Airbrushing Question

[Skinny_Mike]

Hi guys - I have an airbrush troubleshooting question. I think I know what's going on, but I want to make sure.

While I was painting tonight, I started to notice that when I pushed down on the trigger to activate the airflow, some liquid spurts out. Its a clear liquid, not the paint. This liquid continues to sputter out pretty randomly. Causing a lot of splatter to my paint finish.

I am guessing that I'm just getting water in the airline (humidity in Florida is around 80% right now) and either the moisture trap on the compressor can't keep up, or the water is condensing in the hose.

Anyone else ever had this happen? And have a good fix?

Thanks
Mike

 

[jknaus]

Could be water in the line. Are you getting a lot when you clean the water trap? If so maybe an inline filter would help? Did you clean this recently? could you have some moisture in the brush from your last cleaning? I wish I could help you more apart from the questions but my airbrushing sucks and I cant figure out why.
If humidity by the way is always bad maybe a dehumidifier in your paint shop would cut sown on the problem some.
James

 

[Skinny_Mike]

There is water coming out of the trap. Unfortunately I airbrush in the garage, so a dehumidifier would have a hard time keeping up. I decided to order a filter that sits at the airbrush itself. Hopefully that'll help.

 

[jknaus]

The one that acts like a handel? I'd be interested in your thoughts when you get it. I have wondered about them.
Good luck, hope that solves it.
James

 

[Skinny_Mike]

yeah - that's the one.
I'll let you know how it works.

 

[Iron Mike]

Mike, do you have a compressor with a tank? If so, you need to drain that tank frequently during humid times. I take mine outside in the grass to drain it, the water is usually rusty and will stain concrete. I let the pressure build up until the compressor cuts off, then open the drain valve on the bottom of the tank slowly at first, then all the way to let the air force the water out. You'd be amazed at how much is in there. hmy: :pinch:
B)

 

[ausf]

Besides humidity, the act of compression heats up the air. High humidity could be overwhelming the trap, but you could also be getting condensation in the hose after the trap.

Iwata makes a nice pistol grip trap, but you can also get one of those cheap traps for the base of the AB since you're only trying to cut down on the residual stuff.

I was plagued by what you're getting, I was using a sizable MT at the compressor, not an AB one, but the type you'd get from Home Depot. I added a cheapo ($3) trap at the base of the AB and problem was solved.

I eventually switched over to an Iwata SmartJet compressor that came with a nice trap/gauge and I haven't had an issue since. It may be Iwata uses a very narrow line post trap or that the trap is so efficient, but I haven't needed the added one at the brush.

Nothing is worse that doing a tight camo pattern and you get that water loogie out of nowhere.

 

[moon puppy]

That's odd, I have a huge compressor from an old gas station, I've tested it a couple of times and never seen water come out. Gotta wonder why that is.

 

[Swordsman]

My dad made a simple water trap on his Air compressor in the barn ... large pvc in your case about 2 inches should do on bottom He had a drain plug air coming in inlet was lower than air going out the whole trap was only about 1 foot long ... ldguy

 

[ausf]

That's odd, I have a huge compressor from an old gas station, I've tested it a couple of times and never seen water come out. Gotta wonder why that is.

It may have to do with tank size. If I use the tanked compressor for tools, I have to drain it all the time. When I worked in a 20+ bay garage, they had a compressor tank the size or a truck and in the summer vapor would shoot out of all the air tools, but the lift valves would spew water like a garden hose when first opened.

The tankless ones I have for ABing have nowhere for the moisture to collect, so if there's no trap, it seems to collect in the hose until it gathers at one point and block, then spits a waterbomb.

 

[chukw]

I lost my old (silent, tanked)compressor because I never knew about emptying the tank! I thought the water trap did that, but eventually I kept hearing a thin, high whistle. I took it to Coast AB before our move to get it serviced before going out to the boonies and was dumbstruck to find that the tank had a tiny hole rusted through that was making the whistle. Had to buy a new (refurb) unit. I vent that sucker now, and because I added too much oil, it spits out oil and water- a real mess!

