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I bought one of the cheaper badger airbrushes, and really liked it, so decided what the heck, i'd spring for a krome. I am now returning the 3rd airbrush in a row. Every single one I get, fresh out of the box any material put in the cup drips all over the place out of the nozel, then when i depress the trigger it blows everything up out of the cup, no air or paint or even water will come through the nozel in a spray, just dripping. Is this normal? I was really pleased with the brand to begin with, and since then it's been weeks of returning and then getting a new broken brush. every week i get excited to get the new one delivered and give it a go, and then it arrives and it's busted.

Wow weird, definitely not normal AB behavior though I never owned any Badgers. If the paint/etc is only coming back out of the cup that would typically mean your nozzle/needle airflow is totally blocked.

I know sometimes if I don't tighten the nozzle back on enough it will stick out too far, entirely blocking the hole on the nozzle cap piece and the result is similar to what you get.

Since you had this result right out of the box, perhaps they ship them with the nozzle very loosely tightened so it's blocking the air?

What model is it and was exactly was broken on it? Did you adjust it, break it down, or do anything else to it or did you literally take it from the box and hook it up to your air supply and pour paint in it?

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
What model is it and was exactly was broken on it? Did you adjust it, break it down, or do anything else to it or did you literally take it from the box and hook it up to your air supply and pour paint in it?

neither. i also didn't "pour paint into it" I don't know if you meant it this way but your post came off as pretty rude.

It's a renegade Krome. I took it out, checked the needle action, made sure the needle chuck was hand tight. Put pure water in it and tried it. Water dripped out of the front even when not touching the trigger. when i depress the trigger, just for air not even adding the water in, all of the water shoots out of the top of the cup.

I shouldn't have to repair a brand new item when i receive it.

I own a patriot and a sotar20/20, I have only used the patriot so far. I have never had anything like that happen before.

If you have paint dripping from the nozzle, usually the needle isn't seated right. If you didn't mix your paints right, they my be to thick and will not flow, otherwise something isn't in the right spot or you have to remove something to make it work right.

Best bet, you get the new one, take it all apart, look at the parts list, put it back together, try air first, then some water and see what happens. I can't see them sending you three bad ones in a row, they make good products.

 Gunzhard wrote:
Wow weird, definitely not normal AB behavior though I never owned any Badgers. If the paint/etc is only coming back out of the cup that would typically mean your nozzle/needle airflow is totally blocked.

I know sometimes if I don't tighten the nozzle back on enough it will stick out too far, entirely blocking the hole on the nozzle cap piece and the result is similar to what you get.

Since you had this result right out of the box, perhaps they ship them with the nozzle very loosely tightened so it's blocking the air?

Thank you. After it blew water all over i thought maybe the needle was misaligned so I took the nozzle off and rescrewed it on. unfortunately I got the same reaction from it. I don't know why it would have been dirty, but just in case I decided to try some airbrush cleaner in it, and that made me glad I wear safety glasses. lol. Everything looks fine from visual inspection, but i'm new at this and only own one other airbrush. if it was paint i'd think maybe i mixed it too thick or didn't clean it well enough. But it was literally just water I was trying to spray to test it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 DarkKnights44 wrote:
I own a patriot and a sotar20/20, I have only used the patriot so far. I have never had anything like that happen before.

If you have paint dripping from the nozzle, usually the needle isn't seated right. If you didn't mix your paints right, they my be to thick and will not flow, otherwise something isn't in the right spot or you have to remove something to make it work right.

Best bet, you get the new one, take it all apart, look at the parts list, put it back together, try air first, then some water and see what happens. I can't see them sending you three bad ones in a row, they make good products.

as i said in my original post, no paint has gone through it, it was only water.

Could be valve isn't installed correctly

ShadowCaptainMathius wrote:
Could be valve isn't installed correctly

By valve do you mean the piece that the air hose attaches to? sorry i'm not very knowledgeable on this.

My guess -- if you're getting air/liquid coming out of at least the Cup area then the valve stuff should be ok (unless the air doesn't ever shut off?) and would have nothing to do with water dripping out of the front of the airbrush.

So weird, almost seems like the needle isn't even installed, I know on some AB they ship the needle in a separate tube, but you said you checked the needle.

Found this diagram


If you take off the nozzle cover (RK-001) can you see the needle sticking out of the nozzle? In resting position the needle should be sticking out a little bit, then when you pull back the trigger it retracts into the nozzle, opening the space for air/paint to come out.

Danny slag wrote:
neither. i also didn't "pour paint into it" I don't know if you meant it this way but your post came off as pretty rude.

Chill out, buddy.

It's a renegade Krome. I took it out, checked the needle action, made sure the needle chuck was hand tight. Put pure water in it and tried it. Water dripped out of the front even when not touching the trigger. when i depress the trigger, just for air not even adding the water in, all of the water shoots out of the top of the cup.

I shouldn't have to repair a brand new item when i receive it.

Was the needle extended through the nozzle? Probably not, because they typically aren't shipped like that from the factory to prevent the unlikely chance it could be bent. Make sure the needle is fully inserted into the nozzle and try again.

