My a/b trigger is sticking on me. It all started after a good cleaning. Do I need to oil it? and if so what kind of oil do you use. I have used a/b for years and have always keep them clean but I have never oiled one. Thanks in advance.
Thad
I’d give it a squirt of Medea Super Lube or Badger Regdab Needle lube. I wouldn’t use anything like machine oil for fear of contaminating my acrylics.
You can also use Glycerin, if you don’t have access to AB needle lube.
What kind of airbrush and does the trigger stick going up and down or front to rear? If it sticks going up and down it’s probably in the air valve. If it sticks going front to rear it’s probably the trigger itself. Badger air valves occasionally get some paint down in them and start to stick. They are easy to disassemble and clean though.
I have a Iwata, I guess since Salty dog has stop posting Im the only one that still use’s one (lol). I think I got some paint stuck in there and when I cleaned it , it now gets stuck in the down position.[B)]
Thad
Sorry, Thad, don’t know a thing about Iwatas. They are good brushes but probably prone to the same problems as all others.
I don’t know if it helps or not, but the Badger air valve has a two-piece body that unscrews. Inside is a plunger with a captive o-ring and a spring. I clean the body and spring with laquer thinner, the plunger with alcohol (to avoid getting laquer thinner on the o-ring), lube with airbrush lube, and reassemble. It will be good until I manage to blow some paint in it again.
Scott, the Iwata’s are built the same… pretty much just like you have told others to disassemble the air valve on the Badger brushes would work on the Iwatas.
Thad - which Iwata are you using? If you look at the parts diagram you can see how the part the air comes in at goes together (and therefore comes apart) I have the HP-CR and if I can locate the book on it I will scan it and send to you… I believe it is just like the Badgers with a hex fitting in the end and then everything else falls out from there… Oh yeah… there’s more of us now who use the Iwata… [;)] I remember a place online that had the diagrams for several Iwatas… I’ll see if I can find it… it might have been www.dixieart.com
—edit—
I just got up off my lazy bum and looked at my Iwata, it is a bit different than the Badger in that it has two small slots 180 deg from each other obviously designed for a wrench of some sort. I am thinking the same wrench you use to tighten the spray tip on with, at least on mine it looks the same width as the two ends of the wrench…
Thanks for the help Scott, After looking at it again I think I will lube her up and see if that will fix her.
Tom, I have the HP-CR myself and the book is still in one piece. My main concern with this whole problem was what kind of a/b lube do you use???[?] I didnt want to use something I would latter regret[:)] (Us Texans have stick together with our Iwata’s)
Thad
Thad - I understand the Texan thing… [;)] I use at present Badger Regdab needle juice, IWata also makes one call Medea Super Lube. From what I understand they are mainly glycerin so the drug store might have that, although for $5 it was worth it to buy the real deal for peace of mind. (www.greatmodels.com, www.squadron.com, and www.dixieart.com should have either or both)
Just a drop or two down in the trigger assembly and that’s it! Well a light coat over the last part of the needle helps keep cleaning easy too… Iwata discourages the use of light machine oils as it might affect the teflon bearing in the airbrush…
Thanks Tom, I have heard that about the machine oil once before. Im looking into squadron for this Medea Super Lube , you speak of.[8D]
Thad