Siphon feed airbrush

[Valvefloat]

59 minutes ago, johnyrotten said:

What set did you purchase? 

 

[johnyrotten]

Ok, so that's pretty much the same set I've had for two years now(different brand, same looking everything). I found with mine the siphon feed  one needed cleaning right from the start, machining oils and crud. It's also very touchy to paint thickness and pressure. I make sure I set my pressure with the button depressed, it'll raise when you let off. The opposite is true if you adjust first and then depress. It'll drop. As for viscosity, I go by the "skim milk" reference. Mix up some paint and drag it up the side of your container. It should run off and leave a faint trace of color behind. Make sure any vents are clear, and the pick up hose is in the paint, and not sucking air from any connection. You kinda gotta rule out things systematically. Hopefully this helps you out. 

[johnyrotten]

I want to add, I see you use craft paint, I sprayed my gto with craft paints thinned way down. Like water. With that same airbrush. It was a bit of messing around till I found the right viscosity and pressure to get it to spray well. Take an afternoon or whatever and try and dial it in. Change one thing at a time. It sprays water, so start with the paint viscosity. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, Valvefloat said:

I bought a well reviewed and well made Airbrush kit(compressor, 3 airbrushes, hose, tools etc) the siphon feed had a plastic body, loose fittings

and the jar was poor fitting into the airbrush.

The gravity feeds are all metal, well machined, smooth trigger, sprays A+. 

It just didnt make sense why pure water would spray but 80% water20%paint would not from the siphon feed.

 

That’s not just a “siphon feed”.

It’s also an “external mix”.

A whole different ball of wax from an “internal mix”, which is what your gravity feeds are, as are most siphon feeds.

 

 

Steve

 

[johnyrotten]

26 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

That’s not just a “siphon feed”.

It’s also an “external mix”.

A whole different ball of wax from an “internal mix”, which is what your gravity feeds are, as are most siphon feeds.

 

 

Steve

 

Thank you for the clarification Steve.

[Can-Con]

On 5/31/2025 at 9:57 AM, Valvefloat said:

 

"remember 1:1 cars dont get painted with siphon feeds"  

Aw man, I wish I knew that before I painted my Trans Am with one. 😟

Probably would have come out much better if I had, I guess.

[Can-Con]

The black airbrush in the pic of the kit looks exactly like my Badger 350s I've been using for decades with no problems that I didn't cause myself.

[johnyrotten]

20 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

The black airbrush in the pic of the kit looks exactly like my Badger 350s I've been using for decades with no problems that I didn't cause myself.

I'd say that's the model they cloned/copied. Here's the one from my kit, similar to op's.

[Can-Con]

5 minutes ago, johnyrotten said:

I'd say that's the model they cloned/copied. Here's the one from my kit, similar to op's.

Oh Yea, definitely.  I do have a cheap knockoff like that but I've never tried it yet as I have 2 350 badgers that work fine so I've never had it out of the packaging.

The only reason I have it is it was passed down to me by my aunt when my uncle passed away so. 😐

 

BTW, you can buy a 350 at Michaels for under 50 bucks. 

Like I said, it's pretty well all I use and I've had 2 magazine covers with cars I've painted with them.

Edited June 2 by Can-Con

[johnyrotten]

8 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

Oh Yea, definitely.  I do have a cheap knockoff like that but I've never tried it yet as I have 2 350 badgers that work fine so I've never had it out of the packaging.

The only reason I have it is it was passed down to me by my aunt when my uncle passed away so. 😐

 

BTW, you can buy a 350 at Michaels for under 50 bucks. 

Like I said, it's pretty well all I use and I've had 2 magazine covers with cars I've painted with them.

I'll keep that in mind now that I'm much more serious and invested in the hobby. I'm nowhere  near a magazine cover level builder, maybe one day. Hopefully op can figure out their situation and anything I've said helps.

[Valvefloat]

1 hour ago, Can-Con said:

Aw man, I wish I knew that before I painted my Trans Am with one. 😟

Probably would have come out much better if I had, I guess.

Beautiful TA

[peteski]

On 6/2/2025 at 11:51 AM, Valvefloat said:

I bought a well reviewed and well made Airbrush kit(compressor, 3 airbrushes, hose, tools etc) the siphon feed had a plastic body, loose fittings

and the jar was poor fitting into the airbrush.

The gravity feeds are all metal, well machined, smooth trigger, sprays A+. 

It just didnt make sense why pure water would spray but 80% water20%paint would not from the siphon feed.

 

Alex, we seem to be going in circles here with your dissing of siphon feed brushes.

My siphon-feed Badger 200 is all-metal precision-machined airbrush, which as mentioned I owned for few decades. Not some cheap plastic toy. It works well.  I believe all Badger airbrushed are metal.  I'll say again that the airbrush you had bad experience seems to have been some crappy airbrush, and now you are hung up on badmouthing *ALL* siphon-feed airbrushes.  That's not cool.

YOU STILL HAVE NOT ANSWERED MY QUESTION ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH  USING AIRBRUSHES. Was the crappy airbrush your first one? 

[Valvefloat]

7 hours ago, peteski said:

Alex, we seem to be going in circles here with your dissing of siphon feed brushes.

My siphon-feed Badger 200 is all-metal precision-machined airbrush, which as mentioned I owned for few decades. Not some cheap plastic toy. It works well.  I believe all Badger airbrushed are metal.  I'll say again that the airbrush you had bad experience seems to have been some crappy airbrush, and now you are hung up on badmouthing *ALL* siphon-feed airbrushes.  That's not cool.