 

[moon puppy]

That's odd, I have a huge compressor from an old gas station, I've tested it a couple of times and never seen water come out. Gotta wonder why that is.

It may have to do with tank size. If I use the tanked compressor for tools, I have to drain it all the time. When I worked in a 20+ bay garage, they had a compressor tank the size or a truck and in the summer vapor would shoot out of all the air tools, but the lift valves would spew water like a garden hose when first opened.

The tankless ones I have for ABing have nowhere for the moisture to collect, so if there's no trap, it seems to collect in the hose until it gathers at one point and block, then spits a waterbomb.

I think there's a trap on the intake for the compressor. I'll have to look at it closer, I have another trap on the line feeding my workbench that is always dry, never seen it catch anything, in fact the filter looks fresh. And yes, it is hooked up correctly as I can vent it and air comes out...

I'll check the tank again this weekend but when I have checked it in the past it's been clean. :idonno

 

[phantom II]

How high is your air pressure at the compressor ?

Regards, Christian B)

 

[Heavens Eagle]

I have a decent 2 cylinder airbrush compressor with a tank. It powers up to about 90 psi and kicks in periodically when I am using it. There is a small presure regulator with a moisture trap on the outlet that I keep at about 25 psi. Then I have a small inline moisture trap about 2 inches away from the airbrush with a small Pasche needle valve air regulator where the hose attaches to the airbrush.

I regulate the airflow through the airbrush at the needle valve and while it isn't real accurate for precise pressure it works quite well. To date I have yet to ever find any moistre in the trap at the airbrush or the trap on the tank outlet. I have had to drain the moisture out of the tank but it is minimal usually.

 

[phantom II]

Ok, I was asking Mike the question ,since he is the one with the problem .

Regards, Christian B)

 

[Heavens Eagle]

I knew that but thought I would describe my setup as it has been fairly trouble free.

 

[moon puppy]

Ok, I was asking Mike the question ,since he is the one with the problem .

Regards, Christian B)

Good, thought you might have been asking me. :huh: :woohoo:

 

[phantom II]

Ok, I was asking Mike the question ,since he is the one with the problem .

Regards, Christian B)

Good, thought you might have been asking me. :huh: :woohoo:

And why would you think that ? Only one person in this blog was asking for an answer to his problem . :idonno

Cheers, Christian

 

[Skinny_Mike]

First off all - This is just another example of what I love about this site, my little question has turned into a little round table discussion about airbrushing, which will probably help more then just me!

Mike, do you have a compressor with a tank? If so, you need to drain that tank frequently during humid times. I take mine outside in the grass to drain it, the water is usually rusty and will stain concrete. I let the pressure build up until the compressor cuts off, then open the drain valve on the bottom of the tank slowly at first, then all the way to let the air force the water out. You'd be amazed at how much is in there. hmy: :pinch:
B)

I have an Iwata compressor Mike, with out the tank. I do keep my pig 30 gallon compressor open so that the water doesn't pool in it. Avoids what happened to Chuk. Here is a photo of my setup.

Besides humidity, the act of compression heats up the air. High humidity could be overwhelming the trap, but you could also be getting condensation in the hose after the trap.

Iwata makes a nice pistol grip trap, but you can also get one of those cheap traps for the base of the AB since you're only trying to cut down on the residual stuff.

I was plagued by what you're getting, I was using a sizable MT at the compressor, not an AB one, but the type you'd get from Home Depot. I added a cheapo ($3) trap at the base of the AB and problem was solved.

I eventually switched over to an Iwata SmartJet compressor that came with a nice trap/gauge and I haven't had an issue since. It may be Iwata uses a very narrow line post trap or that the trap is so efficient, but I haven't needed the added one at the brush.

Nothing is worse that doing a tight camo pattern and you get that water loogie out of nowhere.

