[REVIEW] China Airbrush + Compressor Set Review + Mods

So I recently got one of those cheap airbrush compressor sets.

One issue with these kinds of compressors are its relatively short operating time and long breaks due to the motor heating up. Since I haven't got the mood to work on any of my projects at the moment, I decided to mess with the compressor for now.

Since I had some old PC fans lying around, I decided to add one to the compressor. I know this will not solve the heating issue or increase operating time but this may help in cooling the motor faster. I'm not planning on increasing it much anyway since the 10-15 minute operating time is already too much for me.

Before I do any thing with it, I wanted to see 1st the inside so I could plan what I actually wanted to do. Looking inside, it's a bit cramped so there's not much space to put anything else inside.

Once I get the layout of the parts, it's time to make the holes where air will pass through. I decided to add the fan underneath so I drilled holes under the case. 

I felt that the holes are a bit too small so I cut up and filed the holes to make them bigger. I also connected the fan to the supply socket so it can work independently with the compressor. That way, even thought the motor is turned off, the fan still runs cooling the motor. This works best during breaks where I need to cool the motor so I just leave the compressor plugged to a wall socket.

Without trying to complicate this project, I hot glued the fan to the underside of the compressor. The direction of the fan is such that the air blows into the compressor case.

So this is pretty much how it will turn out. It looks that I attached the mini water trap the other way around and I've already fixed that by attaching it underneath the airbrush.

For exhaust, I just drilled a few holes on the top of the case so the air has somewhere to come out.

I also put blobs of hot glue to act as risers and dampeners so the fan can suck air in and also prevent the compressor from vibrating too much.

Also, the set I bought comes with a 2A power adapter. I replaced that with a 3A power adapter. What it does is it drives the motor faster, hence pumping more air and giving more pressure. This may cause the motor to heat up faster but that's what the fan is for anyway.



Test results look good. I wasn't able to do some tests before the mod, but I don't think the added fan has any impact to the pressure or any other aspect. The compressor still isn't very noisy which is a good thing. My existing DIY air compressor still works albeit very loud. so this new air compressor is a really good alternative.