Airbrush Cleaning-what am I doing wrong?

I had similar issues, so now after each and every session, I completely take my airbrush apart and clean with windex.  No matter how much Windex I spray through the airbrush I always manage to get a lot more paint out if I flush windex through the body with all the parts removed. 

I think your issue is that you're not getting all the paint out of the body by just spraying running windex and water through it.  Squirt some windex through the body while it's all disassembled.

if you are using only acrylics the ultrasonic cleaner lone mentioned is a good buy.  I got one and it dissolves anything acrylic and even does well with enamels..

short of that, about every month or so I take the tip, head and needle and soak them in lacquer thinner for about an hour to all night... it cleans ANY type of paint out and will have your brush spraying like new again!!  Just be careful not to put the whole body in, just the removable parts..

things like you mentioned, and bad spray patterns (spatter, skipping etc) would key me to let it soak awhile in the lacquer thinner...

tho9900 wrote:

if you are using only acrylics the ultrasonic cleaner lone mentioned is a good buy.  I got one and it dissolves anything acrylic and even does well with enamels..

i use only MM enamels and it still does the trick,,,,the little vibrating bubbles have something magic in them

MM Acryl's are a bit tough to clean regardless of how thourough your regimine.  MikeV and I, as well as others shared our experiences with MM Acryl versus other acrylic paints, enamels and our cleaning routines.  Some modelers have even had to resort to using Laquer thinner to truely clean away MM Acryl after feeling confident that their airbrushes were cleaned out using Windex, Simple Green and the like.  I had the same issues as you are, and I had to switch to Tamiya acrylics.  The frustration with MM Acryls, regarding ease-of-use, thinning and cleaning were enough to warrant the brand switch for some.  I don't want to start another long thread about acrylics and the preferred paint, but I thought it was relevent, as your issues were directly on topic during MikeV's thread and subsequent posts.  Search "MM Acryls" or "I've had it with acrylics" for reference.  Hope this helps, good luck!

   Huh, okay.  So, I'm pretty much on the right track, just need to be a bit more thorough.

    A jeweler's ultrasonic cleaner?  How much are they and where can I get one?

    And as for backflushing-you know, I've been trying that too, but when I block off the front end and spray, nothing happens.  Nothing bubbles up in the cup. It just acts as if you're blocking off the airflow again.  I assume the needle and the tip have to be off, right? 

   I am relieved that at least I'm pretty much cleaning it right, just not ENOUGH, maybe.  Thanks all again for your help.  I love all the knowledge you can gain on this site-only posted about ten times and I already don't feel like Homer Simpson with a watercolor set anymore LOL.

jhande wrote:

Thanks Bill, I thought maybe I was going nuts and over cleaning unnecessarily.

jwb wrote:

jhande wrote: Thanks Bill, I thought maybe I was going nuts and over cleaning unnecessarily. I've only been using my airbrush a little over a month now, but I'm quickly finding there is almost no such thing as over cleaning. I short-cut cleaning one day, and the next time I sprayed, I had to clean it before using and afterwards....

You need to coat your needle with petroleum jelly. If you wish you can buy the expensive airbrush lube, but generic petroleum jelly works fine. Lube the needle at every cleaning session. My 360 runs great. The thin coating of lube prevents acrylic paint from sticking to the needle and also promotes smooth paint lines and gives a silky double action trigger for precise control.

Steve

jhande wrote:

Thanks Bill, I thought maybe I was going nuts and over cleaning unnecessarily.

crockett wrote:

You need to coat your needle with petroleum jelly. If you wish you can buy the expensive airbrush lube, but generic petroleum jelly works fine. Lube the needle at every cleaning session. My 360 runs great. The thin coating of lube prevents acrylic paint from sticking to the needle and also promotes smooth paint lines and gives a silky double action trigger for precise control.   Steve

Iwata specifically warns about using petroleum based products as a needle lube.  Specifically light machine oils are called out (clipper oil?).  They are listed as causing "gumming" of the internal parts and other hinderences, I'll have to find my manual to see what else they list.

I agree with Bill, my bottle of Regdab was $5 and I've used it for 2 yrs now and it is more than 3/4 full.  A small price to pay to be sure..

I have heard glycerin from the drug store works just as well though...

I used to do a fairly simple cleaning, but I've lately discovered that short cutting the cleaning process doesn't work so hot. So now I do as you do, squirt cleaner through, backflush when changing colors, and do a serious bit of cleaning when done. I consider "wasting" time now to replace eliminating problems in the future to be a fair trade!

Cleaning an airbrush is much like the old Purolator oil filter commercial; "Clean me now or clean me later, and it will cost more if you clean me later".  The bottom line is that sooner or later you will take the time to get the paint out, it's just a question of whether you want to spend a little time while the paint is still wet or a lot of time after it has caked up the airbrush.

I have a friend who was having airbrush troubles, and he swore that his airbrush was squeaky clean.  I told him to completely disassemble it and soak it in lacquer thinner overnight and see what happened.  Next day he said he couldn't believe the amount of crud that came out of it.  I told hime to do it again, and this time get some small interdental brushes to brush it out.  Follow that up with compressed air.  He said there was no reason to since he was certain everything was out of it now.  Next day he said he couldn't believe the amount of crud that came out of it.

No matter how clean you think your airbrush is, it can always be cleaner.  Lacquer thinner works great for most all-steel airbrushes as it will dissolve nearly every kind of paint we use for modeling.  An ultrasonic cleaner also works great.  I use both and have even gone so far as to use mineral spirits in my ultrasonic cleaner.

Bgrigg wrote:

Oh no, you're still nuts... LOL!!

The one at the jewelry counter at the local Wal Marts is a Sonic cleaner, cleans ok but not as good as the ultrasonic,  I was so anxious to get one I ran out and bought it and didn't realize till I opened the box it wasnt ultrasonic.  The sonic cleaner cleans at about 6k Hz I think, the Ultrasonic at around 44k Hz., it will scrub the shine off a penny! 

You can get them online from Amazon, Target or Wal Mart (make sure they say ULTRA sonic).. Bed Bath and Beyond has them in stock in the store too... they're about $45 but worth every penny.  I just dunk the parts in for 3 or so cycles and it's done!