Badger Spirit Sputtering

[Stroked]

So I have been away from my airbrush practice for a few months. I was at Hobby Lobby the other day and bought a bunch of Wicked Detail paint and decided it was time to get back to painting.
So I get home, break out the airbrush and give a solid cleaning just in case it needed it. Everything went fine so I loaded up the cup and went to spray. My airbrush makes a HORRIBLE sputtering sound and only sprays when the trigger is pilled 3/4 of the way back. This brush is capable of done pretty detailed fine lines, but something is wrong and it wont spray nicely like it use to. The only change has been the Wicked, I was spraying Createx before.

So I am at 20psi, Badger Spirit, and tried every possible ratio of thinner and PSI. It sounds like something is clogged in the gun. I even completely took it apart and let it soak for 2 hours. So I have no idea. The nozzle is so small I cant tell if there is damage and the needle looks straight and feels smooth......bummer considering how excited I was to knock of the dust and get painting again.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[flycatchr]

HI Stroked

AndreZA gave me a good idea - take a toothbrush*, and whittle it away into a very fine "rod" slightly thinner than your needle, dip it in your cleaner or reducer and use that to gently push into your paint nozzle. I think Melbee uses an extremely fine paintbrush that she has removed some of the bristles from - to use it inside the nozzle to clean it.
In my experience, if you haven't tightened the air cap properly it can cause problems - but that is - in my case - bubbling in the paint cup.
some chaps here suggest using a magnifying glass or jewelers loupe to inspect the paint nozzle.

good luck - I am sure more peeps here might have some other good ideas

* edit - TOOTH PICK

 

[Tigertron]

I think flycatcher mean a "toothpick". And that sounds like your trouble. Spend sometime with the nozzle. Some times a tiny bit of paint stuck to the inside wall will cause the problem. Or a bad nozzle.
You can take the needle with a tiny drop of paint and push it through the nozzle. Then look at the nozzle tip to see if you see a crack. Very hard to see even with a magnifying glass.

 

[flycatchr]

I think flycatcher mean a "toothpick". And that sounds like your trouble. Spend sometime with the nozzle. Some times a tiny bit of paint stuck to the inside wall will cause the problem. Or a bad nozzle.
You can take the needle with a tiny drop of paint and push it through the nozzle. Then look at the nozzle tip to see if you see a crack. Very hard to see even with a magnifying glass.

exactly right tiger - thanks for that - DYAC (or dam my fingers