Common place for a little wear and tear, metal on metal movement, likely similar inside the spring housing, nothing to really worry too much about and wouldn't think it would create any major resistance or issues. but yer as above, just give it a polish if concerned.
I noticed the nickel finish at the bottom of the paint cup worn through to the brass structure after two months use after purchase. I use distilled water (4 part) and ammonia (1 part) for cleaning. I discussed this with Ken at Badger and he said that should not cause it and he'd check it out with members in the plating department. I do not recall if he said they do the "plating" in house or hire another company to do so. However, Ken, the CEO of Badger, said it of interest to him and he will research the problem. I have a lot of respect for Ken for the fact his company is American and maintains a full guarantee on all products for life. Also, i am impressed that he handled my call himself. The guy "loves" Airbrush and all about airbrushing. He told me that if i wished to send it back to him and he will replace it.
You gotta love a guy like that!...
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However, now that I'm here, I have another issue needing advice or theory's from all of you great artists in this forum. I have another product from badger, a Sotar 20/20 Airbrush. I bought it for detail work and overall it works as desired. Except, a new issue surfaced recently that may be of my own doing. In the world where paint, pressures and reducing must be mastered to get the desired effect often requires proper troubleshooting to identify the cause and fix problems as they arise. This particular issue, so far, eludes a solution.
The problem is, during prolonging operation, pressurized paint feeds back to the trigger assembly. I notice it when painting and air bubbles mixed with paint oozes out the top trigger slot of the airbrush body. As a result the trigger becomes sticky and requires immediate breakdown and cleaning. My thought was there was some kind of blockage i.e., dry tip, etc. Adding more reducer didn't solve the problem. My gut feeling is...there is "more" pressure feeding back than the pressure applied for normal operation. However, it's my understanding that the airbrush is designed to operate at all pressures applied. I only use 15 psi to 30 psi range of pressures and so far experience the same problem regardless of the pressures in that range. I don't want to assume it's a flaw in the design of the airbrush and i wonder if this is a problem with other people who use the Soltar 20/20 airbrush.
If anyone has additional ideas that i failed to find so far, I'm interested in hearing them. Please know it will be appreciated.