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Regulating a Panama

Started by Clark, August 19, 2013, 08:32:35 PM

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Clark

I know nothing of regulating air pressure...or even if I'm using the right term!  It seems like there should be (and probably is) a way to regulate how much pressure will escape from a pressurized vessel.  So if my Panama is filled to 120 PSI, is there a device I could buy that would only allow 80 PSI to be released when I squeezed the trigger? And since it's from a Panama we would actually be regulating the pressure of the paint and I have no clue whatsoever if this is possible.

Clark
SAF Certified Forester

beenthere

May I ask, what is a Panama ?
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Clark

Panama backpack sprayer.  It's made for forestry work to paint boundary lines, mark trees, etc.

http://www.panamapump.com/html/treemarkers.html

Clark
SAF Certified Forester

beenthere

Oh!
When you squeeze the trigger, then you get the full range of available psi. So seems there is your "regulator".

And appears in the link that the elliptical model has an adjustable valve. Is that what you have?

May be missing something here, and you can point that out.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

giant splinter

Clark,
The Panama has two versions,one has a pump and the other - the backpack model uses an exterior air pressure source to fill the unit, the only regulator that is present is the spray trigger, I think what you want to do is regulate the incoming supply to the tank 30 to 125 lbs. is the range limit set by the factory, this limit is not adjustable as it falls off as you use the paint and has no incoming source of air that can be regulated while using the unit. In order to regulate the incoming air supply you would need to add an air supply source and a pressure regulator that would control the supply, this addition would no doubt add a substantial amount of weight to your Panama.
roll with it

Clark

I have the round (1.5 gallon) version.  It has a valve stem on the tank so you can fill it with pressurized air. It also has a built-in hand pump so you can pump it up out in the woods when the pressure gets below your liking. There is a cut-off valve between the tank and the hose so you can do repair work to the nozzle while it has pressure or turn off the pressure to the nozzle while transporting it.

With that said, my normal routine is to put in 6 quarts of paint and then top the tank off with 120 PSI of air.  This allows me to pump the tank only once while I am in the field.  It's a good balance between more paint and more pumping vs. less paint and no pumping.  The problem is that at 120 PSI the paint comes out in more of a spray or fog than a stream.  That passes fairly quickly, so I'm guessing at 110 PSI things are more stream like but you still get considerable splatter off the tree.  As the pressure continues to fall with use there is a definite sweet spot where you have good pressure to shoot the paint, just enough to give you a little splatter on the tree but not too much that it is coming back at you.  I haven't measured this but I'll guess that at around 80 PSI things are working best.

My thought was that if there is some sort of regulator that would only allow a maximum of 80 PSI (or whatever I find to be the sweet spot) I would get better coverage with each tank, possibly do a little less pumping and waste less paint in general.  Does this sort of device exist for liquids?  I'm pretty sure they have something very similar for scuba equipment but that may work for gasses only.

Clark
SAF Certified Forester

thecfarm

I have no idea how that tank is set up. But at work we had regulators for most of out machines. Some had to be set at so many PSI to work right. You would need a line from your tank to your paint,sprayer to make it work right the way it does at work.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Wudman

In low volume applications like the Panama gun, I think you would need to supply a regulated air pressure from an external source to the tank.  I've seen chemical backpack sprayers outfitted with a CO2 cartridge and a pressure regulator.  This provides your consistent air supply to the tank.  In high volume agricultural applications, there is a pressure regulator that goes inline between your pump and spray nozzles.  A "TeeJet" pressure regulating valve is one such animal.  You can google it to see.  I don't know if there is anything available for low volume applications, but I would hate to be painting on a windy day with 120 PSI.   

Wudman
"You may tear down statues and burn buildings but you can't kill the spirit of patriots and when they've had enough this madness will end."
Charlie Daniels
July 4, 2020 (2 days before his death)

banksiana

What nozzle are you using?  I don't have that problem but I think if you are using the smaller nozzle it could possibly happen.  I think 120 psi is pretty high, however. 

Gary_C

Oh my goodness Clark, what color are you painting the north woods?

And here I thought the MN DNR was going to move to operator select sales and that's mostly because they have nobody left that knows how to cruise or mark a sale. Last state sale I did was short about 50% on 2250 cords.

Or are you working for someone else?

To answer your question on sprayers, it's very hard to regulate any pressure lower than what's in the tank. You can easily regulate the flow of paint, but not air. Some good guns can adjust the pattern, but not so much the volume of air or it's pressure.
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

justallan1

I agree with Wudman. Go with a regulated co2 system. When working at a machine shop in Sacramento we made regulators for everything from keg-o-raters to portable DNA machines. I've made one that I set and just clip onto semi and tractors tires rather than sitting there waiting.
Palmers Pursuit Shop in Sacramento should have anything you need and are some great people.
I'm not sure if I'm supposed to put business names on here so please erase this and not me if I'm in the wrong.

Allan

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