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Hi there!

I started to paint with the airbrush this summer for get some motivation and speed up my painting skills.
After some epic failure (and horribly cheap airbrushes) I decided to buy a basic Iwata (CN neo ) and start to get some things done .
Nothing to say,the airbrush is great and precise and right for my skills , speed up and helps to get wonderful effects.
Than the Drama came to knock on my door.
The paint started to get clogged, the trigger stuck on full blast and I dropped the needle which fell like Achilles spear straigh into the ground (voila, the needle is bent :( )
I found out that my cleaning procedure were not the best and I cleaned the airbrush for good and kept doing it ,bought a needle that is on his way but still can't figure out why the trigger he stuck every now and than. Only solution is to open the trigger part and raise back the circle plastic that is in it (if you have an airbrush you know what I'm talking about , don't ya. ??!)
However I tried the airbrush some minutes ago and it started to squirt (yep,they do that too ,and not in a nice way) see phot below, is it only cause if the needle or some other trouble came in town?

Now the technical question; how do you clean and keep your airbrush going without own a laboratory with ultrasonic bombastic cleaner !?
This is what I do ;
Between colors( I use everything,from Vallejo air to gw fundation,I just change the amount of Vallejo thinner )
I pour a solution of roughly 70% blue stuff (no ammonia) and water ,spray and repeat a couple of time. Between one spray and another I gently pull back and forth the needle ( really gently, we are all gentlemen here,right ?!) and I brush off with a small brush what is stuck inside.
Than I spray water unti is clean and put a couple of drop of isopropanol for he sake of it.

Between sessions:
Once the typical cleaning is done I disassemble everything and bath over night in a mixture of simple blue,water and alcohol . Than I clean it good with a minibrush for the tooth ( you know the stuff that itch and your dentist keep blabbing about use everyday otherwise the army of darkness will pop out from one of your molar ?)

Do you have any suggestion,tip,comment,insult? Please do.
Cheers

First off, since you have an Iwata Neo, I'm going to assume you have a gravity fed airbrush rather than a siphon. I hear there are Neos with siphon, but I've never actually seen one. These tips aren't as useful or applicable for single action or siphon airbrushes, because their mechanics are a little different.

What I do on a gravity fed airbrush between colors is:

1. fill cup to about halfway with water, jam an old #4 flat brush in there, and swish around

2. empty into a cup, and rinse it a few times more with water (either a pipette or a cleaning bottle is necessary) until there isn't any more heavy color

3. put about 5-10 drops of Vallejo airbrush cleaner into the cup. Swish brush inside again, and this time, clean up the sides to get paint off of the cup

4. Set pressure to maximum (like 40+ psi). Spray into an Iwata cleaning station. Keep in mind the fumes from the airbrush cleaner are noxious.

5. Fill with water a couple of times or until it runs clear.


A few tips:

- I like the Vallejo cleaner because it has a dropper at the end (like their large size primers). The Iwata cleaner has a big hole, so it's harder to put a little bit into the airbrush. It also only takes a tiny bit of cleaner (a few drops) to totally clean out the cavities and walls.

- I have an old 350ml bottled water container that I cut a hole on one side near the top, and a slot on the other (I leave the cap on). I use that to spray water in when I'm almost done cleaning, so that I can tell when what's coming out is clear. The reason I do this is that the Iwata cleaning station that I own has frosted glass, and I can't tell what's coming out of the airbrush.

- When I'm totally done for the day, I take off the aircap and nozzle, and push the needle forward about 1 inch, and wipe down the needle. I clean out the aircap and especially the nozzle using isopropyl and pipe cleaner (the stuff for flossing between your teeth that that looks like a pipe cleaner works great and is cheap). If you pull the needle forward instead of pushing it back, you won't pull the paint on the needle through the entire chassis of the airbrush.

Every few uses (or after a particularly long session), I'll unhook the airbrush, take out the needle, and scrub out the body of the airbrush with a pipe cleaner too.

Another thing that really helps is having a second airbrush. The difference in efficiency between one and two airbrushes is huge, because you can just put a cap on one while you work with another color, instead of cleaning it out between every use (I often use 3). A manifold is cheap, and lets you hook up all of them all at the same time with 1 compressor.

I'd check your needle/nozzle size. I had loads of problems with 0.2mm and no problems with 0.4mm. Apparently 0.3mm or bigger is recommended for acrylic paints like we use.

