Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, we do. We offer replacement parts for BAABS units as well as many other pieces of equipment. To get the parts you need or for assistance, contact us for more information.

BAABS rotates around the blast hose during operation. As it rotates, the power cable can gradually twist and tighten around the hose. Over time, this tension may cause the electrical connections to loosen or disconnect.
To prevent this from happening, periodically relieve the tension in the cable by performing one of the following steps when the blast pot is shut off:
• Unplug the power cord and unwind the cable.
• Remove the G3 Trigger Deadman and unwind the cable.
• Reverse the BAABS rotation to unwind and loosen the cable.
Regularly relieving cable tension will help maintain proper cable condition and prevent electrical connection issues.

Overlooking nozzle pressure or a decrease in nozzle pressure. Blasters are on the nozzle for many hours at a time. If there is a gradual decrease in nozzle pressure due to wear, compressor issues, clogs in hoses, it is not an immediate change much of the time. It is usually a gradual change. It is hard for the blast to recognize this is happening in real time. We recommend checking your equipment weekly with a complete overview and needle gauge.

Inspect your equipment weekly to keep your equipment running optimally. Fire your equipment up and confirm all valves are opening and closing as they should.

Abrasive metering. More blasters run more abrasive than required or needed for the job. Simply by turning that abrasive quantity down to give you just enough to cover your target area. You can’t starve it to the point where it slows your operation down. You need to dial it down, so you get your full cut capacity without wasting abrasive. That is the difference between a profitable job and a breakeven job if not a loss.

Loss of productivity. Loss of anchor profile. It is all about particle speed. You size your nozzle, hose and compressor to give you a predictable anchor profile. If you see a cut in your anchor profile that is a key indicator that your nozzle pressure is not what it originally was.

Regarding nozzle pressure? Yes. A nozzle gauge with hypodermic needle that sticks right behind the nozzle is very helpful. This is our preferred method. Be careful with gauges. We work in a dirty environment that can damage gauges. Gauges have a short shelf life. Do not permanently mount these gauges. Get your readings at the beginning of your blasting operation and then put it away out of the blasting environment when you start blasting. This way you can use it next time and on future blasting projects.

With operations with intermittent issues of moisture, if you address these issues you’ve paid for this issue within 6 months (ROI).

Nozzles being too large for the compressor. Either the wrong size nozzle for the compressor you are using, or the nozzle has worn too much. The compressor does not have enough horsepower to maintain the correct nozzle pressure.

When talking about the mechanics of blasting, not maintaining the correct blast pressure will have an adverse effect on your valving components. When we see abrasive migrate into air valves and metering valves, 9.9 times out of 10 is from airflow fluctuations which can be seen at the nozzle.

I wouldn’t call it a myth. Our industry is evolving. In the past using a 100-psi compressor and receiving 90 psi was good. There has been an escalation of nozzle pressure over the past 30 years. People started using 125 psi compressors then 150 psi compressors. Now people have migrated to 175 and 200 psi compressors. Although physics are still the same; particle speed, kinetic energy, amount of work done. Some people forget about the human element. Handling a #8 nozzle at 100 psi is already a difficult task. If you take that #8 nozzle and turn it up to 125 psi or more makes it even more challenging. This cause extra wear and tear on your manpower. We have products that help blasters in these instances to accommodate the human element. To make blasting safer and more comfortable.

Simply replacing a worn nozzle with a new properly sized nozzle. We have seen blasters using a #8 nozzle but using them so far past the nozzle’s life expectancy to where they are 1” in diameter. Vessels will not function properly with an improperly sized nozzle because the compressor can’t maintain the proper pressure. Your metering becomes inaccurate. When you pull that much air across an air dryer or air receiver this equipment will not have enough time to dry the air.

