I purchased a 105 several months back and I have just a few miles on it. This is my first gravity feed brush, prior to this I used only siphon feed.
To my concern: I have noticed the needle has a loose feel to it when compared to my other brushes. To put it another way, it seems to have slop to it. My other brushes are tight as the needle goes past the needle bearing. I wasn’t too concerned about this figuring that it is just the way this brush is. However, I am noticing something when its time to clean the brush. Paint is traveling back along the needle well into the body of the brush. Today, when I went to use it, I found the needle was locked by paint. Once I got it out, I could see dried paint even past the are of trigger mechanism. And the thing is, I did a fairly thorough cleaning with the previous use. Not good enough it seems. I do find this brush takes more effort to clean.
Long story short. Is what I am experiencing normal for this brush?
Paint shouldn’t make it all the way back to the trigger, the inner seal should stop it. On my Gazton ( similar top feed da design) and others I know with 105s rarely even take the rear half of the brush apart for cleaning except as far as to loosen the needle nut and pull the needle. My Badger 200 is single action but non less I’ve never seen paint back that far.
Someone will be along with more specific info on the 105.
Hi, Steve - Sorry for the 105 problem, I have several Badgers of the 100 series family, they all use the same needle bearing. From time to time I have to tighten a bearing fit, but only after years of use. Even when it does get a bit loose, I cannot feel any “slop” when trying to wobble it a bit, it just has less drag when moving the trigger to spray.
Just my guess, the bearing may have been damaged and has split, OR, has it been lost while cleaning the body? Shine a tiny light into the gravity cup, then look straight back into the receptical area that holds the bearing. If you can’t see a tiny, round, white object with a center hole, you’re missing the bearing.
If it was improperly installed at the factory and either not tight enough, or too tight, it may well have just popped out. I’ve seen both examples on my Badger’s, one time the bearing to needle fit was so tight, that trying to remove the needle resulted in the bearing coming out the front with the needle.
Shoot me a PM and I’ll give you my Ph#, I’ll try to help you get it sorted quickly, and I do have a bunch of the bearings on hand. If needed I could just send you a couple, free of course.
I’ll bet Don Wheeler will stop by soon to help you.
Yesterday, I did exactly that and at first I was mystified. I could see what appeared to be the bearing, but it was brass. All the documention I looked at indicated it should be teflon. I sat there scratching my head wondering if the documention is wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time where a manufacter made a change and they didn’t update the literature. Then it hit me. Earlier in the day I had sprayed Alclad brass and that must have coated the end of bearing! Wow. That threw me for a loop!
Here is the strange thing. I tested the feel of the needle and I am not getting the slop that I first wrote about. There is a drag there now. Remember how I said the needle was stuck in the brush with paint? I am wondering if maybe when it broke free the bearing realigned. Sounds like coocoo talk but I don’t know how else to explain this.
Long story short, let me work with this more. If I continue to have problems I will surely PM you!
Ok. I am convinced there is something wrong with the brush. I sprayed tonight and paint got all the way back to the needle chuck. Spent at least thirty minutes tearing it down and trying to clean the brush. This is a new brush and I had issues along this line right out of the box. Not happy.
I sent Badger an email tonight to see what they will do for me. If this becomes the norm with this brush I am going back to my siphon feed 155. That one is reliable, easy to clean, and paint doesn’t go past the needle bearing. This 105 is my first gravity feed and I am pretty disappointed.
Btw. One other thing I don’t like about the 105. The spring clip that goes behind the trigger is a bear to reinstall. When I pull the needle for cleaning, the clip invariably falls out of place. I have a heck of a time getting it repositioned correctly. It sticks. Minor issue, but irritating none the less.
Wait and see what Badger says but I can tell you from experience they have great customer support. A while back I had an issue with my Renegade that turned out to be an interior crack in the body and Badger sent me a new replacement airbrush.
And speaking of customer service-- what would you consider an acceptable time for a responce from Badger? I realize it can take time to filter through emails, I deal with the problem at work and with my customers. I wrote Badger via their cs email and I have heard nothing back.
I give people a long rope, and I am nowhere near to having reached the end but–I’d like to know what you think. I have heard it here many times that their service is great. The reason I ask is that based on past experience–it will be days before I get a responce. I had one email go over a month before they responded and by then I moved on. Maybe bad luck on my part but I’d like to know from you guys what I should expect.
I’d give them a week or so. I’ve left voicemails requesting information on mining claims from bureau of land management for over a year with no response… No one working from the office to pull it out and send it.
For all we know, the email may have never reached the correct person or it may have gotten lost in the shuffle, etc. I would give them a call tomorrow and the lady will transfer you to the repair tech. I think he gets in at 9am central time.
Amen to that. Although e-mails are usually a good means of communication, texting is a way for unproductive people to feel productive. Texters can spend 3 or 4 hours texting back and forth to accomplish what could have been resolved with a 30 second telephone conversation. I know this…I’ve tried both ways. [cwby]
It’s not only Badger but just about any business/Company is using the impersonal and ice cold methods of email or auto recordings to do the work of human interaction. Reminds me of a line in the 1967 song In The Year 2525. “Some machine doing that for you”.
Yup. I see that a lot even in my own company. I’ll be waiting for a flight manual supplement to be delivered from one of the aircraft manufacturers so I can complete the necessary airworthiness paperwork for a service bulletin, and it doesn’t show up. I call our purchasing staff and ask about it, and I get the answer of “Well…we e-mailed them, but they never got back to us.” So, I hang up and pick up the phone again to call the manufacturer, give them our purchase order number, and have my AFMS the next day. [H]
Then, there are the really difficult conversations with customers about things that I found on their aircraft that need to be addressed due to safety of flight…those are always best handled face-to-face. Its a little like a doctor having to give bad news to a patient or their family. The personal touch is the best way.