Airbrush Problems

Yes, that's the needle bearing (PN 50-040), and it's supposed to be a factory replace item only. I managed to put mine is alright, but I suppose there is a way to do it wrong and mess up. I think if I ever have to replace another one I am going to send it back to the factory for a tune up at the same time. Since I have both a 100LG and 150, I don't have to do without an airbrush in the mean time.

I've not yet had a blockage so bad that I needed to use a mechanical aid. You can't use the cheapo pipe cleaners people use for crafts, they're terrible. Go to a proper tobacconists and see what kinds of pipe cleaners they have, after all it's the real stuff! Be careful you use one that won't split the tip on the head assembly. 

I have the Badger 200 and have been having some similar problems. I too gave it an overnight soak in laquer thinner and comensed to give it a complete tear-down cleaning. While I was scouring it a little teflon-looking bushing came out (I didn't even know it was in there! ), I assume this is what H3 called a "needle bearing". Long story short, I cleaned the crap out of everything I could and it seems to be working much better. By the way, I did put the "needle bearing back in.

While we're talking about cleaning Badgers, what do you all use to clean the needle "pathway" (for lack of a better word)? I've been using pipe cleaners, but they tend to leave little "fuzzies" in the A/B that are rather tricky to get out. I bought an air duster (the kind you use to clean your keyboard) today to see if that will help blast out any blockages.

Bgrigg wrote:

BTW bad for painting weather is good cleaning airbrush weather!

LoL, that is true, but I live in Southern California so this is really odd weather for us.

Hopefully that will work, but if there is paint that has dried and CURED in the brush, you will only end up with clean paint clogs. The lacquer thinner will eliminate all traces of dried paint.

BTW bad for painting weather is good cleaning airbrush weather!

I would have to agree with Bill, sounds like two dirty brushes.  Or possibly a bad needle bearing in both ( been there, done that ).

E

Ranger_Chris61 wrote:

Now is it posible that both of these airbrush have finaly decided to die on me, or is it posible the mixture of paint that i am using?

From a failure analysis perspective, it strikes me as being unlikely that both airbrushes would die simultaneously.  I would look to your paint.

What kind of paint are you using?  Does this happen with all colors?  How old is the paint? 

Much more likely that it requires a darn good cleaning. There is little that can wear so badly that the brush will "die". The head assembly might split, but that's easily replaced once the proper part is in hand.

Remove the needle and the trigger mechanism (where the hose attaches), as it has an o-ring that will get destroyed otherwise, and soak in lacquer thinner. You can leave it in for half an hour, or longer. Then do a thorough cleaning with windex or simple green, and flush with distilled water, and you should be good to go.

If that doesn't work, send it to Badger (there are instructions on how to do so on their website) and they will give you an estimate to replace or rebuild. Sometimes they just require a tweaking to get back to factory new settings.