How to operate Master TC-40T aircompressor??


wk1947

New Member
Hi, I've never used an air compressor for airbrush painting. Just bought a Master TC-40T air compressor based on good reviews. But the operation manual is woefully inadequate and does not provide any customer service information:( The compressor appears to work fine, but when I close the value on the air pressure gauge (the only gauge) the motor continues to run but there is no movement on the gauge. After a little while the engine starts to sound as it is straining like there is pressure building in the tank. There is suppose to be an automatic cut off around 57 PSI, but am I to just let the motor continue to run until it automatically stop or "blows up"?? As an aside, when I have the airflow gauge open, there is air coming out the hose to the airbrush. And if I put my finger over the end of the hose, then the air pressure gauge begins to show a buildup of pressure. So is the gauge only measuring the pressure coming out the hose? I've seen where some "commercial" sized compressors clearly have two gauges: one for the tank and one for air going out through the hose.

Thanks in advance for any advice/instruction one can give me on this issue.
Ken Whipple
 
http://www.myairbrushcompressors.com/review-master-airbrush-tc40t-compressor/
(1)The pressure gauge is on the OUTLET of the regulator so when you close (turn off ) the valve the air to the gauge is cut off so if there is nothing to stop the air escaping from the gauge it will drop to zero.
(2) Looking at the illustrations I don't see a valve, only the regulator, if so turning it controls the air pressure at the outlet so when the gauge reads "0" and the motor turns off all is well ( So I would say there is a pressure switch somewhere on the unit that controls a minimum and a maximum air pressure in the tank
Does the compressor motor stop running instantly or a short time later? If it does turn off then there is air pressure in the tank and all is well and turning the valve to on should let air out of the tank and eventually when the minimum air pressure in the tank is reached the compressor should run.
Willis
 
http://www.myairbrushcompressors.com/review-master-airbrush-tc40t-compressor/
(1)The pressure gauge is on the OUTLET of the regulator so when you close (turn off ) the valve the air to the gauge is cut off so if there is nothing to stop the air escaping from the gauge it will drop to zero.
(2) Looking at the illustrations I don't see a valve, only the regulator, if so turning it controls the air pressure at the outlet so when the gauge reads "0" and the motor turns off all is well ( So I would say there is a pressure switch somewhere on the unit that controls a minimum and a maximum air pressure in the tank
Does the compressor motor stop running instantly or a short time later? If it does turn off then there is air pressure in the tank and all is well and turning the valve to on should let air out of the tank and eventually when the minimum air pressure in the tank is reached the compressor should run.
Willis

Thanks for the reply. Candidly I haven't tried to run the motor for more than a couple minutes -- afraid of the tank blowing. Ugh. I've read that with some of the larger compressors, like the Porter Cable 6 gal. 150psi compressor, it may take up to 20 minutes to fill. There is on one side of the Master compressor what appears to be a red relief valve. But I don't see the circuitry that would cause the motor to shut off at around 57psi. Would you suggest just letting the motor run for 5 to 10 minutes and see if it shuts down and then open the valve and see if I can get something like 28 psi and for how long? The tank shouldn't blow. Right???
Ken
 
Would you suggest just letting the motor run for 5 to 10 minutes and see if it shuts down and then open the valve and see if I can get something like 28 psi and for how long? The tank shouldn't blow. Right???
The tank wont blow. There is a safety valve in case the the pressure switch should fail, if not then it's safe to believe that the compressor can never reach the pressure rating of the tank. The tank air pressure is controlled by the compressor on/off pressure switch between 43 psi and 57 psi. I can't recommend a running time but I wouldn't worry about 20 min. of running. Compressing air generates a lot of heat just don't touch the compressor fins while it is running. Also the compressor has new paint so it will also smell hot, that will stop when the paint is cured. Remember the gauge does not show tank pressure it's for setting the outlet pressure. PS when the unit is shipped the tank is empty or very near it pressure wise.
It's new, it has a 5 year warranty on it take it outside and let it do it's thing. Plug it into a power source; Turn the regulator control for zero air pressure (no output) let it run untill it turns off; using the regulator control bleed off air until it starts again. if it does this it's working correctly

God luck :)
Willis

BTW I have quite a few compressors small ones I hardly ever use a 5 hp with a 80 gal. tank, a couple for use with spray guns and one that will charge a SCUBA tank to 2250 PSI now that one is not one to fiddle with, and I'm certainly concerned with any air tank charged to those pressures.
 
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From the description of the compressor on Amazon -

Automatic On/Off Shutoff: Preset for automatic turn off when air pressure reaches 57 psi. Preset for automatic turn on at 43 psi.
"Air-On-Demand": Designed to work only when you do, produces full-capacity air on demand. Automatically shuts off when not is use
Constant Pressure and Zero Pulsation: Air is drawn from the large air storage tank providing you a constant regulated pressure
Thermally Protected: Automatically turns itself off if the unit becomes over heated

The gauge is on the output side of the regulator. When are is flowing within the rating of the compressor the gauge will show the output pressure. If you attach an airbrush to the end of the hose, when you pull the trigger of the airbrush, the regulator will show the pressure being delivered to the airbrush. When you release the trigger and the air flow stops, the pressure shown on the gauge will rise some, since regulators aren't perfect.

