Mayday Mayday - Sudden Airbrushing Problems :(

[AlanG]

Is your pressure gauge reading fluctuating when spraying?

[Komedy]

Is your pressure gauge reading fluctuating when spraying?

No it drops a little when spraying so I usually set PSI with air on

[stillp]

No it drops a little when spraying

That doesn't seem right. There must be something restricting the flow, between the tank and the pressure gauge.

Pete

[Tim Marlow]

Looking through the pictures etc, the effect you are getting looks like poorly atomise paint. I know you are getting the correct air pressures, but are you actually getting the correct airflow....you can have pressure without sufficient airflow, the lag just increase.
If the airflow is unable to properly feed the brush the pressure at the needle/nozzle interface will be much lower than that on the gauge.
by changing the needles etc I think you have effectively eliminated the brushes from the equation....it must therefore be an air supply issue.
Out of interest, when the pressure drop at the start of air demand does it always stabilise at the same place?
have you tried a much higher pressure? If so, where does the pressure stabilise? If the compressor isn’t meeting air demand the higher pressure setting may well stabilise pressure at a similar point to the lower pressure.....

Tim

[Komedy]

Looking through the pictures etc, the effect you are getting looks like poorly atomise paint. I know you are getting the correct air pressures, but are you actually getting the correct airflow....you can have pressure without sufficient airflow, the lag just increase.
If the airflow is unable to properly feed the brush the pressure at the needle/nozzle interface will be much lower than that on the gauge.
by changing the needles etc I think you have effectively eliminated the brushes from the equation....it must therefore be an air supply issue.
Out of interest, when the pressure drop at the start of air demand does it always stabilise at the same place?
have you tried a much higher pressure? If so, where does the pressure stabilise? If the compressor isn’t meeting air demand the higher pressure setting may well stabilise pressure at a similar point to the lower pressure.....

Tim

Hi Tim
.

The drop is usually about 2 PSI on the gauge and when I stop airflow in the airbrush it increases by the same amount.

Going to change the regulator on the compressor as I have another that I picked up

[Komedy]

Ok quick update this is what I found after taking of the regulator/filter.... :surprised:





that bit in the middle cant be good....



Tweezers pulled this out

going to try and extract this



Update

Managed to break this much free, so it seems that after the welded the outlet boss to the tank they drilled through from the tank into the boss and didn't break through cleanly.

There is still a chunk I cant get out from the hole into the tank however this is what I did get...



Before fitting the spare regulator I attached the original which when taken off was set at 22PSI - after clearing that stuff its reading 35 PSI :thinking:

Warren

[Guest]

Who was it that mentioned QA...?

Leaving swarf inside is unbelievable! I can't imagine small bits of that making it's way through your airline is helping at all. Hopefully it didn't make it to the airbrushes.

[AlanG]

Told you it was your airflow lol

[Komedy]

Who was it that mentioned QA...?

Leaving swarf inside is unbelievable! I can't imagine small bits of that making it's way through your airline is helping at all. Hopefully it didn't make it to the airbrushes.

Hopefully not - going to have a look at the air valves in each brush - Have the new reg/filter attached, but still concerned that the aperture from the tank through the boss is 50% clear at best.

[stillp]

What's surprising is that it took a month for that oop: to cause a problem.
Pete

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Warren
Glad you found the problem. Not sure if it’s the picture, but that swarf looks a little oxidised. I would drain condensate out of the tank after every use.
The brushes should be fine, the air has to go through the filter before it is delivered to the outlet hose. I would strip and clean the regulator before using it again though, it could have particles in the internals that will stop it working properly.
cheers
Tim

[AlanG]

Get a Dremel in there and clean up the swarf. Replace the regulator (if you cannot change the filter unit). Should be ok after that. But as Tim says, i would drain the tank far more often too.

[Komedy]

Well with the new regulator fitted there is little improvement, paint is just splattering out and impossible to lay down mist coats. Assume the blockage that I haven't been able to clear at the head of the tank is impacting volume while air pressure appears ok. Have phoned the jungle and even with it being 2 weeks outside the 30 days returns the nice agent was helpful to issue a label to return if for the refund.

While in the first weeks it appeared to work ok I think that the pressure has been gradually pushing that mess up as it was fragile enough to break off, even though some is stuck were i cant get at it.

Will cut my losses on this one and order a Sparmax TC-620. Hopefully the Airbrushes survived the trauma.

Thanks everyone for your patience and willingness to help me sort this issue out.

Warren

[AlanG]

That is what this community is all about Warren. Helping each other. Glad you found the route cause :smiling3:

[Komedy]

That is what this community is all about Warren. Helping each other. Glad you found the route cause :smiling3:

Im just hoping this has been the route of the problem and on the evidence I cant imagine it being anything else. On the dremmel comment wouldn't be confident of getting it in there. In this pic you can just make out the edge of whats in the hole and dear knows what else lies beyond.