saltshaker Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 I have an Iwata HP-CH. When I pull the trigger, there is zero air going into the gun. I took the trigger mechinism apart and didn't find anything abnormal. Air is coming through the hose but stops at the gun. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Prager Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 The paint is probably dried on the needle and tip as well as the cap. Do a search and there are plenty of detailed instructions on cleaning or You tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted August 3, 2012 Report Share Posted August 3, 2012 Take the tip assembly off the brush and push the trigger. Is air coming through the brush? If so, your tip is blocked. If not, the air valve that the trigger controls is blocked or broken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltshaker Posted August 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 Which is more practical? Change parts: needle cap, nozzle cap, nozzle and needle = $60 give or take... or Buy another Iwata HP-CS = $215 give or take? This doesn't include the MAC valve, but, I don't think that's my problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Glenn Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 I'm sure you checked to see air is going through the hose at the gun connection. Musky Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Moreau Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 I wouldnt buy a new AB or any parts just yet. Do what Bob said but I would run a straight 10ft AirBrush line from the compressor with NO quick cupplings or anything directly to the AB. Then take the tip, cap, nozzle and needle out...push down on the trigger...If air comes out then the 3 holes in the cap are probably plugged.... if no air then I would guess there is valve issues I had issues when trying to use quick cupplings. they diminish the flow and when your running 20-30lbs if you have a couple of them your done. It took me many of days to get my compressor and hoses set up and working right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Prager Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 You never said you cleaned your gun. Your gun needs to be cleaned. Soak everything from the trigger on forward in acetone overnight, put it back together and paint tomorrow. Roll the needle on the table. Is it straight? If not you can straighten it by twirling it in the ridges of a pair of pliers. Then, roll the tip on some really fine sand paper. If you buy another gun, you will have the same problem. Just my opinion. You will be amazed at all the stuff that will come out in the acetone. I haven't replaced a part in over 3,000 bait. Works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Moreau Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 (edited) LOL you are a better man than me 152!!! In the first month alone i went through 3 nozzles for my iwata eclipse!!!! The first one I had no idea what i was doing. The AB wouldnt spray worth a darn after a couple days and paint would come out when just pushing the trigger down. I thought i had to cram the needle in to set it because it was spraying so terrible when in actuallity i had a dirty gun. The other 2 well....let me just say a jack n coke or 2 is not a good idea when handling those lil suckers. I kept dropping them when cleaning my AB and they would always fall on the tip and dent it. They would be usable but i couldnt stand it so now i keep a new needle and nozzle on hand at all times. Havent replaced one since then though! Learning good cleaning habbits and rituals are VITAL in this game. Now I take apart my AB MAYBE once a month but after each sessionI always take the needle out whipe down with thinner and run thinner through back flusshing a few times before i put it away. In addition after every color I backflush with simple green. There are many techniques out there for cleaning and I highly reccomend you dont pull a ME and learn as much as you can before messing with all the little parts and such! Edited August 10, 2012 by Matt Moreau Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 Haven't you had issues with your airbrush before that were related to cleaning problems Salt? Sounds like your having trouble keeping your airbrush clean again. If your using water based paints then soak everything in acetone overnight. Or like I told you before get some Airbrush Restorer from Createx and soak everything in it overnight. The Airbrush Restorer is designed specifically to loosen up dried acrylic paint. A clean brush is a happy brush. Skimp on the cleaning and you will continue to have problems. I do the same as Matt after every color change except I use about a half bowl full of acetone instead of Simple Green. After I'm through painting I backflush with acetone again with the needle still in and then pull the needle back about an inch and backflush with acetone again. The needle is then removed and wiped down with an acetone soaked rag and lubed with airbrush lube before re-installing it. Like Matt said, "Learning good cleaning habits and rituals are VITAL in this game". You have two choices. Learn to properly clean your airbrush or keep buying parts about every 6 months. Properly cleaning your airbrush is a lot cheaper. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltshaker Posted August 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 I "soaked" the thing for 12 hours in Createx Airbrush Restorer. There were some tiny particles in the bottom of the cup. I hooked my hose (without the gun) to my compressor and it blew free and clear. But, when I attach the gun...it spits and sputters. I bought an extra needle and nozzle when I bought the gun. I installed them with no change. Since I never had this problem until a few weeks ago, I'm ruling out the possibility of paint viscosity. I'm using the same paint since day one. Since some of my paints are part of my initial shipment, I thought that maybe I was squirting dried particles in the cup every time. But, appears to me that the restorer would clean that up. Could the MAC valve be the culprit? What else is there inside that could cause this problem? Yes, Ben...you are correct. My maintenance practices are a little lacking. Anyway, I appreciate you guys tryin' to help me solve this mystery. After all...y'all are the ones that got me into this mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 Are you straining your paint before putting it into your airbrush? If not then get an old nylon stocking from your wife and cut it into 1 inch squares. These "filters" can then be placed over the neck of the paint bottle and the cap screwed back on. This way your paint is automatically filtered every time you use it. Have you tried blowing air through your brush with the nozzle, needle and cap removed? If you have and there is still no air blowing out then your problem is likely the trigger valve. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Moreau Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 Salt, What pressure are you running from the compressor? Do you have a regulator or just a "MAC" Valve? I assume you are talking about the small pressure controller here? I would take off the mac valve and try it. Then buy a decent regulator! If you are getting air now it has to be a dirty gun. My assumption is your not getting enough air and your paint is too thick. Make sure that the nozzle cap and nozzle are properly sealed so you are not losing pressure and make sure the 3 holes in the nozzle cap are clean and you can see through them. Do like Ben said and strain your paint with pantyhose and you should be good to go. I run 20 - 40 psi but the lower the psi the thinner the paint and no flake. 