Realized I put this in the wrong forum a bit ago, so I'm moving it here:
Hey guys,
So, I'm on my second Eclipse now in 4 or 5 months, the first one was sent back to Iwata and they replaced it, but it's happening again, I already contacted Iwata and they said they'd replace it again, but I'm trying to root down to the meat of the issue, so here goes.
I only shoot Vallejo paints and use Vallejo thinner. I only clean with isopropyl alcohol and Iwata airbrush cleaner, however, no matter what I do, within less than a month, the bottom of the color cup starts to lose its chrome plating and turns a copper color(I can only imagine the metal under the chrome is copper. I never use any windex or ammonoid products(unless its in the Vallejo paint or thinner).
The way I mix and shoot is as follows: I put thinner then paint into the cup then I mix it in the cup with an old brush and then shoot as normal. To change colors, I pour in some isopropyl alcohol use a paper towel to get the paint residue off the sides of the color cup and use the same brush to get all the bits of semi-dried paint out of the corners in the bottom of the color cup. For a deeper clean, I disassemble the front end and clean the front end with isopropyl alcohol, an interdental brush, and q-tips.
So, my questions are these: What causes this? And the question to end all, how do I prevent it?
I find that as the chrome continues to wear, my airbrush clogs faster, requiring me to blow out the needle more often. And, it also makes the airbrush more difficult to clean in that the paint adheres to the bottom of the color cup stronger.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.