About every 200 hours take your nozzle off. Do a nozzle check. If you do not have a nozzle gauge you can use a drill bit in the field to run the same test. If the test says you have a #5 nozzle (5/16th). That means a 5/16th drill bit should fit through it. A 3/8ths drill bit should not. By 16ths increments you can use a drill bit to determine if your nozzle is worn out.

Goes back to 10 psi cost you 15% productivity. If your compressor is able to give you 100 psi and you are only blasting at 90 psi when the system should be at 100 psi you are losing 15% productivity. So, 15% of your job cost per square foot can add up quickly and become a massive cost.

Make sure all of your hoses and nozzle sizes are correct.

Filters tend to be installed between the compressor and blast pot. People tend to think filters have moisture eliminators in them. They do not. Filters strain air. Filters are designed with a lot of pressure loss in them or they never get serviced, therefore the element in the filter gets dirty and it no longer allows the right amount of volume to come across. Filters just by nature are restrictive. Make sure they are serviced regularly.

If anybody is installing any type of regulation on the airline, make sure the regulators are designed for the correct volume of air. Make sure it is a quick responding regulator. Slow reacting regulators have a negative effect on blasting equipment. Make sure you are using the proper size and style of regulator for your element.

With most abrasive you can get away with 3-4 times hose diameter compared to the nozzle. If you are running heavy steel grits, you may need to back off to 3 times diameter. Most of the abrasives run well at blast hose being 4 times of nozzle.

Pressure release : Vessel pressurizes and depressurizes by deadman control
Pressure hold : Vessel maintains pressure after the deadman is disengaged (manual depressurization)

• Compressors are undersized
• Worn Blast Nozzles
• Hoses are undersized
• You lose 1.5% of productivity for every 1 psi reduction in blast nozzle pressure!
• This would be a loss of 15% of productivity for every 10 psi reduction

• Demister Pad
• Centrifugal Force
• Absorption/Adsorption

• Less abrasive used means
• One less bag to pick up
• One less bag to order
• Less dust in the air
• Cut abrasive spent by 25% mean 25% abrasive is picked up and hauled away.
• Disposal cost reduced
• Proper metering allows for more efficient blasting. More work in a shorter time with less abrasive.
• Difficult part is reteaching blasters that are used to see abrasive out of the nozzle when you don’t need to.
• Less abrasive to pick up.

Yes.  Not determined by which metering valve.  More so determined by how the valve is set.

No. Valve is not reliant between the hose and nozzle.

Wear would be indicated by a failure. Service when you notice a leak. Abrasive pushed out means valve needs to be repaired.

We sell complete control packages.  Conversions to bring your vessel to modern standards.

We offer 2 levels of repair kits. Full repair kit with hardened plunger and sleeve as well as all the soft goods. We also have seals only kit. You do not need to buy a new valve.

Tell boss you are not saving any money.  When the valve fails you will lose money with the downtime to replace the valve.  Knockoff manufacturers do not know the engineering design or the materials we use.  They don’t know the science we use to produce valves.  Don’t discuss the price of the valve.  Discuss the price of downtime.

No valve can give you that.  It is more related to the moister that can enter the vessel.  Dry abrasive can sit in any vessel for any period and won’t affect the valve.  But if damp abrasive sits in the vessel and the water seeps into the valve, issues will occur.  Either dry your air so your abrasive is dry or empty the vessel if you are shut down for some period

Lead valve is a Micro Valve 3 (MV3) on pressure release systems.

• MV3 and Flat sand valve (competitor) comparison.
• Flat sand valves do not have the control and repeatability of MV3 because the metering device is a metal disc with an orifice. Grit gets caught in metal discs causing the flat sand valves to cease. Vast majority of flat sand valves in the field have the handle broken off because of the discs ceasing up. Even when new the discs give you bad geometry for metering and the abrasive can’t flow consistently. They do not give you the same metering capability as a Schmidt metering valve because of the disc geometry.
• Microvalve Sleeve. Hardened plunger inside of a Urethane sleeve. The MV3 knob can still be turned when abrasive is caught between the two. Better than metal on metal. The geometry of the opening allows for 4x – 6x the particle. Better abrasive flow than the flat sand valve.

