I have a double action VL Paasche AB that is two years old. It really has not done all that much work.

Recently it has started to spit globs of paint. Now this happens after you have used the AB for a little while...say 3/4 of a 1/35 scale model in light passes. Compressor is set at 20lb pressure.

When this first happened I dismantled the AB and cleaned it thinking it may have picked up a lump of gunk but when back togeather it worked fine for a couple of passes then spat paint again. It has done this with 2 different tip and needle combinations as well.

I use the same mixes and paint I have always used and I even thinned and thickened the paint with no joy. This time I have to strip a model due to this problem.

I have noticed that the tips have a little wear in the form of a jagged edge where the needle goes through but it is not bad and I have to look hard to see or feel it.

Thanks in advance for any tips on what this could be. I want to try and solve this here at home or otherwise I have to mail the AB away and it could be months before I get it back.

Cheers
Cliff

Cliff

I have the same model and it was doing the same thing.(a real p*** off )

The one thing I noticed with mine was a paint build up at the tip as I was spraying.The paint would get to the point that it would build up enough that it would start to "let go".At closer look the needle seemed to be off center in the cup(piece behind the tip) .After taking it apart I noticed the needle had a very small bend in it.

Just one thing I had happen to me.

Jim

Cliff

Sounds like a very familiar story. I too have had mine for around 2 years and haven't given it a hard time at all. I also found that the longer the paint session, the more problems seemed to develop.

Are you using the syphon cup rather than bottle? I found that the longer I sprayed, the thicker the paint got in the cup. That is, the thinner paint was sprayed, leaving paint not as thin in the cup. Does that make sense

I overcame this by adding some more thinner to the cup and giving it a bit of a mix. I also regularly - every 2 minutes or so - give the tip a delicate wipe with a cotton bud moistened with the appropriate thinner, making sure the end of the needle was clean, as well as the end of the nozzle.

Hope this helps.

Griffo

Cliff,

I too, have experienced the same condition and as Peter stated it doesn’t occur as often when using the bottle versus the color cup in my case. Since I primarily only paint with enamels I also found thinning with lacquer thinner resolved a lot of problems particularly when it came to spitting. I don’t know if that helps at all but I can appreciate the frustration of a spitting AB

Jay

I'm gonna toss this out...... It's possible that the combination of thinner & Pigment size could be causing it...... Not all paint manufacteres (conceivably) have the same Pigment size. It's like trying to AB a unthinned House Latex vs a hobby paint (which should have a finer pigment) I haven't used my VL in awhile..... but I have notices it with my HP-C i just stop and wipe it off.. and keep going.......

Sorry for not replying earlier. My computer went into the shop not long after posting this and I have just got it back again.

I solved my problem when I discovered that I had the wrong screw on tip with the needle I was using. Once I changed this I was back to spraying well again.

I have had no problems with the paint seperating in the cup and I have ordered a set of new tips (the cone shaped ones) as well as I did notice some wear there. I tend to use the #3 tip with the #1 following closely behind it and also have noticed the bends in the needles as well.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers
Cliff