3 O-rings and new nut available for something like a tenner so you could update your existing brush easily.

If you've not bought any spares yet, it's worth getting a full set of seals and O-rings for the brush, IIRC it's about £6 for a complete set and it's handy to have as you can pay £2 or more each for them otherwise, (and you will lose a seal on the floor at some point when cleaning the brush). The other thing was that they moved to teflon seals early, which makes a huge difference when you use certain paints/thinners/cleaners as rubber ones are slightly absorbent and can expand making them stiffer and causing more wear so you have to replace them more often.

 

[Bigpig]

I'm looking to pick up a second brush for the other half and I simply won't be looking at any other brand now.

I was happy enough just to buy the part as it was only a small niggle and couldn't be bothered to get into a warranty argument.

I explained the issue. No questions asked from them apart from shipping address. Free of charge new part.

Sent the email at 10pm had a reply at 7am the next morning

 

[Jed Shields]

I received my H&S Infinity 2 in 1 and Sparmax 620 and love the combination. I spent a few hours under coating my Ogre army and then adding a zenethal highlight and had zero problems. My previous setup always had trouble with the undercoat clogging after a while, but this was smooth throughout.

 

[Bigpig]

Awesome combo.

My trigger came and they also threw in a few bits of merchandise I'm smitten lol

Going to buy the other half an H&S now. They have a customer for life lol

 

[Werewolf]

That's great news

Good CS is one of the best ways to create a loyal customer, but bad CS is a sure fire way to lose them.

something to remember with the H&S brushes is that with most of them you can get various assorted extra paint cups etc which is awesome, if you're painting small areas the 0.5ml is idea for tiny details, whilst the 30ml is probably good for large bits of scenery at the expense of being a big old lump on the front of the brush.