 Gunzhard wrote:
My guess -- if you're getting air/liquid coming out of at least the Cup area then the valve stuff should be ok (unless the air doesn't ever shut off?) and would have nothing to do with water dripping out of the front of the airbrush.

So weird, almost seems like the needle isn't even installed, I know on some AB they ship the needle in a separate tube, but you said you checked the needle.

Found this diagram


If you take off the nozzle cover (RK-001) can you see the needle sticking out of the nozzle? In resting position the needle should be sticking out a little bit, then when you pull back the trigger it retracts into the nozzle, opening the space for air/paint to come out.

I checked the needle position more thoroughly like you suggested and it looks a little warped at the end with a bit of a curve. I also noticed some pretty big gashes on the inside of the RK001 piece on closer inspection. My unit was also missing the 2nd needle kit or i'd try that to try to narrow it down. I think i'm going to send the whole thing back again instead of trying to get them to ship me just the 2nd needle it was supposed to come with.

Sucks because I really liked that they were an american company, but this has not been a good experience.

Hmm wow shame.

Though a bent needle isn't necessarily an end-game injury. Most of my airbrushes are in some stage of broken haha, but I keep using them anyway - obviously with much less accuracy and control.

Well I can tell you that I've two GREAT experiences with Iwata customer service and I am now a loyal Iwata man (though I use my Harder & Steenbeck and cheapo Masters quite a bit still).

Danny slag wrote:
I checked the needle position more thoroughly like you suggested and it looks a little warped at the end with a bit of a curve. I also noticed some pretty big gashes on the inside of the RK001 piece on closer inspection. My unit was also missing the 2nd needle kit or i'd try that to try to narrow it down. I think i'm going to send the whole thing back again instead of trying to get them to ship me just the 2nd needle it was supposed to come with.

Do you have pictures? It would help out tremendously.

Sucks because I really liked that they were an american company, but this has not been a good experience.

Who did you buy it from and whose customer service are you using, the seller or Badger's?

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:

Danny slag wrote:
neither. i also didn't "pour paint into it" I don't know if you meant it this way but your post came off as pretty rude.

Chill out, buddy.

It's a renegade Krome. I took it out, checked the needle action, made sure the needle chuck was hand tight. Put pure water in it and tried it. Water dripped out of the front even when not touching the trigger. when i depress the trigger, just for air not even adding the water in, all of the water shoots out of the top of the cup.

I shouldn't have to repair a brand new item when i receive it.

Was the needle extended through the nozzle? Probably not, because they typically aren't shipped like that from the factory to prevent the unlikely chance it could be bent. Make sure the needle is fully inserted into the nozzle and try again.

it did come with the needle sticking out through the nozzle, not by much though, i'm bad with eyeball measurments, but 2mm or so maybe. i wonder if that caused it to get bent in shipping.

Your best bet for help is to snap a few pictures so we can see what's going on.

It's kinda hard to troubleshoot an airbrush blind.

 Gunzhard wrote:
Hmm wow shame.

Though a bent needle isn't necessarily an end-game injury. Most of my airbrushes are in some stage of broken haha, but I keep using them anyway - obviously with much less accuracy and control.

Well I can tell you that I've two GREAT experiences with Iwata customer service and I am now a loyal Iwata man (though I use my Harder & Steenbeck and cheapo Masters quite a bit still).

Iv been using a renegade chrome for years with a broken needle and basically not cleaned and works just fine with non of the listed issues.

i honestly cant think of why it would drip unless it was the wrong needle size or the needle collet wasn't seated properly or possibly broken.

or possibly even the needle isnt pushed all the way in. the needle should be sticking out about 2-3mm. try and loosen the retention nut in the back, push the needle all the way up. if it goes forward more then there is your problem otherwise im at a lose :/

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
Your best bet for help is to snap a few pictures so we can see what's going on.

It's kinda hard to troubleshoot an airbrush blind.

Yeah that makes sense, especially because i'm not sure the proper lingo for most of these things. But I just dropped it off at the UPS for a return. If i was more knowledgable i'd probably try to fix it with help, but i feel like i'd just mess it up more at this point.

Just got my replacement Krome. It came in much better condition, no large gouges on the tip, needle was straight as an arrow, no missing parts.

It doesn't leak, has very linear pull and spray, smooth as butter action. Seems to be I just had a run of very bad luck with the first couple.

Danny slag wrote:
Just got my replacement Krome. It came in much better condition, no large gouges on the tip, needle was straight as an arrow, no missing parts.

It doesn't leak, has very linear pull and spray, smooth as butter action. Seems to be I just had a run of very bad luck with the first couple.

Sounds like you should never go to Vegas unless you want to lose your shirt.

was this amazon or something?

It sounded a bit like a seal might have been missing/broken/not working between the nozzle and the airbrush body? That way water in the cup could leak out and drop from the nozzle and then when you introduce air the opposite happens and air is pushed back up through the nozzle and in to the paint cup.

Maybe even some damage in the paint passage that was letting paint drop in to the air passage and then air to get in to the paint cup (though I don't know if that's even possible! would have to look at a section view of the airbrush to see).

That's just my first guess, but glad you good another one that's working now!