When you turn off the airbrush, the pressure inside the tank will rise until it reaches 57 psi (+/- depending on the quality of the pressure switch). You will not know what the pressure in the tank actually is, since there is no tank pressure gauge. As you use the air stored in the tank, when the pressure falls to 43 psi, the compressor will start and recharge the tank to 57 psi. So feel free to turn the compressor on and let it run away to its heart's content. With either the airbrush or regulator off, the compressor will stop. If I could remember my schooling and Boyle's Law, I could calculate how long it should take, but my rough guess is about a minute and a half.

Hope this helps.

Okay, Boyle says 4.8 minutes.
 
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Hi,

Set the pressure adjustment to the middle of it's range and let the compressor run.

At some point the compressor should stop running.

Then read the pressure gauge to see what the current setting of the pressure adjustment corresponds to.

Normally my adjustment is set to yield about 15 PSI.

If I'm going to change it I let the compressor run till it hits 15 PSI and then start turning the adjustment till I get the pressure I want.

Of course if I need a lower pressure I need to keep letting air out from time to time until I find that right setting.

Frederick
 
To adjust the pressure you want to spray at once the tank has reached it's shut-off pressure and stopped pumping, attach your empty airbrush and hold the trigger fully open. Then adjust the regulator valve up or down to achieve that pressure. This will set the maximum pressure that will pass through the hose to the airbrush. If you have a single action airbrush where the trigger controls both air and paint flow simultaneously, then some re-adjustment may be required to get the air flow to suit the paint viscosity you are using at the time. With dual action brushes, you have control over both air volume (as opposed to pressure) and paint volume at any given time. Once again, some pressure adjustment may be needed to achieve the spraying delivery you want.

Because there is some relationship between pressure and air volume i.e. the more pressure the more air volume you'll get, some fiddling about is unavoidable till you become comfortable with the adjustments, it's not an exact science. As Frederick has suggested, try setting to 15 PSI to start with, with the trigger held open. Always do those regulator adjustments in that manner.
 
I want to thank everyone who replied to my posting. Following the advice and information given I was able to close the value and run the compressor for about 3 minutes at which point it did shut off. I then connected the hose with my airbrush attached and opened the valve and the gauge began to measure the pressure going out to the air hose. Only issue I found is that the compressor kicks in after a very short time after using the airbrush. Didn't shut off again until I stopped using the airbrush and the tank filled up to the max. pressure again. Anyways, I feel comfortable enough using the compressor to add paint to the airbrush. LOL Thanks again for the help. Ken
 
I want to thank everyone who replied to my posting. Following the advice and information given I was able to close the value and run the compressor for about 3 minutes at which point it did shut off. I then connected the hose with my airbrush attached and opened the valve and the gauge began to measure the pressure going out to the air hose. Only issue I found is that the compressor kicks in after a very short time after using the airbrush. Didn't shut off again until I stopped using the airbrush and the tank filled up to the max. pressure again. Anyways, I feel comfortable enough using the compressor to add paint to the airbrush. LOL Thanks again for the help. Ken

What do you mean by "close the valve"?

Are you talking about the pressure adjustment?

You don't want to "close" that - you want to find the setting that yields the desired pressure.

What pressure were you reading?

It is normal for the compressor to kick in when the pressure drops a certain amount below the set value and continues to run until the pressure again reaches the set value.

You also want to take the pressure reading when you are NOT using the airbrush.

Frederick
 
Like Frederick, I'm a little puzzled as to which valve you mean. Is it the regulator/pressure valve on the air outlet you mean, or the air drain (usually on the bottom of the tank) that you need to open at the end of each spraying session to empty the tank of air and condensation buildup.

Had a look for your machine
I can see it has the bleed-off valve on the bottom. The regulator is of the type that only shows the pressure being delivered through the hose, not that within the tank. The motor/pump will keep the tank pressure between the min43 and max57PSI regardless of what you have the regulator set to. Normally, unless you want or need to adjust the air delivery pressure higher or lower, you won't need to alter the regulator i.e. no need to reset it each time you empty or refill the tank. The glass container underneath is a combined contaminant filter and water condensation trap. Can't make out whether it has a manual valve fitted to it to enable it to be drained, there is certainly a drain hose connection, maybe it operates automatically. The large black knob on top is the air delivery adjustment that you turn to adjust the air pressure/flow to your airbrush and the only one you can adjust. Absolutely no need to close and reopen at the end and start of each session.
MASTC-40T.jpg
 
Aaaah, just noticed that the hose supplied and the regulator don't have the quick release fitting that is normal with larger compressors, so I guess what happening is, as soon as you unscrew the brush, you're loosing all your air and the motor/pump restarts. One of those fittings is handy if you want to keep air in the tank while you have the brush or hose detached. Not absolutely necessary, but otherwise you would be relying on the air valve on the brush to do that.
 
This is probably the best type if you want a quick release fitting


The left one would screw onto the regulator and the right one to your hose connection. The ringed nozzle on the right piece fits into the end of the left piece. You push the collar on the left one, push the nozzle fully home and release the collar which then grips/locks the 2 pieces together. To release, push the collar back and pull the hose connector out. A spring valve in the left fitting seals and prevents air loss from the tank. But always drain the tank after each session.
 
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Also, just a safety note. When releasing that hose coupling with pressure in it, the hose will be blown out of the coupling as soon as you push the collar back. Make sure you're holding the hose, preferably applying a bit of push to that as well.
 



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