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I've had nothing but struggles trying to use an airbrush. I've spent countless hours disassembling, cleaning, tried every psi between 10 and 40, tried every mix, always the same problem.

Paint only sprays the first .1 second of pulling back the trigger. I can hold down the air and paint wide open and not a drop of paint will flow after the initial spurt. That initial spurt is nice and laminar (as long as I don't thin too much), good coverage, but instantly liquid stops flowing.

Now I know you'll say "thin your paints" I've tried them so thinned the paint just runs off the model. Still same issue. I even tried straight water and still only get liquid in one spurt when pulling back. Exact same behavior with just straight water. Ive tried every combination of paint thinning and psi.

So I end up having to slam the trigger open and closed like a machine gun to use the damn thing as no matter what I do no paint flows after the initial split second of pulling back the trigger. Air flows fine, but not a drop of liquid.

If it was a clog you'd think it wouldn't spray fine that initial burst, especially every time. But I can sit there and slam the trigger back and forth 100 times in rapid succession and it'll spray one burst of good paint every pull, not a drop more. Sooo what the hell is going on. I'm so frustrated. I see people spraying these nice smooth consistent coats like it's nothing and I can't even get paint to come out in any consistent manner when I try. Please help.

My airbrush is a badger krome.

Call Badger customer support. Something is seriously wrong.

Have you tried back flushing? If there is no bubbles in the cup then there is still a clog somewhere (if even at first it doesn't feel to be a clog issue). I'm unaware of the Krome, I use an Iwata Eclipse but when bubbles don't appear when back flushing I know there's something deeper going on like really dried paint I've missed deep in the nozzle. That may remove the clog if there is one.

Could be a few things. Have you checked to make sure your needle is not bent? Are all seals in place? Is the needle chuck securing the needle correctly etc?

Also for general troubleshooting see Don's page.

https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/troubleshooting

My first guess would have been clog in the nozzle and/or blocked passage between the paint cup and the nozzle. When you get a bad clog in the nozzle you get pretty much exactly what you describe; the needle creates a hole in the clog so that when you pull it back you get a little spurt of paint for a moment, but the hole is small so it clogs almost immediately. When you let go of the trigger the needle punches back through the clog again and creating another hole and maybe forces some paint through the clog so next time you pull back you get another short burst of paint before it clogs again.

Clean it out, pay special attention to the passage between the paint cup and the nozzle. Pull the nozzle out clean that passage between the cup and the nozzle thoroughly with something like a pipe cleaner, and soak the nozzle for a while in cleaner before using an implement to dig out any potential clogs from the nozzle itself.

You can also try backflushing as DarDar said.

Beyond that you can check the basic function of the brush. With no paint in it make sure when you pull on the trigger the needle pulls back far enough (in case there's something wrong with the trigger/rocker/needle chuck assembly). Check that air is flowing nicely from the annulus between the air cap and the nozzle, there should be a nice consistent gap around the nozzle the air flows through. Look down the while pulling back on the needle and make sure the annulus between the nozzle and the needle itself is opening nicely and the needle isn't bending off to the side weirdly.