Thompson Valve

• Line with high wear hardened materials. Copied by many people.

Thompson Valve II (TV II)

• Round orifice in sleeve. Hardened plunger inside. Designed similarly to MV3. Turn the knob to control the amount of abrasive. Need more grit you turn the knob one quarter of a turn.

Thompson Valve IIXL

• Same sleeve and plunger design as TV II. Wear on these valves take months before they need to be fixed.

TeraValve XL

• More finite metering capacity. Long service life.
• Tungsten Carbide Sleeve (key slot sleeve). 1/8 inch at the very bottom to give round metering orifice. Great with finer powders. Different sleeves for different processes. We can help identify the best sleeve for your job.

Please visit BAABS product page for more details

Based on end user feedback we have been working on smaller sizes like to accommodate customer needs such as Compact BAABS. See below for dimensions.

BAABS is made of lightweight, but durable polymer with some injection molding for increased durability. Look at the BAABS product page for more details

Yes,

• Safety and Comfort: The comfort and ergonomics of the G3 trigger deadman controls combined with the BAABS adjustable brace allow the operator to hold BAABS with the pistol grip deadman in the ‘on’ position for longer durations because of the reduction of thrust and fatigue on the blaster’s arms, shoulders and back.
• Freedom of movement: With the hose rotating inside of BAABS, the operator spends less time readjusting the hose and focusing on blasting. This freedom of movement keeps the nozzle ‘on’ for longer durations and leads to more productivity.

BAABS has been priced to meet the budgets of most levels of businesses in the marketplace. The advantages of using BAABS allow business owners the opportunity to capture their ROI in a short period of time.

Please scan below to review our ABC’s of Blasting with BAABS for various blasting positions including tight spaces and crevices.

BAABS parts have passed a drop test of over 400 drops minimum. The drop test is done by installing the parts on a 1 ½” heavy wall blast hose assembly and dropping them on concrete from a height of five feet. We are trying to simulate the worst-case scenario with the heaviest hose and the rough concrete surface. The last drop test consisted of 4,294 drops and still has not broken. The trigger deadman grips and the short and long BAABS rails are injection molded and haven’t broken since switching to injection molding.

BAABS can be used on other blasting systems outside of the Schmidt product line.

BAABS rotates and swivels around the hose while blasting. With the hose being able to rotate inside the BAABS, the operator spends less time readjusting the hose, keeping the nozzle on longer and leading to more productivity.

There are both pneumatic and electric deadman control options.

Schmidt has recently made available a blast light designed to be used with BAABS. When mounted on a BAABS rail, this light allows the blaster to track their blast easily. It is common to mount a blast light on a hose and have the directed light point away from the blast because it is attached directly to the blast hose with duct tape. Axiom’s blast light will mount onto the short, long, compact, and 2XL BAABS rails. The blast light can be mounted onto the Subcompact BAABS if the adjustable brace is removed. The blast light itself is lightweight and easy to mount. It comes with a pack of (5) tear-away lenses. You peal back the lenses as they start to wear and obscure your line of vision. Replacement lenses and components are available for the blast light as well. A separate 12VDC power source powers the blast light and utilizes LED technology. BAABS is a product line that is continuing to expand. In the future, you could expect other options and products for the BAABS.

Yes. The adjustable brace is included on all models of BAABS. The adjustable brace can be easily moved into 16 different positions from left to right and in between, leading to blaster comfort.

The adjustable brace can be placed anywhere on the blaster’s body to keep BAABS stable and in positions that blasters need to blast in (on knee or toe to get down and blast either up or onto low parts of substrates. BAABS can be put on the thigh, chest, etc. all to keep blaster comfortable when blasting.)

