Need help with an airbrush problem

[Curt B]

1 hour ago, utley said:

I have an Iwata airbrush I bought for such an occasion. I cant believe Paasche has gone this far downhill. I have 4 airbrushes, 3 of them are Paasches, and the one that works isnt a Paasche.

Understood.  Just so  you know, the Paasche that I use, the Model H, is the one that is super simple, and is a  siphon feed airbrush, not a dual action airbrush.  I love it because its basically  has no moving parts when spraying, other than the air  valve.  I don't  have, nor have I ever had, a dual action Paasche brush.

[utley]

I had a paasche VL1/2 back a few years ago that I really liked. Yeah it was a double action and was syphon feed, but I never had any problems with it either.

[goondman]

On 1/23/2023 at 4:46 AM, utley said:

Yeah, air sprays from the tip. Seems like only positive pressure in the cup will force paint out. I get -slightly- better results with the lid on the cup but thats for a moment or so. See, some of these nozzles I know to be good as I shot paint from them with my last gun, so Id at least know if it was the kit nozzle and needle that failed, nothing works. I cant see any debris or damage in the opening...but yeah I cant see that far down the line either. Really thinking my gun might be defective and Im not sure what Paasche's warranty is like...and having gone through 2 of them now. Think theres a hairline crack in the needle valve somewhere.

 

Any recommendations for a new dual action airbrush? Even if Paasche warranties it out (which I doubt), Im done throwing money at them. Would love something where I can spray fine lines to large areas.

Without going into a novel sized diatribe, ill say, go with Sparmax. I used Talon for a while myself, but not unlike other airbrushes I've used, they seam to have the same phantom clog problems; use it, clean it, works fine; the next day it doesn't.... I've also stopped using water based acrylics. basically, if i can't thin it with Tamiya, Mr color lacquer thinner and clean with hardware store lacquer thinner, i don't use it

[CFster]

Nothing beats a Japanese brush. Anything that comes out of the Fuso Seiki factory: Iwata (not Neo), GSI, Richpen, etc. Top notch and unrivaled. 

 

Next I’d give to Harder & Steenbeck in Germany (owned by Iwata by the way, and utilizing some Taiwanese parts)

 

Then would be the Taiwan brushes out of the Densei factory such as Sparmax (also owned by Iwata), Grex or Neo (the parts come out of Densei and are shipped to China for assembly for Iwata). 
 

Then would be Badger & Paasche (Paasche also getting parts out of the far East and it shows)

 

Then the Chinese brushes beginning with Fengda and Gaahleri, followed by a hundred other copies. 

[Curt B]

On 9/5/2023 at 5:26 PM, CFster said:

...Next I’d give to Harder & Steenbeck in Germany (owned by Iwata by the way, and utilizing some Taiwanese parts)...

One thing about Harder & Steenbeck is that you can easily disassemble most of the major parts of their airbrushes (at least the Evolution and Infinity) without the need for tools, and the parts are bigger, so you won't be dealing with microscopic nozzles (for example) that you can lose in a heartbeat.  I've read that some folks don't rate the H&S highly based on pure performance, but they get a better rating in part because of this engineering.

Edited September 13, 2023 by Curt B

[CFster]

Problem with H&S is their head system is prone to spitting and sputtering, and they go through seals a lot. Also, they’re ripping everyone off with their more expensive brushes like the Infinity series. Reason being all their brushes share the same head system. The only thing making an Infinity cost four times as much as an Ultra is the fancy paint job I guess. The needle/nozzle/cap is interchangeable across the line. So, you could buy a $90 Ultra, spend $50 on a .15 needle/nozzle/cap and you’ve got $300+ performance for $140.
 

There’s also a hack to fix the poor trigger response in many H&S brushes. 

[Chuck1945]

I’m a very happy 20+ year H&S user.The only issue I had was due to user error. 
 

I had upgraded from 20 years of using syphon feed brushes (Paasche H and Badger 150) to a HP-C, really liked the results but hated the the tiny nozzle and it’s bitty little wrench. Replaced it within five years with an Evolution w/.15 &.2mm needle/nozzle combinations), never looked back. In my use, there isn’t any performance difference and the H&S is much easier to clean.

 

I did get a Procon 770 when the H&S was down for maintenance, it was new on the market and getting good reviews. I’ve actually used it very little once the H&S was back on line. I did find it marginally easier to clean then my HP-C

[CFster]

It would be great if most H&S users had the same experience you had.

 

17 hours ago, Curt B said:

One thing about Harder & Steenbeck is that you can easily disassemble most of the major parts of their airbrushes (at least the Evolution and Infinity) without the need for tools, and the parts are bigger, so you won't be dealing with microscopic nozzles (for example) that you can lose in a heartbeat.  I've read that some folks don't rate the H&S highly based on pure performance, but they get a better rating in part because of this engineering.

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by CFster