I have a Badger 150, and it seems to have issues with the air valve. The airflow is irregular even when lever held down steady. So I want to clean the air valve, which I have never done before. I assume if I first remove hose, then unscrew the whole valve body, the valve will stay assembled. From the drawings it looks like a sort of needle valve. Is it all metal- can I use laquer thinner to clean it? Any other tips?
The air valve assembly should stay intact when unscrewed. In order to take apart the assembly, you will have to unscrew the small flat edged brass ring that is located just below the screw that goes into the hose.
Also, from what I know, the valve is not wholly metal and lacquer thinner may attack (‘lacquer’ is an ambiguous term per se) O-rings (your valve should have one), so extra care should be taken in cleaning them.
Just my two cents.
Don,
There is a photo of your air valve disassembled on this page. You don’t have to remove it from the airbrush. Just use a small allen wrench to unscrew the bottom. Notice the tiny O-ring. It could be worn or dirty. Don’t get solvent on it. It could swell and jam.
Make sure you don’t just have paint clogging the opening in the front of the airbrush or inside the spray regulator.
Don
I bought several valves on the Bay, avg price about $10-12. My older 200 finally had the valve become erratic, I tried taking it apart and cleaning it, then just a tiny dab of Regdab on the top, after excersing and re-installation it still functioned poorly.
It didn’t look dirty at the start, so next step I replaced the O ring. Still buggered. In went a replacement valve, just like new now.
If you replace it, be sure to refer to the parts manual for part number, there are more than one.
Thanks, Don.
Here are a couple other things to check:
Look for wear on the pin that pushes the trigger up. It may get grabby.
The spring could be getting tired. If nothing else works, try giving it a little stretch.
I hope that helps.
Don