Causes and Solutions

Transcript*

Skit

Customer entry open. It’s hotter than the Dickens out there. Uh-huh. Sure. You betcha. You see, I like to aérographe fishing lures. There you go, bud. You can keep that one. Yeah. Every start of the summer, I like to head down to Lake Cucha Ching, catch me some walleye, big mouth bass, musky. Always go back to the lake, though. Yeah, it’s a fun time. Any who, I bought this compressor from you folks, and it did cost me a pretty penny, but I’m always happy to pay our lovely government. But, uh, it’s the silliest thing, don’t you know? The rascal just doesn’t seem to work. It’s quite a pickle, I tell you. Uh-huh. Sure. You betcha. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You see, I plug the compressor in. I even attach the do hickey to the gun. Not that I believe in guns. Those are no good. I do all that. And how about that? It just don’t work. Now, I’m sorry in advance, but if you can’t fix this for me, I’m going to have to write a strongly worded review on reddit.ca. Hey, you must be some kind of wizard, bud. Or witch. Pronouns are important. Any who, I guess that solves my problem. Thank you very much, sir. You have yourself a lovely day. Uh-huh. Sure. You got that right. You betcha. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. That’s it.

Intro

Hello all. This is David from Loisirs vers le soleil. And wouldn’t you believe it, that was my seventh customer today who had a problem with their aérographe. So, I think it’s about time I educate the masses. In today’s video, we’re going to discuss five reasons why your aérographe isn’t working and how to fix them. Airbrushing is awesome. It allows you to apply paint in smooth, thin coats. Plus, you can do all kinds of neat effects with it. But sometimes the damn thing just doesn’t work. So, let’s start with problem number one. The aérographe is just not spraying paint.

Not Spraying Paint

So, what do I mean by the airbrush is not spraying paint? As you can see, I’ve got some light blue paint in there. The compressor is turned on. It’s blowing air, but then no paint. So, there are three possible causes for this. One, your paint is just too thick and it just can’t find its way out of the airbrush. two, you have a dry needle tip or a clogged nozzle. But number three, and this is the most common reason, is simply that the needle chuck nut just isn’t on tight enough. See, it was very loose, as you can see. Now, this has to be on secure because when you pull the trigger back, that is supposed to pull the whole needle back, but it can’t do that if the chuck is not secured onto the needle. So, now that that is on tight, let’s try again. It’s as simple as that. But if it is because your paint is too thick, then just thin it out some more to a milk consistency. Or if it’s your nozzle or a tip drying issue, then you can either take some cloth and gently wipe it off or just remove the nozzle and submerge it in some airbrush cleaner. Problem number two, bubbling in the paint cup.

Bubbling in Gun

So, you’re getting ready to start painting something. You’ve got your paint in there. It’s all thinned out properly, no problems. But then you press down on the air button and you hear bubbling in the cup. So it feels like the air is pushing backwards rather than forwards. So three causes for this is either again just a dry tip on the needle. uh god forbid it could be a split nozzle or the most likely cause is simply the nozzle is loose. So you’re going to want to take your airbrushes nozzle wrench and tighten it back up. Don’t force it though as nozzles are made of a very delicate metal. Either over tightening them or pushing the needle in too hard can cause them to split. And if they’re split, then the only thing you can do is just buy a new nozzle. Place the cap back on and you’re up and running again. Problem number three, your spray is off center. What I mean by that is your airbrushing.

Spray is Off Centred

But you notice that the Peinture isn’t spraying right in front. It’s kind of off an angle a little bit either up, down, left, or right. And the number one culprit for that is a bent needle. As you can see, that is completely off to one side. Now, there technically are ways to fix this if you’re like real skilled at it. There are experts who have resorted to taking two coins and pressing them together with the needle in the middle and kind of pulling and sliding till the needle straightens itself out. Or there’s other people who use very low grit sandpaper to try and maneuver it back into being straight. But um I honestly would not bother with that. Don’t waste your time trying to fix something that you may not very well be able to fix. So the only thing you can do in this situation is to buy a new needle.

Sprays Paint When Trying to Spray Air

Problem number four, the airbrush sprays paint when you’re only trying to spray air. What I mean by that What the hell? This is a double action airbrush, not a single. Why is it spraying paint when I only want air? Well, the solution for that, and again, it’s an easy one. Your needle is not pushed in all the way. See, when the needle’s not pushed in completely flush with the nozzle, that’s leaving a slight gap, and that allows paint to escape when you should only be seeing air escape. So, just loosen the chuck nut, push it in further, lock it back in, and it’s back to normal. And now, the fifth and final problem of today’s video is the airbrush is blowing air even when you don’t push the button.

Escaping Air

You hear that? Not only is the compressor constantly running right now, but air is leaking somewhere at the bottom of the airbrush. So, this is the most technical problem that we’re going to be discussing and the most complex, but I believe in you. So, what you’re going to want to do is unhook your air hose. And we’re going to go into the part of the airbrush where nobody ventures into. That being the air valve. Now, this could be happening for one of two reasons. Either one of the gaskets or O-rings is either broken or deteriorated. Or it could simply be that this thread at the bottom here is loose, which it is slightly. So most airbrushes have this design in the air valve. You’re going to want to take some tweezers, place them in those two holes there, and turn clockwise. And it should be flush with this lip right here. So, let’s screw this back on and give it another try. There you go. Compressor stopped running and no air is escaping. Not so hard, is it? And here’s one last airbrush troubleshoot just for you.

Final Advice

If your airbrush or compressor don’t seem to be doing anything, try plugging it in. Who knew?

David’s Conclusion

In conclusion, airbrushing is great. However, every now and then something will break down or just not work properly. But it’s nothing. some intellect or some extra cash can’t fix. So, I hope this video helped you out. Feel free to leave a comment if you’ve ever had any of these airbrushing problems and if you did find solutions for them. So, thank you for watching. Remember to like, comment, subscribe, follow us on our socials, and until the next one, adios. David, what’s up? We have a customer with an airbrush problem.

About the Author:

David Peckam has built scale models since he was 12, specializing largely on military aircraft. He is a makeup artist and background actor for films and TV. He enjoys watching hockey and of course, movies. He has an excellent knowledge of hobby products and if you have questions concerning scale model airplanes.

*Video by David Peckham
Video Edited by
Daniela Castellano and Leo Nguyen
Transcript generated by youtube
Edited by Angelo Castellano