Built-In Aftercoolers Hurt Abrasive Blasting

Today we’re going to discuss why commercial blasters should never use a compressor with an inbuilt aftercooler. And there’s only one reason: that’s because you’re in business to make money. And so, if you take nothing else from this insight, remember inbuilt aftercoolers are bad for your blasting business. And here’s why.

Did you know that inbuilt aftercoolers typically have a pressure drop of 15 PSI? That’s right, 15 PSI. So if you’re blasting 100 PSI according to the pressure gauge in your compressor, the pressure actually coming out of the compressor is probably only about 85 PSI. So you’ve probably typically cranked your pressure up to 125 PSI. You’re still probably only getting 105 to 110 PSI.

The issue here is, remember our rule of thumb that one PSI pressure drop is 1.5% productivity drop. So to translate this into your profit and productivity, by allowing the 16 PSI pressure drop, you’re effectively reducing your productivity by 20 to 25%. And this equates to more than a whole day of blasting every single week.

In order to gain maximum productivity and performance on any job site, switch your air hoses over to the non-aftercool side of the compressor and run the air through a proper air dryer. A rightly sized air dryer is guaranteed to drop a maximum of three PSI. If you’ve got an air dryer that drops more than that, you have a problem. Give us a call. Give us a call.

Inbuilt aftercoolers are great for other trades or running spray pumps. But I’m telling you, they are death blows to abrasive blasting companies. Thanks for watching this week’s Primed Insight. We’ll see you next week.