Does a moisture trap reduce PSI to the AB?

Are you using the airbrush in the gravity feed mode?

E

Yes, a second moisture trap will slightly reduce pressure.  Anything that is added in the path will cause a reduction in pressure.  That reduction may be slight, even insignificant, but it is there.

 Every airbrush is different, every pressure gauge is different, every installation is different.  Just because Person Y is able to spray at 10 psi doesn't always mean you will be.  Some airbrushes just will not properly atomize the paint at pressures that low while others work quite well.  Also keep in mind that pressure gauges are notoriously inaccurate, especially at low pressures.  I have two on my air line and at low pressure one will read several psi lower than the other.  Which is right and which is wrong?  Don't know, don't care.  I just keep playing around until I find something that works.

A couple of words of advice:

1)  If you are thinning paint 90:10 then all you are spraying is tinted thinner.   If you have to go much past 50/50 something is not working right.

2)  Acrylics dry notoriously fast, and you are probably experiencing some drying at the airbrush tip that is causing a lot of the splatter.  Try adding some acrylic retarder to your paint cup to slow down the drying time and that should help.

3)  If your airbrush doesn't work right at 7-10 psi don't worry about it.  Find smoething that works for you and stick with it. 

I'm also using the Badger 360 and atleast with Vallejo acrylics I had real problems with spattering as the paint dried on the tip. The problem was resolved with a few drops of acrylic retarder in the paint.

My older aztek works fine with the same preassure and paint thinning ratio.

 Michael

Scott, Michael,

Thanks for your responses and advice.  I have noticed that at high thinning ratios the acrylic paints dries very fast on the tip.  The problem is much less if the thinner ratio is lower.  Currently I've reduced my thinning ratio to no more than 60:40 and the splattering is practically gone.  I've also started to ignore the PSI reading on the regulator and just adjust until I get the results I want.

Questions on the retarder: What retarder should I be looking for?  I've gone to some art supply stores and they sell jars/bottles of stuff that says it reduces drying time for acrylic paint, but nothing specifically called "acrylic paint retarder".  Also, any brand you recommend?   I see Liquitex and Golden brands a lot in the acrylic paint section.  I usually mix my paints in individual 3/4 oz jars.  Is it ok to add the retarder while mixing and have it sit for several weeks before using it again?

Questions on the retarder: What retarder should I be looking for?  I've gone to some art supply stores and they sell jars/bottles of stuff that says it reduces drying time for acrylic paint, but nothing specifically called "acrylic paint retarder".  Also, any brand you recommend?   I see Liquitex and Golden brands a lot in the acrylic paint section.  I usually mix my paints in individual 3/4 oz jars.  Is it ok to add the retarder while mixing and have it sit for several weeks before using it again?

That's pretty much what you want.  I don't know all the specific trade names, they all call them something different.   Any of them by Golden, Liquitex, Createx, etc. should work quite well as long as they are for acrylics.  I have a small bottle of Createx that I've had for a couple of years and it's still about half full.  It doesn't take much at all, I don't measure the percentage or anything, just add 2 or 3 drops to the paint cup.

I have added retarder to a bottle if I'm mixing a good bit of paint, but it doesn't work quite as well.  I'd recommend putting whatever amount of blended paint you want to use in the paint cup, adding a couple of drops of retarder, and if you don't use it all just dump it back in the bottle.  The retarder won't hurt anything, at least it never has for me. 

I use Vallejos own retarder as 99% of may paints are Vallejo. I dont use that much of the retarder, could be around 2% of the paint.

A couple of days ago I forgot the retarder when I mixed the paint. The outcome was quite good, with some further testing I realized that the Badger 360 need the paint much more thinned than the Aztek. With the perfect thinning ratio the retarder is not needed but if I'm a little bit of the retarder helps a lot. With Aztek it was a much broader rage between too thin and too thick paint.

I havent tested any other brand of retarder. But I suppose the same brand as the paint is the best without testing.

Michael

bufflehead wrote:

Can a second moisture trap on the line be reducing the pressure to the AB?  I'm using a Badger 360 AB, Badger 180-1 compressor, filter/moisture trap to regulator, then 10' Badger hose with another built in moisture trap.The regulator is one I bought from Hope Depot and indicates up to about 100 PSI.  ....  Maybe its saying 15 PSI and its really 10?

I agree with Scott that there has to be some sort of a pressure drop, but based on my experience, it would be nowhere near 5 PSI.  I have a near identical setup with the same compressor with a similar type of regulator/moisture trap.  Later on,  I picked up their 10' hose with moisture trap.  I have always pretty much run my siphon feed airbrushes at 15 PSI, and I didn't notice any change when I added the second moisture trap.  Regardless what your gauge indicates, just find a pressure and thinning consistency that works and stick with it.