Iwata airbrush help

Tip and/or needle is not properly seated.  May have to remove air valve and soak in lacquer thinner.  After that, check all air and paint passages and reassemble.  Let us know if this works.  If it doesn't, call or email Iwata, the number and email address is on their website.  HTH.

E

being my first dual action airbrush, is having to strip the thing down typical?

are pipe cleaners really the best cleaning tool on airbrushes?

I will give it a shot this weekend,

Thanks for the input.

PC
 

Your needle is not seating all the way. If your cleaning is normally pretty thorough you probably have something stuck in the nozzle keeping the needle from seating all the way. Anything from tiny bits of dried paint to a piece of fuzz can do it.

After cleaning it like you normally do, take apart, remove nozzle, using your optivisor or magnifying glass look into the rear of the nozzle. You will probably find some gook in there. Don't blame it on the brush or your cleaning methods. For instance, remember all the dried paint in the inside of the jar? One little flake of that stuff can get stuck in there and cause problems. Some people have used paper towl to clean out the color cup and eventually find paper fuzz clogging up the nozzle.

Clean it out and make sure the needle is seated and you shouldn't have anymore problems.

Thanks again, i hate to say it, but i am a paper towel guy.  Is there something better for cleaning that won't leave the fuzz residue?

PC

I use old cut up t-shirts. A good quality gun cleaning patch would work well too. There is a company called Southern Bloomers that makes patches out of t-shirt material that are virtually lint free. Get a bag of these for a large caliber and they would last you for years.

A note on pipe cleaners: They can shed the little fuzzies so be careful. I use them when I do a detail strip and clean to run through the needle channel to removed old paint from the needle bearing area but I have to follow up with a few eye droppers of thinner or cleaner to be sure the fuzz is washed out. Again, the optivisor and a nice bright light are essential to making sure the inside is spotless and debri free.

Airbrush is back to normal!

Turns out there was small chip of grey paint in the way of the needle.

Thanks everyone, i appreciate all the advice.

PC

Glad to hear you figured it out. To prevent that from happening again you need to strain the paint going into your brush. You can use discarded panty hose, or any other kind of fine filter. I use a little funnel with a very fine screen in the bottom every time I put paint into my Iwatas. I never pour paint directly into my airbrushes. Jusy my 2 cents.

Rich