Minor Badger Problem

hmmm... are you spraying enough cleaner through it and backflushing it?

Sometimes mine needs cleaning between color changes but usually I can get away with waiting till the end of my spraying, or at least a couple of times...

I do use lube now so that would probably help some... what kinda paint are you spraying? I find acrylic needs wiping down more than enamel... just in my experience... Maybe Mike can come along and give ya some ideas...

Maybe I need to spray more thinner through. It's really no big deal. I can handle wiping it down everytime I finish spraying.

What do you mean by, "wipe down the needle?"

Mike

I mean taking it out and wiping it with a thinner soaked rag top remove excess paint.

I always have a little excess paint that does not get cleaned off also, but it does not affect the airbrush's performance at all.
I do use Badger Needle Juice or Medea Super Lube though.

Mike

Tanky, I was just thinking... what is your max pressure with that blue ice compressor? I always crank the pressure up to around 40 - 50psi to spray cleaner through.... what do you use? That may be what it is.. I remember you talking before about not getting pressures above 22 or so... in that case maybe it's not enough to clean off all the paint and until you get another compressor and you will need to (carefully) clean the needle each time...

P.S. have you sprayed anything with it since I sent the regulator? remember the deal? I gotta see results man! good luck to ya with the cleaning thing...

Another thought Tanky, do you backflush your airbrush?

Mike

I'm having a similar problem with paint clumping on the needle point (past the tip). Wiping the tip with a cleaner soaked q-tip or rag takes the clump off and the brush can be sprayed again. More often this only helps temporaraly and the paint begins clumping again.

I can kinda deal with the paint clumping except before it's visible as a clump it starts effecting the point where the paint flows as I pull back on the trigger (badger anthem 155) making it difficult to predict exactly when the paint will begin to flow (goes down fine when it does come out).

I've tried varying the amount of thinner as well as pressure (polly s acrylics typically 60/40± @ 12psi). I clean the airbrush thoroughly after each use. My first thought was that the metal needle was so clean that the paint would immediately stick and begin building up through use (I spray for about 15 minutes a go interspersed with multiple tip-cleaning sessions).

I was wondering if the above mentioned needle lubricants were suitable for deterring this kind of build up. Do they provide a protective bond on the metal or are they just lubricants as their name implies?

I'm not even sure I'm on the mark with my troubleshooting and would sure appreciate it if somebody could stear me in the right direction.

You are pretty much on the mark, howewver that is just the nature of acrylics. They dry so absurdly fast that "Tip Dry" is very common with them. I've just gotten in the habit of wiping off the tip of my airbrush each time I sit it down.

Needle lube will help slightly, but using acrylic retarder will help the problem a lot. It slows down the drying time of acrylic paint and makes it less likely to dry on the tip. It doesn't eliminate the problem,not by any means, but it does help. You can get them at any good art supply store under the Golden, Createx, and other brand names.

Tamiya thinner already has some retarder in it, however for PolyS paints I do like the label says and just use water to thin them.

I have to wipe the needle down everytime I spray acrylics through my 155, backflush or not. However, I don't mind since I usually do this while the paint dries in between color changes. Also, I am usually obsessed with taking care of my stuff so it's in my nature to clean a lot.

Joe

Thanks Music, that's just what I needed to hear (well, aside from the needle lube not being a permanant/semi-permanant solution)!

Shame as I liked the way the paint flowed with the polly-s thinner. I really haven't tried any other paint/combos since getting the 155 so I have high hopes!

QUOTE: Originally posted by Sav0datA I've tried varying the amount of thinner as well as pressure (polly s acrylics typically 60/40± @ 12psi).

12 psi is pretty low for a siphon-feed airbrush although it may work.

QUOTE: I was wondering if the above mentioned needle lubricants were suitable for deterring this kind of build up. Do they provide a protective bond on the metal or are they just lubricants as their name implies?

The lubes do help somewhat but they do not eliminate tip dry completely as that is impossible at this point in time.

Mike