Problem with Pulsating Airbrush
Patrick Ciccone
I soaked it in Model Master Acrylic Enamel Cleaning Solution.
The manual for the airbrush had no special instructions for
soaking except for removing the air valve, so I soaked the entire
metal body. After reassembling the airbrush, the airbrush began to
pulsate when paint flowed through it.
The airbrush manual suggests replacing the teflon head washer,
which I did. The airbrush continued to pulsate. The manual also
suggests sealing the tip and head with prepared beeswax. Where
I can find prepared beeswax I do not know, nor do I know where to
put it on the airbrush since the instructions are cryptic on the location.
What can I do to solve the problem, short of buying an entire new
head assembly (if that indeed is the source of the problem)?
Patrick Ciccone
Steve T. Slade
>Patrick Ciccone
The first thing that you have to do is replace the needle bearing. It
is located in the main body. Remove the head, tthe needle and the tail
piece. Use a piece of brass tubing and push the bearing out from the
rear. Use the tubing to replace the new bearing but make sure you only
push it to the point just past the threads for the head. Reassemble
the brush.
You can use a beeswax candle that you can find in any department store
or from a craft store. Lightly scrape a very small amount of the wax
onto the joints of the head and tip assembly. Using a candle (the one
you bought) gently heat the head until the wax covers the entire
joints. You are ready to continue your painting.
I have encountered this problem many years ago with my second brush.
This operation was described to me by an airbrush artist who used and
old English made brush that required this everytime that it was
cleaned.
It worked perfectly.
Have fun.
Steve
Lito626
my 200 in about 3 weeks. Just send them the brush and a note describing
the problem.
Charles Cable
> My airbrush, a Badger 200, has been pulsating ever since
>I soaked it in Model Master Acrylic Enamel Cleaning Solution.
My airbrush, an Iwata hp-sb, does this sometimes after a cleaning. With my brush, It
usually means the cleaning loosened some crap inside the brush without completely
cleaning it out. It could also be a sign the parts haven't been tightened enough. If there
is a leak you will feel air around the airbrush when you spray. Pour some water over the
brush and spray and you should see bubbles where the leak is. Either way, the most
certain course of action is to take it apart again and clean it again. Check your local art
supply store for beeswax.
Colin Work
>
> My airbrush, a Badger 200, has been pulsating ever since
> I soaked it in Model Master Acrylic Enamel Cleaning Solution.
> soaking except for removing the air valve, so I soaked the entire
> metal body. After reassembling the airbrush, the airbrush began to
> pulsate when paint flowed through it.
"pulsing" was a compressor problem due to the fact that the compressor
produces a rapid sequence of "puffs" of air rather than a continuous
stream. There are two standard solutions to this:
1 - get an air resevoir - the compressor pumps air into this and onece
the pressure has built up, you draw air from the resevoir effectively
negating the pulse.
2 - use a looong air hose - I'm told this can help a lot as the hose
damps out the pulses (but I haven't tried it myself)
As to why the pulsing became apparent after cleaning the airbrush is a
bit of a mystery ... unless it was so clogged up it wasn't giving a full
airflow so that the length of hose you had was sufficient to damp the
pulse effect.
Colin
Wayne C. Morris
Colin Work <C.K....@soton.ac.uk> wrote:
> Unless you are decribing a different symptom, I always thought airbrush
>"pulsing" was a compressor problem due to the fact that the compressor
>produces a rapid sequence of "puffs" of air rather than a continuous
>stream. There are two standard solutions to this:
>
>1 - get an air resevoir - the compressor pumps air into this and onece
>the pressure has built up, you draw air from the resevoir effectively
>negating the pulse.
>
>2 - use a looong air hose - I'm told this can help a lot as the hose
>damps out the pulses (but I haven't tried it myself)
Yes, a really long hose will function exactly the same as an air reservoir
because they increase the volume of air between the compressor and the
airbrush. The reason it works is this: With a short hose, the amount of
air in each pulse or "puff" is a significant fraction of the volume of air
in the hose, so it has a very noticeable effect on the air pressure inside
the hose. With a very long hose or an air reservoir, the amount of air
added by each "puff" is a very tiny fraction compared to the total volume
of the reservoir, so it hardly increases the air pressure at all. Since
the air pressure inside the reservoir/hose doesn't vary as much, the
airflow to the airbrush is much smoother.