Hello all,
I am new at airbrushing and I have been doing some testing following some books and forum advises. However I have some questions regarding pressure regulation.

I have read that pressure normally ranges from 10 to 30 psi. However my air compressor output ranges from 0 to 100 psi; this makes it difficult to precisely select the desired pressure value.

What would be a good solution to solve this problem (i.e., components to use and system setup)?

Thanks is advance!

Do you have a pressure regulator ? And a moisture trap ?

Yes, I have a pressure regulator but not (yet) a moisture separator since here in Idaho humidity levels are very very low.

I would recommend adding a moisture trap to the line, even in very dry climates. I live in Colorado and just recently, I drained a few mm of water level from the reservoir.

In addition, I recommend the Grex Micro Air Control Valve for on-the-fly pressure adjustments; it includes a quick disconnect air coupler and is compatible with all airbrushes. HTH.

—mike

That pressure regulator looks very useful: I'll add it to my list along with moisture separator. Do you use a precision gauge to set you desired pressure with good precision (e.g., 10 psi plus or minus1 psi)?

P.S.: sorry guys for all these questions: I am not an expert on air compressor systems

When you adjust the pressure do it with the airbrush turned on , that way if you set say 16 psi it will be 16 when the airbrush is operating .

Diego,
No need to apologize for asking questions. This site is a great resource to learn from other modelers' experiences.

Now, I have a question: Which airbrush and compressor make/models do you own? If it's convenient, please provide a link to an image which shows everything that is attached to the compressor.

—mike

Reading analog gauges is subjective so an option is getting either an higher resolution analogue gauge or a digital air regulator.

And for more accuracy mount it closer to the end of the hose where the airbrush would be.

Thanks for the help folks!
So far I have the following:
- airbrush: badger anthem 155
- air compressor: campbell hausfeld oil-less with 2 gal tank (100 psi max)

The airbrush is directly connected to the air compressor via flexible pipe. As suggested in the previous posts I'll add the moisture separator and a more refined regulator valve.
I am trying to find a second gauge that can allow me to measure with more precision outlet pressure.

I must admit that I never really look at the number on my pressure thingy...for me it's the paint that governs what it needs. Every color seems to have its own preference, not to mention the different effects needed when doing base colors, top layer colors, weathering or gloss coating for decalling.

You can spend a lot of money on gear, but you'll find that experimenting will show you the what & how of things without always making sense of the numbers on the gear...

The one thing that made my spraying life easier is to use the same sort of paint, for me that has become vallejo (both air and standard), mig, ammo, hataka. They all seem to behave and react very much in the same way.

Tamiya and lifecolor need different treatment (lifecolor has also the nasty habit of losing its print on the label).

I never use non-acrylic...smell and health are important.

H.

I also use a non-airbrush type compressor made by California Air Tools. It's quiet, has a 2 gallon aluminum tank.

Like you, the regulator/gauge my compressor came with could not regulate precisely in the 0-25 PSI range. So I purchased a regulator, a 0-30 PSI gauge and misc couplings to re-plumb my compressor.