Badger Krome pulsing!

[Stitch_83]

Hi guys, newbie to the forum but I've been airbrushing for many years.

My setup is a tanked compressor with moisture trap, quick release couplings and badger renegade Krome using various media.

One day I noticed the ab started to pulse quite prominently and bubbles coming from the front of the cup into the cup. I figured the usual suspects, needing taken apart and cleaned, flared nozzle, bent needle etc...

Long story short, I've taken apart all I can, cleaned and reassembled, installed a brand new needle, tip and crown and got nowhere. I have ordered a new needle bearing (they are user replaceable on the Krome thankfully) but I'm just worried that the new bearing makes no difference! Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance
Stuart

 

[jagardn]

Hi guys, newbie to the forum but I've been airbrushing for many years.

My setup is a tanked compressor with moisture trap, quick release couplings and badger renegade Krome using various media.

One day I noticed the ab started to pulse quite prominently and bubbles coming from the front of the cup into the cup. I figured the usual suspects, needing taken apart and cleaned, flared nozzle, bent needle etc...

Long story short, I've taken apart all I can, cleaned and reassembled, installed a brand new needle, tip and crown and got nowhere. I have ordered a new needle bearing (they are user replaceable on the Krome thankfully) but I'm just worried that the new bearing makes no difference! Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance
Stuart

Bubbles is one of only a few things.
The most common, is the nozzle is not seated properly against the airbrush body. On the Krome, the hold down ring is what applies pressure to the nozzle. Are there any noticeable scratches at the base of the nozzle, or the body where it seats?

There could be paint clogging the air cap, which forces air into the end of the nozzle, or if the nozzle is flared.

 

[Stitch_83]

I've tried a new nozzle and had a brand new crown lying about and tried that, but I'll take apart the crown/hold down assembly and see if there are any noticeable issues.

Thank you for your response jagardn

Stuart

 

[Squishy]

Hi Stitch, sucks about the Badger issues. I've never used one, but once had similar problems with a brand new Devilbiss DAGR which didn't work right out of the box. Turned out to be scoring from machinery in the body of the brush where the nozzle sat, and air was able to force it's way back into the cup, so scratches could be a factor as jagardn said. Is there any chance if you've had the brush a while that there is some wear to anything stopping things seating properly?

 

[AndreZA]

That is why Ken from Badger mentioned in a video that you should stay away from those little cleaning brushes. It can easily score the bare metal and affect the seal.

 

[Stitch_83]

I have had the brush a while but taken good care of it. I can't get any reliable photos but all the air holes are open and there appears to be nothing looking like it would let air past into the cup...

 

[Stitch_83]

Update: At the risk of losing the rag, I gave her another good clean with cellulose and had a look at the instructions. My next port of call if the needle bearing doesn't solve it, is the hold down ring, I'll just order a new one. If it's not that it has to be the seating of the tip, which looks undamaged and in order. If it is that, the brush is nackered and it'll be a new one on the cards.

Thanks for your assistance

 

[Madbrush]

Update: At the risk of losing the rag, I gave her another good clean with cellulose and had a look at the instructions. My next port of call if the needle bearing doesn't solve it, is the hold down ring, I'll just order a new one. If it's not that it has to be the seating of the tip, which looks undamaged and in order. If it is that, the brush is nackered and it'll be a new one on the cards.

Thanks for your assistance

If you do end up needing a new brush, take a look at the Iwata eclipse, it's reasonably priced, damned easy to maintain and you'll probably find it easier to get parts for it.

Whatever happens, don't be loosing the rag, us sweaty socks have to keep our famous red mist tempers under control otherwise we be constantly forking out dosh

 

[Stitch_83]

Been there done that haha! I hope it's not a new brush cos I like the Krome and I now have a stack of spares for it [emoji15]

But if it comes to that I'll have a look at iwata

 

[Lowrider]

Take off the front cap and look at it from the front. There is a hole on the bottom inside and that hole can clog up. It goes straight to the trigger and the air comes up through that hole. Get a wire that is thin but can be bent with some reasonable pressure and it has to fit through that hole. Insert the wire about five centimeters and let some acetone drip down the wire. Move the wire to unclog the paint and test again. Rinse and repeat as necessary. This happened to one of my badgers that I forgot had paint in the cup and it clogged up that way with the same symptoms.

 

[Stitch_83]

I've just had a look. There are 3 holes all of which are clear and thinner runs down to the trigger valve assembly so I'm suspecting there are no issues here. Dunno what else to try other than wait on a new needle bearing and hold down ring

Thanks
Stuart

 

[Jezurus]

I've used a Krome for about a year now and always had some type of issue, when it works it works beautifly, but keeping it consistent is a prob, I purchased a Iwata Eclipse several months ago and I hardly touch theKrome anymore, very reliable and I can get just about the same level of detail with it, I'm sold on Iwata.

 

[Stitch_83]

I had noticed the Krome took a bit of time to keep it clean and working but it's never given me any major issue like this.... It may not be the nicest of all brushes but I'm very disappointed in it just now. I have to say, if it's to be replaced, it may well be with my first iwata.

