Airbrushes and temperature

[Paul Helfrich]

As a relatively new airbrush user, I have a question.

To what extent is airbrush performance affected by external air temperature?

I have my airbrush set-up in my garage, which unfortunately is not climate controlled. Tonight I was out there trying to spray in air temperatures in the 40s or so (alcohol-thinned acrylic) and having a devil of a time. I've never had that much trouble in warmer times with the same paint, same thinning ratio, etc.

Am I right in attributing the problems to the cold? Thoughts from experienced airbrushers welcome!

[Karsten]

Humm, 40's you should be good to go if you thin the paint right. It is now 11 degrees here and I can still paint if I wanted to.....Fingers get cold.

Karsten

[Devin]

Definitely. Airbrushing is very much affected by the temperature and humidity in the air. You want to shoot for 60's or 70's temperature wise, and low humidity. With cold temperatures you were probably experiencing clumping, orange peel on what paint did stick, and paint/thinner separation, right?

[Paul Helfrich]

Thanks! What I was experiencing was difficulty getting any kind of siphon feed to work, no matter how thin the paint...finally did get it going with a gravity feed cup.

[Obiwan3]

Something else you want to get down the road in your airbrushing career is a moisture trap. This goes in the line going to your brush. Water will foul up lacquers & enamels as you spray.