PEC Global?

Smitty

Smitty

Living the Dream!
Joined
Aug 28, 2012
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13
I was doing some research and saw this Hong Kong company PEC sells some airbrushes for rather cheap. From what I understand these are not "name brand" airbrushes, but have much of the same quality as a high end one. I was wondering if anyone could attest to this company, or if it would be a good place to start to make the leap to an airbrush. Some reviews I've found seem pretty positive.
 
TCPGlobal has full kits with compressors for cheap. Plus they ship from in the US. I bought my Eclipse HP-CS
 
It is just a knock off of an Iwata (which tends to be the most copied airbrush), I have something similar from Mr. Hobby which works well...use it mostly for base coats or larger projects and use my uber fine Harder & Steenbeck one for fine work.

It is a smoking price for it....the knock offs are for the most part not made with the same tolerances as the name brand ones, so they sometimes don't perform as well, and sometimes parts are harder to come by....but for the price, you really can't go wrong, especially if you are new to airbrushing and just want to try it out to see if you like it.....better to spend $35 on a knock off, and find out you don't like it, then $250 on a brand name!
 
Hmmm.... only $33.00 + shipping....Not sure. it looks nice, with goodies even...
Some people have had good results with no-name Abs, some hate'em. Though, with a name brand, you'll pay more than that. But you get better service when things go wrong with it.
let's forget about the AB for a second, what's your source of air? My suggestion is that it has a tank, to keep the compressor from constantly running. Also, if you're gonna spray at low pressure (detail work, camo mottling, etc), you're gonna want a reservoir tank on it so it only cuts in to refill the tank's pressure.
At first i only had a compressor and no tank. When I set my comp to low (12psi) pressure, it would hery and jerk for partial rotations of the piston shaft. Within moments it would jump the shaft and no push air, thereby ending my painting for a few minutes to get the comp fixed, then it would do it again. I hooked mine up to a 5 gallon air tank. and it works now. Mind you 'The Still' as I call, it is FAR from what i want (it still has it problems in other areas) and I'm not suggesting it to you.
i guess what I'm saying is get a good compressor with tank. They're not cheep, but it will save you the headaches, heartaches, heart burn, and general frustration that causes extreme discouragement, that I went through.
 
Ferris928 said:
Hmmm.... only $33.00 + shipping....Not sure. it looks nice, with goodies even...
Some people have had good results with no-name Abs, some hate'em. Though, with a name brand, you'll pay more than that. But you get better service when things go wrong with it.
let's forget about the AB for a second, what's your source of air? My suggestion is that it has a tank, to keep the compressor from constantly running. Also, if you're gonna spray at low pressure (detail work, camo mottling, etc), you're gonna want a reservoir tank on it so it only cuts in to refill the tank's pressure.
At first i only had a compressor and no tank. When I set my comp to low (12psi) pressure, it would hery and jerk for partial rotations of the piston shaft. Within moments it would jump the shaft and no push air, thereby ending my painting for a few minutes to get the comp fixed, then it would do it again. I hooked mine up to a 5 gallon air tank. and it works now. Mind you 'The Still' as I call, it is FAR from what i want (it still has it problems in other areas) and I'm not suggesting it to you.
i guess what I'm saying is get a good compressor with tank. They're not cheep, but it will save you the headaches, heartaches, heart burn, and general frustration that causes extreme discouragement, that I went through.
Click to expand...

A regulator will fix your problem of being herky, jerky.....most hobby compressors don't have a tank, but usually have a regulator to control the airpressure.

I have used them with, and without a tank....and as long as you have a regulator....there is no difference.

Only thing, with a tank...your compressor doesn't run for as much, as it just runs to fill up the tank, where as a hobby compressor will run most of the time....however a hobby compressor tends to be much quieter.

My H&S compressor has a plastic coiled line running from the compressor to the regulator, it acts like a small tank, as well it has an electric switch, so when the pressure drops in the line, the compressor comes on to fill it up. Yes it runs more frequently than my tanked compressor, but it is so quiet that you barely hear it in the next room, where as my tanked compressor you can hear it from all over the house.
 
