Need help with airbrush!

Slin · Post by **Slin** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 7:26 am

I recently go myself a airbrush with compressor, double action, etc (don't knw the type, but from what I've seen on the net it closely resembles a Badger 150). I painted with it a few times (3x), cleaned it properly and now it doesn't work anymore

. When I tried to paint something, air bubbles up into the paint jar and nothing is coming out of the nozzle, and on when it does, it spits the paint out, not with an even flow, just short bursts.

What is wrong

I just had the thing for a few days and now it's broken.

nicholjm · Post by **nicholjm** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 9:57 am

Slin, I too am new to the world of the airbrush. I have a cheap Harbor Freight model that is very similar to a Badger 150. I'm no expert, but if that happened to me, I would first take it apart and thoroughly clean every piece with Windex. Inspect everything. Reassemble it and try just blowing air through it, making sure you can feel air coming out the nozzle. Then try paint, and if it still screws up, make sure you reassembled it correctly. My airbrush only spits like that if I've allowed paint to dry in the nozzle, at which point I'll flush some windex through it to clean it out. Then I'll turn the regulator pressure up higher and just blow air to blow anything out of there. Then I'll go back to painting. Hope it works.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:02 pm

Windex is great if you're using acylic paints, otherwise you'll meed something stronger.

What happening is you've got some blockage near the tip where the air & paint mix. Doesn't take much as the tollerances are increadibly tight. You may need to disassemble the head/nozzle and let it soak overnight in some cleaner (Windex, EZ-Air cleaner, etc).

Mikko · Post by **Mikko** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:18 am

That could also indicate a chipped nozzle.
Probably not but if good cleaning does not correct this problem, check the nozzle with magnifying glass.

Cheers,
Mikko

mongoose · Post by **mongoose** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 3:46 am

There could be a few problems but if it bubbles up into the cup when you try to spray, its plugged up. When I clean my ab, I put my finger on the tip and this is exactly what happens. Doing this cleans out the inside of the airbrush and also can dislodge a stubborn blob of paint too. Like Nicholjm and Kylwell said, take it all apart and clean it but try using laquer thinner. Make sure there isnt any kind of seal or o-ring that the thinner can attack thou. Mine doesnt have anything like this to worry about so L. thinner is safe for me. (just dont spray it when you are cleaning inside). I doubt your ab is broken but this has happened to me before too, even when I was sure it was clean, it really wasnt. And also, while you are at it, check the tip like Mikko said. That could cause a very uneven spray pattern. Hope this helps and good luck with that too.