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Hey guys hoping someone has some insight to what is going on with my airbrush.

I use a Sparmax Sp-20x, for awhile its been great. But as of late it continually gets what I am assuming is a clog. What will happen: Paint if flowing great, then pressure starts to slowly decrease in the brush until nothing comes out. I will still get air coming out but no paint. It requires me breaking down the brush and doing a full cleaning. This "fixes" it for about 5 minutes then the same happens.

If it helps I use Vallejo Air paints, thinned down as well. So I assume its not the paint being too thick.

Any help would be appreciated, I am at the point of almost just junking the brush and getting a new one.

What are you thinning with?

Next up, its summer time- so humidity changes, and this affects air brush performance. Make a little log of sorts, check what your local humidity is when your brush is giving you problems- see if theres a relation.

Next- Vallejo air usually run great, but if those bottles arent getting mixed properly every time, they are likely getting thicker. It happens over time, most people dont think about it, but as a bottle empties, theres more air inside of it, this dries your paint more than a full bottle(with less air). So give the older paints extra mixing time and run extra thinner as needed. And maybe strain the paint a time of two to see if there are any lumps coming out.

Last, along with thinner, vallejo has an excellent Airbrush Flow Improver. Its awesome sauce that helps with a variety of paint issues.

If you junk the brush anyway, I'll shoot you my address and take it off your hands I have a local kid that is mowing lawns to pay for 40k and an airbrush would really help him out.

That sounds like a compressor issue. Is it running okay?

Check out this video. It covers all common issues and how to fix them:

https://youtu.be/rxC_8DLp7hs

Are you absolutely 100% sure that you are cleaning it properly, especially the nozzle and the passage between the paint cup and the nozzle?

When I first started airbrushing I'd pull my airbrush apart to clean it, but I wasn't properly cleaning those areas. That meant there was a caked on layer of paint which was effectively reducing the size of the paint passage and nozzle which meant it'd clog very quickly. I'd pull it apart and clean it again, but again not proper;y so when reassembling it it'd once again clog quickly.

Another alternative is, especially if you're doing fine detail work, is you're just getting build up around the tip which you can wipe off with a tissue or some such, but you'll normally get significant splattering before it completely stops the flow of paint.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
That sounds like a compressor issue. Is it running okay?

I assume when the OP said "pressure starts to slowly decrease in the brush until nothing comes out" they meant the airflow out of the brush rather than the pressure out of the regulator itself.

If the regulator itself is showing a pressure problem then it'd be a compressor issue,

Hey guys thanks for all the feedback.

A few things I noticed. When blowing out the brush with cleaner I get bubbles on the side of brush near the nozzle head. Almost as if its leaking air out of the side? A long time ago someone once mentioned using beeswax on threads for some reason. I am not sure if this is related.

That video was super helpful.

I use Vallejo Flow improver as well as cleaner. I even full dunked and soaked my airbrush for several hours one time this happened.

 dameanone wrote:
Hey guys thanks for all the feedback.

A few things I noticed. When blowing out the brush with cleaner I get bubbles on the side of brush near the nozzle head. Almost as if its leaking air out of the side? A long time ago someone once mentioned using beeswax on threads for some reason. I am not sure if this is related.

Is it coming from the side of the air cap? That's not really a big concern. Aircaps tend to leak slightly, it's not a problem because the vast majority of the air comes out the nozzle, but a small amount leaks out the side through the threads. If you have gotten moisture or cleaner on the threads while you were cleaning it, that cleaner will cause bubbles to form.

https://youtu.be/uHp8LRiFxQ4?t=1m35s

You could seal it so air doesn't leak out the side, but it's not going to change how the airbrush functions (unless for some reason you have a massive gaping hole which is letting lots of air out, but small leaks are perfectly normal).

A bigger problem is if the threads on the nozzle itself leaks, those leaks you do need to seal, but that won't cause bubbles out the side, it'll cause bubbles in the paint cup.

I had this problem, i cleaned the airbrush like 5 times and still the same problem.

But then i used a sawing needle to feel around if there was any clogs anywhere. And i found some hard to reach dried paint that was causing the problem.

The dried paint was too thick so it wouldnt shoot out the airbrush and no amount of water could desolve that.

