Jump to content

Needle securing nut...too loose, too tight?


wombat

Recommended Posts

Now, I’m talking here about a cheap no brand airbrush that came with the compressor so feel free to respond “bin it”, but...finding that with lever full back nothing is flowing and reading up on causes, led me to the needle securing nut. Basically the Chuck was sliding over the needle rather than moving it, so I tightened the nut. But this jammed the lever altogether.  Basically it seems the nut is either too tight (jammed level) or too loose (chuck slide over the needle) and there is no middle ground where the needle will move.

 

i am not the worlds most mechanically sympathetic person and it’s entirely possibly I’ve done / am doing something Imbecilic...or that it’s cheap tat. But does anyone have any ideas?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The needle chuck nut should have no way of stopping the lever moving, as it's behind the lever and only secured to the needle. 

 

Is the thing assembled correctly? (Do you have an assembly diagram?) Does it have a stopper screw on the rear of the handle that restricts the needle movement? If so, is that screwed in all the way? 

 

I can post pics if visual explanation is required. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a cheapo/freebie airbrush which I've been happily using for 3 years to spray primer.

 

Now I can't be sure if yours is the same as mine, but I suspect you've got your nuts confused (!)

 

There are probably two nuts you can adjust. One is at the very end of the airbrush. This is a limiter and controls how far the lever can move. You have probably tightened this to the point it the level can't move.

 

The rear of the airbrush probably consists of a plastic handle. This should unscrew revealing the protruding end of the needle and another nut. It is this nut which clamps onto the needle and prevents it slipping and may need to be tightened.

 

You problem could be otherwise though - a needle can get jammed in the nozzle and not release when you pull back the lever. This could be either due to it being dirty  - in which case remove and clean it - or bent. This too can be fixed - there are YouTube videos showing how to straighten a needle

 

Cheers

 

Colin

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's three nuts on the back of the airbrush (for most models).

There's the needle/trigger travel limiter nut (located on the very end of the tail of the airbrush). With that one fully tightened the needle can't go anywhere so no paint can come out.

The needle chuck has two nuts.

1. On the very end of the needle chuck there is a nut that secures the needle inside the mechanism. That needs to be fully tightened (not with tools, your fingers should suffice). If that one is loose the trigger will move freely, but the needle will stay put inside the nozzle, sealing it, no paint comes out.

2. At the end of the airbrush's body there's a second nut securing the needle chuck to the aforementioned body. This one can be fully tightened and it will not affect the needle movement in any way. It (on a lot of airbrushes) also plays the role of an adjustment to the spring inside the mechanism. If it's fully tightened the spring is more compressed and there's more resistance on the trigger's movement towards the rear but the trigger becomes snappier (which is more to my liking). If it's loose the trigger movement is much more "fluid", but I personally don't enjoy it, it feels like there's less feedback to my finger. 

 

If you are tightening the correct nut (the one I numbered 1) and the trigger isn't moving it could be that the needle is "cemented" on the inner PTFE seal (due to dried up paint). Depending on the airbrush you could remove the needle chuck entirely and twist and pull the needle (towards the back) with some pliers or you could remove (and this is normally better) the front end of the airbrush and tap the needle tail until it starts to come out through the front. A few drops of the appropriate thinner in the seal area should help free up the needle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...