Not spraying smooth!

[Daniel D]

So my airbrush is not spraying smooth, I hold and pull it back and nothing comes out when I pull lightly to get small lines...paint only comes out when I pull back fully...AND my airbrush is spitting paint too...I'm thinking of replacing my nozzle/tip..my needle is perfect..but my nozzle is crap. I can tell...I have paint inside it and it's always clogged no matter how much I clean it. So I'm going to get a new tip...any suggestions on how to keep this one in better shape and clean it?

 

[Mr.Micron]

Well where to begin.
First what airbrush?
Next what paint ?
Next what airpressure
Next what are your reduction ratios
Are you using the reduction made for the paint.
See I know you want help but with out all the information or having to spend time looking at all your post to find out you only give the problem.
It is had to answer with out all the information needed.
I would say your paint is not reduced enough or your air pressure is to low for the reduction of your paint.'
But that is just a guess.

 

[OzAirbrush]

We need a bit more info to do a proper diagnosis.
What type of paint are you using?
Is it a double or single action airbrush?

First we'll check off the obvious ab problems.
- Do you have your air on all the time? This is the ab'er's motto, make sure you have full air before pulling back and leave air on when backing off the trigger. This might explain the no air but paint only problem.
- is your needle chuck tight enough that the trigger is not slipping on the needle when you pull back.

Paint problems:
Does the solvent (water or thinners) run through ok?
If it does it may be lumps in your paint or the paint is too thick, it doesn't take much of a lump to give you a lot of trouble, try filtering the paint and thinning a bit more.

Cleaning problems:
If you use water based paint the nozzle can block easier than a solvent based paint. Solvent based paints, because of being a solvent are basically self cleaning.
With water based paint you have to clean often and clean well, if you don't the paint will build up in your nozzle and once it starts to cure, water will not dissolve the paint lie a solvent based paint will.
You can run some GP thinners through that will dissolve it somewhat or better yet get some proper ab cleaner, just don't use windex or similar that contains ammonia, it can eat your chrome!

If your nozzle is still blocked, get a tooth pick and soak it in ab cleaner and gently poke it in the nozzle from the back and spin it. You may need to do this a few times with new tooth picks, once you can do it with no residue on the tooth pick it should be clean.

Once you get all this done and it seems to work, make sure you keep it clean and don't put rubbish paint through your ab.

hth
Mick

 

[OzAirbrush]

hehe, Mr Micron beat me to it, should of kept my post shorter

 

[Mr.Micron]

hehe, Mr Micron beat me to it, should of kept my post shorter

Like minds and all that LOL

 

[JackEb]

Yeah, my needle was perfect too, until I looked at it with a jewellers 60x magnifier (eBay, less than$5 free post) I then saw I had a nice little 'hook' right at the end. Don't trust your eyes to give the full story.
As for the paint issue we are waiting for more info

 

[basepaint]

I Agree with all of the above, Most of all the cleaning , As I Say do it well and do it often? (after every use clean before putting it away)

 

[Squishy]

Agree with all of the above The nozzle may be damaged - use magnifying glass to see if it is split or cracked, or misshapen (not round), it could be flared -harder to tell, or if you have used something to try and clean it with too aggressively is could be scratched on the inside. If it is a knock off chinese type brush it is very easy to damage needle and nozzle.

If it is a better brush, and if none of the above apply, then it is just a dirty nozzle, some careful cleaning, and maybe a soak in some airbrush restorer and you could be good to go, or if using uro paints some lacquer thinner could clean it. Then when you think it's clean, thoroughly clean it again - you might be surprised. It can look squeaky clean, but that stuff hides!

If it's getting blocked up like that it probably means that your paint/thinner/air ratios aren't quite right, (assuming you are using the correct reducer for the paint - if waterbased not all work well with water) getting this dialled in will stop this happening in the future. Unfortunately there is no recipe, too many variables including equipment, paint, conditions/temp/humidity, means it is trial and error finding what works best. Also straining the paint can help a lot.

I could go on and on (and usually do, I could get an olympic medal in talking ), but just kept it shorter by saying more details please LOL. But this is just a taster of how hard it is to give advice without all the info.

 

[boneman65]

paint and reduction............my un-educated guess....