Harbor Freight airbrush airflow problems

I had a similar problem with my Harder & Steenbeck a few weeks back. When everything was seated properly, airflow was awful. It'd flow, just not hard. Unscrew it a bit, and BAM, air.

Went in and cleaned vigorously around the airflow areas. No dice. Went back and super-scrubbed the needle channel and the nozzle, reassembled, and it worked great. No idea why, but I'd recommend doing a revisiting of the paint channel before giving up hope.

Italian Starfighter

Hi,I suggest you to consider Badger Patriot 105,it has the same component of 155 but Is gravity one, very better system to me to work and to clean .Ciao Enrico.

Better yet, buy both and then you have the 105 for detail work and the 155 for larger jobs like 1/32 scale aircraft, autos, etc.

The 155 was my first and still favorite airbrush for general use. Good choice.  Think about investing in a Badger 50-483 paint cup.  You can see why on this page.  I think it's a lot handier.

Don

Hi,I suggest you to consider Badger Patriot 105,it has the same component of 155 but Is gravity one, very better system to me to work and to clean .Ciao Enrico.

Well, thanks to everyone who suggested some things I should look at. I tore it down completely again, cleaned it thoroughly, and still no dice. It does seem to be either the tip or the cap that covers the tip that's the problem (since when it's tightened that seems to choke off the air supply completely). So rather than spend half the price of a new HF airbrush on parts, or buy a new one, I fixed the problem with a new Badger 155 since Michael's was running their 40% off coupon. Seems like I saved myself a lot of headaches, as the new 155 is absolutely great.

Check the match between the trigger and the air valve ,then check if the air valve works properly.............Ciao Enrico.

I've been looking at my Harbor Freight trying to figure out your problem.  Even if the O-rings were missing, you should still get air out the front.  The only possibility I can see, other than dirt, is if you've pushed the needle in so hard that you caused the nozzle to spread and block the air path.  But, I'd think it would split first.  If the nozzle is damaged, you could probably order a replacement from Harbor Freight.  The phone number is in the instruction sheet.  But, with shipping, you could probably get another airbrush for just a little more.

It's always nice to have spare parts for when something like this comes up.  If you like the brush, watch for one of their sales when you can pick up a back-up for 12 or 15 dollars.

Don

It sounds like something may be sitting over the air channel outlet where the air from the main body passes into the air cap, possibly a deformed or misplaced seal / o-ring.

I'm not sure which model you have & I'm not familiar with them, but generally if you remove the needle cap, nozzle & air cap & look straight into the body of the airbrush, you should see a hole in the center where the needle passes through & an additional hole or cut-out which is the air channel outlet.

If the nozzle is of the screw in type, make sure that it's properly screwed in & seated - if it's not, depending on the design of the air cap it's possible that the nozzle is sitting against the air cap & blocking airflow. Looking at the airbrush front on again, you should see the needle, surrounded by the nozzle, there should then be a small (less than 1mm) gap all the way around the nozzle between it & the air cap, this picture (not an HF airbrush) should give you an idea;

The Harbor Freight airbrush is supposed to be disposible. Just get another one.

They used to have sets of six airbrushes. It is an alternative to getting a quality airbrush. But not a very good alternative cost wise.

Well, it's a wild guess, especially that I don't know the airbrush in question, but can it be you somehow dropped a washer or a seal/gasket that originally went under the  "tip", as you kindly put it, so now the "tip" fits too tight and blocks the airflow? A photo of the parts in question would assist greatly in solving this, too. Hope it helps, good luck solving the problem

Paweł