patriot 105 Head unit jammed?

[Laughingman]

Recently acquired a Patriot 105 airbrush but have an issue, the Head unit (part # 51-071) ) is very much not finger tight, and will not budge. How should I proceed in terms of loosening it, without damaging the bronze fitting underneath? 

[Arkhanist]

I acquired a patriot xtreme recently (Ken's 54th birthday deal) which had the same issue  - it's the same head unit and body with a different coating. Googling showed plenty of other people in the same boat.

 

In my case, I did of course take the needle out first. I first tried to unscrew it with disposable latex gloves to get more traction - just ripped them up. I then attempted to open it with an adjustable spanner (wrench) with some cloth padding in the jaws; no ratchet, so it couldn't get enough grip on the head unit to not slip. I then thought to put the head unit in my table vice with rubber jaws fairly tightly (but not crushingly tight), which allowed me to turn the airbrush body while the head stayed put. It only took a little muscle to shift it that first fraction, then it was easy to hand unscrew, no damage caused.

 

My next plan was to use a baby strap wrench on the head with the body clamped in the vice. After that it was probably going to be the socket wrench, but that would be risking damage I think.

 

Other options would be to try and get a light oil into the thread to help lube it from the inside, or gentle heat to make it easier to shift.

 

It just ships really tightly on sometimes - they're supposedly hand tightened at the factory so maybe cold shipping temperature or something just makes em stick rather than crossthreaded. I didn't see any lube on any of the threads. I put ptfe tape on the air hose connector for better air tightness there,  and I lubed the rest of the screw threads with needle juice to help keep them air tight and smooth action.

[Laughingman]

Got it loose with a fine pair of needle nose pliers  and some rubberized padding (I made sure to inspect the brass fitting underneath for damage it appeared up be fine . I have a bottle of Hops #9 (gun lubricant) that should work fine for keeping the threads lubricated so it does not stick again.