Yes. BAABS is ambidextrous by design. The adjustable brace can be moved into different positions for left or right-handed blasters. There are 16 different positions that you can move it to, so you can set it to where the operator is comfortable with different blasting positions.

• Short, Long, Compact and Subcompact BAABS
• After having discussions with many blasters we have determined that the selection of BAABS is based on the blaster’s personal bias. Every blaster has their own style and each have enjoyed using the member of the BAABS family that best fits their style and blasting project needs.
• BAABS 2XL
• BAABS 2XL is best suited for blasting floors and overhead blasting to mitigate stress on the blaster’s back.

• The side grip is standard with both long and short BAABS models.
• The side grip is available as an accessory and sold separately with other BAABS models.

Please visit BAABS product page for more details

Yes

Safety and Comfort: The comfort and ergonomics of the G3 trigger deadman controls allow the operator to hold the G3 trigger deadman with the pistol grip deadman in the ‘on’ position for longer durations because of the reduction of thrust and fatigue on the blaster’s arms, shoulders and back.

By cooling the air: Expansion and Use of Radiator

All air contains moisture. As the air is compressed, the moisture will also be compressed. As you compress the air/moisture, it heats up. Hot air retains moisture remaining a vapor.

The BAABS rail system includes our G3 trigger-style deadman controls, an adjustable brace, and rail. BAABS packages work together to improve blaster comfort and safety. The rail system provides the blaster with more freedom of movement by allowing BAABS to swivel around the hose. The trigger-style deadman is a deadman control system in a pistol grip form designed to reduce the fatigue on a blaster’s hand. The BAABS system, mounted on your blast hose, includes an adjustable brace that diverts the blast thrust to a pad that resides on your chest or other parts of the body to reduce stress on the blaster’s body. This reduction of thrust reduces fatigue in the blaster’s arms, shoulders, and back and provides the blaster with more freedom of movement.

Safety is also paramount to Axxiom Manufacturing. For several years, Axxiom has developed and improved several Schmidt-branded products with safety at the forefront. Deadman controls are one of these products that play a critical role in blasting operation safety. From the ball-and-chain to the lever-style deadman, we realized this safety equipment needed many improvements. There are ergonomics and safety issues with ball-and-chain and lever-style deadman controls. The lack of ergonomics in current deadman control designs causes unnecessary physical stress on various parts of the blaster’s body, from their hands to their backs. Blasters often feel inclined to bypass the safety mechanisms these deadman controls offer due to the discomfort they experience. With this in mind, we designed a new deadman control system with safety and ergonomics prioritized. We proudly introduce our latest BAABS (Blasting Accessories And Bracket System) family member, Compact BAABS, which includes the G3 Trigger Deadman. The G3 Trigger Deadman has a pistol grip form designed to reduce the stress on a blaster’s hand and help prevent the tampering of safety mechanisms. The BAABS system, mounted on your blast hose, diverts the blast thrust to a pad on the adjustable brace, which resides on your chest or other parts of the blaster’s body.

All types

It depends on the blast nozzle and eductor nozzle orifice size and type of operation (closed cycle or open cycle).

The pot has run dry, worn piston seal , Obstruction in the metering, valve of moisture

Not enough air.

The combovalve plug assembly needs to be replaced.

Differential pressure

Yes, but you must make sure you have full line pressure going to the combovalve and then regulate down to 25 PSI.

YES. LARGER IN DIAMETER HOSES THAN THE PIPING ON THE BLAST TANK WILL CAUSE A PRESSURE DROP WHEN THE AIR FLOW REACHES THE BLAST HOSE.THE RESULT IS A DECREASE IN VELOCITY AND PRODUCTIVITY.

ELECTRIC DEADMANS/CONTROLS STOP THE BLAST OPERATION QUICKLY. THERE IS ALSO ASAP FOR THIS TOO.