@ Smitty: Sorry dude, don't mean to hijack your thread.
@ Elm City: The compressor had a regulator like this one attached to the front of it, when the problems occurred.
reg.jpg
After i fed the compressor to the tank, then the tank to the regulator, then to the Ab, the problems stopped. When i had the original set up, when ever i went near 15psi it would jerk around and pop off the shaft.
DSC01349.jpg
Unless i did something really wrong... A pseudo close friend of mine who details cars and such, said that the compressor couldn't handle the low pressure adequately, hense the jerking, it was only doing partial revolutions at force. He told me that a tank would take care of that. the comp would fill the tank and the brush would take from the filled tank and once the comp sensed the pressure drop eventually in the tank that it would start up again and stop when fully pressurized. it pretty much works that way now, though I think the 5 gallon tank is a bit big for the comp, it runs forever, but it usually shut it off after a few minutes and after a few minutes of spraying turn it back on if needed.

If Elm or anyone has any advice, I'm very open to it. Thanks! :)
 
I've found that my Harbor Freight 3 Gallon tank compressor for $50 is my best option for now. It's loud, but it only needs filled once per color. If more is needed a separate storage tank can be used. Plus, the compressor is rated up to 100psi shutoff. Try that out if you could since most tankless compressors run at max 40psi which runs out quick
 
Elm City Hobbies said:
My H&S compressor has a plastic coiled line running from the compressor to the regulator,
Click to expand...
I know what you mean now Elm, mine has one and it still did what it did. If you have any suggestions PM me.

@ Smitty. Sorry dude. Hey for that brush you linked, I'm not sure about your financial situation, but it looks affordable to give it a shot. If it turns out it's not so great, you're not out a whole bunch of cash.
 
Ferris928 said:
Elm City Hobbies said:
My H&S compressor has a plastic coiled line running from the compressor to the regulator,
Click to expand...
I know what you mean now Elm, mine has one and it still did what it did. If you have any suggestions PM me.

@ Smitty. Sorry dude. Hey for that brush you linked, I'm not sure about your financial situation, but it looks affordable to give it a shot. If it turns out it's not so great, you're not out a whole bunch of cash.
Click to expand...

I don't know what to tell you.....I just sprayed mine down about 8psi for some outlining of camo spots on my Wiesel 2, and it worked great, no pulsation at all.

I have known people that had old hobby compressors that just had a set screw to adjust the air pressure and it would pulsate all the time....add a regulator to the same compressor, and no more pulsations.

The pulses are caused because it is a single piston pump (as are most), and it only pushes air on each half stroke.

Compressor like mine with the coiled hose, and electric shutoff switch....the compressor comes on to fill the hose once the pressure in the hose drops to a certain point automaticall. This all happens prior to the air reaching the regulator, and then to the airbrush, so it ends up being a nice even burst of air.
 
I would guess the compressor had just seen better days/gotten tired? I don't think it was user error or anything like that. The compressor should have a bleeder built in, allowing the compressed air to leak out when it reaches too much pressure for the piston/chamber to handle, maybe this is what went on yours causing the problem.

I have been using a Badger tankless compressor since about 1992, it is still under my bench and what I use all the time. The only air storage on my system is what the braided hose can hold in between the regulator and the gun. My compressor can run continuously if I'm spraying or not and it never acts differently, only the tone of the compressor changes slightly but it doesn't matter whether I have the regulator set at 12 psi or 30 psi.

A tank is nice, because its a reservoir of air allowing you to draw from there, giving the compressor a rest/keeping things quiet. My compressor is fairly quiet and have had it running while chatting on skype and although they could hear it, it wasn't too loud that we couldn't hear each other so the sound doesn't bother me.

My job site compressor that runs my air guns.... now that's a different story. ;)
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. Budget is fine with spending 30 bucks on the AB. Thinking of throwing more down on a good compressor. At the very least I can get a name brand later on.

I will have to wait about a month to get the AB but that will give me time to set up station. Will post set up when complete.
 
Sounds like a plan Smitty, I got my compressor at Harbor freight, so you may want to avoid them. I guess what i wanted to say earlier was, if you can get away with a cheep AB, do so, and channel what you can of your budget towards a good reliable source of air.
@ Ken and Elm: What models of compressors are you guys using?
Thanks!
 
Ferris928 said:
Sounds like a plan Smitty, I got my compressor at Harbor freight, so you may want to avoid them. I guess what i wanted to say earlier was, if you can get away with a cheep AB, do so, and channel what you can of your budget towards a good reliable source of air.
@ Ken and Elm: What models of compressors are you guys using?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

As per what Ken said in his post:

I have been using a Badger tankless compressor since about 1992
Click to expand...

I have a Harder & Steenbeck Euro Tech 10 A

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