What do you do if...

First thing that comes to mind is the tiny o-ring around the nozzle has went bad causing it to suck air. While I have seen those go bad dues to soaking the nozzle with the o-ring on in restorer .
 
Here is the conclusion. The funniest thing happened.

I soaked the nozzle for a good while and reamed and cleaned it afterwards in every possible way. No residue or goo or anything came out - nothing.

I was at the end of my wits, and decided to get a new AB.

The AB still sprayed a bit - only “half”, as described before. So I said to myself what the heck let’s work a bit on a new piece. Maybe I could still apply some details with a thin spray volume.

I loaded the AB with some paint and started spraying. As expected a meager performance, yet still somehow workable. After the first cup was done, I refilled. And Lo and behold, suddenly I got my usual ummphh back. Spraying now like a champ. The paint itself must have cleaned out whatever was in there.

I was always under the impression that if it doesn’t work with water then it certainly won’t work with paint. I took water as the litmus test to see whether the AB sprays well. Looks like my wisdom was not necessarily right...go figure.
 
Here is the conclusion. The funniest thing happened.

I soaked the nozzle for a good while and reamed and cleaned it afterwards in every possible way. No residue or goo or anything came out - nothing.

I was at the end of my wits, and decided to get a new AB.

The AB still sprayed a bit - only “half”, as described before. So I said to myself what the heck let’s work a bit on a new piece. Maybe I could still apply some details with a thin spray volume.

I loaded the AB with some paint and started spraying. As expected a meager performance, yet still somehow workable. After the first cup was done, I refilled. And Lo and behold, suddenly I got my usual ummphh back. Spraying now like a champ. The paint itself must have cleaned out whatever was in there.

I was always under the impression that if it doesn’t work with water then it certainly won’t work with paint. I took water as the litmus test to see whether the AB sprays well. Looks like my wisdom was not necessarily right...go figure.

Thats why you'll often see videos of people 'power blasting' the brush off to one side. You'll start to sense when things arent spraying as they should and blast off the tip dry or blow out the gunk as you go.... .... it all takes time to sense when things arent quite right.

See . . not a 'i told you so' in sight. . . a blockage is a blockage, regardless of where in the brush it is lol
 
Thats why you'll often see videos of people 'power blasting' the brush off to one side. You'll start to sense when things arent spraying as they should and blast off the tip dry or blow out the gunk as you go.... .... it all takes time to sense when things arent quite right.

See . . not a 'i told you so' in sight. . . a blockage is a blockage, regardless of where in the brush it is lol

Yes... again, the big revelation was to use paint instead water to clear the blockage, which is somewhat counterintuitive. Many thanks to you, JackEB, and all others on this forum, who helped me in this! I am one happy camper again.
 
Yes... again, the big revelation was to use paint instead water to clear the blockage, which is somewhat counterintuitive. Many thanks to you, JackEB, and all others on this forum, who helped me in this! I am one happy camper again.
Youre working again, thats all that this forum strives for, to get everyone painting and having fun :)
 
The soaking might have loosened up the paint enough to break it free so it could break up enough when you started to paint to undo the blockage? But at the least you have a working brush again and now see just what we mean when we say...It' sounds like a blockage you need to Clean it! even if you have cleaned it beforehand! It only takes a very small speck of paint to block a nozzle.:whistling::whistling::whistling::whistling::D
 
The soaking might have loosened up the paint enough to break it free so it could break up enough when you started to paint to undo the blockage? But at the least you have a working brush again and now see just what we mean when we say...It' sounds like a blockage you need to Clean it! even if you have cleaned it beforehand! It only takes a very small speck of paint to block a nozzle.:whistling::whistling::whistling::whistling::D
The mysteries of airbrushing... when you’re right, you’re right!
 
Great that you’re up and running again. I agree with the others. It seems that the soak loosened whatever was in there and the thicker paint blew it out. Excellent.
Just another thought, I saw that you reamed the nozzle, without wishing to teach you to suck eggs, this needs to be done very carefully. I’ve read that it can scratch up the inside of the nozzle and encourage paint to stick. I don’t know how true that is, but it seems possible. I’ve found that soaking and prodding through the nozzle with a long thin brush is the best way to clean my nozzles. I bought a set of “Nail Art Pin Striping” brushes for this purpose. I think they were about £3.50 from Amazon and work really well. This way it’s only the fibres of the brush going into the nozzle and after a good soak they shift everything.
Just food for thought Buddy.


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Great that you’re up and running again. I agree with the others. It seems that the soak loosened whatever was in there and the thicker paint blew it out. Excellent.
Just another thought, I saw that you reamed the nozzle, without wishing to teach you to suck eggs, this needs to be done very carefully. I’ve read that it can scratch up the inside of the nozzle and encourage paint to stick. I don’t know how true that is, but it seems possible. I’ve found that soaking and prodding through the nozzle with a long thin brush is the best way to clean my nozzles. I bought a set of “Nail Art Pin Striping” brushes for this purpose. I think they were about £3.50 from Amazon and work really well. This way it’s only the fibres of the brush going into the nozzle and after a good soak they shift everything.
Just food for thought Buddy.


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Good thoughts, thanks a lot SiRoxx!
 
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