Asking For Help With Airbrush Not Painting

[Vianeth]

I've got a Badger 250 filled with thinned Angelus leather paint (thinned with acrylic finisher). I've cleaned all the parts, air is flowing, but the paint is not feeding upwards and out of the needle. I've tried airbrushing both paint thinner and water but it's not airbrushing those either.

[Cyberthrasher]

Do you have ENOUGH air flowing? What's your PSI at when you depress the trigger? I can't offer very much advice since I'm new to using airbrushes and haven't really had any problems yet, but that would be the first thing I check. Here's a troubleshooting page I found while looking for some info for you.

http://www.craigcentral.com/models/trouble.asp

If I come across anything else specific to the 250, i'll post back.

[Sylvia]

http://www.craigcentral.com/models/trouble.pdf

It seems to me that when I first got my brush.... I had to tighten the fittings pretty well and turn up the Regulator to a higher Psi.

[Art]

Take the paint tip off and make sure it isn't clogged, us a straight pin to clean it out if clogged. Check the paint path for obstructions. Adjust the paint tip so it is not above the middle of the air tip. Adjust it down for less paint and up for more, but never above the middle of the air tip. If it won't siphon water then the tip is probably clogged or improperly adjusted. If this fails, loosen the bottle so air can get in, if it still doesn't work, call Badger.

Art

I've got a Badger 250 filled with thinned Angelus leather paint (thinned with acrylic finisher). I've cleaned all the parts, air is flowing, but the paint is not feeding upwards and out of the needle. I've tried airbrushing both paint thinner and water but it's not airbrushing those either.

[Vianeth]

When the airbrush trigger is pushed down, i'm at 20 psi. I can get paint flowing for a couple seconds when i unscrew the glass paint holder, and retighten it again, and paint can flow out the metal tip. I thoroughly cleaned the paint tip with thinner and then rinsed with water and water definately flows out the tip. I'm having trouble keeping a constant flow of paint coming out.

[Art]

You have to use the thinner for the paint you are using, usually 1:1 paint to thinner but you can go as high as needed to get the paint to flow.

Art

[Vianeth]

The Turtle Feathers website states Airbrush artists can thin the product with a bit of the Finisher to help achieve optimum flow. I purchased their Acrylic Finisher and the paint is now very diluted and is only flowing when i open and close, periodically, the glass paint bottle attached to the airbrush. The website says to use the Finisher and the back of the paint bottles say to use the neutral paint to thin/dilute or small amounts of water.

Maybe i'll keep adding Finisher...

[Spinner]

20 psi is low for a siphon feed airbrush shooting paint. Here are a couple of tips that should help:

It should be thinned to around 30/70 paint/thinning medium. The substance being sprayed through an airbrush should never be thicker than whole milk for best results. 2-3 light coats works better than 1 heavy coat.

The air required to move paint (vs. dye) is going to be on average 25% higher. For standard airbrushing, a siphon feed needs 25-40 psi for paint, due to the heavy pigment bodies present you'll need more air to push it through otherwise it goes up a little, sits and then a dam is created by the air passing over the paint. (Side note, a gravity feed airbrush (little cup on the top) requires less air pressure)

One other thing to note is Angelus Acrylic Finisher is an acrylic top coat, designed to dry to a hard, waterproof finish. It's not a great thinning agent even though it 'could' be used that way. Some companies state it's ok to mix their finishes with the paints but that applies to hand painting and is done to give certain areas more gloss or in the case of using a heavy body medium it can by used to build the paint up creating a topographical effect. I don't know which airbrush artists they are talking to, but most I know don't mix paint & finish steps.

For acrylic airbrushing, it's best to use plain old water to thin or something like Golden Airbrush Medium. I know it's an extra step but you'll have better results and likely an easier time with the airbrush if you paint and finish in two separate operations...make sure to clean thoroughly in between!

cheers,

Chris

Edited July 24, 2012 by Spinner

[TwinOaks]

If the paint is feeding 'okay' when the bottle is opened then re-sealed, it sounds like the bottle is developing a vacuum. Look at the lid to see if it has an air hole, and if that air hole is clogged. If not, try using it with the lid tightened to "snug", but not cranked down. Most of the time, a siphon feed airbrush is used in the horizontal position, not vertically. If you're using it in a vertical position, your medium may be preventing air from entering the bottle. You might also consider the method of spraying - I have a little cheap HF airbrush compressor that I run at ~35-40 PSI...at PEAK. Continuous pressure is down to around 20PSI. What I do is spray in bursts to allow pressure to build up between them. This gives me the most consistent atomization. Continuous spray gets a few spatters...even with un-thinned dye.