HELP! My Touch'N Flow is clogged!

I found mine wouldn't pick up the Tamiya liquid cement so maybe yours is a bit thicker because of age and not flowing properly.

Have you tried blowing in the other end and trying to force the glue out with air pressure?

I don't know if acetone (nail polish remover) will have an effect on the glue in the applicator.

The only other thing I can think of is running a very thin wire down the tube and see if that helps.

The applicator isn't a bad thing but takes some time to get used to it.

Hope this helps.

I just started working with this thing recently and I have haven't had any major problems, but it can get clogged with liquified plastic/glue if you're not careful.  Mine has clogged up a bit and I've just immersed it in the bottle of glue - I'm working with Tenax, a very liquid cement.  I remember reading somewhere in the forums that someone had figured out that a very small gauge wire can be run through the tip if necessary.  I would try soaking it in the glue, brushing it out on paper (paper acts as a good suction as the glue flows toward and through it), and repeating.  I like the thing now that I've gotten used to it.  Much better than the brushes for me.  Hope it works!

Its times like these I wish I payed more attention in chemistry class...  I have a touch and flow also but it seems to be a part time tool for me as well.  I can usually get it to fill once and then it doesnt want to fill for awhile.  Its not clogged or anything it just wont fill.  I can flick the tip or soak it in glue and it doesnt matter, but if I wait a day or 2 later it will fill, maybe its just lazy or something I dont know.  Meh, its just like any other science based modelling tricks they never seem to work for me  use capillary action to was a  panel line? Forget it, I get a nice blob of paint on the panel and none in the line.  Dont get me started on the " There was a small gap and I simply flowed gap filling ca into the seam."  I tried that once and I flowed ca all over the the parts and none went into the gap Hmph, go figure.  I would give anything to go back to school and pay attention to all the labs and assignments I blew off in school.

The thing about the wire may have been me... I found that a single strand of wire from an old lamp cords runs up the tube fine to clear out any "stuff".

 

Mine will not fill a 2^nd time either.  My guess is the metal tube needs to dry out before it will fill again.  The capillary action is fine but only when the air has some place to get out.  I’ve started using a syringe, without the hypodermic needle attached, to fill mine.  I pull the plunger back to clear the needle on the T&F and insert it into the syringe.  A light pinch with my thumb and forefinger to make a bit of a seal and then draw back the plunger.  It fills up all the way to the end… not just that inch or so from sitting in the bottle.

 

Yup, the tube does need to have air in order for the capillary action dealy to work.  If you're working with Tenax, however, which evaporates in like a second, the glue lingering in the T&F shouldn't be a problem.  I just think this is a darn finicky tool.  I haven't had any big problems, but it is tricky to work with.  Getting glue to flow via capillary action down a joint I think could work, but you'd need to have a nice microscopic channel between the two pieces without obstruction.  I ain't this good yet.  I bought mine in a package too that came with Tenax, a bunch of disposable swabs, and a dispenser bottle which I haven't used yet but might work nicely.  It's just a plastic bottle but it has a removable small gauge needle on the top.  You fill it with glue and then insert the needle in the glass end of the T&F and fill it.  It sounds like your syringe might work real well.  Finicky tool...

He he. Finicky indeed. I was attempting to open my jar of lacquer thinners to soak the thing in, with the Touch'n flow in the other hand and - you guessed it - I broke the glass tube.

It went straight in the garbage and won't get replaced. I bought a liner (script) brush in stead. It was a worthwhile experiment IMO, but the tool simply doesn't work as well as I had heard. So I'll just put it down to experience. BTW guys, my problem wasn't getting the excess glue back into the bottle, it was in getting the thing to work AT ALL. I never did get any glue out the metal tube end. Just as an aside, the packaging is of very poor design as well. The cap and tube it comes in are just long enough that you can catch the tube on the cap and bend the metal end if you're not careful. I didn't, but it's certainly possible. Another 1/8" length on the plastic tube would avoid such a possibility. Oh well...such is life, and modeling .

Rich

I have found it to be a very useful tool.  I initially experienced some of the same problems and found that the first uses  were difficult to get the flow started.  I think that it may have something left in the metal tube due to manufacturing processes.  The second one that I bought had the same problem.  Once the flow is started, it will continue if the T&F is held upright.  I found that putting the metal tube DOWN in the liquid cement will draw it into the T&F for the 2nd and subsequent fills.  I discovered this thinking that a bit of plastic had drawn into the tube during the glue application.  In my experience this will pull as much glue into the tube as the initial inverted glass into the glue fill technique.

Ok I may be a magpie, but I REALLY like the "tube" If it won't draw when you try to refill it, wipe the fluid of the glass end, stick the metal end in the glue jar/or over some paper and blow (make sure you BLOW!!). This should clear any fluid left in the tube, it will now be good for a refill. I find it clogs with residua plastic occasionally, then I just stick the metal end into the solvent for a while, this usually clears it out. I have found that the tool will not last forever, but if you treat it good, it will last for at least a year. One of the many tools I have bought that I have MANY spares of! I always blow it out and store it in the plastic container it came in. Hope this helps the frustration (oh, nd I use both Tenax and Pro-weld in it)

,

Winnie wrote:

Ok I may be a magpie, but I REALLY like the "tube" If it won't draw when you try to refill it, wipe the fluid of the glass end, stick the metal end in the glue jar/or over some paper and blow (make sure you BLOW!!). This should clear any fluid left in the tube, it will now be good for a refill. I find it clogs with residua plastic occasionally, then I just stick the metal end into the solvent for a while, this usually clears it out. I have found that the tool will not last forever, but if you treat it good, it will last for at least a year. One of the many tools I have bought that I have MANY spares of! I always blow it out and store it in the plastic container it came in. Hope this helps the frustration (oh, nd I use both Tenax and Pro-weld in it) ,

I also like mine. I probably don't use it enough. I've never had a problem with mine except the time I did something dumb and stuck it in some Testors Liquid Cement with CA mixed with it. Needless to say, I had to get a new one.

I use a thin test tube that is about 15cm long and I have placed it in a bottle of sand so it won't tip over. I fill the test tube with Tenax using a disposable polyethylene pipette. I then insert a plastic pipette end I have cut off so the narrow point of the pipette is down inside the tube. I have cut off the bulb end of the pipette so I can place the Touch'N Flow into the open end and it fits down inside the test tube where it can pick up the glue easily. If the glue is not deep enough inside the test tube then it does not fill well. I think the glue works into the Touch'N Flow from a full bottle of Tenax but once the level is down it can't fill very well. The pipette end I have cut off acts as a part seal so the Tenax doesn't evaporate as quickly as if would if the test tube was just left open. When I place the Touch'N Flow into the setup between glue applications it is held straight up, is refilling and won't tip over because of the sand in the larger jar. The test tube holds a much smaller amount of glue at a fairly high level so the refilling occurs quickly.

I find the filled setup will last for several hours of modelling.

If it would help, I can photograph the setup and add it into a message.

Phidippus _ Yes, pictures would help.

Hmmmm. I was thinking of ordering one of these but I think I will stick with my Tamiya Extra Thin and brush that comes with it... 

Usually just leving it in a bottle of tenax7r for a few minutes will clear it, but on a stubbern clog I have used a candle and waved the metal tip through the flame, be careful that you dont melt the tip. and wear safty glasses. I have switched to Weldon #3 amd have not had a clog scince. also take a spare lid and drill a clearance hole the size of the glass tube through the plactic lid and seal, you wont loose that much to evaperation when building, I find that Weldon #3 is stronger than tenax7 for makeing joints, my 2 cents

 

jd