To clean the airbrush, I keep squeeze bottles with nozzles with destilled water, airbrush cleaner and (for varnish or real trouble) alcohol handy. Mostly, I just put water in and spray it out until it is clear, put a bit of cleaner in, spray a bit, let it sit for a few seconds and flush it out.

When you draw back the needle, paint is pulled back. To clean the needle and make sure that it moves smoothly, I unscrew the front and take that off, then losen the nut in the back that holds the needle and push out the needle to the front. That avoids pulling more crap back. Minding the point that I don't want to bend, I clean the needle with airbrush cleaner and a kleenex. Then I put the needle through the airbrush again, but blunt side first - no point risking the tip. I do that a few times as needed until there is no residue on the needle as it comes out the front of the brush.

Then I put the brush back together, put a little bit of water in and check if no water is sprayed by pushing the trigger down and if the flow looks good when I pull back the trigger.

That's it really. I have never so far used an ultrasonic cleaner or taken my brushes apart further and they work great - which is logical with the business end being nice and tidy.

Airbrushes are the most temperamental pieces of technical equient ive ever worked with. Mine can be a nightmare. The only thing you can do if its pissing you about is to keep dissasembling and reassembling until it works. Between colours all i do is blast through with water. After finishing i strip completrly and clean with airbrush thinner. This keeps it in good order but occasionally it will take me for a ride. Just stay patient, theyre a pain in the arse.

Between colours: blue stuff then water
Between sessions: disassemble and put in blue stuff bath (in a cheap ultrasonic)
Restoration from issues: Isopropyl alcohol bath/rinse/clean

Iwata HP-CS - really seems to take a beating

Thanks for all the tips guys!
Do you think than the dripping is cause of bent needle,than?

If its spurting like that it could be many of any things.
Its entirely possible that its the bent needle or tip not alining properly, letting paint drizzle out before you spray.


It could also be clogging because of improperly thinned paint or Too low a pressure or a combo of both or some other problem.

Typicly i flush all the paint out using a squeeze bottle of water and i spray out water at high pressure (40 ish) between color or when im done.

then next morning i drop a drop of iso inside the cup and flush it out.

I only clean the thing like once a month and there is no issue.

Another trick i learned was to start the airflow away from what you are painting, then while the air is going move the brush to where you wana paint before pulling the trigger. it gets rid of any paint on the needle or tip and stops the splats.

Bonus tip for cleaning. I run water through it.
Bit I hold my finger in front of the nozzle. Creating a "backwash". This clears most of the paint from the chamber leaving less to be cleaned from the needle afterwards. As for leaving it in cleaning solution overnight every time. I've never bothered.

And like you, my needle also dropped.
Personally I'm a cheap bas...d so I chose to straighten the tip instead lf buying a new needle.
Works like a charm. As a bonus I got a better polished tip.

The trigger getting stuck probably comes from the airbrush being in cleaner overnight.
The trigger mechanism on most dual action airbrushes are a piston design. Sealed by an O-Ring of some sorts.
These things are greased very lightly from the factory.
Your airbrush probably needs a little dab of lubrication pf sorts on the O-Ring sealing the trigger piston assembly.
Just be mindful. Use very little lube. And only lube the O-Ring.

Cleaning wise no need to let the airbrush soak in solvents overnight. The bushings and O-Rings inside might react badly.
And judging from your experience it sounds like one of two things.
The O-Rings reacted badly with the solvents in the cleaning agent(most likely caused them to swell, will need replacement if this is the case), or the grease simply got cleaned from the O-Ring causing the trigger piston to stick.

 Stephanius wrote:
I'd check your needle/nozzle size. I had loads of problems with 0.2mm and no problems with 0.4mm. Apparently 0.3mm or bigger is recommended for acrylic paints like we use.

The smaller the needle size, the thinner the paint needs to be to flow. If you're using Model Air or Game Air, the 0.3x mm sizes don't seem to require any thinning. If you're using a smaller size than that, just add some thinner and you'll be fine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsW-vN0_lHw

Watch the entire seminar. I'm not pushing Badger, there's just a metric #$! ton of good info in there. I'm in the same boat as you, this is one of the first videos I watched earlier this summer, and man am I glad I found it right off the bat.

I'd also suggest watching any and all videos you can find about your specific airbrush.

