Badger 150 question

Sounds like your is needle is stuck with dried paint at the needle bearing.  For the airbrush to work properly the needle needs to move freely.  Loosen and remove the set screw at the back of the needle.  Use a pair of pliers to work the needle loose.  Once the needle is loose remove it and clean it up with lacquer thinner. 

If the airbrush is that dirty you should clean it up with lacquer thinner.  After it's all clean re-assemble everything and see if you can move the needle freely.

Before pulling the needle out with pliers, immerse the head portion in the lacquer thinner to soak first. DO NOT IMMERSE THE ENTIRE BRUSH! There is an O-ring in the air assembly that will be destroyed by the thinner. Then follow Tyamada's instructions.

Then make sure you clean thoroughly every time. I pull the needle after every cleaning to make sure that no paint is left on the brush.

You can arrange to send it back to Badger for a rebuild. It's a very good airbrush (and yes I have one!) and you'll get it back in tip top condition.

And once you get it working, when you take it apart for clean-up start at the front of the brush. Once you have everything off the front loosen the lockdown for the needle and push it all the way forward and wipe off the needle before you take it out of the brush. Then it won't drag what paint's left on the needle back through the needle bearing. May not be much paint there but it can build up over time and if the brush sets for a while it can harden and keep the needle from moving. That may be why it's stuck now.

Tony

Thanks Everyone for all the input!  When the snow ends I'll go get a bottle of laquer thinner - all I have right now is biodegradeable paint thinner.  Tony - that's an excellent idea for needle removal!

So no one thinks there is an issue with the spring?  Does anyone know how much Badger charges to rebuild an airbrush - just in case soaking/cleaning this puppy doesn't work?  Also I've done a web search for  any videos showing how to properly break down and clean the 150...the written instructions only take one so far and the basic Airbrushing video by Badger deals more with technique than proper maintenance; anyone know if such a video exists? 

sorry for all the questions, but I'm sort of anal about tools - I like to know exactly how they work and how to maintain them before I use them.  It's partly the Engineer in me and partly the boatbuilder!

Thanks again all

Rich,

Badger carries a lifetime free labor warranty on their airbrushes. You pay shipping to them (int'l customers have to pay both ways), and they will contact you with a cost if and when parts need to be replaced. Most times they can repair without parts.

Click HERE to take you to their service/support page, which gives you all the information you'll need.

No videos, but here is a COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE on cleaning the 150. If you are using acrylics, you don't quite have to go to the extent he does, but it is a thorough cleaning!

Rich, you can adjust the spring tension by turning the needle tube/shank in and out of the body of the airbrush. Loosen the needle chuck first(the ring that locks the needle in place), pull the needle back a little and then turn that whole assembly in or out to adjust the tension on the trigger. Slip the needle back in place and tighten the chuck. You can take that complete assembly out of the brush body to check it out if you want, it will screw all the way out.

The needle is what keeps the trigger and the back lever behind it in place. When the needle is removed you can lift the trigger out. If you back out the needle tube assembly a little you can slide the back lever back and lift it out the slot in the top of the body. Just note which way it's turned, there's a curve in the bottom of it. Don't remember the size but you can use a small wrench to loosen the airvalve assembly(where the hose connects) and take it out of the body. It's self contained, don't have to worry about parts or springs flying. Screw the needle tube all the way out and all you have left is the body of the brush and the teflon needle bearing. Then it won't hurt to soak the body in thinner and you'll be able to clean out any paint that may have gotten on the back side of the needle bearing.

In case you didn't get one with it, here's a link to the manual for that brush from the Badger site that shows an exploded view and part numbers and list. It's a pdf file so you can save it if you like.

Badger 150 Manual

Tony

Thanks for all the input guys, I really appreciate it! 

I took the airbrush apart tonight and am soaking the head assembly in laquer thinner (minus the teflon O-ring).  I also pulled the needle (from the front) and noticed two things: 1) There is a very small "patch" of something on the needle approximately 1 1/16" from the tip and 2) I believe the needle is bent.  When I roll it on a reasonably flat surface, it wobbles like a warped cue stick.  I'll check it on a piece of glass tomorrow...it's not a huge wobble, but it is there.

So I have a couple more questions:  1) does anyone know the diameter of the F, M & L needles?  I want to mic the needle that came out of the brush to ensure the needle matches the head.  The head has an "M" stamped on it. 2) Could a bent needle do any other damage to the airbrush that I should look for?

Bgrigg - Thanks for the info about Badger!  I may be sending this one to them for repair once I understand the issues a little better.  It's kind of nice to finally begin to understand the workings of the airbrush. 

I will also make a huge confession right here !  I've had 3 Badger 150's and a brand new Paasche HBS 2216 spray booth for the last two years and haven't used any of them once...mostly because of how intimidated I am about the entire airbrushing process.  But, I'm unemployed right now and trying hard to overcome this fear (maybe phobia) !

I'm trying to learn a new career - Computer IT (Information Technologies), find a job, and deal with some very annoying fears (airbrushing among others)

Well thanks again for all your input!

Rich,

The Medium needle has two grooves cut into the blunt end. Fine has one and Coarse has three.