 

[Jezurus]

I had noticed the Krome took a bit of time to keep it clean and working but it's never given me any major issue like this.... It may not be the nicest of all brushes but I'm very disappointed in it just now. I have to say, if it's to be replaced, it may well be with my first iwata.

I feel the same way, I love the Krome and the ideals of the badger airbrush company, love Kens attitude, there are some on the forum that swear by there Kromes, at some point I may send mine in for a overhaul and see how it goes then.

 

[Stitch_83]

I took a short video demonstrating this issue. I hope it can maybe shed some light on the matter. The bubbles are in the cup when the trigger is full forwards and as it is drawn to the back, the pulsing starts

Thanks

 

[Madbrush]

I took a short video demonstrating this issue. I hope it can maybe shed some light on the matter. The bubbles are in the cup when the trigger is full forwards and as it is drawn to the back, the pulsing starts

Thanks

From what I can see on the video it looks to me like you have some kind of debris stuck in the nozzle, this can be small enough not to be able to see even with a magnifying glass or loup, but it only takes the tiniest minute speck to cause a problem, generally when you clean your brush, even when your totally satisfied it's clean you clean it again, if you can, loosen your needle chuck and softly rotate/twist the needle with a little cleaner in the cup, take needle out after doing this to see how it looks, I'm pretty sure you find it a little discoloured.

Another thing to look for is on the cap that hold the nozzle in place when look from the front there is a tiny ring of space between the nozzle and cap itself, this space needs to be the same all the way round and also needs to be cleaned during your normal cleaning process, some people are in the habit of back flushing while cleaning, all this does is push debris into the space, I only ever back flush with needle retracted and always remove the cap to clean it afterwards, if your nozzle and cap have actual rubber seals on them you can if you want soak these parts for an hour in thinners, I generally let them soak for length of time it takes me to clean the rest of the brush.

If there was a problem with any kind of seal at the front of the brush you would normally als have bubbling around the threads of the cap itself, I've looked at your video three times and can't see any evidence of that so I'm convinced that other than a possibly defective seal at the trigger housing you main problem is dirt in the nozzle.

Little tip: when make video with your phone, turning your phone landscape will automatically record your video 16:9 so that you don't have the two black lines either side, I was fortunate enough to able enlarge the view on my tablet to get a good look at what was happening.

Remember Ken from badger is a member here on the forum and also one cool dude, he is also extremely approachable so if you still have no joy after you get your parts, he'll get you sorted I'm sure, I've only ever heard one person complain about Ken and I know that they showed him nothing but bad Attitude, and none of us could respond positively to that

 

[jagardn]

I took a short video demonstrating this issue. I hope it can maybe shed some light on the matter. The bubbles are in the cup when the trigger is full forwards and as it is drawn to the back, the pulsing starts

Thanks

You may not have the right combination of air cap/nozzle/needle. Have you looked at the size of the openings of the air caps and nozzles side by side to make sure you are using the right ones?

 

[Stitch_83]

Wow, a very detailed response thank you, and also thanks for the tip about videoing!

I have inspected the front end and can see nothing what I would consider out of order, however I'm aware that the size and distances we're dealing with here are beyond my 32 year old eyesight, so it wouldn't be surprising if I'd missed something. I have seen bubbles around the threads before and done away with it fairly simply, so hoping that takes that out of the equation.

Regarding the needle seal, I have one on order so hopefully that will yield some results.

On this brush there are no rubber or Teflon seals other than the needle seal, but I'm intrigued about what you say about loosening the needle and spinning with thinner in the cup. I think I will try that next.

Unfortunately I will be away from home for a couple of days, so it will have to wait, but I will keep tabs on things on the forum while I'm away.

I'd be grateful if Ken took a look and see what he thinks. I'll maybe drop him a pm, what's his user id?

Thanks

Stuart

 

[Stitch_83]

You may not have the right combination of air cap/nozzle/needle. Have you looked at the size of the openings of the air caps and nozzles side by side to make sure you are using the right ones?

Jagardn I have double checked, and one of the assemblies was fresh out of the packet when I tried it, so I'm satisfied it's not some form of mismatch this time.

Thanks
Stuart

 

[Madbrush]

Wow, a very detailed response thank you, and also thanks for the tip about videoing!

I have inspected the front end and can see nothing what I would consider out of order, however I'm aware that the size and distances we're dealing with here are beyond my 32 year old eyesight, so it wouldn't be surprising if I'd missed something. I have seen bubbles around the threads before and done away with it fairly simply, so hoping that takes that out of the equation.

Regarding the needle seal, I have one on order so hopefully that will yield some results.

On this brush there are no rubber or Teflon seals other than the needle seal, but I'm intrigued about what you say about loosening the needle and spinning with thinner in the cup. I think I will try that next.

Unfortunately I will be away from home for a couple of days, so it will have to wait, but I will keep tabs on things on the forum while I'm away.

I'd be grateful if Ken took a look and see what he thinks. I'll maybe drop him a pm, what's his user id?

Thanks

Stuart

His user name is @KenBadger but you can also find him on face book.

Obviously when your cleaning you'll remove everything you can see, it's the microscopic minute things we can't see that gives us the headaches, and trust me, this even applies to the wizards among us, no one is immune to it, , that's why we clean and clean and clean again