No Blow!!!

Scott,

More than likely, the gasket material in your aquarium pump is made out of Buna N, a synthetic rubber developed specificly to counter act the distructive effects of petroleum products on natural rubber fittings and products, especially in the aviation field.  It wouldn't suprise me if the O-rings in most air brushes were made from Buna N as there are a lot of petroleum based products shot through them over the years. (correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Enamels and Laquers petroleum based?)

T&C airbrushes are really very simple devices.  I have two Omni brushes (a 3000 and 4000) and love them.  Air comes in to the air valve from the compressor.  When you depress the trigger it opens the valve, air exits the two holes on the side of the valve body, passes down the air passage bored in the airbrush body, and out the holes in the head assembly and around the nozzle (not through it , but around it) where it pulls the paint through the nozzle.  If you are getting good airflow from the compressor (this is something that you need to verify) and aren't getting good airflow at the nozzle then it is either leaking out somewhere or getting blocked somewhere.

Here Is A Parts List for Vega Brushes and Here Is A Parts List For Omni Brushes  Notice that both of them have an o-ring between the head and body (part no. T-602).  You said there was no rubber seal anywhere, is that o-ring present?  Other than the o-ring in the air valve, a Teflon needle bearing, and another o-ring between the handle and body there are no other seals or o-rings that I'm aware of.

Follow your air path from the compressor to the nozzle.  Check air volume at the compressor with nothing attached.  Hook up the hose and check air volume at the end of the hose.  Put the air valve on the hose without the airbrush and check it there.  If you have good airflow at all these places then something is blocking it in the airbrush body or head.  Disassemble the airbrush, remove the o-ring at the front of the body and soak the body in laquer thinner overnight.  Use a thin piece of wire to run down the air passage bored in the body and through the holes in the head to make sure they are not plugged.  Either your air is getting blocked, it's leaking, or the compressor doesn't have enough volume.  If it's getting blocked it HAS to be in one of those places, there are no others in the airbrush.

You might also contact Badger and see about getting it refurbished.  Their customer service is first rate and they will take care of you I'm sure.

Okay, she has been stripped and dipped.  I did get a small amount of flow, I do not think enough to push paint though.  The brush is "old" according to the gent I purchased it from.  However, it had never been used at all.  There was no rubber seal any where in it.  The nozzle has three feed(?) holes in it and the interior was seriously gummed.

Upon close inspection I noticed that the nozzle where the needle exits looks as if it had been chipped...is it tiome for a new nozzle assembly?

everything working to this point...should I soak it longer or go to a more astringent sleaner...even though laquer thinner is pretty rough stuff.

or does any one want to buy an airbrush...cheap...LOL

Tremendous amount of knowledge here on airbrushes and I wouldn't dream of correcting people here but I must point out... Isn't Vaseline petroleum based? From what I remember putting petroleum based products on rubber is a bad idea. Causes the rubber to go brittle. I have no idea what airbrush lubricnt is made from but again if petroleum based might be bad to put on rubber. Of course its been many, many years since science class so I could be completely off my rocker. If so just please ignore my ignorance and kindly correct me.

Any time I'm wrong feel free to correct me.  I don't claim to be perfect by any means, and I appreciate it when someone points out my mistakes.

You are right in that Vaseline is petroleum based.  However the filter for one of my fish tanks (a rather expensive filter, and not an el-cheapo) has a large rubber o-square  (it isn't a ring, but a square about 6" across) and it came with a tube of Vaseline to lubricate it.  I figured if it was OK for Eheim it was probably OK for Badger.

True airbrush lubricant is, from my undrestanding, partly or mostly glycerine.

I followed Scott's advice earlier last year on this subject and it works like a charm. I used Badger Regdab with no problems whatsoever.

 

E

I believe silicon should be fine. You could also try beeswax. But lets wait on the petrol based stuff for a moment. Like I said, its been years since science class and memory is a fuzzy thing. Someone with more info should be sure to contribute.

Okay so Vaseline or petrol based may be bad...how about very fine fishing reel lubricant?  It i silicone based.

Tremendous amount of knowledge here on airbrushes and I wouldn't dream of correcting people here but I must point out... Isn't Vaseline petroleum based? From what I remember putting petroleum based products on rubber is a bad idea. Causes the rubber to go brittle. I have no idea what airbrush lubricnt is made from but again if petroleum based might be bad to put on rubber. Of course its been many, many years since science class so I could be completely off my rocker. If so just please ignore my ignorance and kindly correct me.

The valve is in four pieces and is pretty easy to clean.

1)  Unscrew the valve assembly from the airbrush body.

2)  On the side that the hose screws on to notice that the hole is shaped to fit an Allen wrench.  Find an Allen wrench that fits it and CAREFULLY unscrew it.  There is a spring right underneath so take care not to lose it.

3)  Remove the spring and plunger.  Clean the valve body, the cap that screws out, and the spring with laquer thinner.  Clean the plunger and o-ring with alcohol or Windex.  Put a tiny amount of airbrush lubricant, Vaseline, or something similar on the o-ring and plunger.  Pay particluar attention to the air holes in the side of the valve body.

4)  Reassemble in reverse order (plunger into body, spring into body, and screw the cap back in place) and it should be good to go.  Test it by screwing the air hose in place and pushing down on the plunger.  If the compressor is on you should get air blowing out the holes in the side of the valve.

They tend to get gummed up from time to time and will occasionally stick.  Cleaning them out is usually all that is necessary to get them working properly again.

If that doesn't work check the air pasage in the airbrush body.  Unscrew the head and you'll see a hole bored at the 6:00 position.  That hole goes all the way back to the air valve and if it gets plugged up there will be no air passing through the airbrush.  You can disassemble the brush completely and coak the body in laquer thinner to get rid of any dried paint in the air passage.  Blow it out with compressed air and it should work fine.

Okay it's a Thayer and Chandler, ran the test and it is definitely in the brush. I think it may be in the valve...no air what so ever is coming into the brush.

Unhook the hose at the airbrush but leave it connected to the compressor.  Turn on the compressor and if you are getting a good air supply it's in the brush itself.  If not, unhook the hose from the compressor and see if you are getting good air at the compressor outlet.  If so the problem is in the hose, if not the problem is in the compressor.