Need help with spraying issues...

Ryck

Ryck

Needle-chuck Ninja
Hello all,

While playing around throwing some paint at a couple of foam board airplane builds, I was using my H&S Ultra brush and it seemed that it was clogging up a lot but I can't figure out why. I was using cheap acrylic paint thinned with water to a consistency of milk. It seemed that the paint flow got to be less and less the longer I sprayed but I could point the brush at a scrap of paper and pull the trigger back and forth all the way a few times and it helped but not for long.

I also was thinning the paint in a small plastic cup before pouring it into the paint cup as well. I am running about 15 lbs. of air pressure too. The H&S Ultra's air cap makes it impossible to clean the nozzle while spraying unless the paint cup is empty.

So, I need to hear the wisdom of the community to point me in the right direction. Thanks!
 
Just my opinion: you’re using paint made for hairy brushes :)
Even though you’ve thinned it the pigment size will still be larger than recommended for airbrushing. All you’re doing by thinning it is spreading the pigment further apart.
 
JackEb said:
Just my opinion: you’re using paint made for hairy brushes :)
Even though you’ve thinned it the pigment size will still be larger than recommended for airbrushing. All you’re doing by thinning it is spreading the pigment further apart.
Click to expand...

I learn something new every day. I did get the job done but I thought I was just saving the good paint for later. I will give the cheap paint to my wife to paint with then. Thanks for the lesson. :thumbsup:
 
Often you can still spray cheap paints that'd normally clog if you step up to a larger nozzle and/or strain them to get the larger chunks out. I've successfully sprayed craft paints many times.

Just don't bother with poster paints or cheap tempera paints though (i.e. the kind of stuff they give kindergartners to paint with).
 
Nessus said:
Often you can still spray cheap paints that'd normally clog if you step up to a larger nozzle and/or strain them to get the larger chunks out. I've successfully sprayed craft paints many times.

Just don't bother with poster paints or cheap tempera paints though (i.e. the kind of stuff they give kindergartners to paint with).
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input and suggestions. No, I would not even try to use the tempera type paint. Since I have several airbrushes, I think I will order a .4 nozzle and needle for it and just leave it set up for the heavy spraying.
 
Another thing to consider is when we start learning we commonly put paint not coming out when expected down to clogging in the nozzle. This may be the case, but another culprit is simple tip dry. The paint drys on the end of the needle and when we pull back, that dried paint is pulled towards the nozzle and kind of seals it. When you’re painting and it stops coming out, very gently clean the needle with something like a q tip dipped in water or reducer. Clean the tip and if the flow comes back to normal, then that’s your issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Tip dry is what I considered first but with my Harder & Steenbeck Ultra, there is no way to clean the tip unless it is out of paint. The air cap holds the nozzle and if I tried to remove it to clean it, all of the remaining paint will pour out. My MA G23's are easy to clean. I guess I will use them for painting my planes from now on and save the H&S Ultra for other applications and Createx paint.
 
Ryck said:
Tip dry is what I considered first but with my Harder & Steenbeck Ultra, there is no way to clean the tip unless it is out of paint. The air cap holds the nozzle and if I tried to remove it to clean it, all of the remaining paint will pour out. My MA G23's are easy to clean. I guess I will use them for painting my planes from now on and save the H&S Ultra for other applications and Createx paint.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I don’t know H+S brushes. But I don’t need to remove the needle to clean the tip. The part of the needle that sticks out the front of the nozzle is the part I’m talking about.

724168a78b3a5f55d203592d2e367845.jpg

f271a1817d81bf240e72ce560894f261.jpg

551ec601d7ce8078fee921d31904fe23.jpg


The part I’ve removed isn’t the air cap, it’s the needle cap or needle crown. I usually have the off when painting.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I’ve just had a look and the H+S has a setup as you’ve described so ignore my photos.
A damp Q Tip or Cotton Bud should fit in there to allow cleaning. Just be gentle, but the only part going near the needle should be wet cotton wool.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You should be able to get a wet q-tip or soft paintbrush to the tip of the needle even with the nozzle cap on. That's all it needs to get rid of any dry paint (tip dry) on the needle tip, you shouldn't need to remove the nozzle cap or the nozzle on any airbrush to do it.
 
Ryck said:
Tip dry is what I considered first but with my Harder & Steenbeck Ultra, there is no way to clean the tip unless it is out of paint. The air cap holds the nozzle and if I tried to remove it to clean it, all of the remaining paint will pour out. My MA G23's are easy to clean. I guess I will use them for painting my planes from now on and save the H&S Ultra for other applications and Createx paint.
Click to expand...
I just realized your brush doesn't have needle cap so you can't make 2 prong cup like many noobs here including with me use it. Easier to clean.

harder-and-steenbeck-ultra-parts-1024x520-.jpg


here is a picture from @DaveG
engraved-handle-mounted1a-jpg.55100


I needed to post this picture cause this airbrush looks sexy :whistling: Is it weird if I find airbrush looking sexy? -.-

Anyway, seems like you can't modify that brush or can you? To me it looks like there is no needle guard on it. Looks like it is in one peace with head... Many of us bought cheap needle guards from Fengda and similar manufactureres and we cut them so they have only 2 prongs. You can then clean tip dry easier and you don't break your needle if you hit something with it, cause those 2 prongs are little longer then needle is sticking out.
 
the air cap/crown cap combination from the Infinity will fit the Ultra, which will give you the ability to remove the needle cap and clean the needle tip - I have added that set up to my Grafo brushes, as I much prefer the exposed needle while working -

grafo and infinity1.jpg

Husky, that brush isn't just sexy, it is damn sexy ;)
 
Last edited:
I was using a cotton swab with cleaner on it to poke into the air cap to clean the needle tip. I think that it was not helping much due to the cheap paint I was using and also the fact that I was thinning it with just water. Chad at SprayGunner.com told me that the air cap for the H&S Infinity would fit my Ultra but I don't think that I want to spend $35 just for that part. Now that I have learned more about paint quality and how my Ultra works, I will be able to do better the next time I use it.

Thanks for all of the information and suggestions guys! :thumbsup:
 
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