Jaguar man 21 Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 So I just got a new badger anthem 155 and decided to give it a try last night with gravity colors petty blue, it worked great till I realized I have nothing to flush lacquer out of my new brush?. My question is with badgers having the pressed in needle bearing and how nasty lacquer thinner can be what would you guys recommend I can use to clean my airbrush without destroying the bearing quickly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete J. Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Ok, here's the deal. Flush it with lacquer thinner and then spend the twenty or thirty cents to get a teflon bearing, change it out and never worry about it again. The large airbrush online shops like Coast Airbrush have them. A quick phone call and you are on the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneyzs Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) I have a Badger Model 200 that's 20 to 25 years old and I always clean my airbrushes with Lacquer thinner. I have never had an issue with spraying Lacquer thinner thru them. I will tell you one time I broke my airbrush down and basically soaked the parts in lacquer thinner and well letting it soak for quite sometime made the seal in the body swell and I ended up having to send the air brush to badger and they put a new seal in it. I learned my lesson once doing that. Now when I spray I always have one jar with lacquer thinner in it and when I am done spraying a coat of paint I will spray lacquer thinner thru it to clean it so that I don't get paint drying in it between coats. Then when I am done with all of my spraying I will do a little more thorough cleaning. I will spray lacquer thinner thru it a few times until i see no more color or metallic in the thinner and then I will pull the needle and wipe it down with lacquer thinner as well as taking the head off and soaking it in a cup of lacquer thinner. The Teflon seal on the head I don't soak I will just wipe it with a towel that I put lacquer thinner on. I have been doing this for over 20 years with my airbrush with really no problems at all. Also a majority of paints I spray thru my airbrush are automotive paints. Edited December 17, 2017 by Mooneyzs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete J. Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 One other interesting thing that should be done with all airbrushes that I would bet almost no one does. The needle should be lubricated. Yup, lubed up after every cleaning. I helps the seal last longer and makes the needle slide without sticking. Ok, so what do you use? Airbrush needle lubricant of course! Yes, it actually exists and is not a muffler bearing grease or the like. Any airbrush dealer should have a small tube of it. There are several makers but Iwata is the one I am familiar with. Just a touch on the needle just behind the taper before you slide it in. This stuff does not interact with paint or cause any problems that I have ever encountered and I have sprayed just about every kind of paint I can think of through my brushes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaguar man 21 Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 11 hours ago, Mooneyzs said: I have a Badger Model 200 that's 20 to 25 years old and I always clean my airbrushes with Lacquer thinner. I have never had an issue with spraying Lacquer thinner thru them. I will tell you one time I broke my airbrush down and basically soaked the parts in lacquer thinner and well letting it soak for quite sometime made the seal in the body swell and I ended up having to send the air brush to badger and they put a new seal in it. I learned my lesson once doing that. Now when I spray I always have one jar with lacquer thinner in it and when I am done spraying a coat of paint I will spray lacquer thinner thru it to clean it so that I don't get paint drying in it between coats. Then when I am done with all of my spraying I will do a little more thorough cleaning. I will spray lacquer thinner thru it a few times until i see no more color or metallic in the thinner and then I will pull the needle and wipe it down with lacquer thinner as well as taking the head off and soaking it in a cup of lacquer thinner. The Teflon seal on the head I don't soak I will just wipe it with a towel that I put lacquer thinner on. I have been doing this for over 20 years with my airbrush with really no problems at all. Also a majority of paints I spray thru my airbrush are automotive paints. Thank you for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Teflon (which is what the needle seal in a Badger airbrush is made of) is impervious to most solvents you will have in your workshop.Actually all the seals that are in the paint path of that airbrush are Teflon, so you don't have to worry about that at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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