I'm taking up this post because I've followed all the instructions,double cleaned,bought a new needle,a new nozzle and even a new cheap airbrush in the meantime.

The result are:

-Do NOT buy cheap airbrush,and if you do,do NOT screw off the nozzle. Is gak quality and it get broke after a couple of time basically making the airbrush a salvage part thing.

- I did realize my poor cleaning skills and those 3 weeks I had the cheap airbrush I never had any sign of clogging. Until it broke, ofc.

- I tried again my Neo Iwata today and the result are horrible.
Fogged line,bubbling siphon cup and even total block of the air flowing.
I tried 3 different needle and 2 different nozzle. Same mess.


The problem must be somewhere in the trigger area cause it cannot be the needle or the nozzle at this point.
If any of you have some sort of knowledge please help. It really bothers me throw away an Iwata and not knowing if something is broke or simply dirty.


Here are a couple of pic of the airbrush,his wonderful work and a detail of the damn trigger

I have been using the same airbrush for 2 years now and never needed to take it apart to clean it. Even the cleaning guide I got said place your finger over the tip and put 20psi in the brush and clean the pot til no more paint comes out. Then spray to insure no paint comes out. Use isoprphline alcohol to clean it.

All these people who use this cleaner bath are insane in my opinion, nothing is suppose to be cleaned that intensly and often with out causing damage.

Ogre.. my sentiments exactly..
In this case with the trigger sticking. It can probably be directly traced to excessive cleaning stripping every last molecule of lubricant from the bushings and o-rings inside the trigger assembly.

That sounds extremely possible,I just recleaned everything and dried with the compressor at the highest pressure. Even without needle does that gorging sound as something is booking the air flow. Any suggestion on what to use to lubrificate that part?

When I started I had similar problems until I found out that the nozzle kept being clogged by acrylic paint particles. Between colours I use airbrush cleaner since then and at the very end of each session I take the needle and stab it through the nozzle repeatedly. If done right it does not damage the needle at all and pushes out dried paint particle that the cleaner did not solve. Since then I don't have any paint spatter anymore.

No need to put any O-Rings in cleaners. Do not soak valves or triggers. Just the needle, Nozzles tips and maybe the main body. The Rest can be left out. Over cleaning can strip all lube off. However, numerous things can cause problems that your pic showed Bent needle tips, Not thinned enough paint, Low PSI, Clogging in Nozzle etc.

I have 3 tips

1. Dry Retarder to reduce dry time of your paints. Helps a ton with clogs. 1 drop of this in your mix works wonders.

2. Pulling the needle back just a little in the nozzle helps alleviate the some clogging in the tip. no need to pull it all the way back but, just a pinch.

3. Sonic Cleaner is a life saver for big cleanings. As I said above don't submerge the valves or triggers. Just the needle, Nozzle, And main body.

And, as obvious as it is, pull the needle out through the front and insert it from that side again.
Otherwise you drag paint INTO the brush.

Well I can only reitterate some of the other answers...

If there is bubbling in the cup there is a obstruction making air forced to reverse. The obstruction is usualy paint that has gotten stuck on the airholes feeding the airstream around the nozzle.

If there is sputtering the most common reason in my experience is a disruption in the airflow. Either by something stuck in the nozzle, the needle being bent or the needle not centered properly in the nozzle.

The trigger getting stuck might be dried paint in the trigger mechanism from a dirty needle drawn back through the airbrush.

When it comes to bent needles, a good way to test is to draw it at a shallow angle against the fleshy part of the hand at the base of the thumb. You are pretty sensitive there to easily spot any irregularities.

If the needle is bent I have actually managed to fix it by dragging and rolling it against my cutting mat while applying a slight pressure. Be very careful and you might have to redo it a few times to get a really good straight tip.

I've been using Vallejo acrylic retarder/extender .. A drop or 3 in every pot, along with keeping a q tip handy that's soaked in Vallejo airbrush cleaner.... For about every 2 minutes of airbrushing I do I gently dab or roll the Q tip around the end of the needle and nozzle, all the way around. This has helped me clog less 10 fold.

Make sure you swab the needle from nozzle towards the tip, versus swabbing from the pointy end towards the nozzle , I bent my needle pushing the needle into the swab.... Like a dummy.

Just make sure you spray a couple bursts onto your paper towel before going back to whatever you're painting to clear away any cleaner that's still on your needle tip.

