Help! Inconsistant spray pattern

[boutin73]

I have a Badger Crescendo 175. I cant seem to get a smooth flow of paint to come out. It makes it impossible to do any freehand or detail work. I have tried everything I can think of, pressures from 0-40psi, dilutions of paint, solvents and water based, different needle sizes ect ect. I look at the artwork that some people make and there is no way this could ever be done with my brush, the way it performs. The brush is brand new and very clean. I thought a brush I used before, a Snap-On, was a junk because it did this same thing so I went and spent some good change on what I thought would be an excellent choice. Now I do not think that there is a problem with the brush because they both did this. What am I missing? I cant be the only one with this problem. Am I just missing an important secret or something? Please help! I am getting frustrated and I do not want to give up over something that might be so simple to fix.

[mayhem]

do you have a water trap? is there dry paint on the tip of your gun?have you tryied to back flow your gun? these are just a couple of things I can think of off hand..sombody more expirenced will come along im sure hang in there I understand the frustration but dont give up

[boutin73]

Yes I do have a water trap,no there isnt any paint on the tip and yes I tried backflowing. Everything seems great, but it just wont keep consistant. It acts like a dirty fuel injector, at first there is a good mist and them if you hold it in that position for more than two seconds you can actually see the pattern spit and become broken up. Also after this happens you can not get a fine mist until you open the trigger all the way and close (clearing the nozzle?). Otherwise you can pull back extremely slow and steady and all of a sudden BLAST! I nice big splat of paint on your now destroyed project

[vilner]

A couple of things- It seems like your nozzle could have dried paint in it even though it may appear clean and you could just be getting tip dry, paint drying on the tip of the needle. What size nozzle set up do you have in your airbrush and what kind of paint are you using? Give us a little more info. If you are new to airbrushing try doing some basic exercises like dagger strokes and such before trying to spray detail.
John

[boutin73]

I have made sure ther is nothing in there. I have even soaked the parts and run thinners throuh it. I do notice that the paint seems to dry on the tip of the needle immediately after spraying. I just keep cleaning it off. I am not sure the exact sizes (I dont have it here in front of me) but it comes with a Fine, Med, and Large needle and tip. Supposedly you can get anything from pencil line to 3" spray pattern. I have done all of the daggers and I can get a pretty thin line if I move quick enough before it malfunctions. Shouldnt I be able to hold the trigger for a few seconds and get a consistant pattern? I have tried PPG, Sherwin Williams auto paints and Badger Air Opaque pre diluted water based paints as well as robbing paint from a spray can because of the thinned down properties, all had the same results. Ill have to get the nozzle sizes to post.

[vilner]

Put some water on the head assembly of the airbrush and push down on the trigger. If you can see the water bubbling then you need to tighten the head/nozzle assembly or add some beeswax to the threads to stop air from leaking. If you are using solvent based paint the beeswax isn't a good idea. You are going to get tip dry no matter what airbrush you use when spraying acrylics. Try thining the paint more, even with the fine nozzle your airbrush should spray almost any paint without trouble. If you are using the bottle feed make sure the little breather hole on top of the lid is open and not blocked.
John

[boutin73]

I DO get bubbles from the head with water on it!!!! I noticed that the first time I cleaned the brush. Could that really be the problem? I tried to tighten it as much as I possibly could (by hand of course) but it still bubbles. I figured it was normal. So what else can I use to seal the leak besides beeswax? I use alot of solvent paints (Automotive) and that would not be a good idea you said? Man this would be awesome if I could solve the whole problem with this! Thanks John.
Jeremy

[vilner]

you could try a thin piece of teflon tape but be careful only to put it on the threads. Try taking the head and nozzle out and putting it back on. That is the only thing I can think of.
John

[markbentley]

jeremy your words sound like a mirror to me. i am a auto mechanic with a snap on airbrush and tried it out for the first time a few months ago with several types of paint-model paint, cheap craft paint and so on. i would get a fine line for a second and then bam a giant blob with spider legs comming out of it. so i bought a more expensive airbrush only to find the same problem. i ordered golden brand paints as reccomended for beginners and practiced those boaring dagger dot things i keep hearing about and also played around with the stuff like what you were just told by the others and i noticed that it seemed to get better. i think between the golden brand paint and practicing the dagger/dot thing mostly but i still see other peoples work and think how the #### did they get that perfectly sharp detail. patience, time and practice maybe....... or are they all hiding something from us? im keeping my eyes on them just in case. good luck........ mark bentley

[mayhem]

hay mark ! is the magicial airbrush lol ill tell you the spell if you dont tell anyone..... its practice practice practice this site and practice lol

[tjnamtiw]

I have the same Badger Crescendo 175 airbrush with the same identical problems! I have tried using airbrush paints thinned and unthinned, ceramic glazes thinned and unthinned, and even colored water with the same results. When I first started using it with the colored water, I had good success but now nothing works. You can't practice if you can't blow a consistent stream of paint. Nothing comes out and then all of a sudden a big splash of paint and then nothing. Very frustrating. I'm soaking it all in water now and then I'll clean it AGAIN.
I've tried the middle diameter nozzle and the biggest one. The needles have one, two or three grooves on them. Which one goes with which nozzle? I put the stubbiest, fattest one with the biggest opening nozzle and the two lined one with the medium nozzle.

[redneck]

Originally Posted by tjnamtiw

I have the same Badger Crescendo 175 airbrush with the same identical problems! I have tried using airbrush paints thinned and unthinned, ceramic glazes thinned and unthinned, and even colored water with the same results. When I first started using it with the colored water, I had good success but now nothing works. You can't practice if you can't blow a consistent stream of paint. Nothing comes out and then all of a sudden a big splash of paint and then nothing. Very frustrating. I'm soaking it all in water now and then I'll clean it AGAIN.
I've tried the middle diameter nozzle and the biggest one. The needles have one, two or three grooves on them. Which one goes with which nozzle? I put the stubbiest, fattest one with the biggest opening nozzle and the two lined one with the medium nozzle.

I've badger 100LG, large needles got 3 grooves, small needle had one groove

sandstone ray

[brushbyair]

Not sure if this will help you, but I had a similar problem with my Passche VL that worked fine for about a year, then it got so bad it wouldn't suck paint from the cup. Everyone here was as helpful as they could be, but nothing suggested solved the problem. I called Passche and talked to them about the problem, they suggested that I take the air inlet apart to make sure the passage was clear, did not find any debris in the passage way, but after reassmbling the brush it now works better than it ever has. Hope this might help you out ?