YOU STILL HAVE NOT ANSWERED MY QUESTION ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH  USING AIRBRUSHES. Was the crappy airbrush your first one? 

No ive used a old Paasche when I was a teen , didnt like it.

[peteski]

18 hours ago, Valvefloat said:

No ive used a old Paasche when I was a teen , didnt like it.

OK, so for you it's basically like starting fresh.  It will take some practice to get comfortable using a (decent quality) airbrush, regardless if it's gravity or siphon-feed.  or you might find out (like you did in your teens) that you just prefer spray cans.

[Valvefloat]

49 minutes ago, peteski said:

OK, so for you it's basically like starting fresh.  It will take some practice to get comfortable using a (decent quality) airbrush, regardless if it's gravity or siphon-feed.  or you might find out (like you did in your teens) that you just prefer spray cans.

It was the ratios that took getting sorted but spraying parts  or a body is straight forward.

Im not doing trim or fine details with them, simpler using markers or my fine brushes.

[Bugatti Fan]

Before reading this thread I had never heard of Vevor Airbrushes and equipment.

Mind you there are so many different cheapo airbrushes around that I have never heard of it's difficult to keep track of them all. That is it I even bother to look ! As for spares I would be doubtful about them being readily available.

So I will be sticking with my stalwarts, a couple of old Badgers that I have served me well for about 30 years now with no problems apart from odd replacement spares like nozzles and needles through normal use.

If price is an issue that is swaying one towards a cheap airbrush, take a breather and look for a second hand quality airbrush that would suit your needs. Many users have upgraded and have good quality airbrushes that are no longer used, so this might be a good avenue to pursue by putting out feelers and looking at sites like Ebay.

[Dave G.]

Vevor actually makes some decent quality products. I imagine the compressor will hold up pretty well, about like Master or Point Zero.

The airbrushes in this kit look to be the same as every other Chinese set. Usually a little tune up gets them going OK. To which you can find videos online about doing so.

It's very possible that external mix airbrush that got batted to pieces, had the little siphon tube hitting the bottom of the glass, thus stopping flow with anything thicker than water. Also with any external mix like that, you turn the nozzle tip outward to get more paint flow. If it was in too far, that would cause the problem too. I've seen that even with my Paasche H. It's rarely the tool at fault but the users knowledge and understanding, something you will never gain in airbrushing if taking a bat to each perceived problem. Just sayin.

You can get a replacement .8 external mix Chinese made airbrush at Amazon for $20. And try again. It should work when set up properly, but .8 is a very nice size for shooting properly thinned craft paints. The products and thinning of which is another whole topic, good for another thread of opinions.

Edited Thursday at 05:59 PM by Dave G.

[Bainford]

9 minutes ago, Dave G. said:

It's very possible that external mix airbrush that got batted to pieces, had the little siphon tube hitting the bottom of the glass, thus stopping flow with anything thicker than water.

Excellent point, and quite possibly the original problem. I have had this occur in the past. I trimmed the end of my siphon tube on an angle to avoid this very problem.

[Dave G.]

3 minutes ago, Bainford said:

Excellent point, and quite possibly the original problem. I have had this occur in the past. I trimmed the end of my siphon tube on an angle to avoid this very problem.

Me too, Trevor. I bought some backup jars with lids and tubes, for either my H or the Badger 200, don't recall which. But the tubes were just a bit too long, I trimmed as you did, at an angle. I also cut in a little V notch on one side of the tube, just in case.

[johnyrotten]

17 minutes ago, Bainford said:

Excellent point, and quite possibly the original problem. I have had this occur in the past. I trimmed the end of my siphon tube on an angle to avoid this very problem.

Did the same to mine before I ever used it. I saw that as a potential issue right from the start.

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 hours ago, Bainford said:

Excellent point, and quite possibly the original problem. I have had this occur in the past. I trimmed the end of my siphon tube on an angle to avoid this very problem.

100%.
The tube is often too long and cut straight which interferes with paint flow.

I’ve also had to slightly shorten and cut them at an angle.

 

 

 

Steve

[bill-e-boy]

On 6/6/2025 at 5:51 AM, Dave G. said:

It's very possible that external mix airbrush that got batted to pieces, had the little siphon tube hitting the bottom of the glass, thus stopping flow with anything thicker than water. Also with any external mix like that, you turn the nozzle tip outward to get more paint flow

I agree with Dave that this could have been the original problem. 

Or

The pick up tube on the was not sealing very well where it plugs into the bottom of the nozzle causing an air leak. The finish on some of the cheap air brushes is not great and a rough finish on the nozzle on the bottle or a poor finish in the nozzle receptacle could cause this.

I use Badger (200 and 350) and Paache (H and VL) that I have picked at very good prices through our local online auction site

 

 

 

As an aside - I am an industrial electrician and have had to carry out a lot of remedial works on machinery manufactured in Asian countries (you choose which one - but not Japan though). There are a lot of basic shortcuts like twisted wire joins in the cable ways that have been taped over, no earthing which is mandatory in NZ, and badly made off cable ends. We also have issues with equipment not matching voltage ratings for our grid and regulatory requirements. The time and money needed to carry out remedial work soon adds up and often the machine owner gets a surprise when he gets the bill for the works  The worst I saw was a machine supplied with a lead with a male plug that plugged into a female socket on the machine - 400V waiting for someone to touch and get a zap - very very unsafe