I have been getting a lot of emails from people asking me about soda blasters and conversion kits. I also get questions asking if its similar to the pressure pot system. So I decided to write up a post here so other people can find it and include some advice along with it.
First, soda blasters are fairly similar to the pressure pot system but the tubes are smaller and the valves are more suitable for the fine baking soda abrasive powder (also known as sodium bicarbonate). So- you could actually use your pressure pot as a soda blaster with a conversion kit. And there are a few companies that make these soda blaster conversion kits for the pressure pot sandblaster.
I found this soda blaster conversion kit on Amazon that might help you here: http://amzn.to/wyCBSz . But I want to express a few other things:
- Make a Conversion Kit: These conversion kits typically cost about $100 – $200 dollars and there isn’t much to them. So you might want to make one yourself. You should be able to easily put one of these soda blaster conversion kits together and find these parts at your local hardware store. Just look at the picture I provided above and get creative. You should be able to make one for under $50 dollars. If your local hardware store does not have these type of parts, then check out sites like Grainger or McMasterCarr.
- Buy a Separate Soda Blaster: I honestly suggest you just buy a separate soda blaster for many reasons. First of all, its a real pain when you are switching back and forth from sodium bicarbonate and your other harder abrasive. Second, when switching to sodium bicarbonate, you will most likely still have some leftover hard abrasive in the tank. It is difficult to remove every little bit of the other abrasive. Third, I found soda blasters that were cheaper than the conversion kits shown here: http://amzn.to/w0oSOu
I hope that helps clear things up and give you some ideas. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
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Sorry to be thick but what do we gain from a soda blaster?
Good question. My page about soda blasters explains it in more detail. But its for those people that blast/ clean items that are softer. The soft soda abrasive will clean the items without abrading the item. Good example to blast with soda would be aluminum car parts.
Eric,
Do you have a photo showing the final assembly of the conversion kit on a pot style blaster?
Does a blaster conversion work as well as a blaster made specifically for using soda ?
Joe, I honestly don’t know because I haven’t tried it, but I tend to go off the reviews. I have seen some people say that it works great and others say it doesn’t.
But the same thing is said about the soda blasters also. Overall, I think the professional soda blasters which have a better design will work alot of better. My thoughts are that these conversion kits work about the same as the lowest quality soda blasters.
Everything is fine and easy. But nobody knows what to do with this convertion kit hose other end.
The extra hose is to purge the media out of the tank when you are finished.
The soda could clump in the bottom of the tank if there is any moisture.