That is basically the setup I have sans the MT at the airbrush. I ordered one so hopefully in a week or so, I'll have this licked. And yeah - My freehand camo job, took a bit of a beating from the sputtering. Fortunately I still need to add another color so I can hopefully get it cleaned up.

How high is your air pressure at the compressor ?

Regards, Christian B)

I've been between 20 and 30 psi Christian.

I appreciate all the help guys. I think we've pretty much confirmed what i was thinking. I've ordered a new trap for the airbrush side, and I am thinking of replacing the vinyl hose from Iwata with a fabric covered one, to see if that helps make any difference. I'm also going to get some beeswax to seal up the brush a little bit. All of this my help out in general.

Otherwise, I'll need to keep my painting sessions under 20 minutes at a time on those humid days.

Thanks
Mike

 

[phantom II]

First off all - This is just another example of what I love about this site, my little question has turned into a little round table discussion about airbrushing, which will probably help more then just me!

Mike, do you have a compressor with a tank? If so, you need to drain that tank frequently during humid times. I take mine outside in the grass to drain it, the water is usually rusty and will stain concrete. I let the pressure build up until the compressor cuts off, then open the drain valve on the bottom of the tank slowly at first, then all the way to let the air force the water out. You'd be amazed at how much is in there. hmy: :pinch:
B)

I have an Iwata compressor Mike, with out the tank. I do keep my pig 30 gallon compressor open so that the water doesn't pool in it. Avoids what happened to Chuk. Here is a photo of my setup.

Besides humidity, the act of compression heats up the air. High humidity could be overwhelming the trap, but you could also be getting condensation in the hose after the trap.

Iwata makes a nice pistol grip trap, but you can also get one of those cheap traps for the base of the AB since you're only trying to cut down on the residual stuff.

I was plagued by what you're getting, I was using a sizable MT at the compressor, not an AB one, but the type you'd get from Home Depot. I added a cheapo ($3) trap at the base of the AB and problem was solved.

I eventually switched over to an Iwata SmartJet compressor that came with a nice trap/gauge and I haven't had an issue since. It may be Iwata uses a very narrow line post trap or that the trap is so efficient, but I haven't needed the added one at the brush.

Nothing is worse that doing a tight camo pattern and you get that water loogie out of nowhere.

That is basically the setup I have sans the MT at the airbrush. I ordered one so hopefully in a week or so, I'll have this licked. And yeah - My freehand camo job, took a bit of a beating from the sputtering. Fortunately I still need to add another color so I can hopefully get it cleaned up.

How high is your air pressure at the compressor ?

Regards, Christian B)

I've been between 20 and 30 psi Christian.

I appreciate all the help guys. I think we've pretty much confirmed what i was thinking. I've ordered a new trap for the airbrush side, and I am thinking of replacing the vinyl hose from Iwata with a fabric covered one, to see if that helps make any difference. I'm also going to get some beeswax to seal up the brush a little bit. All of this my help out in general.

Otherwise, I'll need to keep my painting sessions under 20 minutes at a time on those humid days.

Thanks
Mike

Hmmm ? I'm not sure why you have such a problem Mike . We have a lot of humidity here but I never have issues either. No filters either... :idonno

I have two compressors . One that runs 150 PSI with a tank. That one needs draining.
The other, an ancient Badger which maxes out at 35 PSI. Never notice any moisture in that air supply.

I thought maybe your compressors ran at a higher PSI. like 150 or above

There is a bigger chance of having moisture when running higher pressures, as it forms in the process of decompressing the gasses.

IE: 1. from the compressor to the tank . While going from the tank through the regulator and while going from the airline through the orifice of the airbrush itself . ( Don't know of a cure for that one ).

Anyhow, this is not a cure but it gives you some places to try and filter the moisture .
The more you get out just downstream of the compressor , the better off you are further down.

Hope the trap is enough to cure the problem

Chapstick will work instead of bee's wax.

Cheers, Christian B)