9 out of 10 AB issues that i see on here are due to cleaning. I think Rookie once said if you are having issues take your AB apart soak it and clean it, then do that again and when you think your done do it again!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Prager Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 Is the mac valve an aftermarket add on? I bought one of them from TCB. It didn't work. It was either full blast or shut off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 Is the mac valve an aftermarket add on? I bought one of them from TCB. It didn't work. It was either full blast or shut off. I have the same brush and the MAC valve is original from the factory. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Glenn Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 The first thing I do each session is to spray straight water through the gun to make sure there isn't a problem with the gun. If it won't spray water it won't spray paint. If it will spray water then it should spray paint if the paint isn't to thick. Sometimes the neck part of the cup needs cleaning. I use the paint bottles that attach under the gun and the paint is bad to dry in the filler tube. First thing I would do is get air coming through the gun with out any paint. I would start taking it apart from the back end of the gun and see where the air stops passing. Airbrushes are simple, just small parts to work with. Curing no air is harder than curing a small amount of air. Because you may not be able to get cleaner deep enough to penetrate the dried paint or trash that gets sucked into a brush. If it is a piece of lint, like off a pipe cleaner, solvent won't remove that. If you are considering buying a new brush, it sure won't hurt to tear that one all the way down first. Good luck. Musky Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Prager Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 I have the same brush and the MAC valve is original from the factory. Ben LOL.so do I. I originally had an Eclipse and bought a screw on Mac. I only use water base paints. I backflush between each color change. I only use water and If it bubbles back nicely and shoots a nice spray, I continue. If not, I pull the needle and wipe the dry paint of with fine steel wool. I unscrew the 2 caps and use water and one of those HF brushes to clean them. I insert the needle and puch it in back and forth with a bit of spraying. I pull the needle back a bit and pull of any paint from the tip. Put it back together and continue. I can't use solvents and have only soaked this brush 3 times in acetone. I haven't done so in about 500 lures. The only time I find I have a problem is with the hobby paints. I don't really thin my paints other than white for base coating, white pearl and pearl platinum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 LOL.so do I. I originally had an Eclipse and bought a screw on Mac. I only use water base paints. I backflush between each color change. I only use water and If it bubbles back nicely and shoots a nice spray, I continue. If not, I pull the needle and wipe the dry paint of with fine steel wool. I unscrew the 2 caps and use water and one of those HF brushes to clean them. I insert the needle and puch it in back and forth with a bit of spraying. I pull the needle back a bit and pull of any paint from the tip. Put it back together and continue. I can't use solvents and have only soaked this brush 3 times in acetone. I haven't done so in about 500 lures. The only time I find I have a problem is with the hobby paints. I don't really thin my paints other than white for base coating, white pearl and pearl platinum. That's the whole thing in a nutshell 152nd. Keeping your brush clean all the time is the only way to go. It sure saves a lot of headaches down the line. Glenn brings up a good point as well. Keeping lint and other foreign objects out of the brush will also save you a lot of headaches. Q-tips are a no-no for me. They are notorious for leaving behind stray bits of cotton that can work their way into the guts of an airbrush. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Prager Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 Yeah, I wipe the bowl out with my finger when backfulushing and then the sleeve of an old soft t-shirt. I find that after that if I turn the mac valve a hair it will shoot whatever little bit of water is left in the gun. I use to have inline filters on both sides of the hose but took the one off by the gun. I thought that was the most important one since it's very humid here and didn't want condensation to form in the hose. Heck, maybe that little bit of moisture is thinning my paint and making it shoot better! I'm leaving it the way it is right now! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted August 10, 2012 Report Share Posted August 10, 2012 Yeah, I wipe the bowl out with my finger when backfulushing and then the sleeve of an old soft t-shirt. I find that after that if I turn the mac valve a hair it will shoot whatever little bit of water is left in the gun. I use to have inline filters on both sides of the hose but took the one off by the gun. I thought that was the most important one since it's very humid here and didn't want condensation to form in the hose. Heck, maybe that little bit of moisture is thinning my paint and making it shoot better! I'm leaving it the way it is right now! LOL LOL That's what we call leaving well enough alone and also comes under the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Prager Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 Figures..............the minute I open my mouth! Guess what my tip, nozzle and caps are soaking in? Got the rest of the gun in the acetone with the cup submerged. Someone mentioned on here about using a stiff bristle brush (I think it's called a stencil brush) to clean out the cup when soaked or soaking. That's works very well. It back flushed just fine but wouldn't spray a lick of paint. That'll learn me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Moreau Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 Never fails 152!!! I guess I should probably just go start a soak on mine now too!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Prager Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 (edited) Maybe I should go see if my truck will start and kick the tires before I make any more plans today! I can always call it a "vacation" day! Edited August 13, 2012 by 152nd Street Baits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" was originally penned by an airbrush artist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 Hope your luck isn't like mine 152nd. When things start going wrong around here I can usually plan on everything I touch going to heck for at least a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Prager Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 I'm staying inside the rest of the day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
