Air Brush Trouble

[djway3474]

First I will admit that I hate to paint. That is where I always have troubles. Probably why I have so many started cars. They are all sitting around waiting for paint.

Anyway, I pulled out a brand new Pasche that I have had sitting around for a while.

I tried to flow some paint and I got nothing. I thined it way beyond recommended and still nothing. I took a control valve out of the line and I started to get spray but it would not last long and I would have to release and start again to get paint. Sometimes even doing that would not work. So then I tried to run just thinner and it still had the problem.

I have the large tip and needle in it. I tried to rotate the small knob in front of the trigger and that did not help either.

I started to think that the testors compressor maybe did not have enough air flow so I got out my old badger and it sparyed just fine.

Could it be that the pasche needs a much larger cfm than the badger? The gage on the moisture trap reads a high pressure but it does not seem like a lot of air flow to me yet the Badger works.

Any Ideas would be of a help.

Thanks

Dwayne

[Zoom Zoom]

If it won't spray water or thinner alone without trouble, there's a blockage in the system somewhere. You may want to disassemble it and clean everything, if you are using the bottle/cap make sure the small hole in the cap is there to vent, make sure the o-ring bushing that the needle goes through from the body into the chamber isn't damaged or worn out.

Hard to say what it is w/o seeing it in person, but the symptoms indicate a blockage somewhere restricting the flow of either air and/or paint.

[Olle F]

I took a control valve out of the line and I started to get spray but it would not last long and I would have to release and start again to get paint. Sometimes even doing that would not work. So then I tried to run just thinner and it still had the problem.

As Bob said, that sure sounds like a blockage, has happened to me several times when I have done a sloppy cleaning job. I usually start any paint job by spraying some thinner through it, in order to make sure that it works and to flush out any debris that may still be in there. It sucks to have a malfunction when the airbrush is already filled with paint. Don't know how this could happen with a brand new airbrush though. I wouldn't think it's an air pressure/cfm problem if the Badger sprays without a problem, and really, it shouldn't take much air to run an airbrush either. Your best bet is probably to take it apart and inspect it.

[Brendan]

I used to sell this airbrush when I worked at a hobby shop. We used to run into this problem all the time. I take it that it is a double-action airbrush (VL). One possible solution to solve the problem is to disassemble the airbrush and put everything into lacquer thinner except the air stem (where it hooks up to the air compressor line or hose) and let it sit for a couple of hours. Then take a 3 mm pipe cleaner and clean out the interior. Then examine the 3 air holes at the front of the airbrush where the cone will sit. Take a small wire and run it through those air holes. Also check where the valve stem hooks up to the airbrush. There should be a small hole next to the threaded hole. Take a small wire and clean that out as well. Reassemble and shoot at under 15 psi lacquer thinner through the bare brush. If there is any sputtering with the spray, pull the needle out and pull the cone off; then reassemble and make sure everything is tight. Then try again. Should be a constant spray. If that does not help, it may have a blockage within it...could be a piece of metal blocking it. It's a mistake by the factory. See if you can return it.

Also to rule out if it's a paint jar problem, try using the paint cup that is with the air brush. It should spray with the paint cup. If it sprays with the paint cup and not with the paint jar, it means that there is not a vent hole in the paint jar. I usually drill another hole in my paint jar lids to help with this problem.

Hope this helps.

Brendan