Day two of exploring the AB, hmmm... is it suppose to do dat?

[Jaxon727]

Well, thanks to the input from the forum's helpful members I think I have yesterday's problem pretty much under control, now onto today's.
Working on the dot exercise and it was going well at first, or at least I thought it was, then I realized I had to pull all the way back to get any paint to come out and then there seemed to be a lag before it started,and then full steam a head,way more paint than I wanted, also what use to make dots was getting me a not so circular shape. Then I noticed that there were bubbles occurring in the paint cup, don't think it was suppose to do that, so like a good google geek I Googled "bubbles in air brush paint cup" and came to the Air Brush First Aid videos. It was pretty helpful, so I took the AB apart to give it a good cleaning, which I thought I was doing when I ran the cleaner through the gun, guess not. There was residual paint on the needle point and some in the nozzle from yesterday I suspect. I cleaned every thing and put it back together. So where's the question in this ramble? Well, I'm very nervous about removing the nozzle, it's so dam small. So, what is the opinion of this brain trust of air brush artist, should you remove the nozzle every time you clean your AB, or only if there seems to be a problem?
Thank's, the nozzle virgin.

 

[justme]

You did well Jaxon, bubble's in your cup is a indication that there's a blockage in your nozzle, and you need to stop immediately, happened to me before that the cup lid and all of the paint blew right in my face, and it takes several wash sessions to get rid of all the paint, and you clothes are basically ruined and not to speak of the big ear the misses gives you.


And it is not necessary to remove the nozzle all of the time, most times you only have to soak inside, by putting cleaner in brush and let it sit for 15 to 30 minutes, and back flush the brush for a while with the cleaner in it, this can be done by holding your finger on the front of the airbrush and put the air on and pull the needle back.


It is important that you throw the cleaner out in this stage, because you don't want that the parts that came loose with the back flushing get pushed back into the nozzle, and rinse it a few times without spraying before you spray water through it.


When this didn't work and you have to get the nozzle out be very careful with it!!!!! Unscrew the nozzle let it soak with a toothpick in some cleaner for 15 to 30 minutes. Now take the toothpick and sharp it with a scalpel to a size that fits the nozzle, and scrape the inside clean with it.


Now comes the delicate part get that small bugger back in, don't worry it's easier than you might think. First stick the needle back in the brush you can do this backwards so with the blunt part of the needle from the front of the brush so the tip won't get bent. Now place the nozzle on the tip from the needle and extract the needle in a counter clockwise motion till the threads grab each other, screw the last part in with your hands till it's tight and do the last millimeter with the spanner, but don't overdo it, fast is fast.

 

[Jaxon727]

Thanks Justme, I'll give it a try.