Airbrush issues , help/advice needed

[Guest]

Hi gents , set up this morning with a Iwata revolution BR to do a bit , ab spraying air no problem loaded cup with water to give it a blast through , a few bubbles in cup but nothing coming out , gave a good clean with cellulose thinners no blockages super clean , re-built re-loaded same issues ? tried stripping cleaning trying again numerous times still no good ,

Swapped compressors , changed a new needle to 2 old ones - same issues , I`m now thinking it could be a problem with the o rings in the air valve area , I`ve put up a couple of photo`s but to me the ab and o rings looks ok ,

I tend to use a lot of solvent paints and cellulose thinners which does not help but thought I would ask you guys if it could be something else or I`m having a blond moment . I think I may have answered my own question but would like a few opinions before I spend £25 on spare parts.

any advice would be very much appriciated

Richy

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[Guest]

First easy one Richy are you getting air out the front end ?

Second without the nozzle on do you get air through and also water from the cup coming through the end without the nozzle ?

With needle/nozzle in place does the needle does the needle disappear from the front of the nozzle ?

Apologies daft questions but it is easy, as I have found, to miss the obvious. Also helps getting to the problem ?

Looking at the rings they look nice and squash able to make things air tight. Any doubts dob some water/washing up liquid around the ring near the nozzle which should give an indication of a leak.

Laurie

[Guest]

So to clarify Richy, it's no paint & bubbles in the cup?

All your cleaning etc was well-meant, buy ultimately pointless I'm afraid!

These problems are caused by a disruption to the airflow around the nozzle tip. The term ' gravity fed ' is somewhat of a misnomer as the paint comes from the nozzle by way of a vacuum created by the nozzle & nozzle cap.

The 2 main areas to check are the nozzle-to-body seal & the nozzle cap-to-body seal. Once you eliminate the bubbles in the cup, all will be fine again.

I used a small amount of blu-tak around mine as a temporary fix which worked fine until I could buy some beeswax to smear on the threads.

Not the best photo, but hopefully you see what I mean!

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Cheers

Patrick

[Guest]

Thankyou very much for your help gents , no such thing as a daft question Laurie , to answer your questions yes to all three , I tried the bluetack trick Patrick with a little water in the cup and still did not spray but the bubbles went mental a lot more than before , then tried the washing up liquid trick and there is a leak between the main ab body and the nozzle cap , great starting point and a cheap fix if it works .

While I had the washing up liquid on the go I checked my other iwata and that has a small leak in the same area also , looks like my cleaning with cellulose thinners has taken its toll , I will put an order in with John for some beeswax and see how we get on ( watch this space )

Once again thankyou guys your help was very much appriciated and what makes this a great forum.

I will let you know how I get on .

Richy

[Guest]

Update guys , good news and bad - after applying beeswax to nozzle and nozzle cap my Iwata revolution CR ( small leak ) is running like new , but my BR which was causing the main issues is still not working even after waxing the nozzle tip and cap - air coming through but unlike before no bubbles coming through the cup and I`m only testing with water ?

I`m guessing nozzle but before I order a new one ( not cheap for something so small ) I would like a second opinion again please gents .

Ruled out - needles new and old tried , 2 different compressors tried , wax used on 2 ab`s , CR ab now great but my main ab still not working.

Again any advice would be very welcome.

Richy

[rickoshea52]

Write to Iwata's customer service department. I find that the best place for advice is the company that made the product.

http://www.iwata-medea.com/about-us/contact-info/

Problems like this come up on the forum regularly so I went through my posts and found this one to another member. The member contacted Kirk Lybecker and got to the bottom of his problem. I can't recommend this route enough.

This is a post that I made in another airbrush problem thread.

"I don't know the answer to this question but I know a man who does. The Iwata customer support service is excellent. They have a technical expert who can provide help via email (they are based in West coast America) or you could look up their tutorials on Youtube.

When I get a moment I'll see if I can find his email address in my email vault.

My problem was similar to yours though not after dropping it. I had cleaned my Iwata Eclipse thoroughly, or so I thought and had air to the brush but not from the nozzle. Kirk Lybecker at Iwata had me remove the nozzle cap and lo' there was dried paint that I had missed. Nail polish remover cleaned it out and the brush worked fine after that.

If this doesn't help try contacting him directly - kirkl@iwata-medea.com or info@iwata-medea.com.

Search Youtube for his tutorials using keywords "airbrush cleaning lybecker" and useful maintenance tips."

I hope this helps.

[Guest]

Just had a look Richy and the nozzles on both your brushes are the same for a .3 and .5 nozzle/needle set up. You could swap and perhaps find the problem that way.

Laurie

[Guest]

I had cleaned my Iwata Eclipse thoroughly, or so I thought and had air to the brush but not from the nozzle.

Just a quick point, air doesn't come through the nozzle, only paint - I'm sure you know that Rick, but I thought I'd emphasize it to save any confusion.

Back to the problem! If there's air, no paint & no bubbles then it's probably a blockage. Sometimes a little bit of paint sticks in the nozzle & acts like a door, closing each time the needle is drawn back.

The other possibility is how the nozzle & the nozzle cap sit. The nozzle should be very slightly recessed in the nozzle cap opening. If it's sitting proud, paint won't get sucked out.

[rickoshea52]

Just a quick point, air doesn't come through the nozzle, only paint - I'm sure you know that Rick, but I thought I'd emphasize it to save any confusion.Back to the problem! If there's air, no paint & no bubbles then it's probably a blockage. Sometimes a little bit of paint sticks in the nozzle & acts like a door, closing each time the needle is drawn back.

The other possibility is how the nozzle & the nozzle cap sit. The nozzle should be very slightly recessed in the nozzle cap opening. If it's sitting proud, paint won't get sucked out.

Patrick, I cut and pasted from my original post in another thread but it didn't come out as clearly as I wanted. The point I am making, regardless of the actual problem, is that contacting the maker of the airbrush solved my problem. I get this all the time in my industry, mechanics ask their mates how to fix a landing gear snag and spend lots of time chasing their tails when a call to the manufacturer solves their problem quickly.

I think Richy should ask Iwata for advice.

[Guest]

Thankyou for the feedback again guys , I think we have pin pointed the issue - nozzle tip , its super clean then I undone it about 1/4 of a turn and it sprayed water fine , so looks like a damaged nozzle tip although not visible to the naked eye .

Hi Laurie the nozzles on the BR 0.3 and CR 0.5 are different with the CR the nozzle being slightly bigger and the needle fatter and longer than the BR setup ,

I will get a new nozzle ordered and with a little luck be up and running by the weekend.

Once again Cheers Gents

Richy

[Guest]

Final and last update , a Big thankyou to Laurie Patrick and Rick , new nozzle tip fitted and cap and tip threads waxed just for good measure , ab now running like new , my second ab which has had the same wax treatment and is now also performing like new again , happy days and back on the bench tomorrow .

you never stop learning , I found a few bits in my ab that I did not even know about until I completely stripped it , I will now not be going anywhere near the air valve area with cellulose ( 2 rubber o rings in there ) and will only clean from the cup to the nozzle cap from now on with hot cleaners , I`ve now got a better understanding how an airbrush works .

Cheers gents

Richy

[Guest]

Glad you got it sorted Richy!