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Airbrushing/Airbrush not spraying.
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Question
I have done Temporary airbrush tatooing for 4 years, previous to that I used to airbrush model kits (about 15 years of experience)- so I'm no stranger to airbrushing. Yesterday however 2 of my brushes IWATA HP-BCS (also 4 years old) seemed to have packed up. I have cleaned them thoroughly and tried again. Still nothing. I completley disassembled them, soaked them in cleaner, relubed the needle packing assembly and tried again. What IS happening is that the airflow seems to be going BACK into the cleaner/paint bottles. I checked the nozzle assembly thinking the airholes may be blocked - they aren't... I tried bumping the pressure from 20psi to 40 psi (thinking the extra pressure may help unclog any blockage)...still no luck. The paint I am using is body paint and is thinned with IPA (Isopropyl alcohol). Hope I have given enough info...any help would be much appreciated !
I don't know if I can be of much help; I've never had this problem where it wasn't a blockage somewhere in the head assembly. This doesn't seem to be the case here, though, does it?
I'm thinking about how to purposely induce this reaction, and all I can come up with that causes backspray is putting something in front of the tip, but that suggests clogging and we're back where we started. The only other things I've had that cause anything similar are:
The needle and cone aren't the same size, or not the same size as the head assembly.
A split in the cone or a major ding on the needle.
Check to be sure the o-ring behind the head is not missing and in good shape.
A worn siphon or wear in the aperture where you put the paint bottle into the body--that part doesn't seem to have a name. :)
Wrap a little masking tape around a siphon, put the paint bottle on the airbrush and see if that works. If so, you just need a new airbrush.
That's all I can think of. I'm sorry I couldn't just give you a definitive solution. Let me know if anything works.
Ellen
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| Rating(1-10) | Knowledgeability = 10 | Clarity of Response = 10 | Politeness = 10 |
| Comment | Thanks for your reply. Everyting seems OK - but the thing I didn't check was the seal around the paint intake (siphon intake) on the body. I will give your suggestion a try and let you know. Once again - thanks for your time and effort ! | ||
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Ellen Choate
Expertise
I can answer questions relating to basic and advanced airbrushing technique, general how-tos, preparation and compatible media for different substrates, proper paint-to-air ratios, troubleshooting, color theory, maintenance and repair, stencil cutting and use, and most other areas relating to airbrush. I'll be posting tutorials in the future if that would be helpful, and if possible.
Experience
I learned to airbrush the hard way, watching and collaborating with people who didn't know much more than I did. Later I got instruction from people who knew what they were doing and learned what I had been doing wrong. I have been airbrushing for over 30 years; the first two years were in an amusement park painting as fast as I could, often for 12 hours a day, six days a week. You get good real fast. I have painted on almost everything imaginable, from walls to a bus to prosthetic limbs.
Education/Credentials
I studied art at the University of Texas at Arlington for three years but haven't made the time to complete my now obsolete "graphic arts" degree. We did layouts and color separations by hand, thank you very much. It has served me well, but not in the way I expected.
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