Tool Time - Disassemble and clean a Badger Krome

[Heavens Eagle]

Hey everyone! Welcome back to a new TOOL TIME!

This is a one shot installment showing the Badger Krome disassembled, cleaned manually, reassembled and adjusted. This tutorial has been bouncing around in the back of my head for a while. Part of why it took so long for me to put it together is that right after obtaining it I modified it as I did an earlier airbrush. Doing the modification takes a certain skill set and some special tools so I would not recommend you try it on your airbrush as it can (and possibly did on mine) void your lifetime warranty. For me it was worth it due to the improvement on paint flow and increased ease in cleaning the paint cup.

Also there are 37 photos in this tutorial so as usual I will break them into several posts.

Enjoy!

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[Heavens Eagle]

Here is the next batch of photos

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[Heavens Eagle]

Here is the 3rd section

I am adding an edit here to pass on some experience with the parts in the above photo.

DO NOT use any kind of lubricant on the large threads of the "Tube Shank" to the body of the airbrush, keep it dry and clean ONLY!!! :facepalm

Not the Badger lubricant or anything else. Keep them dry and clean. I put a little lubricant there and the brass in the body started to corrode and made a small Verdigris (green brass corrosion) blockage in the threads. I almost destroyed the tube shank trying to remove it. Lucky for me I was able to repair it and keep the part going.

If you must know, the knurled part of the "Tube Shank" is very thin and without the "Spring Screw" it crushed a bit when trying to remove the shank. I was able to reshape and restore the end of the tube where the Spring Screw threads in, but it was a near thing. I now have a spare part. "Just In Case"

continue to the final post.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

And the final section.

I hope you found this informative and helpful. I know a number of you use ultrasonic cleaning machines to clean your airbrushes. While I have a nice small one, in my work I have found that those cleaning machines don't quite always get everything. If you really want it clean you have to go through and give some mechanical process to it and inspect it.

As always, any questions are very much welcome, and again my thanks to Iron Mike for his photo of the unmodified Krome.

 

[Sharkmouth]

Very informative! Thank you.

Regards,

 

[moon puppy]

Lot of detail, never knew how to pull the needle seal out, I always left that up to Badger to do.

Does anyone use that stop on the rear of the handle?

 

[Iron Mike]

All the time.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[moon puppy]

All the time.

I'll expect a demonstration.

 

[Adam]

Very timely Paul. Very timely for me indeed! Thank you so very much for taking the time to do this. When I bought my Krome I didn't get a parts manual. I've always wondered how to take out the seal. The trigger back pressure thing is also great. Definitely going to adjust that. Actually I've gotta disassemble mine anyways. When our basement flooded last month all of my modeling stuff managed to survive. But, when my mom and sister came over to help us clean up the next day I see my mom standing there holding the Krome by the air hose and it just swinging around all care free. MOM!!!! Sure enough, the tip of my fine needle is bent 90 degrees. YARRRRRGGHHH!!!! So I gotta take this thing apart and call Badger and get some parts! Once again, thanks Paul.

Bob, yes I use the trigger stop all the time. Especially if I am doing mottling or fine spraying.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Sorry to hear of your tribulations Adam. Yeah, Moms tend to be clueless on how to handle delicate stuff.

As to parts, I found one place that seemed to carry the Krome parts for reasonable prices. Badger's site almost looks abandoned. Doesn't look to have been updated in about 6 or 7 years. When I get home from work tonight, I will find a link for the site I saw carried Krome parts.

Having spares in hand isn't a bad thing. I need to order some backup parts as well.

Lastly, and I can not stress this this enough, use the correct size screwdriver to remove the rear seal!! If you bugger up the slot you will be screwed. In addition if it doesn't want to turn (even sluggishly), DON'T FORCE IT! Let the body soak in some mineral spirits to loosen it. The correct screwdriver size is very important which is why I specified it and showed photos.

If you have any questions please ask, a silly question is a lot easier to deal with than a mistake.

