Air brush goes PTTTTTT!!!

Or really, I guess PT!.....PT!.....PTPTPT!....PT!

Whenever I spray with my paint jars, the paint doesn't flow out, but instead, sort of comes out in fits and starts. It's not like it's pulsing with the compressor, but just... not coming out then it decides to and comes out for a bit, then decides not to anymore. It spends more time spraying air than paint. When I use the paint cup, it seems to work just fine (though, I am comparing a jar 1/4 full of primer to a paintcup 1/4 of thinner, so it may not be a fair assessment). I think there is a flow problem with my jar, so I am going to Micheal's before work to grab a new one. I may be wrong though. It's been going on for a while, and I've cleaned my airbrush compulsively as long as I've had it and made special cleanings after this started, taking it absolutely apart so that every piece was removed. Still, no fix. Anyone else ever had this problem or is aware of it? What did you do to fix it? What should I do?

Is the breather hole for the jar open? How about the consistency of the primer, maybe you need to thin it a little more, or a clog in the little plastic tube or connector piece from jar to the ab?
Good luck.

...And I was sure this was going to be another "my paint ran so I had to go catch it!" thread.

I've had a similar problem with my badger 150. What model airbrush are you using? I had a leak in the air delivery portion of the airbrush, and it wasn't creating sufficient suction to draw the paint evenly. I had to seal it at a few points in it with bees wax (what badger recommends). It's gotten alot more common since I've been painting regularly with laquers (old paint which helped maintain the seals gets cleaned out much more effectively with laquer thinner), but resealing with wax does the trick.

I've had the problem before.

Been a while since I airbrushed, so I will have to think of what the fix was.

I know once it was to do with the paint consistency and the other the breather in the top of the jar was blocked, other than that I don't recall.

Sounds like there isn't enough air-pressure

It happens to me alot as my compressor is a bit old. It just doesn't put out enough pressure to pick up the paint from the jar. I find that I have to thin it out a bit more before I start spraying the paint. Maybe try thinning out your mixture a bit more would help it out.

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It's not easy to troubleshoot over teh interweb :icon16: .

If everything is clean, the same consistency of paint that sprays well through a paint cup should deliver properly through the gravity feed of the jar. If not, I'd say there must be a leak somewhere so that full suction is not achieved. The jar to airbrush attachment may not fit as tightly as the cup, it doesn't take much to screw up the air/paint flow. If it leaks even a small amount it will greatly affect paint flow. The jar/lid seal may not be good, the paint tube attachment to the elbow might not be good, the jar adapter to airbrush fit might be leaking.

How does the jar adaptor spray just water or thinner? How about in comparison to the paint cup? If the flow is interrupted from the jar using the thinners alone you definitely have a blockage or leak in the system.

I think replacing the jar adaptor is the wisest decision so far; keep us informed.

In the latest issue of the airbrush magazine that I buy it had a whole section on troubleshooting. I have the exact same problem with my Paasche VL. The color jar I was using was old corroded and didn't seal well, and the pick up tube didn't fit on the spout very tight. I picked up a new jar today myself. Hopefully this corrects any issues I've been having next time I go to spray. I've been using a single action that I got for practically free.

Problems like this can be frustrating, but it can be simple to trouble-shoot.

The first step is one you seem to have diagnosed, look at the paint bottle: Sometimes it could be as simple as the paper 'seal' under the cap shifting sideways and blocking the air hole in the cap. The tube, especially in the standard caps in most sets, can become blocked as well. Bottles and caps are reltively cheap, so replace them if there is any question (I always have a bunch of them for quick paint changes). The Badger Fast Blast caps will reduce most of those problems, too bad they only work on the big 1 ounce bottles.

If that doesn't solve the problems (Of you or others), after you have removed the bottle from the equation, strip down the airbrush, clean everything out, and rebuild it carefully. Use Q-tips, real pipe cleaners from behind the counter at the drug store, and some 91% or higher isopropyl alcohol, or real thinner of some type (Wear gloves no matter what you use).

I was told that using an airbrush was like smoking a pipe (He was an older guy: Who the heck smokes a pipe these days?), in that it is as much about the routine as it is the act of using it. Flushing the airbrush with thinner between colors in a session is OK, but always tear it down and clean it well at the end of the day. If you follow the same routine every time, diagnosing these problems will be easier. Also, if you have ever had a problem like this, you will certainly wish you hadn't skipped that 5 minute procedure at the end of your last session.

If you are having intermittent(or pulsating) paint pickup it is with out doubt the Teflon needle bearing inside the body of the Airbrush. The needle passes through it and it gradually gets reamed out from pulling a dirty needle through it when cleaning. It can be replaced by using a brass rod to gently tap it out the front then tap a new one in. I guarantee it is the problem.

Well, the new jar didn't solve it. I've still got the problem. Curious, it still works better with the paint cup than the jar (I've been testing with water). So for the other two suggestions - where do I put the beeswax? In the air delivery part, yeah, but how do I know which spots? And I guess I can get the needle bearing from the same place I got my VL - I'll have to get a few, I guess.