OSHA REQUIRES THAT BLAST POTS USE A REMOTE CONTROL TO START AND STOP (DEADMAN) THESE INCREASE OPERATOR SAFETY BECAUSE USUALLY 2 ACTIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THE BLAST OPERATION TO START AND A MAINTAINED GRIP ON THE

DEADMAN CONTINUES THE BLAST. IF THE BLASTER DOES NOT MAINTAIN GRIP ON DEADMAN, THE BLASTING OPERATION STOPS.

At 5,000 feet above sea level, there is a 20% loss of pressure. Production rates drop.

IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE RECERTIFIED, BUT BURT NEEDS TO BE INVOLVED TO REPLACE THE PLATE. WE CAN ONLY REPLACE THE PLATE ON AXXIOM VESSELS, NOT SCHMIDT VESSELS. THERE IS A LIST PRICE OF $360.00 FOR A NEW PLATE. THERE IS A FORM THAT NEEDS TO BE FILLED OUT AND SENT TO US. WE NEED SERIAL NUMBER FROM VESSEL—THERE IS A STAMP ON HANDWAY TO HELP IN THIS IF CUSTOMER/DISTRIBUTOR DOES NOT KNOW THE SERIAL NUMBER. WE CAN MAIL THE PLATE TO DISTRIBUTOR AND CUSTOMER CAN PUT ON VESSEL, BUT WE NEED PICTURES AFTER PLATE IS INSTALLED. IF WE ARE NOT SURE THAT THIS IS ACTUALLY GOING ON AXXIOM VESSEL, WE MAY HAVE TO GO TO THE SITE TO SEE THE PLATE INSTALLED ON OUR VESSEL.

Foreign material getting between the pop up and gasket. Misalignment of the pop up. Worn gasket or pop up. Not enough pressure to ensure a proper seal. Weigh of abrasive sitting in the top head on top of the pop up. Leaking blow down hose or faulty combo valve.

QC and floor supervisors need to ensure the lugs are tight upon inspection and leaving the facility. Periodically checking the torque on the lugs.

The axles aren’t designed to handle the additional weight.

Typically, this happens when the pot blows down and releases some pressure from the pop-up opening. In cases where lids are involved it can be even more extreme because the lid isn’t vented properly to allow the pressure to be dispersed.

Weight of the media. We talk in cubic feet versus tons or pounds. This is the difference between total volume and working volume. The total volume is the full capacity of the hopper. The working volume is the amount of abrasive that will fit into the hopper as it is limited by the angle of repose.

Yes. However, be careful of the weight. Engineers may need to redesign legs for extra weight.

An angle of repose can become an issue, a short and wider vessel could limit the flow of your abrasive.

It is determined by the number of outlets. Angle of repose of the media used Height restrictions.

Minimal pressure should be 55 PSI.

Purge the system to remove any leftover media from the hose for a clean start up. After completing the cycle, allowing the media valve to close and allow the blast air to continue blasting until the media is purge from the hose. Then the blast air is turned off to complete the process. Next start up should be cleaner.

Under this condition starting and stopping the blast operation will result in sluggish startup because of the abrasive that drops out in the blast hose. In these applications remote abrasive cutoff should be used so that the abrasive is purged from the blast hose prior to stopping the blast operation. This results in an efficient blast startup.

• It depends on the customer and/or application.
• Economics may result in the decision to use the less expensive polyurethane valve.
• Choice of abrasive is the most common reason for selection of valve sleeve type. Harder abrasives such as aluminum oxide warrant the use of tungsten carbide valve for extended life.

• When the blast pot is connected to a common air supply source upstream demand can drop the supply pressure resulting in reverse differential pressure. The higher pressure at the blast pot will back flow air to balance the pressure. The back flow will carry abrasive resulting in contamination of moisture separator and controls.
• In pressure hold systems (TV) venting the compressed air at the source in lieu of shutting the blast pot inlet ball valve and depressurizing locally will result in back flow.
• In back flow conditions abrasive is carried into the blast pot internal popup piping. The abrasive in the piping will jam the popup and not allow it to drop when the blast pot is depressurized.