I can only guess you are not cleaning it fully but you think you do. But thats only speaking from my limited experience..

 DanceOfSlaanesh wrote:

But then i used a sawing needle to feel around if there was any clogs anywhere. And i found some hard to reach dried paint that was causing the problem...

I would advise against using a steel needle inside an airbrush. There are seals inside made of materials softer than steel, teflon, nylon, the brass body of the brush. A small scratch can turn into a leak that can make things worse. Same reason I don't recommend using pipe cleaners in a brush, the wire in the middle of them is usually steel and can cause scratches.

You've got the right idea however, paint can lump up inside on the needle seal. A toothpick is the most common and convenient tool to get in there without worrying about scratches or damaged seals. Theres also a variety of plastic picks some people use, but a box of toothpicks is cheap and will last quite a while(and have other modelling uses). I've even used an old goblin spear bit a time or two when I was too lazy to find a toothpick

 Mistress of minis wrote:

 DanceOfSlaanesh wrote:

But then i used a sawing needle to feel around if there was any clogs anywhere. And i found some hard to reach dried paint that was causing the problem...

I would advise against using a steel needle inside an airbrush. There are seals inside made of materials softer than steel, teflon, nylon, the brass body of the brush. A small scratch can turn into a leak that can make things worse. Same reason I don't recommend using pipe cleaners in a brush, the wire in the middle of them is usually steel and can cause scratches.

You've got the right idea however, paint can lump up inside on the needle seal. A toothpick is the most common and convenient tool to get in there without worrying about scratches or damaged seals. Theres also a variety of plastic picks some people use, but a box of toothpicks is cheap and will last quite a while(and have other modelling uses). I've even used an old goblin spear bit a time or two when I was too lazy to find a toothpick

True, i should use a toothpick in the future thats a great tip.

Used a pick in there, and now it works great! DIdnt see anything come out but did the pick trick and ran cleaner through it a few times. Working like a charm now.

Thanks fellas!

I have a Badger Anthem 150 and my first year with it was pretty much a tale of mystery clogs. Glad to hear you have it fixed, here is how I make sure mine stays fixed.

I soak the parts in 91% Isopropyl alcohol about once a week. It removes tiny clogs like this without me having to worry about them.

Another thing that helps is regularly running airbrush cleaner through the brush, like every half hour (I probably do it more.) I make my own cleaner with Isopropyl, simple green and water, which more than does the job.

 Mistress of minis wrote:

 DanceOfSlaanesh wrote:

But then i used a sawing needle to feel around if there was any clogs anywhere. And i found some hard to reach dried paint that was causing the problem...

I would advise against using a steel needle inside an airbrush. There are seals inside made of materials softer than steel, teflon, nylon, the brass body of the brush. A small scratch can turn into a leak that can make things worse. Same reason I don't recommend using pipe cleaners in a brush, the wire in the middle of them is usually steel and can cause scratches.

You've got the right idea however, paint can lump up inside on the needle seal. A toothpick is the most common and convenient tool to get in there without worrying about scratches or damaged seals. Theres also a variety of plastic picks some people use, but a box of toothpicks is cheap and will last quite a while(and have other modelling uses). I've even used an old goblin spear bit a time or two when I was too lazy to find a toothpick

You just have to learn what seals your airbrush has and where they are.

There's absolutely no harm running a pipe cleaner down the passage between the nozzle and the paint cup, it's by far the easiest way to properly clean that part. Just be careful pushing beyond that passage through the paint cup because there's a seal at the back of the paint cup which seals the needle as it passes through.

As far as the nozzle itself is concerned, one of the prime ways of damaging that is flaring/tearing the end and you can absolutely do that even with a wooden toothpick, especially if the toothpick has a steeper/shorter taper than your nozzle (which most will). A flared/torn nozzle is hard to see but will cause splutter and pattern inconsistency. I have 2 airbrushes with 2 different style nozzles (short screw in and a long one that doesn't screw on) and they require 2 different cleaning methods. The short one I use an old toothbrush and shove 1 to 3 bristles through (any more won't fit) and "floss" the nozzle clean, the long one I use a pipe cleaner to clean the base of it then just use an old needle very carefully to loosen any gunk immediately before reassembling it and squirting more cleaner through to remove the loosened gunk.