All started in another thread re: new airbrushes and bubbling paint in the Badger Patriot 105 but not the Extreme. With the bubbling I went on an air leak hunt. Anyhow i have always used a Pasche hose and airbrush. With the 2 new Badgers I got a quick release for the hose and all 3 brushes. One of the things i noticed after hooking up the new quick release was that the compressor seems to kick on more often. I had some teflon on the regulator gauge and replaced it even though i saw no leak - just in case (it did bubble w/ no tape - OEM regulator). The compressor is a Aspire Pro TC910 Badger.
There happened to be some leakage comming from the 1/8 to 1/4 adapter ive been using on the compressor so i had to teflon that and some leaking on the male end too so i tefloned that too. Now on the quick release adapter to the Pasche hose there was leaking on the male and female ends too which ive had to teflon. I cant seem to get the leaking to stop on the female side.
These are all suppose to be Badger OEM parts. Is it customary to have to add teflon so that there is no leaking? Seems like a lot of taping to me…
I tape every thing that’s threaded. Only issue I ever have with air leaks now is my quick connect on the airbrush sometimes loosens up while I’m painting. Must be the way I grip it. If you have any rubber gaskets inside the quick connect where it screws on they can sometimes displace and cause issues.
You generally need something to seal the threads yes. I do use teflon tape but prefer pipe dope (doesn’t really matter it’s just what I like).
But leaking hose fittings aren’t causing cup bubbles in case you’re thinking that. It can cause a drop in working pressure and as you have noted, compressor cycling increase.
got it. just feels like i have gobs of tape everywhere. The one thats the issue is the red circled one - male and female end. You can see here the tape on the male end exposed. It doesnt screw in any further. I have no O-rings.
Looks like the fitting on both ends of your hose are a flare nut type. They seal by the cone in the female end being pushed against the male fitting by tightening the nut on the female side. The tape isn’t really doing anything to seal the joint and if the tape extends down over the end of the male fitting that could actually be causing it to leak. The hose I use has that type fitting on the compressor end and a 1/8 swivel on the brush end. I don’t tape either end and they don’t leak. I’m pretty sure the brush end on mine has a rubber seal in it. The other end I just screw in a male QD fitting and snug it up. If you overtighten these fittings you can deform them or maybe even cut the backside that rides against the nut.
The tail end of the hose is flat and I think the end to the adapter on the regulator is flat too. The male end on the regular adapter is flat while the female is flared as is the male end on the regulator. The adapter circled above - male flat end and female is flat too. I made sure no tape went over any ends.
Just to add to the discussion. Putting teflon tape or liquid sealants on the threads of flare nut fittings will interfere with their ability to seal properly. I see this kind of thing all the time in aircraft pitot and static systems, and these things are always found when I end up with an aircraft that doesn’t pass its pitot and static system leak checks. Cleaning the tape or sealant off of the threads of those flare fittings always fixes the issue. As a general rule, teflon or liquid sealants should only be applied to fittings that have NPT thread…not flare fittings on the airbrush hose, or what it screws onto. Leave those clean and dry.
Yep. Tks omg… The bubbles in the paint cup - ugh. The new brush sent back to badger today. They said its most likely the little rubber part in the guts. Sorry, forgot the name.
tks! so heres what i now have. I guess now, what an acceptable leak range??? I would hope for none, but this isnt the space shuttle. Not sure whats reasonable. I had to put loads of tape on it and it still screws on to the end, by hand… Almost as if its not seating all the way but cant go further bc the male part isnt long enough. No bubbles now, just foamy. But id hope not to have loaded it up w/ tape. Just seems weird to me. Almost makes me wonder if there is some way i might have 2 different types of threads or something.
yep. Badger already had me tighten the head with pliers while hand tightening the spray regulator. Didn’t help. Sent back to badger yesterday. What I was after here was trying to figure out how much is too much tape and a usual amount usage. These quick adapters are new and the adapter for the pasche hose and before I knew that it wasn’t causing the bubbling I was trying to figure out why the compressor was cycling so often. Guess the good news is now with the extra tape I added the pressure looks to have help overnight So that it only ran about 15 seconds this am.
I don’t see how leaking of air from fittings could cause bubbling in the paint. The only thing I can see is a problem is that you may not be getting the exact pressure the regulator reads, but I doubt the pressure drop in a leak is worse than the drop through the hose and airbrush itself. I have a pretty winpy compressor, so I do worry about that, though, so do have teflon on the output fitting.
yep. Badger already had me tighten the head with pliers while hand tightening the spray regulator. What I was after here was trying to figure out how much is too much tape and a usual amount usage.
Usually one to two wraps of tape is sufficient. If you don’t like the extra hanging out just cut it away with a razor blade or something sharp. I’ve seen guys wrap 4-5 times around though. Not me but then again I prefer pipe dope anyway…
My living was made, anyway a good, part Spraying stuff and Building environments for Spraying stuff!. I have never used ANY Teflon tape on any air rig I have owned. I have learned that the fix is simple BEFORE even using the gear.
If you have flared fittings then check the flare. If it has been injured ( The surface in the inside.)It will leak. As will other fittings. Make sure those surfaces are smooth and shiny. Then make sure when you screw parts together, that there’s no debris in the threads. And you have a ninety degree connection between the flared part and where you are connecting it.( Yes, You can get it out of line without realizing it!)
Also, and this is very important. Make sure you keep ALL the fittings for your A/B surgically clean when you are using it and when you clean and put it away. Put it in a dustproof container between uses.
Tks TB - all good advise and followed besides the use of teflon and dust proof container[:)]. House is pretty clean. Another reason i was asking - looking for others experience as i dont often use the tape unless messing with gas lines. For this set up though, ive had to use it on all the fitting from new. Badger told me to use it on the leaking regulator upon new in the box to me. All the other i had to put on to stop leaks when i got the quick disconnects.
