Problems with Shesto SP10K

J

Jon Garrett

Guest
Alright, so as I'm new to Airbrushing I got a friend's AMA-16 'Elephant' Airbrush Compressor but his brush was dead, so I grabbed a Shesto Spraycraft SP10K and got started. They worked...reasonably well, but yesterday stopped working. I can't get more than a few second of paint flowing, and even water seems to be having trouble spraying now. Again, I might get a few seconds.

I thought it might be the paint, but I'm using Vallejo Air paints and since the water won't work either, I'm guessing it might be something else? Air pressure also seems fine, as the paint and water will sometimes bubble in the tub, but won't spray. I've tried unblock the nozzles a couple of times, and this isn't the type of airbrush that allows you to dismantle the thing and clean it out, so I'm kinda stumped at this point.
 
Well you have a clogged nozzle. Mainly as you are spraying paint will dry and build up on the inside of the nozzle , Now this is where you say but the needle goes through!
Yes the needle goes through but there is not enough clearance around the needle for paint or water to pass through.
So being I am not sure what country you are in you can try two thing ,
One soak the Nozzle (only the nozzle) in denatured alcohol for an hour to loosen up and dissolve the old dry paint or order some Restorer (made by Createx ) and do the same thing.
Mainly it comes down to keeping your airbrush clean after each use.

Hope this helps
 
I'm in the UK, and have some brown dettol and fairy power spray for stripping paint. I'll try using one of those to soak the tip. I'll use it on the bottles where the paint goes, too, and see if they're blocked. I'm kinda surprised it's a blocked needle, though - frankly, I can't find one to be blocked.
 
This airbrush looks to be an external mix siphon feed. I would think that the cap of the paint bottle is getting clogged. Be careful of your solvents used to clean the cap. Paint strippers may dissolve the cap if it's plastic, maybe use an ammonia based glass cleaner for soaking, or an isopropal alcohol/water mix. The design I see dosen't look like there is an adjustment for paint flow so no needle and nothing to disassemble.
 
Hi Jon, I've had exactly what you have and with quality airbrush paint to boot. I managed to block 2 airbrushes and now, to make sure this doesn't happen again I always strain my paints from new.
It took over an hour and a strip down to get one unblocked and 30 minutes for the other. I would suggest that the Vallejo paints need to be strained as this isn't the first time I have come across this brand blocking up the AB. It is the pigment load in the paint that is doing the damage. To try to combat this always make sure the paint is thoroughly shaken and mixed as well as being reduced with water or a reducer specific for those paints if one is available. I hope this helps keep you painting.

Lee
 
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