Ok, so I contacted the people I purchased this Omni 4000 from, advised them of continuing tip dry problem, and how the needle is not centred in the nozzle when you retract it to spray paint.
They replied that the Iwata micron needle is off to one side also, so it can’t be the cause of my problems.
My question is this, do any of you who own airbrushes have ANY that have the needle askew when you draw it back to spray???
And NO! the needle is not bent!!!
Nor is the nozzle damaged in anyway!!!
I purchased this brush in late Feb, and have tried everything short of rubbing it on the cat for luck to get it to work without sputtering and clogging.
My logic is this.
If the paint flow has a nice opening through which to flow, all should be well, right?
But if it has a restricted path, say a nice wide opening on one side of the needle/nozzle, and a narrow opening on the other, any pigment etc that begins to build up will continue to build till it clogs.
Maybe I’m acting a tad foolish on this, but something tells me this isn’t right for an airbrush carrying such a heavy reputation.
tweety, my omni and yours must have been assembled on friday!! mine sprayed fine for a while and now all of a sudden it wont spray fine lines without doing what your talking about no matter the thinning ratio or psi. its very frustrating and is what caused me to try another brand of airbrush to see if it was me. it wasnt, i tried the iwata line and havent looked back. but its a sad situation as i really enjoyed the omni for while and now i hardly use it if any. as a matter of fact, its over at my workbench hooked up to the compressor after trying it one more time to see if it might of been me. ive been spraying with my hp-c and hp-cs with no problems what so ever so i thought i’d try the same mixture in the omni but i get the morse code effect or spiders every time. its gotta be something internal with some part that has gotten damaged or something. my airbrushing experience is limited to about a 18 months of experience, but i know enough to understand that its not me. if you find out anything from ken, pass it on to me please as i’d like to use my omni occasionally. later.
Excellent reason right there to like Badger. That is encouraging to me, I love some good customer service. Hopefully everything will come out okay for you guys. I look forward to hearing some followup on this one.
Thanks Mike, curious to know what Ken has in mind.
Ultimately the best option would be to send it back, but by the time you factor in freight costs, it will work out to the price of a new Badger or Iwata.
If it must go back, then so be it.
I feel it is the bearing seal adjuster personally, but for all I know could be the body that isn’t right.
Wait and see I s’pose.
What is even more encouraging is that the owner of the largest airbrush manufacturing company in the world is willing to help out someone like that despite his busy schedule. He told me that he went to LA last thursday, went to NY on saturday, got back from NY on wednesday, and leaves for vegas tonight.
I wish you lived closer tweety1 as I would send you my Omni 4000 so that you would have an airbrush to use and I would try yours out and see if I can get it to work.
I’m at school right now, but when I get home tonight I’ll check my Omni 5000 to see if it askews like you are referring to. So far the only problems I have encountered since purchasing about the same time you did, has been all me!! LOL But I haven’t really had to spray any fine lines as of yet. The only fine lines I’ve sprayed have been all in practice everytime I have some leftover paint in the cup. Could the needle itself be manufactured incorrectly, I wonder?? Perhaps it just wasn’t machined right?? Just a guess of course, and I do not doubt you one bit…I hope that Mike can help you figure out your problem, and it will be a good lesson for all of us.
I dusted off my Omni 4000, Vega and Badger airbrushes and took a look at each of the airbrushes needle and nozzle assembly.
You should have a nice straight line through the airbrush. The needle must have a straight line to the nozzle. Yes, no bends in the system. I have two guesses. One is that either the nozzle is not seated right and pushing the needle up at an angle, so check for foreign matter in the nozzle seat. Or, two, there is a bit of foreign material in the nozzle pushing the needle into an angle. A particle lodged in the nozzle either from the paint (most likely) or in manufacturing would cause a build-up of paint and would eventually exaggerate the angle problem. A clog normally will not come out the tip with more air pressure because the clog will be thicker than the tip and the clog will just get lodged deeper.
