Airbrush/Compressor Combo Advice

[Guest]

Isaac .

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Not sure about the airbrush but this set comes from John's shop here on the forum.
Think a lot of the guys have the compressor, I do and always done well .
John is out of stock at the moment, but you can find these on the net as well . It comes in under the £ 100 mark.
John.

I have one of these airbrushes and it’s a good bit of kit, but I’ve developed a problem with it where it isn’t drawing the paint out of the cup when I try and use it.

When the paint is drawn down, it isn’t a a consistent spray pattern which is produced, but instead there are “large” blotches which get sprayed everywhere with little to no control.

I have stripped the guns down to individual components and cleaned them as best as I can and there is no obvious remnants of paint on the inside that I can see.

I’m operating it at a fairly low pressure - 1.5 bar (21 psi) - and I’ve tried adjusting the pressure to see if this helps but, alas, no.

Are there any tips or pieces of advice anyone could provide to me about where I can get a new set of o-rings/seals to see if this can alleviate the problem or just something that I am missing.

[AlanG]

I'm just about to order a set of airbrush cleaning brushes off the net. I've had the same problem. Thought i had totally cleaned the airbrush tip but just a spec of paint was holding the needle away enough to mess things up

[Guest]

I’ve had the nozzle and the needle bathed in nail varnish remover (recommended by a friend with the same airbrush and no issues) and airbrush cleaner and scrubbed them right out but I’ve still got the issue

[AlanG]

You do have a water trap on your airline too?

[Guest]

There’s the trap which you can see to the side of the photo which the airline screws into, is there another one on the brush that I could be unaware of?

[AlanG]

No that's fine. Having one in the line should be enough. But i'd defo invest in those brushes

[Dave Ward]

Every now and then, I strip my airbrush down, and give it a deep clean in an Ultrasonic cleaner - lukewarm water, and liquid soap - I do this for about 1/2 hour, and it's amazing how much crud you can get out. I also use a nozzle cleaner
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( the SMS shop sells these ). I gently clean the nozzle cap ( it's not a reamer! ), and scrape off any build up. I do this after every use. If I suspect the nozzle itself, then I have some fine steel wire ( about 0.15mm ), to see if there are any obstructions ( with the nozzle removed!). I always clean my a/b straight after use, and never let it sit for more than 5 mins with paint in it. I have in the past resurrected needles, with metal polish, and a porcelain tile, but that's a last resort.
I used to deep clean my airbrush regularly, but I found that I created more problems through wear on the 'o' rings, so now less often. Before I put my a/b away, I spray a mix of water & washing up liquid through it. I've never really believed in the proprietary air brush cleaner solutions.
Dave

[JR]

Perfect answer from Dave.
You'd be surprised how much crud gets into the nozzle, the cleaner Dave shows is a must, also the ultra sonic cleaner, I use windscreen wash in mine now. No problems with the modern seals.
Also have the odd dental brush, great for getting into the body with the nozzle out.
John .