Backflushing: what is it?

Backflushing is when you hold your finger over the nozzle of the airbrush and release air and thinner at the same time which causes what's going through the airbrush to be backflushed into the color cup.
Some recommend doing it but others say it is a bad idea as it forces paint into areas that were not designed to have paint. I agree that it is not a good idea.

Mike

I say its a good idea. I backflush my aztek 370 all the time, no problems. I just use a little eye droppr and put like 1 or 2 drops of thinner inside the little siphon feed hole, and put finger over nozzle, and spray. it cleans like no other.

You really risk damaging the Aztek with backflushing especially if you are using strong solvents.

I've never had any problems with backflushing myself - at least none that I've noticed. Again, I think it comes down to knowing your airbrush, what it can and can't do and how to best take care of it. A clean airbrush is a happy airbrush...at least as far as the paint and air paths are concerned. It's important to try and strain your paints if you can, and always use the proper viscosity of paint for your desired application and the pressure of your air supply.

Tips can gum pretty quickly if you're not paying attention to what's going on down there. I think the best airbrush artists I've seen (who are lightyears ahead of me in terms of skill I might add!) know their brushes the same way a good racecar driver knows his car. He'll be able to tell in a general sense how everythings working based on the noise of the engine, vibrations from the road and responses from the pedals. airbrushes are much the same way. Once you are able to understand the way your brush works with your air supply, and then how that works together with your painting technique, you should have little difficulty controling how well or poorly it all works together.

Just some food for thought. BUT HAVE FUN for heck's sake whatever you do!

Bri~

My Paasche VL instructions specifically say that you SHOULD back flush while cleaning, so maybe it is bad for some airbrushes and not others, or maybe the manufacturers want to sell more parts!

I have collected a lot of airbrushes over the years from different countries and have noticed most manufacturors recommend back flushing. I myself have never had a problem doing this.

I haven't read anything in any of my owner's manuals about backflushing. I just run thinner after paint, disassemble and clean.

There is a seal in the Aztek that can be damaged by strong solvents. It's a non repairable damage. Aztek specifically says not to backflush or soak the body in solvents. Most of the metal airbrushes are okay with backflushing. Some might also have an O ring that can be damage by solvents but it's a part that can be replaced.