hf air brush trigger

[Charlie Knighton]

anybody know how to repair hf air brush trigger, its the cheap one, already bought another, not sure how to tear into to repair the trigger, can operate on it but not sure where to start

 

[Clifton C]

Charlie,
If it's the little one (not a cup gun), I would look at http://www.badgerairbrush.com/index.html
Look for the "products" tab left side,match it by looks, then check out the manual.
It's got to be a knock-off of one of the known brands.

Oops, just saw that H/F has manuals for there air brushes...As I remember, I got into mine by taking off
the little nut where the air hose attaches, I'll look tomorrow...
c

 

[Bill Boehme]

anybody know how to repair hf air brush trigger, its the cheap one, already bought another, not sure how to tear into to repair the trigger, can operate on it but not sure where to start

They have 16 cheap ones, Charlie. 🙄

Do you really mean the trigger or do you mean the air valve plunger that the trigger presses to turn on the air flow? The trigger itself seems to be fairly bulletproof. Even though HF provides an exploded parts diagram, I don't think that they actually have repair parts except for a few parts that typically wear out frequently. In those cases, you might try parts for other brands.

I am wondering if the nozzle could be plugged. Have you verified that the sprayer has air flow with the nozzle removed?

 

[Charlie Knighton]

yes, I mean the mean the air valve plunger

Have you verified that the sprayer has air flow with the nozzle removed?

yes, I had airflow, it was continuous, I could not stop the air flow with the red trigger. I had to disconnect from air compressor to turn off, it got crazy there for a minute.

I will look at the parts diagram, should have thought of that.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

i had been using this air brush gun for almost a year.....the parts manual says a regulator must be purchased......maybe that's the problem.....I have 2 gauges on my compressor.....one that I keep at about 40 and the other tells me how much air in the tank.....usually when that gets down to 40 lbs I need to refill the tank

anybody have any observations.....

 

[Bill Boehme]

It depends. If your sprayer is designed for 40 PSI then I doubt that is the reason it stopped working. The typical set up is probably to have the tank regulator set to a higher outlet pressure because of the pressure drops in the filters and then have the 40 PSI regulator as close to the sprayer as practical. This will give you the most accurate control over nozzle pressure. BTW, you should have a one micron coalescing filter to stop water vapor from contaminating the sprayed finish.

 

[Bill Weaver]

Charlie
Is you air brush a double action type? Those do have air going thru them all the time.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

you should have a one micron coalescing filter to stop water vapor from contaminating the sprayed finish

this is the $9.99 model 93506 it comes with 5 bottles......the bottles are located below the air brush, with the air blowing across an opening in the bottle, that has a tube going to the bottom of the bottle

Is you air brush a double action type? Those do have air going thru them all the time

. I have to press the trigger for the air to run thru the airbrush......my more expensive model (all metal, with the cup for paint above the airbrush,gravity feed) only works when one presses the trigger also. not sure what you mean by double action.

 

[Bill Boehme]

After seeing which model you have, I would guess that there are two chances of repairing it: slim chance and fat chance. 🙄 Actually, I have one that that is even more basic than yours. It consists of nothing more than two brass tubes joined at right angles. The skinny tube goes in a jar of paint and you blow in the fat tube to create a low pressure that sprays the paint. The good news is that it was cheap (that's also the bad news).

Your airbrush is known as single action because the air valve is just on or off. Dual action triggers allow the user to control both the air and the color flow. I suppose that my two-brass-tubes airbrush could be considered dual action if you bend the definition a bit.

 

[Bill Boehme]

BTW, forget about the coalescing filter. The tiny amount of air that you are using shouldn't be a problem provided that you drain the compressor before spraying.

I just noticed that you were using too much pressure. You won't need a separate regulator if the one on your compressor can be adjusted down in the range of 15 to 30 PSI.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

You won't need a separate regulator if the one on your compressor can be adjusted down in the range of 15 to 30 PSI.

the compressor has an adjustment knob, I set it at 40 when I first bought the compressor........ I could try to change it to 15 to 30, my only question is why that would help???????????

 

[Bill Boehme]

the compressor has an adjustment knob, I set it at 40 when I first bought the compressor........ I could try to change it to 15 to 30, my only question is why that would help???????????

Well, a lower pressure would be less strain on the air valve and your new one might last longer with a lower operating pressure. Beyond that, a lower pressure might give you better paint flow with less overspray.

If it's any consolation, I found that there was no replacement air valve available for my brand X nail gun and I had paid nearly a hundred bucks for it. Of course it was out of warranty so that was that. When I bought a replacement I got a brand that supported its products beyond the warranty.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

that's an interesting thought

Well, a lower pressure would be less strain on the air valve and your new one might last longer with a lower operating pressure

I will try that, thanks.....the manufacture of comressor had said to set it at 40.......it does not sound like there is any safety issue at all to reset it lower

a lower pressure might give you better paint flow with less overspray.

thanks, I would not have thought to do something, just because the manufacture said to set it at 40

 

[Steve Worcester]

Air pressure is related to viscosity of the paint and the needle size. My guess is the HF is a .5, so for wider spray and further back, 40 is fine. For close up and tight work, lower will be needed.

Honestly, you are better off tossing it and getting a Hobby Lobby coupon and buy an Iwata Revolution, much better brush even though it is thier hobby level.

I would get a good regulator in-between regardless.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

thanks for your comments, Steve.....I have one that I do use......I have always had the compressor regulator on 40, so if I drop it down maybe I can get a finer line.......anyway something to try......I had bought a small plastic piece that restricts the amount of air into gun but that would increase the pressure....

 

[Bill Boehme]

Air pressure is related to viscosity of the paint and the needle size. My guess is the HF is a .5, so for wider spray and further back, 40 is fine. For close up and tight work, lower will be needed.

Honestly, you are better off tossing it and getting a Hobby Lobby coupon and buy an Iwata Revolution, much better brush even though it is thier hobby level.

I would get a good regulator in-between regardless.

Steve, the model number that Charlie referenced appears to be just a simple Bernoulli principle fixed nozzle blowing across the open end of the tube in the paint jar just like the fly spray guns that were used a few years ago when I was a kid ... before the days of aerosol can insect bombs. From the online customer reviews, it seems like users are satisfied with what they get for ten bucks, but only after a lot of fiddling with air pressure as well as viscosity.

I suppose if Charlie is getting satisfactory results at 40 PSI, maybe it's best to not mess with things, especially if his compressor manual says to set it to 40 PSI. This makes me suspect that the regulator is just a variable orifice flow valve and not a true pressure feedback control valve. I wholeheartedly agree that Charlie would find the Hobby Lobby airbrush (or just about any other one) much more satisfactory.