How to Maintain an Airbrush!

Another informative production, super cool, and the new tool gets t's own show.:applause:
 
Yep seen it already and posted a comment on the tube :)
 
Nice work. What make is that airbrush? I have a similar one that's a no name brand. The cup is smaller and the handle is black. Works pretty good for the money.

Is the teflon tape more solvent resistant then the rubber doughnut? Also I don't use oil near any of the joints. I use Chapstick.
 
That is a good video. I didn't realize you were suppose to lube it up.


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The airbrush that is.


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How often should you take off the tip. Every time I clean after use.


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@Dylan - take off the tip as infrequently as possible. only if i get a tip related problem would i remove the tip, like a blockage or something.
@Andreza - the teflon tape is solvent resistant but the rubber seal will be eaten away and will slowly degrade/ melt/ swell/ crack.
The type of airbrush is a 'black bull' airbrush Black Bull 35FXL i believe. This airbrush works well but is on the cheaper end of the scale. Hopefully i'll have a video review of it up in a couple of weeks
 
I have a slight problem.
Just lately my Iwata Eclipse HP-CS airbrush has stopped being smooth and I get bubbles in the cup which is a sign of a leak so I stripped it down to find it I couldn't work out where the plumbers tape went.
The Nozzle(4) sits in the body and doesn't have a sealing O ring, that ring (5) goes over the thread in the body for the and forms a barrier between the body and the head cap.
I cannot see a sealing ring between the nozzle and the body in the iwata schematic
Image2.jpg
Should the nozzle have a o ring that's not shown please?
 
I thought you had a Neo?

That doesn't matter, the set up is very similar for almost every airbrush, The plumbers tape would go onto the nozzle itself (4) the O ring 5 goes indeed over the body and creates a seal between that and the nozzle cap (3) if your getting bubbles in the cup your pressure is "blowing back" which means that there is a blockage between the nozzle perimeter and inside nozzle cap circumference, the space between the two should be kept clean.

Look at the diagram here, this is a rather rough cut away schematic of the nozzle and nozzle cap, the tape goes around the nozzle where the red arrow is, and you can see that there is a space (blue lines) between the tip of the nozzle and the inside front of the cap which in the case of your schematic this is 2 and 3 together, some pistols these are one piece.

View attachment 1963

If this happens only when you pull back for paint, the cause is most like excessive tip dry, my advice is carefully remove the needle and thoroughly clean everything on the front of the pistol, and when you take the nozzle cap off be sure to clean it from inside at the back, there is always a possibility that if you've cleaned it from the front, you've pushed the grime inside causing the blockage.

Generally bubbles in the cup always indicate air blown back instead of out.

Hope this helps
 
Cheers Madbrush.
Thanks for stepping up to the plate.
I have an eclipse HP-CS Gravity fed, bought from Beej around 6 years ago and it sat in the box in a forgotten corner all this time. I also have a brand new Neo Bottom feed which I bought following your advice (which I appreciate) because I want to do T-shirts and intend to get 5 or 6 bottles for it. (one bottle for a 6 colour painting is a lot of wasted time! )

Now, the Eclipse has been playing up. Sometimes it doesn't blow paint, sometimes it does and sometimes down for air and back for paint doesn't work what does work is...Down for air, back for paint, get fed up as no paint comes out, push forward for no paint.....get a splash of paint.
Seeing as I am painting my competition work of arse... err art it looks a bit silly when coloring in around the iris !
I am using Medea Textile. I have stripped down the eclipse twice now and it follows the same routine of work/play up/clean/still buggered/strip/work/play up.

Could this have anything to do with being left in the packaging and ignored for 6 years?
 
Could this have anything to do with being left in the packaging and ignored for 6 years?

I doubt that very much, unless there is evidence of rust inside the brush, it should be as good as the day it was bought.

Without actually seeing it I couldn't say for sure why it's doing all of this, but it does sound more and more like dirt which is very possible if it sat so long.

The best advice now is (if it is possible) While watching Mitch's video and pausing when required, strip the brush down totally and carefully check every piece for dirt, rust or tarnishing, there could be one small piece that's playing up and you will find it with close inspection, check also that the nozzle isn't cracked, as this could also be a factor.

Try to have a magnifier handy, some things can be very difficult to see, once your satisfied that all parts are in order, replace everything as per video after light oiling of course.

Lastly check that the thickness of your paint is suitable for the tip size if indeed there is a difference.

It should work, you just need to be patient and more importantly don't skip any part of the video, and if iv'e missed anything, with a little luck, Mitch or Ace will pipe in because they are both darlings.
 
I almost forgot, but as in the diagram I posted, the space between the nozzle and cap is an ideal place for chrome to fall off and form rust, so be very particular there, this would also cause your bubbling.
 
I am going to have to give it a real close inspection, I am obviously cleaning wrong as I just did a test with pure water.
Air on, pull back 25% No Water, 50 % No Water. 100% full spray of water but after a while it stopped then started again very quickly.
Maybe it has something caught in the nozzle like you said.
 
I'm a starter and i have 2 new airbrushes, but now i first go to lube them. Many Thanks from Holland
 
Well done (as usual) :) ! Thanks for the tip on the teflon tape!
 
does the iwata custom micron have a seal on the nozzle,

Ran the micron has a matched head system. It has a black rubber o ring that seals it but is inside the airbrush under the cup. I know this because mine just ripped in half last night, its a 10$ o ring:(
 
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