# air brush question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-brush-question/327135 "2005-10-20T20:22:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-brush-question/327135/1 "2005-10-20T20:22:18Z")
I don’t have any experience using one but I just bought an a single action air brush. I tried using it yesterday. To my delight it worked just fine. FOR the first couple of minutes. Then it just stopped spraying. I used 20 pounds of air. I used acrylic paint that I thinned with windshield washer fluid.It had the consistency of a little bit thicker than milk. I cleaned the nozzels and it still wouldn’t work. I don’t see any damage. Upon reflecting I don’t see how the air pressure is equalized in the paint jar. Dunno if thats the problem but I was just wondering. How should the 2 tips be adjusted in location to each other. I did notice while cleaning it that if I put my finger just over the paint nozzel it sprayed soapy water for a few seconds. Warning: I have about a million other questions. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-brush-question/327135/2 "2005-10-20T20:27:30Z")
> [@justwannano](#): > > I used acrylic paint that I thinned with windshield washer fluid.It had the consistency of a little bit thicker than milk. I don’t know anything about airbrushes, but I have to ask about this one. Was the windshield washer fluid your own idea, or was that recommended in the instructions? It’s certainly not the first thing I would think of for thinning paint. ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-brush-question/327135/3 "2005-10-20T21:33:07Z")
Acrylic paint is thinned with water – _nothing else_. You may have permanently ruined your airbrush. It _might_ be possible to take the whole mechanism apart and clean it, but almost nothing will remove dried acrylic. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-brush-question/327135/4 "2005-10-20T23:39:39Z")
> [@FatBaldGuy](#): > > I don’t know anything about airbrushes, but I have to ask about this one. Was the windshield washer fluid your own idea, or was that recommended in the instructions? It’s certainly not the first thing I would think of for thinning paint. The windshield washer fluid was recommended by IIRC a website on air brushes. It was an instruction site. I thought it made sense so I tried it. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-brush-question/327135/5 "2005-10-20T23:54:06Z")
> [@Can Handle the Truth](#): > > Acrylic paint is thinned with water – _nothing else_. You may have permanently ruined your airbrush. It _might_ be possible to take the whole mechanism apart and clean it, but almost nothing will remove dried acrylic. Sorry. Hmmm. I don’t think I hurt anything and this brush is so simple that I am pretty certain I don’t have any dried paint in it. Thats why I can’t figure why it quit working. What I need to know is the location of the tips. A single action airbrush works by blowing air across a orfice that has a dip tube immersed in paint. Venturi action sucks the paint up the tube. What I don’t see is how the pressure in the jar remains the same. I’m thinking sometime , somehow the pressure has to be equalized. You can’t keep sucking paint from the jar bottom without replacing it with air on top. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-brush-question/327135/6 "2005-10-21T00:50:51Z")
> [@justwannano](#): > > I’m thinking sometime , somehow the pressure has to be equalized. > You can’t keep sucking paint from the jar bottom without replacing it with air on top. Too true. How does the paint jar attach to the air brush? On the Thayer and Chandler air brush I have (also single action) the bottom of the airbrush body has been machined to accept the mouth of a two ounce bottle, exactly the right diameter and thread to accept my favorite brand of model lacquer. It looks like, and is essentially, a permanently mounted bottle lid, except thicker. In that ‘lid’ a bit to one side is a 1/16 inch hole, plenty enough to let air into the bottle as paint is removed. DD ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-brush-question/327135/7 "2005-10-21T01:30:51Z")
Permanently attached bottle lid. Gasket to seal jar. No "breather hole.