Thank you for all the reply,I'm learning so much and adding knowledge to my brain banks.
Now, in the meantime I bought an ass cheap airbrush to use,but I'm still not giving up on my Iwata.
I found out where the problem relay,or well,somewhere there.
Below there is a pic of the frontal part of the airbrush (aside my psychedelic wallpaper that I'll change one day); there you can see there are an hole from where the air exhaust when the trigger is pushed down and than there is the nozzle.
Now I disassembled the nozzle and the needle and I tried to see what happened.
Even without needle the air flows woth difficulty or not at all trough the nozzle area.
There is some kind of mechanism that divert the air from the trigger to the needle and nozzle when the trigger is pulled back?
If it is,how the hell do I clean that?!

If you bent your needle, and then put it back into your airbrush you likely messed up your nozzle, its a really proper fit between the two, and the nozzle is really delicate thin wall at the tip. If you ripped this or distorted it at all, then there will be a gap between the nozzle and your needle, causing paint to be able to fully spray everywhere. Give the silvery tip on your nozzle a very close up inspection, if its not perfectly round, that is exactly your problem.


Your nozzle also sounds like it could be clogged with paint. This is how I clean mine whenever I have forgotten to give it a proper cleaning or ran out of time. With a toothpick ( wood being very gentle on metal), and a a paper towel soaked in isp alcohol.

 Emicrania wrote:
Thank you for all the reply,I'm learning so much and adding knowledge to my brain banks.
Now, in the meantime I bought an ass cheap airbrush to use,but I'm still not giving up on my Iwata.
I found out where the problem relay,or well,somewhere there.
Below there is a pic of the frontal part of the airbrush (aside my psychedelic wallpaper that I'll change one day); there you can see there are an hole from where the air exhaust when the trigger is pushed down and than there is the nozzle.
Now I disassembled the nozzle and the needle and I tried to see what happened.
Even without needle the air flows woth difficulty or not at all trough the nozzle area.
There is some kind of mechanism that divert the air from the trigger to the needle and nozzle when the trigger is pulled back?
If it is,how the hell do I clean that?!

Ok, if the air isn't coming out with the needle assembly taken out, you have a problem

The air flow comes through the hose, through the bottom of the airbrush, up the MAC valve, and through the bottom. There is a blockage somewhere in that assembly.

Unlike the Paasche airbrushes (which use an alan key), I do not believe the air intake on the Iwata can be taken apart -- if you look at it, there are two little rectangular squares, but it doesn't look user serviceable. Maybe someone else has tried a security tool on it; I've never attempted. However, you should check for a blockage (paint) there, and also try to clean it using a pipe cleaner, through the trigger chamber above. The trigger drops out once you've removed the needle.

You could also take all the pieces that you can apart, and then put the body of the airbrush into a solvent (like Mr. Tool Cleaner) which will dissolve any paint. However, this is hard on the O-Rings, which I wouldn't remove unless you're comfortable with it and/or have the right tool. They look easy enough to take out, but some of them can be damaged, and are a pain to replace.

Going entirely the other direction, you could have a leak somewhere (like a failed O-Ring), too, but you'd hear hissing air if it were severe enough to cause an impact on performance.

Alternatively, just send it into Iwata. I can't recall how much they charge, but it's quite reasonable, and when you get it back, it will work like new, and look like a brand new airbrush.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Rabidmofo wrote:
If you bent your needle, and then put it back into your airbrush you likely messed up your nozzle, its a really proper fit between the two, and the nozzle is really delicate thin wall at the tip. If you ripped this or distorted it at all, then there will be a gap between the nozzle and your needle, causing paint to be able to fully spray everywhere. Give the silvery tip on your nozzle a very close up inspection, if its not perfectly round, that is exactly your problem.


Your nozzle also sounds like it could be clogged with paint. This is how I clean mine whenever I have forgotten to give it a proper cleaning or ran out of time. With a toothpick ( wood being very gentle on metal), and a a paper towel soaked in isp alcohol.

Spoiler:

A pipe cleaner is also a good tool for this. Also, there are dental cleaners that look just like pipe cleaners used for flossing that are wonderful and super cheap. I use Oral-B ones -- they come in a pack of around 10 for $2, are reusable and even have a nice little rubbery handle.

This shows how far the airbrush breaks down...

If the air hole on the body is clogged you might need to get a small pipecleaner style brush to work the airway clear.