Find a thin wire and GENTLY twist it through the nozzle. Make sure the wire is the same thickness as the nozzle tip or smaller or you run the chance of flaring the nozzle tip. Clean the airbrush thoroughly and try to airbrush again. Try airbrushing with water first.
If there was foreign matter in the nozzle and it is not there you might still have damaged the nozzle. They are very delicate. Check to see that the nozzle was not flared outwards from the needle pushing against the nozzle. You would need a 7x magnifier to look a the nozzle. A flared nozzle would make paint sputter.
OK, a third guess. Also check at the needle seat between the paint chamber and the air trigger to make sure it is centered. If it is decentered it would push the needle to an angle.
There should not be a bent or binding in the airbrush.
Heck, I even looked in my Iwata HP-B, HP-C and HP-CR for bends. Iwata does not bend their needles either.
Lastly, tell the store the “professionals” say to return the AB and give you a new one because it is defective and the store is honored to sell you a working product. Do it ADAMANTLY, INSISANTLY…WITH DETERMINATION.
I hope you don’t have to mail the airbrush back. It would cost money and the lack of use of the airbrush would bore you.
I checked my airbrushes and all of them have the needle slightly off center of the tip when the needle is drawn back, that is just how they are.
When I pull the trigger back on my HP-CS I can even see the needle and needle chuck in the handle move upwards slightly and not perfectly straight back.
I looked at my 3000 when he made his first post, and the needle is dead center of the nozzle on it. When I pull the trigger back I see the hole opening up the same amount all around the needle tip.
Perhaps that is the difference between the 3000 and the others though. Mike, isn’t the 3000 the only Omni without a “Needle Bearing” , and for that matter, exactly what IS a needle bearing?
I have an Omni 3000 “Scooter Shooter” which is a slightly modified version of the Omni 3000 and it is also slightly off-center as I already mentioned. It is not enough to change the spray pattern enough to tell but it is still there.
Scott,
A needle bearing is designed to keep paint in the front part of the airbrush and not allow paint to reach the air valve assembly. It is also used to align the needle with the bore of the body of the airbrush. The Omni 3000 has what is called a “Line-bore” design in which it does not use a needle bearing. I am not sure of the advantages or disadvantages of this design but I can find out for you if you are interested.
Thanks, Mike. I would be interested in knowing. If there are advantages to it I might try to add one from another Omni model or fabricate something that would work. I’m very content with my Omni, and have no desire to get anything different, but I’m not opposed to a little “Hot Rodding” either [:D]
I don’t think you are being foolish at all. If it isn’t working right you should try and get it right. Not being able to paint more than an inch or two without havint the tip dry out is not right. I don’t know if it’s the paint or the airbrush, but Badger is a first-rate company and I think they’ll do what they can to help.
Mike, I use both Tamiya and Gunze acrylics.
I have gone through around 5 pots of each brand while testing this brush, and have used thinner ratios from 50/50 to both sides of the scale.ie more paint/less thinner, less paint/more thinner.
While trying the above, the air pressure has been increased and decreased from 50 psi down to 5 psi at 2 psi intervals.
The needle has scuff marks on 1/3 of it’s circumferance, and these sit roughly where the needle bearing is situated in the brush body.
A picture would be alot easier, but I have no idea how to place a picture in your post, let alone getting a decent enough image to show exactly whats happening.
tweety, my needle is off centered when i draw the trigger back and like mike said, it is so with my 2 iwatas as well. it doesnt effect my 2 iwatas spray pattern though so i dont think that has anything to do with our problem.
mike, email me your mailing address and i’ll send you my omni 5000 and let you play with it and see what gives. mine is doing the exact same thing as tweety’s it seems and i’ve put 3 or 4 brand new tips and needles in, varying psi and thinning ratios with no luck. maybe you can find the problem with mine then help tweety with his. the only difference between a 5000 and 4000 is the size of the cup. let me know if your interested and i’ll ship it to you along with some money to return it with. let me emphasize the word “RETURN”. [;)][:D] later.