When To Replace Nozzle?

[luke1wcu]

This is concerning an Iwata Revolution HP-C. I have been having a number of problems lately and I am thinking that I may be in need of a new nozzle. Before I go and spend the money, I want to see if anyone may know for sure what I need. When I pull back on the trigger, there is a delay before paint starts to spray. The spray is also inconsistant at best with a lot of splattering. The paint inside the cup is also bubbling.

Two things that seem to help are to increase psi and loosen the nozzle cap. It helps but only momentarily. I know that could not be my answer though as I have never had to do this before to get the brush to spray properly and consistently. My first guess would be that I have a clog somewhere. I'm starting to doubt this though because my problems arose after reassembly after soaking for a few hours in Createx Restorer. Just to be sure, I cleaned it two more times since this problem started, so I really don't think its clogged.

Now, I and starting to think that either its the summer heat here in North Carolina that is making my Createx dry almost instantly and that I need to invest in some Createx Illustration Base or I am experiencing the symptoms of a damaged nozzle.

Please help me! I'm going through withdrawal.

[Mcleod]

This is concerning an Iwata Revolution HP-C. I have been having a number of problems lately and I am thinking that I may be in need of a new nozzle. Before I go and spend the money, I want to see if anyone may know for sure what I need. When I pull back on the trigger, there is a delay before paint starts to spray. The spray is also inconsistant at best with a lot of splattering. The paint inside the cup is also bubbling.

Two things that seem to help are to increase psi and loosen the nozzle cap. It helps but only momentarily. I know that could not be my answer though as I have never had to do this before to get the brush to spray properly and consistently. My first guess would be that I have a clog somewhere. I'm starting to doubt this though because my problems arose after reassembly after soaking for a few hours in Createx Restorer. Just to be sure, I cleaned it two more times since this problem started, so I really don't think its clogged.

Now, I and starting to think that either its the summer heat here in North Carolina that is making my Createx dry almost instantly and that I need to invest in some Createx Illustration Base or I am experiencing the symptoms of a damaged nozzle.

Please help me! I'm going through withdrawal.

Luke,

I dont know whether this helps or not, however, I have had a similar problem with my Iwata HP-B and it turned out to be clogged even though I was certain it was cleaned. I found that be soaking in the restorer really lifted a significant amount of scum and it no amount of flushing would remove it. As I understand it the restorer doesnt disolve all the paint, simply lifts it. I had to physically dis-assemble everything and clean the entire paint path by hand. Even then there was scum in the nozzle itself. I could stick the needle in and everything seemed ok, however, this was just pressing the scum against the nozzle and when I tried to paint it got in the way again. After I manually cleaned everything by hand the problem went away. I was blown away just how much crap ends up in the paint path during normal brushing and just how much the restorer lifts.

Another issue I have had on a cheap and nasty airbrush (HP-C knockoff) was bubbling in the cup and patchy spraying. This was caused by a poor seal on the nozzle thread. A thin strip of plumbers tape fixed the problem.

Angus

Edited June 24, 2010 by Mcleod

[mark poulson]

Try disassembling the brush, and soaking the nozzle parts in acetone for half an hour.

Your Iwata should have teflon seals, so the acetone won't hurt it.

Then brush the individual parts, rinse in the acetone again, and reassemble.

Then fill the cup with clean acetone, and backflush the brush several times.

It is amazing how paint gets into every part of the brush eventually.

Be sure to run some Createx airbrush cleaner through the brush after the acetone, before you try to paint with it.

And look into adding some Createx retarder to you paints, as well as thinning them, if it's hot where you paint.

I am constantly cleaning the nozzle area with an artist's brush and clean water, to cut down on the amount of paint that dries there and causes problems when I paint.

Edited June 24, 2010 by mark poulson

[luke1wcu]

Thanks for the replies. I now have the airbrush cleaned out real well. There was more paint dried in there that I don't think I got the first time around. The brush sprayed water and cleaner with no problems, which it wasn't doing before. Now, the true test is to try and paint. I am also going to play around with thinning and retarding the paint. I'm guessing this is Createx Illustration Base. Is this what you all use to reduce tip dry in warmer climates? I didn't see any Createx product labeled "retarder." Maybe I am failing to read in between the lines, but I just want to be sure. Shipping ain't cheap. Thanks again!

[RayburnGuy]

Here's a link to the Createx Retarder at TCP global. Scroll down to 5607 Createx Retarder.

http://www.tcpglobal.com/createx/cx5600.aspx

[mark poulson]

Here's a link to the Createx Retarder at TCP global. Scroll down to 5607 Createx Retarder.

http://www.tcpglobal.com/createx/cx5600.aspx

Does the retarder affect how fast you can heat set the paint?

[BobP]

If you feel the need to thin Createx the bottle says use water. The retarder does the same thing but is intended to prevent "tip drying". The only other stuff I use is Createx 4011 retarder with Auto Air colors, per instructions. Your HP-C Revo has a .5mm tip, which should be plenty big enough to spray Createx and other airbrush paints without thinning.

[RayburnGuy]

Does the retarder affect how fast you can heat set the paint?

I've never used the retarder so I can't tell you whether it effects drying time. I've started using the 4010 reducer in all my Createx and Auto Air paints and haven't noticed any difference in the amount of drying time. They also make a 4011 reducer which is supposed to accelerate the drying time, but I haven't used it.

[mark poulson]

I've never used the retarder so I can't tell you whether it effects drying time. I've started using the 4010 reducer in all my Createx and Auto Air paints and haven't noticed any difference in the amount of drying time. They also make a 4011 reducer which is supposed to accelerate the drying time, but I haven't used it.

Both Bob and Ben, thanks.

[luke1wcu]

I've never used the retarder so I can't tell you whether it effects drying time. I've started using the 4010 reducer in all my Createx and Auto Air paints and haven't noticed any difference in the amount of drying time. They also make a 4011 reducer which is supposed to accelerate the drying time, but I haven't used it.

Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately, I've already ordered 5601 Transparent Base and 5608 Illustration Base before reading your post on 4010. 5608 sounds similar to 4010, so I will play around with that a bit and see if that helps. I'm pretty confident that this should reduce my tip dry which seems almost instantaneous lately and therefore help some with my clogging issues.