More AB cleaning questions!

 What kind of paint are you using? I shoot enamels through my Iwata HP-CS, and after EVERY usage, I shoot laquer thinner through it, disasemble it and put the nozzle pieces in a jar of thinner while I clean out the color cup, needle and wipe down the outer body. Then I clean the nozzle parts, then make sure it's dry, reassemble and then it's ready for the next session. It does'nt take but about 5-10minutes to assure that your airbrush will perform when needed. 

doc-hm3 wrote:

What kind of paint are you using? I shoot enamels through my Iwata HP-CS, and after EVERY usage, I shoot laquer thinner through it, disasemble it and put the nozzle pieces in a jar of thinner while I clean out the color cup, needle and wipe down the outer body. Then I clean the nozzle parts, then make sure it's dry, reassemble and then it's ready for the next session. It does'nt take but about 5-10minutes to assure that your airbrush will perform when needed.

 

Same here exept i have  two badgers 175 and a 100lg.

somenewguy wrote:

... in the cleaning process they spray distilled thinner and then water through their AB at 20 to 40 PSI. I have a pissy little compressor that only goes upto 10 PSI. Is that adequate? If not, what do I do?

I suspect that your gauge is reading low.  If yor compressor is supplying enough air to paint well, it will work as well for blowing thinner through the AB for cleaning.

somenewguy wrote:

Another thing, a guy who replied to a thread starter advised not to disassemble the AB (as that would apparently wear out seals and whatnot) unless there were internal problems yet, my former art teacher who has the exact same AB as me, showed me how to clean mine, and he took it apart about 70%. So do I just run distilled water and thinner through the it or do a proper inside job?

To disassemble or not is an oft debated subject.  I used to meticulously disassemble after every use, and after hearing a lot of opinions from knowledgeable folks here, and I then started going more to the spray thinner through the thing approach.  With my Paasche H I spray thinner through it and my Badger 200NH, I unscrew the tip but leave the needle in place and pour thinner through the paint chamber swirling with an old paint brush.  I either case, I do a full breakdown infrequently.

As for whether or not whatever cleaning regimen you choose  is doing a proper job, after several uses, disassemble your airbrush and really look at it to see how clean or dirty it really is.  I have found that even with my simplified cleaning procedures, extremely little if any paint is found anywhere in the brush and my airbrush painting performance is perfect.

Andy 

 

 

 

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Speaking for experience...everytime I have take the short cut when dealing with cleaning my airbrushes it has come back to bite me time and time again.

There's never enough time to do it right the first time, but always enough to do it again. 

When I am in a spraying session...that is paint several parts or assemblies using different colors, I will flush between colors and occasionally pull the needle to give it a quick wipe. Once done, that is I will be not returning to the paint booth for several hours or days, I quickly tear down the brush and wipe the components off/out with lacquer thinner. I have the tools handy to make the project go fast and easy.

If I really don't have the time to do it, I at least have learned to pull the needle and wipe it off after first flushing the brush with my cleaner of choice.

 

Pushing more pressure through the airbrush with thinner doesn't necessarily mean it will clean better...the thinner doesn't have as much time to loosen the paint residue if you are pumping it through faster and with more umph. 

 

Thanks for your help.