Airflushing your system

Kaladon · 10 Aug 2016 at 02:25

Ok, so this might sound daft but bare with me.

I was sitting looking at a fitting i recently got for my Iwata neo airbrush and i thought is there a 1/8 (compressor hose) male to 1/4 female adapter. Turns out there is. SO im now thinking would it be worth it to get that, shove a fitting onto it and use the compressor to force excess liquid out the system when draining and cutting down the number of flushes required to get back to a neutral color. Thinking connect it to the last stage of the return to res pipe and push back through the system

it probably wont work for 100 reasons you guys will point out but what do you think?

Hotwired · 10 Aug 2016 at 02:56

I'm thinking you should be outside when doing this

Apart from that, pressure of the air is much higher than anything the loop normally contains.

If flow in > flow out you will be pressurising the loop which it might not be ok with.

So I wouldn't whack a direct link to the compressors tank and open it full blast.

Or apply compressed air while the loop is full of water.

Maybe drain then apply air at a low flow rate and increase if appropriate.

Glanza · 10 Aug 2016 at 09:10

More than likely start blowing pipe off your fittings due to the pressure.

Quantum-192 · 10 Aug 2016 at 09:17

I've seen something similar to this done before using a bike hand pump. I also remember seeing a video on uTube of Jayztwocents showing himself blowing the stubborn liquid in a loop out by mouth using his fill pipe.

The advice above is really good though. I certainly wouldn't go putting 30psi from an airbrush compressor into a loop

. Pressure would very quickly build up behind the coolant.

However, as long as your drain is fully open and you add air in a controlled way it should force the remaining water out of the loop (especially in those stubborn rads).

Remember that if every other loop point is sealed and you open the drain the coolant usually won't flow out until you crack open another fitting/blanking plug so the air going in can replace the coolant flowing out.

pastymuncher · 10 Aug 2016 at 11:01

You have to be really carefull when doing this as most components are only rated to a certain psi and it isn't very high. I have two drains in my loop, both coming off T pieces. One is at the lowest point of the loop while the other is at the other end (my loop is massive and mostly outside the case) from which I blow down to force all liquid out of the loop. It works for me but won't look particularly nice if all of your loop is in the case.