• Too large of a blast nozzle selected for the available air supply resulting in low system pressure while blasting. The consequence of low system pressure is a weak (insufficient) air signal pressure in the control line that forces the Combovalve to close. 
• From continued use the blast nozzle becomes worn resulting dropping the blast pressure and the same impact as above.
• Faulty Deadman.
• Defective Combovalve piston seal.
• Blowdown hose worn by abrasive.
• Obstruction blocking one or both twinline hoses. This is typically caused by abrasive backflow.

• Clogging (abrasive flow problems) is typically caused by moisture in the compressed air which contaminates the abrasive. The Clemco has a built-in differential pressure that forces wet material out. This results in lost production and premature wear to the metering valve.
• The best option is to install a moisture separator or AirPrep system to remove moisture from the compressed air and operate the blast pot without differential pressure.

• a. worn nozzle on old equipment. The systems are not comparable.
• Undersize hose, nozzle or air pressure issue
• Better media metering: More media does not equal more productivity. A very common misconception is the belief that “I need to see a lot of media coming out of the nozzle or I’m not using enough.” In reality, flooding the nozzle with excessive abrasive actually reduces productivity. It wastes media, slows down the velocity of the particles (resulting in a lower mil profile), and causes the media to collide with itself instead of effectively striking the workpiece

• Differential Pressure
• Incorrect sleeve for abrasive type (urethane vs TC)
• Counterfeit valve

Moisture separators, aftercoolers, dryers, refrigerator dryers

• Check the Twinline hose, it might probably be crossed
• Length of Twinline /hose (slow stopping)
• Electric deadman – shorted
• Improper deadman (Not Axxiom)

Bleeder-style Deadman can cause an unintentional start-up that can cause serious personal injury.

An AirPrep system is there to condition the air before it becomes a problem downstream. It cools compressed air, forces the moisture to condense, and then removes that condensate through several stages of separation. In plain terms, it helps clean up the air supply so the blasting system can run the way it is supposed to.

There is not just one method doing all the work. Moisture can be removed through air expansion, radiator cooling, demister pads, centrifugal separation, and drying methods like absorption or adsorption. Each one plays a role in getting water out of the air before it reaches the blasting equipment.

The first step is cooling the air. Once you bring the temperature down, the moisture condenses and becomes easier to remove. That is really the key. You have to turn it from vapor into liquid before you can separate it out of the system.

Hot air can hold moisture as vapor much more easily than cooler air can. The trouble starts when that compressed air cools back down. Once the temperature drops, the vapor condenses into water, and that is when it starts creating problems inside the blasting system.

It starts with the air itself. All air carries moisture. Once that air is compressed, the moisture in it is compressed too, and the temperature rises in the process. As the air moves through the system and begins to cool, that moisture turns into liquid water inside the line.

Moisture is one of those issues that can throw the whole job off before you even realize what is happening. It can cause abrasives to clump, interrupt flow, and make the blast pattern inconsistent. That kind of instability does not just slow production down. It can also affect surface prep quality, coating performance, and wear on the equipment itself.

Routine maintenance includes inspecting wear components, monitoring valves and hoses, managing moisture in the air supply, and replacing worn parts as needed. Regular service helps maintain consistent performance and reduce downtime.

Schmidt equipment is compatible with a wide range of abrasive media, including mineral abrasives, metallic media, and specialty materials. Media selection should align with surface requirements, desired finish, and system capabilities.

System selection depends on factors like air supply, abrasive type, production volume, and job site conditions. Reviewing these requirements helps determine the appropriate blaster size, configuration, and supporting equipment.

Abrasive blasting is used to clean, prepare, or finish surfaces by removing coatings, corrosion, or contaminants. Common industrial applications include surface prep for coatings, maintenance work, fabrication, and equipment refurbishment.