I wonder if it is just because of the nature of acrylics along with that warm weather you have down under? Can you try enamels such as Model Master and see how they react?
My Omni 4000 has the same marks on it’s needle and it is normal.
If the needle did not have scuff marks on it then the bearing would not be sealing tight enough to do it’s intended job. [;)]
Mike
Maybe the pigments in the paint are too large for the airbrush? Or at some time a large pigment got stuck in the brush at some point and is still lodged in the nozzle to build up and cause a dry tip problem.
Sorry, I’m still thinking along the clog angle.
rooster, i thought the same thing about my omni 5000. the only paint that i ever found that would spray well through the omni was tamiya acrylics. when i tried enamels, it would either spider or morse code if i tried the fine line. then, after about 3 weeks of not using the omni, i picked it up to do a little practicing with it and couldn’t get the fine line i was accustom to with the tamiya or anything else. as you know, the omni is not complicated to breakdown and clean. i did a thourough clean making sure there was no debree anywhere, reassembled it and had the same result. then, i changed the needle and tip thinking that something may have been damaged, and i got the same results. i have no clue whats wrong with it but i’m thinking that tweety and i may have the same problem. later.
roosterfish,
I think they just need to come out here to CA where the weather is perfect for painting. [(-D][:-,]
Mike
This is truly an odd case, as my Omni 5000 is spoiled, and eats MM enamels for breakfast. And I’m too good to her to make her eat Acry. I haven’t had the spidering effects when I do a fine line, unless I accidentally pull the trigger back too far, and then it’s a paint explosion!!! LOL I didn’t notice my tip going slightly off center when I pulled it back though. Perhaps I’m blind, as Mike says that they should all do that?! I can honestly say without embarassment that this goes well beyond my knowledge and understanding. The Omni is a pretty simple break down, so you would think that it would be easy to trace.
Actually they shouldn’t do that but most do to a degree.
Mike
Today is a nice ice cream eating day in CA. I couldn’t resist, it is so nice today and the ice cream truck came down the street conveniently stopping in front of my house…OK, I waved him down. I’m sure MikeV will do the same.
OK, serious now, and fast before the ice cream melts. If the problems isn’t in the paint area then how about in the air supply. Any clogs in the air valve or the air passage to the paint?
I’m going to try my Omni 4000 and see if I have a problem.
Moving to a better climate would definately be an option, but trying to convince the missuss to do that so I can ab might be a tad difficult[;)][:)]
I would like to try other paints, but seeing as I have close to 100 pots of Tamiya and Gunze, if I bought 1 more paint pot, I would definately have time to model, as the missuss would leave me[V]
I am 100% positive it is not paint clogging issues, or damage to parts of the brush, as I have tried different needle and nozzle combinations with the spares I ordered.
I have also tried 4 different types of retarder, and still no joy.
As for the ice cream man, he comes round here every Sunday, and we can eat our ice cream no problem, providing we eat it between the ice cream van and the front door, otherwise we end up with soup inside 5 minutes.[;)]
The air supply is fine, I added an external tank to keep the pressure up and continuous, and I have a filter and 2 water traps in line, so it rules that out.
The second trap was a good idea, as the we have an evaporative air con, and after I added the second trap, I was surprised to see how much moisture actually gets passed the first trap.
Saltydogs idea sounds pretty good to me, and hopefully Mike will be able to come up with a theory as to what the ? is going on.
If there is no joy, then I will have no option but to use the Omni for general coverage, and purchase an IWATA HP-BS for finer detail.
Tweety and Saltydog,
How are you tightening the head on your Omni’s?
Are you using a wrench?
Mike
My Omni 4000 works like an airbrush should. No problems. Even with a straight needle I didn’t have a problem. If I bent the needle I can spray around corners with ease.
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Just kidding. My Omni works perfectly.
Hrmm… does this problem happen with the Badger Anthem too?
At first I would tighten it up finger tight, then with the supplied spanner, a quick nip up, and thats it. No more than 1 mm of movement from finger tight.
Now I just do it up finger tight, cause I have the thing apart to clean so many times it’s not funny.
I don’t think it’s the paint as I spray both Gunze & Tamiya without any issues what so ever from my 4000…
Come to think of it, I even spray Lifecolor, which contains coarser pigments than either of the other two brands without a problem.
Hope you get it sorted soon.
Karl
The reason I asked is because I emailed my buddy and told him about the problem that you and Saltydog are both having, and he sent me the following email:
I don’t know if this helps or not but this is what he said and he helped design the Omni and Vega line.
Mike
Ahhh, well that explains why I don’t have a clue what a "needle bearing"is, since I have the 5000. So Mike, do you think the needle bearing may be causing it to go askew? I checked mine again, and it is pretty smooth action, if it goes off center, it is so minimal as not be seen by human eyes. It must be good to have the inside track with the designer, eh Mike!!! I hope that his suggestions help solve Tweety, and Saltydog’s problems…nothing like having a useless airbrush to ruin a modeling session.
No, the needle bearing wouldn’t be causing this problem I don’t think, but I could be wrong.
Actually he wasn’t the designer but he along with a few other well-known T-shirt artists had some input on the design.
Mike
Well, you can do the head up as far as the thread will let you, any further, and you no longer have a warranty!!!
I’ll try slipping an ‘O’ ring in the haed ass’y, to give me a little more play, and give that a go.
I would buy a bottle of Model Master enamel and a can of their airbrush thinner and try that out just to see if the acrylics are your problem as they can be difficult at times. What I do is reverse that aircap on the end of the Omni 4000 so that the needle is exposed and then start painting your line. If the line skips then I will point the airbrush off into the air and blast a little paint with full trigger, then wipe the end of the needle clean with my fingernails as I blow air through the airbrush by pressing the trigger down only. Then try starting the line again.
You might want to see if you can find some acrylic retarder to slow down the acrylic drying time also as that seems to help a lot of people with bad tip dry problems.
Mike
Hang On!! Mike, shouldn’t there already BE an o-ring on his Omni? My 3000 has an o-ring between the head and body assembly.
My Omni 4000 and Vega have an O-ring between the head and body. I hope the others with Omni problems have the O-ring on their airbrushes. It would make an air leak (air pressure loss) problem without it.