Airbrush issue

[The Zod]

While waiting until it is time to pickup my new load,I decided to airbrush on some matte coat. Vallejo,. That went fine.After I sprayed,I cleaned the cap inside,and shot some lacquer thinner through it. I found out that stuff really cleans well for Vallejo paints.

I then took it apart,and cleaned off the inside parts,put it back together carefully. I made sure the nozzle area parts were on finger tight. It always worked well for me in the past. I went to spray more thinner,to make sure the insides got clean. I press the trigger,nothing comes out. Not even air.

I did feel some thinner dropping out in the area of the knurled knob area at the nozzle. No idea what is going on. :idonno

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Umm, what kind of airbrush is it? It looks a little like my Badger Krome with the alternate nozzle on it.

My suggestion would be to take it back apart again, make sure you didn't miss a bit-o-crud in ne of the sealing areas. Then reassemble it. The part that actually holds and seals the paint nozzle might need to be a smidge tighter than finger tight. Mine wouldn't seal until I tightened it a lot tighter than I originally thought it should have been.

If it is leaking out between the needle and nozzle, you might need to adjust the needle a tiny bit. Hopefully the nozzle isn't split. I had that happen one upon a time and had to replace the nozzle piece.

The air nozzle just needs to be snug, not real tight as it doesn't have to be a perfect seal.

Hope this helps.

 

[ausf]

I've never heard of using lacquer thinner with anything but lacquer, especially not Vallejo which is a water based acrylic.

I've been experimenting with Clear coats over Vallejo and Future since I'm building a lot of RC boats lately and need a waterproof final coat. Using both Testors and Tamiya lacquer rattle cans, I found that if applied too heavy, they will melt the acrylics. If left flat and undisturbed, it will solidify over time, but if touched, if all pulls away in a gooey mess.

From that experience, I'd think that the lacquer thinner turned the Vallejo residue gooey and gummed up while it evaporated.

Air should always flow, even if the nozzle or needle are dirty. Paint may not, but air should always pass through the cap outside of the nozzle. I'd take off the cap and see if you have flow, and if you do, check the cap for blockage.

I'm not familiar with your brush, but they generally work the same, air passes around the nozzle through the cap and when you pull the needle back, paint gets into the airflow.

 

[moon puppy]

That needle don't look to hot Chad. Should be a nice tapered point. Also doesn't look like the retainer is on right, didn't get crossthreaded did it? Hope not!

Break it all down and clean it out real good. Use some brushes or something to clean out the ports, blow it out real good.

:zen

 

[The Zod]

Umm, what kind of airbrush is it? It looks a little like my Badger Krome with the alternate nozzle on it.

My suggestion would be to take it back apart again, make sure you didn't miss a bit-o-crud in ne of the sealing areas. Then reassemble it. The part that actually holds and seals the paint nozzle might need to be a smidge tighter than finger tight. Mine wouldn't seal until I tightened it a lot tighter than I originally thought it should have been.

If it is leaking out between the needle and nozzle, you might need to adjust the needle a tiny bit. Hopefully the nozzle isn't split. I had that happen one upon a time and had to replace the nozzle piece.

The air nozzle just needs to be snug, not real tight as it doesn't have to be a perfect seal.

Hope this helps.

It is the Badger Krome Renegade with the fine needle and nozzle,instead of the regular extra fine needle and nozzle. Yesterday,I did take it apart and put it back together a few times,but it would not work.

 

[The Zod]

I've never heard of using lacquer thinner with anything but lacquer, especially not Vallejo which is a water based acrylic.

I've been experimenting with Clear coats over Vallejo and Future since I'm building a lot of RC boats lately and need a waterproof final coat. Using both Testors and Tamiya lacquer rattle cans, I found that if applied too heavy, they will melt the acrylics. If left flat and undisturbed, it will solidify over time, but if touched, if all pulls away in a gooey mess.

From that experience, I'd think that the lacquer thinner turned the Vallejo residue gooey and gummed up while it evaporated.

Air should always flow, even if the nozzle or needle are dirty. Paint may not, but air should always pass through the cap outside of the nozzle. I'd take off the cap and see if you have flow, and if you do, check the cap for blockage.

I'm not familiar with your brush, but they generally work the same, air passes around the nozzle through the cap and when you pull the needle back, paint gets into the airflow.

I read somewhere online that Lacquer thinner works the best for cleaning out an airbrush after using acrylics. I also heard alcohol may curdle Vallejo paints and gum them up. I will try your suggestion.

 

[The Zod]

That needle don't look to hot Chad. Should be a nice tapered point. Also doesn't look like the retainer is on right, didn't get crossthreaded did it? Hope not!

Break it all down and clean it out real good. Use some brushes or something to clean out the ports, blow it out real good.

:zen

That needle tip does look bad. I will see if I can get it to work again. If not,I will order a new one.

 

[moon puppy]

Chad Badger has a lifetime warranty so if you send it to them they will fix it.

http://www.badgerairbrush.com/Service-Supprt.asp

I've had good experience with this, sent off 3 for various issues and they all came back like new.

Is there paint on the needle? I've taken bent tips on a sharpening stone and honed them in then polished them. Almost like new.

 

[The Zod]

Seems all is well now. I took out the fine needle and nozzle,and put in the extra fine one. I put water in the cup. At first nothing. :idonno Then it started spraying water. I then put the fine needle back in. It to sprayed water. :dance

I guess all is fine now.

Now to search and see what the best and least expensive thing is to clean out all acrylics from an airbrush. Testors and Vallejo make their own acrylic cleaners. But that stuff ain't too cheap.

 

[ausf]

Good deal.

As far as cleaning. Water, water, more water. Water in the color cup, spray it out. Dunk the brush under the water, spray it for while. Water in color cup again, finger over the tip, spray until bubbles spill all over the place. Brush back under water, spray for a while. The more water you can get through the brush as fast as you can after painting, the better.

I usually pull the needle and wipe it, if there's any color residue, I repeat dunking, etc. If not, a few drops of Vallejo's AB cleaner sprayed out and it's done.

Windex works too, just doesn't lube the needle like Vallejo.

If you have a siphon feed, same thing, though skip the backwashing and a separate container with the cleaner in it is necessary, but again, only a quick spray, no need to use tons of cleaner, let the water do the job.

 

[The Zod]

Sounds good to me Ausf. Thanks.