Bent is not good! If you have three (and why do you have three? Mind you, I have two 100LGs: one medium and one fine!), are any of them the same needle size? Can you try the other airbrushes?

JUMP IN!! Airbrushing is easier than it seems.

Bgrigg

JUMP IN!! Airbrushing is easier than it seems.

I cant agree with this more, I spent long enough wetting my pants about using my airbrush when I got it, I was way overly concerned with damaging my expensive investment during the cleaning strip & build process. The easiest thing to do is to get on with it, look at it as a trusty tool & take care of it, dont look at it like the crown jewels.

CLEANING TIP;

One thing that has always irritated me about cleaning up is how far back paint seems to travel back along the needle - there often seems to be more paint sitting on the needle than there is left at the bottom of the cup / in the head area. My brush is gravity fed, but this should work for the 150 as well - when you are finished painting, remove your colour cup & place the cup top (which is still on the airbrush) over your palm to create a seal, turn your air up to maximum & pull the trigger. Because of the "vacuum" created, this will draw most of the paint of the needle into the head - no big deal really, but it gets paint out of areas you wont easily get to.

This is why Ken at Badger and me always tell people to backflush. It cleans much better.

Bgrigg

Rich,

The Medium needle has two grooves cut into the blunt end. Fine has one and Coarse has three.

Bent is not good! If you have three (and why do you have three? Mind you, I have two 100LGs: one medium and one fine!), are any of them the same needle size? Can you try the other airbrushes?

JUMP IN!! Airbrushing is easier than it seems.

Bgrigg et al. -

This is awesome...I'm learning so much more than any manual or DVD I've come across!  Thank you all  verymuch!

I think whoever owned this brush before me, may have known less about them than I do.  Here's what I've figured out so far:

There is paint everywhere inside the head!  I soaked it overnight in laquer thinner and I'm trying to swab it out with a paper towel and I have yet to get a clear swipe from the towel.  I have removed the regulator from the tip and put them both back in the laquer for more soak time - I agitate the bottle as well to try and work it into all parts.  I also confirmed it is a Medium head! 

The needle is bent and it's a course needle (3 notches)!

Now I'm questioning whether the tip is ruined because it was a Medium tip but had a coarse needle in it?

Also, in reading other posts and looking into the links you folks gave me (and in some other posts) pipe cleaners have been recommended to help clean the brush.  I don't know of any head shops in the area, so where can I find pipe cleaners?  Would a place like Wal Mart carry them, and if so, in what department?  What about Michaels?

As to why I have 3 airbrushes...good question.  My original intent was not to have three, but two and have each one set with it's own needle/head size: Fine, Medium.  I only bought one of them brand new from my SLHS (that's Somewhat Local Hobby Shop which is ~ 25 miles away).  It only had one needle/head.  The other two I won on ebay on the same night - I was bidding on both to increase my chances of winning at least one.  Once I won them both I just modified my original plan to have all three head/needle sizes.  When I received them both and found one was not functioning, I went back to my original plan. 

But then the fear/phobia set in and they've sat in the basement all this time.  Early last year I bought the paint booth to alleviate the fume issue I had been reading about in this forum, and to break the log jam of the fear.  That didn't work out as planned, since shortly afterwards I was laid off and my focus shifted to other things.

Last week I needed a break from the constant studying I was doing to qualify for some government funded training opportunities, so I started organizing my modeling tools/paints etc. In so doing I found three models that were just about complete and awaiting paint!  I realized how much I needed to face my fear - seems dumb at 46 years old, but here I am!

Sorry for making a long story longer - I guess I just needed to confess, not sure why!

Anyway Thanks Again!

Rich, the tip will be ruined, but luckily the parts aren't all that expensive. I would pack it off to Badger and let them rebuild it for you. The 150 is a workhorse and I had one that was at least 20 years old, which I passed along to a young modeler when I upgraded to a 100LG. It's well worth the rebuild!

Go down to the drug store and get some dental cleaner brushes. They come in various size and can get into the tight little spaces to help clear the head nozzle. Beware cheap pipe cleaners. They are crappy and will leave tiny hairs where you don't want them. If you have a good tobacconist in town, check them out. The pipe cleaners they sell will be much better than hobby ones.

Bill

Bgrigg

Rich, the tip will be ruined, but luckily the parts aren't all that expensive. I would pack it off to Badger and let them rebuild it for you. The 150 is a workhorse and I had one that was at least 20 years old, which I passed along to a young modeler when I upgraded to a 100LG. It's well worth the rebuild!

Go down to the drug store and get some dental cleaner brushes. They come in various size and can get into the tight little spaces to help clear the head nozzle. Beware cheap pipe cleaners. They are crappy and will leave tiny hairs where you don't want them. If you have a good tobacconist in town, check them out. The pipe cleaners they sell will be much better than hobby ones.

Bill

If you can still find them online these 'Airbrusher's Brushes' are great.

The set comes with the 6 cleaning brushes seen in this photo I took.

I placed a toothpick at the bottom to show comparative sizes.

