Badger 200 airbrush no air flow

I've had this problem previously with a 200 as well, it was not a regular fault and seemed to happen inconsistently, however, if you remove the valve screw with an Allen key, you can withdraw the plunger and spring and I found giving them a wipe with a thinner soaked rag helps. Be very careful however as the spring is very small and easily misplaced.

As Rory mentioned in his post, leaving the unit to dry may also assist, as I could never find a common cause or symptom and leaving the unit overnight sometimes cured it.

I eventually moved up to a Badger 100 which allows more precise detail work, but I still use the 200 for general painting jobs.

Happy modelling Ant

Wow...my 150 is currently in the *same* condition. Good to see some info on this...

But it has been this way for quite sometime. No "drying out" period seems to help. Also, there seems to be less than the "correct" amount of travel, with the trigger....

It seems that you got a bit of lacquer thinner (or something similar) down in the air valve under the trigger. For some unknown reason Badger uses an O-ring that is not thinner friendly. If you can disassemble the valve and let it dry out. If not you can get just the O-ring for about a buck. If you can't find one give Denbigh Hobby Center at (

Scott

This problem caused me to stop using a Badger 210 in the 1980's. No matter how carefully I cleaned it, I could only get it to work once or twice. I sent it back to Badger several times. They cleaned it and sent it back and it worked. They told me I wasn't cleaning it right, but never told me how to do it correctly.

I shifted to the external mix brush, and haven't had any problems with it. Jerry 47

Funny...I'm using the same Badger 200 I've been using since I was about

1. I've never taken it apart, only run thinner through it until it came out clear, and then stored it with the needle fully closed. Been doing this for the last 30-odd years, and have never once had it once clog, spit, or fail to do what I've asked of it.

I have a second 200 and a 150 that are still virgins. My original one just plain keeps working. Surprises me to hear otherwise from folks...

I concur with sir Rufus.

I have been using a 200/150/10GXF since 1979. I have never had a problem although I have cleaned and or replaced most parts except the body. I have used almost all the other airbrushes and always go back to my trusty Badgers!

Hi Rory,

Many thanks for the very swift response. I had also been dunking it in cellulose thinners Letting it dry out overnight has done the trick. I'll make very sure I don't get cellulose thinners in the air valve again!

Regards,

RC

Not a prob , glad to be of some help.I continue to use cellulose thinners as it does a good job of cleaning the air brush, just blow it through untill all the traces of paint are gone and then its on to the next colour Now that you know how to cure the problem why bother changing?

Same here - I've been using my 200 for about 20 years and never had to take the air valve apart. I've replaced other items like nozzles, needles and their teflon washers but never the air valve.

I use it mostly to spray Enamels and Lacquers (some pretty hot) and Tamiya Acrylics.

I clean it by running 3 batches of Lacquer Thinner (probably similar to the Cellulose stuff). I also totally unscrew the needle and clean it. This is done right after I'm done painitng.

The paint jar is empty. I squirt 3 pipette-fulls into the dirty paint jar. Swish around and spray out the thinned paint. Next, another 3 pipette-fulls. Spray out again while openning and closing the needle. I also put a paper towel close to the nozzle while the needle is wide open. That causes some of the thinner to wash the face of the tip and also some back pressure to "gurgle" some of the thinner back into the bottle. Once that batch is gone, I again squite 3 pipette-fulls into the now clean bottle and just spray it all out while closing and openning the needle.

Once in a while, I take the nozzle apart and clean the insides of the paint path. I don't really get any Lacquer Thinner into the air passages.

Peteski

I soak the front end of my Badger 150 prior to a total cleaning. The front end fits nicely in the small Badger bottle with a little propping. I soak it in laquer/cellulose thinners overnight and then clean all the paint areas with cotton buds/pipe cleaners etc. The thinners never have an opportunity to contact the air trigger so keeping thinners away from the trigger is a good idea. hth

The Keeper (of too much crap!)