Renegade Krome Air Issues

A-King

Young Tutorling
Hello wonderful people of the internet!

Maybe 2 weeks back now I got my Krome in the mail from Badger, found out the air hose I ordered didn't fit my compressor. No biggie - ordered an adaptor, went on holiday and came back. Put the adaptor on, screwed in my brush and turned on my compressor. Shock-horror. There's air coming out of the tip of my brush without pushing the trigger down. I've ordered other adaptors in case that was the issue, but to no avail. I haven't used this airbrush before, and it was brought brand new, and after scouring the internet I still haven't found a solution so I'm kind of at my wits end. Help me!

Another issue, whilst more minor, is that I can't unscrew the end cap of the brush - the needle protector comes off just fine but the second part won't budge - RK-001.

Also, I live in the UK, so having to send it back to Badger for them to fix is my 100% last resort.
 
Ok, firstly let’s get the formalities out of the way..
An introduction would have been the polite thing to do.... in the introduction section...
With the following info included

441D375D-BB5A-42A1-8F90-93478E0EB6AD.jpeg


Now, to your first issue ... have you undone the needle chuck and removed the needle, wiped it down then re-inserted it ? Don’t push hard when you put it in, just until it stops when it protrudes, to much force and you’ll likely flare the nozzle. Many times the needle is retracted and secured for transit.

I’m not familiar with Badgers but I’ll go hunt down a manual before further suggestions on ow to remove the offending cap :)
 
Ok, I’m back... google is a wonderful thing.

From what I can see you should be able to unscrew the front end, but why would you want to on a brand new brush. I can understand removing the needle cap but you shouldn’t need to remove anything more unless you need to soak bits.

How much experience do you have with airbrushes?

Here’s the parts breakdown image for easy reference from other helpers
upload_2019-4-16_21-48-41.jpeg
 
Introduction complete! And yes I have, I noticed I saw no needle when I took the black plastic cap off, so making sure there actually was one was my first priority haha! I pushed it forward and since have a visible needle, yet the issue remains :( - and cheers! I probably have a year or two experience but with crappy brushes. Only reason I wanted to unscrew the front end was to check that there was nothing out of place or damaged behind it that could possibly be causing the issue. From a bit more searching I've seen that it could be an o-ring problem in the air valve, but I'm sceptical seeing as the airbrush hasn't seen any use.
 
Hello wonderful people of the internet!

Maybe 2 weeks back now I got my Krome in the mail from Badger, found out the air hose I ordered didn't fit my compressor. No biggie - ordered an adaptor, went on holiday and came back. Put the adaptor on, screwed in my brush and turned on my compressor. Shock-horror. There's air coming out of the tip of my brush without pushing the trigger down. I've ordered other adaptors in case that was the issue, but to no avail. I haven't used this airbrush before, and it was brought brand new, and after scouring the internet I still haven't found a solution so I'm kind of at my wits end. Help me!

Another issue, whilst more minor, is that I can't unscrew the end cap of the brush - the needle protector comes off just fine but the second part won't budge - RK-001.

Also, I live in the UK, so having to send it back to Badger for them to fix is my 100% last resort.
Let me see if I am understanding you correctly .
As soon as you hook air up to the brush you have air coming out the nozzle. Is this correct?
With the air hose off it does the trigger move up and down freely?
Did the Krome come with the hose adaptor that make the Badger airbrush fit onto a Iwata hose?
What adaptor did you have to buy?
Badger does come with a life time warranty and all you have to do is contact Ken at badger and they will make it right.
But it sound like the o-ring in the valve body is either damaged or missing.
Have you taken the airbrush apart since you bought it?
See the more information you can provide the better the answer you will get.
But the main thing is contact badger direct http://badgerairbrush.com/Contact_Us.asp
 
Nothing wrong with generic brushes, they taught me heaps when I first started.... mostly how to tear them down every day but it was all good learning.
You could email Badger and ask for suggestions, I hear their customer service is good

Ah, mr.micron has you covered :) I’m off to bed it’s 10pm here
 
After the introduction, (or maybe before) take a deep breath - all is not lost. Fortunately airbrushes are pretty simple tools, and there are not a lot of possibilities.

If you have air without touching the trigger, there are not many possibilities as far as culprits. The first thing to do is remove the rear handle, loosen the chucking nut, and slide the needle out. Is air still being released? Just checking to make sure the needle is not hitting the bottom of the cut out in the trigger - I have seen it before...

Next, you will need to inspect the air valve itself. The bottom of the air valve is removable with a small allen wrench. Insert the wrench and loosen the cap - careful as there should be a very small spring stuffed inside the unit. Check to make sure everything is there - the picts show the internals of a typical Badger air valve. I suspect that the O-ring may be in the wrong location, make sure it is all the way on the valve stem. and free to move. Reassemble. I am pretty sure by now you will have cured the issue - but if not, report back, and we will go further....

badger av1.jpg Badger av2.jpg Badger av3.jpg
 
Let me see if I am understanding you correctly .
As soon as you hook air up to the brush you have air coming out the nozzle. Is this correct?
With the air hose off it does the trigger move up and down freely?
Did the Krome come with the hose adaptor that make the Badger airbrush fit onto a Iwata hose?
What adaptor did you have to buy?
Badger does come with a life time warranty and all you have to do is contact Ken at badger and they will make it right.
But it sound like the o-ring in the valve body is either damaged or missing.
Have you taken the airbrush apart since you bought it?

Yup that's correct, when the compressor has air in, air is coming out the nozzle. The trigger moves freely, presses down, springs back up, has a full range of movement. It didn't come with an adaptor, but the adaptor I brought was indeed one to an Iwata hose. I haven't fully disassembled it, the furthest I've gone with it at the minute is taking off the end cap and taking off the back end in order to re-seat the needle.
 
Next, you will need to inspect the air valve itself. The bottom of the air valve is removable with a small allen wrench. Insert the wrench and loosen the cap - careful as there should be a very small spring stuffed inside the unit. Check to make sure everything is there - the picts show the internals of a typical Badger air valve. I suspect that the O-ring may be in the wrong location, make sure it is all the way on the valve stem. and free to move. Reassemble. I am pretty sure by now you will have cured the issue - but if not, report back, and we will go further..

Took me long enough to find something to start unscrewing the valve! I couldn't end up finding a wrench so ended up using some pliers encased in masking tape haha! Reassembled and the issue is solved! Still a puzzle to me though... everything was in place, nothing was missing, o-rings were fine. I'm not complaining though, you've all saved me a world of pain! Thanks everyone!
 
Took me long enough to find something to start unscrewing the valve! I couldn't end up finding a wrench so ended up using some pliers encased in masking tape haha! Reassembled and the issue is solved! Still a puzzle to me though... everything was in place, nothing was missing, o-rings were fine. I'm not complaining though, you've all saved me a world of pain! Thanks everyone!

Chances are the O-ring had rolled up, out of place, or was stuck against the stem - more times than not, simply taking it apart and putting it back together free's everything up, or makes certain they are in the right place, and you are good to go...
 
Glad @Mr.Micron and @DaveG managed to step in, FYI Dave is our resident airbrush engineer/geek/ guru . . . there aren't many issues that he hasn't come across and he has the largest collection of airbrush I think I've ever seen. He has an illness known as AAD (airbrush acquisition disorder) where he cant say no to an airbrush, he then proceeds to pull them apart and make improvements and sometimes those improvements make it into production :)
 
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