PontiacRich

I took the airbrush apart tonight and am soaking the head assembly in laquer thinner (minus the teflon O-ring).  I also pulled the needle (from the front) and noticed two things: 1) There is a very small "patch" of something on the needle approximately 1 1/16" from the tip and 2) I believe the needle is bent.  When I roll it on a reasonably flat surface, it wobbles like a warped cue stick.  I'll check it on a piece of glass tomorrow...it's not a huge wobble, but it is there.

So I have a couple more questions:  1) does anyone know the diameter of the F, M & L needles?  I want to mic the needle that came out of the brush to ensure the needle matches the head.  The head has an "M" stamped on it.

The diameter of the F, M &L needles (the straight part) should be all the same.  They have different taper and different nozzle openings, which are 0.51, 0.76 and 1.0 mm for the 155/3155/Patroit105 series airbrushs. I got this info from Don Wheeler's web site. Not sure if they are applicable to the 100 or 150 series badgers.

2) Could a bent needle do any other damage to the airbrush that I should look for?

When you have the bent needle in the airbrush, can you pull the trigger as easily as you do with a new needle? If you cannot correct the bending, get a new needle. They should be relatively cheap from your airbrush store.

The Badger 150 parts are totally different than the 155, 105 and 3155.  Here is a link to the parts breakdown of the 150.

http://www.webairbrushes.com/abb150schem.htm

Here is a link to the order page for the parts.

http://www.webairbrushes.com/abb150parts.htm

I recommend you send the airbrush back to Badger for a overhaul and see if they will also sell you the parts for the different size needle/nozzle combinations.

tyamada

The Badger 150 parts are totally different than the 155, 105 and 3155.  Here is a link to the parts breakdown of the 150.

http://www.webairbrushes.com/abb150schem.htm

Here is a link to the order page for the parts.

http://www.webairbrushes.com/abb150parts.htm

I recommend you send the airbrush back to Badger for a overhaul and see if they will also sell you the parts for the different size needle/nozzle combinations.

Do you know the answer to the original question:  "1) does anyone know the diameter of the F, M & L needles?"

I believe that PontiacRich meant the nozzle sizes for Badger's F, M & L setup. Those info are hard to find on the Badger web site.

keilau

 

 

 

Do you know the answer to the original question:  "1) does anyone know the diameter of the F, M & L needles?"

I believe that PontiacRich meant the nozzle sizes for Badger's F, M & L setup. Those info are hard to find on the Badger web site.

True because for the most part they are irrelevant!

Bgrigg

Rich,

Badger carries a lifetime free labor warranty on their airbrushes. You pay shipping to them (int'l customers have to pay both ways), and they will contact you with a cost if and when parts need to be replaced. Most times they can repair without parts.

Click HERE to take you to their service/support page, which gives you all the information you'll need.

No videos, but here is a COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE on cleaning the 150. If you are using acrylics, you don't quite have to go to the extent he does, but it is a thorough cleaning!

 

Well I packed up the airbrush, both needles and both heads today and wrote a note to Badger.  I'll be mailing it tomorrow morning!

Based on what everyone has said I'll be getting back a "good as new" airbrush!  I just hope the parts don't cost too much.

Thanks everyone for the input and encouragement!

Rich

MikeV

keilau:

 

 

 

Do you know the answer to the original question:  "1) does anyone know the diameter of the F, M & L needles?"

I believe that PontiacRich meant the nozzle sizes for Badger's F, M & L setup. Those info are hard to find on the Badger web site.

 

True because for the most part they are irrelevant!

I wouldn't necessarily say irrelevant, because if you're a former engineer (and yes - you could put anal retentive after "former" ) these little tidbits of information are irresistable!  However, from a practical standpoint once I was told of the notches (Thanks  to Bgrigg) it makes it easy to identify which needle as which.

Thanks again for all the input!

PontiacRich

 

MikeV:

 

 

keilau:

 

 

 

Do you know the answer to the original question:  "1) does anyone know the diameter of the F, M & L needles?"

I believe that PontiacRich meant the nozzle sizes for Badger's F, M & L setup. Those info are hard to find on the Badger web site.

 

 

True because for the most part they are irrelevant!

 

 

I wouldn't necessarily say irrelevant, because if you're a former engineer (and yes - you could put anal retentive after "former" ) these little tidbits of information are irresistable!  However, from a practical standpoint once I was told of the notches (Thanks  to Bgrigg) it makes it easy to identify which needle as which.

Thanks again for all the input!

True Rich but even if the needle and tip diameter are published most people have no idea what that means anyhow. Smaller diameters do not necessarily equate to finer lines. 

MikeV

True Rich but even if the needle and tip diameter are published most people have no idea what that means anyhow. Smaller diameters do not necessarily equate to finer lines. 

MikeV - Point taken; I was originally just trying to match the right tip to the right needle, but thanks to all of the responses I've gotten here, I now know what to look for!

I just mailed my Badger today - I had a death in the family last week  that caused the delay, my last remaining Grandmother passed away at the age of 93, it was a tough week.  Hopefully, Badger will have it right as rain in no time!

Thanks again to all!  You folks are the best!