Canned Air

rlingg · Jul 7, 2006

Hi All,

I'm trying to find a cheap source of canned air. I have no brand loyalty, so it doesn't have to be Dust Off or Beseler. Just something dry, nontoxic and cheap.

Any suggestions?

TIA,
Rich

David A. Goldfarb · Jul 7, 2006

I usually use Dust Off. If you buy the nozzle, you only need to get refills, so that's one way of keeping the price down.

bjorke · Jul 7, 2006

David A. Goldfarb said:
I usually use Dust Off. If you buy the nozzle, you only need to get refills, so that's one way of keeping the price down.

Office Max house brand, by the 6-pack

nworth · Jul 7, 2006

I got some at OfficeMax.

Nick Zentena · Jul 7, 2006

The local woodworking place sold these little handheld battery powered blowers. The price was right at about $4 including a full set of batteries. They actually put out a fair bit of air. Of course you could go for the power and get a compressor

L Gebhardt · Jul 7, 2006

Costco has great prices on the 6 packs. I think it was $9 last I bought one.

jim appleyard · Jul 7, 2006

I don't know how much forced air you need or how cheap you want to go, but I've been using just the lowly blower brush with the bulb on the end for years. With one of these, it doesn't get any cheaper and you have an unlimited supply of air.

raucousimages · Jul 7, 2006

Cosco. I also have a small compresor I paid about $45.00 for.

Phillip P. Dimor · Jul 7, 2006

We use compressed nitrogen at our one-hour place. It's pretty cheap to fill a small tank. Our tank stands about 6 feet and it costs $24 for pickup, filling and return delivery. We have these filled once a year and use it for nitrogen-burst development of b/w film. It's more of an investment, though much cheaper in the long-run.
There are smaller tanks, etc.

Nick Zentena · Jul 7, 2006

If you get a nitrogeon tank then don't you need a regulator and hoses?

The nice thing about getting a small compressor is you can likely find uses for it around the house. But other then dispensing Guinness with that nitrogen tank I'm out of ideas

George Collier · Jul 7, 2006

If you use a compressor, be careful - they can accumulate moisture inside, and sometimes this moisture comes out mixed with an oily like stuff. I drain my small one every time I use it around the house, and it always has moisture, so I never use it for photography, except maybe to blow out empty film holders (if something comes out, I can clean it off). I buy the cheap 6Pack others mentioned from Costco.

Phillip P. Dimor · Jul 7, 2006

Yes, regulator and hoses Although, compressed nitrogen can also be used to top off developers. This still may very well be cheaper in the long run.

Nick Zentena · Jul 7, 2006

George Collier said:
If you use a compressor, be careful - they can accumulate moisture inside, and sometimes this moisture comes out mixed with an oily like stuff..

You need a filter setup like they sell for painting. I bought a filter locally for about $5 on sale. OTOH I also bought an oiler for all the things that want to be oiled. Supposedly you can also get an automatic drain that will drain itself but that seems extreme to me.

Jim Jones · Jul 7, 2006

Many years ago the Nikon School defined a pro photographer as one who can blow clean dry air. That's about all this tightwad ever uses.

rbarker · Jul 7, 2006

Although it can't be used to top off developer bottles, for negative de-dusting, I prefer a big tank of nitrous oxide. Once the darkroom starts to fill up with the stuff, I'm much happier with my work.

nc5p · Jul 7, 2006

If you use an air compressor, get one of those dessicant filters, filled with silica salt. It turns color when it's time to change it (you can put it in the oven to "recharge it". We had those when I worked at the tv station years ago. A good inline filter will also keep out the dust. McMaster Carr sells that stuff, also Grainger.

Doug

Sanjay Sen · Jul 7, 2006

How about this? It's free if you can bother with mail-in rebates.

Canned Air

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