Airbrush advice needed.......

[Flaptail]

My badger 155 is a good brush but I shoot a lot of odd things through it like Daler and Rowney Pearlescent inks and it gets gummed up after repeated uses. I use the BERNZY mix of simple green and Windex but occasionally I have to go in there and really clean it out. Is it okay to use acetone when after heavy use or is there another producr that I could soak the parts in that would chemically clean it?

Thanks in advance, Flap

[PNG]

I would not send acetone through it. There is a little nylon like bushing deep inside. I think acetone will eat it.

I dont know what to do, I use Medea airbrush cleaner its ok

I use small quality pipe cleaners you get from smoke shops. Mashpee commons there is a smoke shop

I actually am sending my 155 back to badger for some love, I got that little bushing out by mistake and its never been right since.

[Tagger]

Flap you ever take that apart ? The only tricky thing is the trigger and the little piece backing it up . When you pull the needle, by loosening the nob on the end and sliding out . That trigger is going to fall out . The needle goes right thru it .. Get a good mental picture of it first and its no big deal . Pull needle and unscrew nose cone assembly . You need round toothpicks to dig the dried out crap out of the nose cone. You need a pencil with a good eraser to clean the needle . Just put the needle down on a table with a piece of paper under it and erase all the crap off it .. Don't know about the acetone .

[The Dad Fisherman]

Originally Posted by Tagger

The only tricky thing is the trigger and the little piece backing it up . When you pull the needle, by loosening the nob on the end and sliding out . That trigger is going to fall out .

And be careful doing it if you are near the sink.....it will go down the drain. I still forget once in awhile if I'm hurrying.

[Tagger]

Take it apart on a table with news paper,or regular white paper under it .. There are springs but they are not going to come out . Yea stay away from the sink ..

[Diggin Jiggin]

When I'm done painting I break it down and put all the parts in a tupperware container full of hot water and add some windex and after it soaks a while like Tagger said I use some toothpicks to clean out the nose cone.

It seems to clean it well but mines been acting up lately too. I have not done the pipe cleaner trick so maybe I'll try that next time.

[The Dad Fisherman]

I had soaked some of the tip parts in acetone once before and it actually didn't do much to take the paint off. I figured it would eat right through it but it didn't. I do know that Acetone will eat through plastic like there's no tomorrow though, so if there are any plastic pieces inside you can probably say goodbye to them.

I do the same as Chris and send a Pipecleaner through it to clean it out. Seems to work pretty good.

[The Dad Fisherman]

when you say "Acting Up" do you mean that its sputtering. I've had mine do that a little lately. Not giving out that fine mist like it usually does. I've tried cleaing it, But I may have to try the windex thing and see if that helps.

I'm also using a new compressor so I was thinking it was either too much or too little pressue going through...been using it at about 40 lbs.

[Diggin Jiggin]

TDF, when I say acting up I am having trouble to get it to spray the light mist like you'd do to fog around the eyes on low pressure without gettingit splotchy.

Sometimes I think the problem is just that most of my paint is now 2 seasons old. The stuff really drops out of suspension and as much as you shake it I don't think its ever as smooth as it was when you bought it.

Also when I press the button down to shoot the air, the button is sticking so the aid keeps flowing. You can lift teh buttton to shut it off. I tried to oil it while assembled but that didn't seme to work. When I take it apart next time I'll try and get a drop of oil inside the hole were the button sits.

I've been messing around with some oils and shooting oil and odorless thinner to clean it so who knows. I'm almost done with the my last batch for a while so I'll break it down really good tomorrow and get some pipe cleaners and see if I can get it working the way it should again...

[Tagger]

I lost the spring on the button once ,, got new parts ,,all unscrews and comes out where the airhose attaches ..
http://www.dixieart.com/155_Anthem_Parts.html
pretty easy and not too exspensive as I recall .

[justplugit]

Try a back flush with straight simple green then soak the needle, cone, nozzle and headpiece in it over night. Junk comes off pretty easy the next day with a pipe cleaner or pick.
Jigman told me Dixieart has a small brush that works well, never got around to buying it.

[Karl F]

use rattle cans

[The Dad Fisherman]

Yup, That the same issue I'm having...it could be the paint getting old, never thought of that.

[Jigman]

I break the brush down after each painting session and clean it completely. Run airbrush cleaning brushes through it to get out the gunk. First brush I had I did not do this. Had to soak the parts in airbrush retorer for a few hours to get all the crap out of it, then a complete cleaning.

Jigman

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by Jigman

I break the brush down after each painting session and clean it completely. Run airbrush cleaning brushes through it to get out the gunk. First brush I had I did not do this. Had to soak the parts in airbrush retorer for a few hours to get all the crap out of it, then a complete cleaning.

Jigman

Thanks all for your advice. I am going to try the hot simple green method first. Jigs, I guess I have to shop on line more as the local retailers (AC Moores and Michaels ) don't have any cleaning brushes, hell they don't have much of anything anymore.

Slip, I am going to need that name again of the place in Easton. I ve decided to do just base coats with the Badger and try the new brush for detail.

Thanks again guys, much appreciated.

[ProfessorM]

Try using these things with your cleaner in it.. Insert into the pick up and squeeze and pull back on the lever of the gun into a bucket of H2O. Does a real nice job of cleaning out the previous color. Then a Q tip into the pick up tube to clean it out even better. Thank canalman for the q-tip tidbit and I think Bernzy told me about the wash bottle.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pro...uct%5Fid=14767
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pro...uct%5Fid=14757


This company has anything you need when it comes to plastics. P.

[Slipknot]

Flap

www.bearair.com


http://www.bearair.com/prodinfo.asp?number=100332
the Peak airbrush for 50 bucks

[capesams]

Pearlescent ink[paint] isn't for use in an airbush,,,brush/dip pen only...purhaps this is one of the problems of the sticky airbruch your having.