 

[jknaus]

Excellent tutorial. Thank you
James

 

[moon puppy]

Very timely Paul. Very timely for me indeed! Thank you so very much for taking the time to do this. When I bought my Krome I didn't get a parts manual. I've always wondered how to take out the seal. The trigger back pressure thing is also great. Definitely going to adjust that. Actually I've gotta disassemble mine anyways. When our basement flooded last month all of my modeling stuff managed to survive. But, when my mom and sister came over to help us clean up the next day I see my mom standing there holding the Krome by the air hose and it just swinging around all care free. MOM!!!! Sure enough, the tip of my fine needle is bent 90 degrees. YARRRRRGGHHH!!!! So I gotta take this thing apart and call Badger and get some parts! Once again, thanks Paul.

Bob, yes I use the trigger stop all the time. Especially if I am doing mottling or fine spraying.

Sorry Adam...I can't get the mental picture out of my head of this, her doing it and your reaction...

if you can get the needle out you can roll it on a sharpening stone to straighten it out. Ask me how I know... :facepalm

 

[Heavens Eagle]

My mom had the "Deadly Dustcloth"! There were always parts coming up missing on my finished models when growing up. :facepalm

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Very timely Paul. Very timely for me indeed! Thank you so very much for taking the time to do this. When I bought my Krome I didn't get a parts manual. I've always wondered how to take out the seal. The trigger back pressure thing is also great. Definitely going to adjust that. Actually I've gotta disassemble mine anyways. When our basement flooded last month all of my modeling stuff managed to survive. But, when my mom and sister came over to help us clean up the next day I see my mom standing there holding the Krome by the air hose and it just swinging around all care free. MOM!!!! Sure enough, the tip of my fine needle is bent 90 degrees. YARRRRRGGHHH!!!! So I gotta take this thing apart and call Badger and get some parts! Once again, thanks Paul.

Bob, yes I use the trigger stop all the time. Especially if I am doing mottling or fine spraying.

Here is the link Adam. I have not ordered from these folks, but their site looks really promising.

Coast Airbrush Krome parts.

What Bob said can be true though it sounds like it damaged the tip as well. (people wonder why I am happy being single) :dance

What I would suggest is loosen the chuck and both of the screw down parts at the tip and remove the needle and all tip parts together. Then see if you can work things around. With a lathe you could probably file down the needle to a new point if you could manage to keep the correct taper angle. If the tip is split or damaged though why bother, a replacement will be needed.

Hope the flooding was a quick clean up and you are back to it Adam. :zen

 

[Heavens Eagle]

Ok here is an addendum (several years later) I order a number of replacement/spare parts from these folks for my Krome. Evidently some of the parts were non stock as it took about 4 weeks to get them, but I did finally receive them.

I just wish Badger would upgrade their site a little so that it would be possible to order parts directly.

On a positive note they are starting to make it easier to order their airbrushes and paint directly and in some cases with a discount.

In addition to the Krome, I now own a Sotar 20/20 slim which doesn't have a mounted cup but just a small cavity in the top of the body. It is for small amounts of paint for fine work. Basic construction is the same as the Krome as far as disassembly and such.

I also discovered (the hard way) to be sure and keep the threads for the trigger tension adjustment completely clean and dry. They are the parts in the following photos.

I put a little light oil on the threads between the "Tube Shank" and the body and they gummed up. In removing the Tube Shank from the body I managed to collapse the knurled end where the "Spring Screw" threads in. I did manage to repair the part and make it fully operational again, but what a pain. So, keep those threads clean and dry.

 

[moon puppy]

Timely update, I still don't know how all that junk got in my needle tube.

 

[phantom II]

quote="moon puppy" post=323305]Timely update, I still don't know how all that junk got in my needle tube.[/quote]



Do you pull your needle out through the back of the brush ? :hmmm

Cheers, Christian B)

 

[Frank]

Thank you for the information.
Very helpful.
Frank

 

[moon puppy]

Timely update, I still don't know how all that junk got in my needle tube.

Do you pull your needle out through the back of the brush ? :hmmm

Cheers, Christian B)

Is there any other way?