PS-270 spraying ink without pulling the needle back

S

Sali

Guest
Ok folks, I need some help. I was very happy when I received my PS-270. However, workload prevented me from testing it until today. All I did was ran some water through and then sprayed fountain pen ink. I noticed that airbrush was working more like a single action brush, that is, the airbrush sprayed ink as soon as the trigger was depressed. There were no bubbles in the cup though. I know this problem happens when the needle is not seated well in the nozzle or if the nozzle is not clean enough. Well, it is a brand new airbrush and I had no reason to believe that nozzle or needle was dirty. At any rate, I took out the needle and wipe cleaned it with isopropanol and after putting everything back together, I sprayed 2-3 ml IPA through the airbrush. Then I tried to spray the ink again and same problem occurred, in fact this time the lines were wider. Using my 10x loupe I inspected the nozzle but couldn’t identify any cracks or something. What should I do? I already wrote to Chad of spraygunner.con and hopefully he will find a way to sort this out. In the mean time can somebody tell me if anything can be done to address the problem? Thanks.
 
Possibilities are very limited - if it is spraying color immediately when the trigger is depressed, the needle is not sealing in the nozzle. There are not many culprits - 1) the nozzle is cracked - can happen sometimes in shipping if the needle is fully seated when shipped. 2) wrong needle - too small a needle in a larger nozzle can sometimes work this way... 3) dirt, or debris stuck in the nozzle can keep the needle from seating well enough to seal.

If you tried seating the needle, and you are still having the issue, I would guess that the nozzle is cracked. It can sometimes be difficult to see a crack, but you may try looking with the needle fully seated... maybe even after trying to spray some ink.
 
Thank you Dave. Using my 10x loupe, I was unable to see any crack. But tomorrow I will take it to my lab and try to photograph the needle under my inverted microscope. The crack can escape the loupe but not my inverted microscope. By any chance, can it happen because I was trying to shoot the pen ink? Also, if the needle is cracked, should I not see bubbles in the cup?
 
Possibilities are very limited - if it is spraying color immediately when the trigger is depressed, the needle is not sealing in the nozzle. There are not many culprits - 1) the nozzle is cracked -
Dave gave a very thorough answer. Just to add to it... the tip of the nozzle could also be out of round rather than cracked.
 
So I took some photographs of the nozzle under high powered microscope but as you can notice there are no cracks or physical damage. Everything looks nice and tight.
 

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I own a Chinese knockoff with tiny little nozzle and it has survived one year and going strong. When it comes to deal with tools I am very careful, too careful sometimes because that is how I was trained. I knew I have not damaged the nozzle. I have sent these images to Chad too and let's hope he will help me.
 
I dont know if this will help, but when I got my new 270 I had the same issue. I took it apart , cleaned everything and put it back together and used beeswax on all the important seals. Fixed my problem.
 
I dont know if this will help, but when I got my new 270 I had the same issue. I took it apart , cleaned everything and put it back together and used beeswax on all the important seals. Fixed my problem.
Thanks Chuck. There is no harm trying that out too. Will keep you posted.
 
If the nozzle checks out, then look for something preventing a seal within the cone. Try pressing the trigger to release air, water in the cup - you should be able to see the spray forming as air is released. Loosen the needle chucking nut, and try twisting the needle while releasing air - watching the spray. If the spray stops, tighten the nut, and you are good to go. Sometimes the twisting action will dislodge a tiny piece of debris from inside the cone.
 
I may be seeing things that actually arent there but I checked out the 4 pics looking 'into' the nozzle, there seems to be some crud on the inside edge.

It may be nothing but a soak in the some thinner/restorer (minus any seals that may be attached to the nozzle) for a few hours,
get a long bristled artist brush and then poke in in there from the wide end, you'll get one or two hairs poke through and possibly take the crud with it.

It may not be what it looks like but doing the soak certainly cant hurt.

I know its a new brush but sometimes they get tested at the factory and not cleaned effectively.

upload_2019-2-11_12-34-8.png
 
I may be seeing things that actually arent there but I checked out the 4 pics looking 'into' the nozzle, there seems to be some crud on the inside edge.

It may be nothing but a soak in the some thinner/restorer (minus any seals that may be attached to the nozzle) for a few hours,
get a long bristled artist brush and then poke in in there from the wide end, you'll get one or two hairs poke through and possibly take the crud with it.

It may not be what it looks like but doing the soak certainly cant hurt.

I know its a new brush but sometimes they get tested at the factory and not cleaned effectively.

View attachment 58239
Problem with microscopy is that it will pick up and magnify even the tiny dust particles. I was very careful while taking the photographs and wiped clean the nozzle with lens cleaning paper for it is essentially lint free. But you may be right, maybe the nozzle is not as clean as I was assuming. I can certainly treat it with strong solvents or even sonicate it. I will post my results tomorrow. Thanks a lot for taking time to go through the images.
 
Does it do this with water/ipa?
Fountain pen ink is designed to dry as fast as possible and is an all around nightmare to clean up, especially if you use stuff like noodlers brand ink.
 
Does it do this with water/ipa?
Fountain pen ink is designed to dry as fast as possible and is an all around nightmare to clean up, especially if you use stuff like noodlers brand ink.
It is difficult to see if it does with water or IPA but I will try food coloring.

As far as ink is concerned, based on my experience, it does not dry as fast as do the acrylics. I do not remember the brand of the ink but I understand it is high quality, came with my Parkers.

Appreciate your input.
 
The seal only works if both parts are perfectly round and smooth. It could be the needle. Darken the tip of the needle with a sharpy. Install it lightly against the nozzle and give it a twist. Pull it out and see if there has been contact all the way around. If not, the needle is out of round.

Since it is brand new, it could also be poor machining inside the nozzle. If so, they owe you a new nozzle.

Don
 
The seal only works if both parts are perfectly round and smooth. It could be the needle. Darken the tip of the needle with a sharpy. Install it lightly against the nozzle and give it a twist. Pull it out and see if there has been contact all the way around. If not, the needle is out of round.

Since it is brand new, it could also be poor machining inside the nozzle. If so, they owe you a new nozzle.

Don
Thank you very much for your response Mr. Wheeler. I have learned a great deal on airbrushes from your website and for that I am so very grateful to you.

I will do as you have said and post my findings here. I have contacted spraygunner.com. Hopefully they will get back to me soon.

Syed
 
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