Hi folks,

I'm looking for your help! I was airbrushing earlier when the paint stopped spraying.

I'm an occasional and relatatively inexperienced airbrush user and I have a gravity fed Iwata airbrush.

I had been spraying acrylics for about five to ten minutes when the problems arose. If I upped the pressure, paint would come out again for a few seconds, then stop. I was still getting the pressure from the air.

I noticed that when the air was still spraying out, bubbles were coming back into the paint in the well.

There's a few variables but I'm not sure what is causing these difficulties.

I was using Vallejo Air, Unthinned. Should I thin it?

Is my nozzle getting clogged and should I mix in retardent into the paint?

If it is a case of clogging, what is the best way to clear it?

Thanks, folks,

Eoin

Bubbles in the cup at 99% means nozzle clogged

Valleyo air colors tend to dry quite fast so they can obstruct the nozzle.

Although they are more diluted than the common Valleyo colors, better is to dilute them a little bit more (about 10-20%) and add the Valleyo paint retarder in the mixture (be careful, less than the 5%).

You can also work with a cup of clean Valleyo thinner and cotton swabs near you.
While you're painting, you should sometime clean the nozzle with a cotton swab wet with thinner. That avoids the nozzle clog

Now to clean your AB a common home degreaser could be enough, because you've used acrylics paints. Otherwise, ONLY if your Iwata have teflon seals, you can also use a lacquer thinner. If your AB has instead rubber seals, you shouldn't use the lacquer thinner because it can dammnage the seals.

Usually when I have to clean my AB, I disassemble it and I soak the parts in the detergent for a while. Then I reassemble it and I fill the cup with the detergent and finally I spray untill the cup is empty. I don't use any "scrubbing tool" to remove the stains because that could ruin the nozzle or the needle

I hope this could help you. Have a good luck

Cheers

Hi Mauro,

Thanks for the advice. I soaked the nozzle in screen-wash for about an hour, thoroughly rinsed it and ran some more screen wash through the brush a couple of times. It seems to have done the trick!

I've been fairly liberal with the retardent and it seems to be flowing fairly okay now.

Thanks again,

Eoin

I'm glad that you worked out your problems Eoin

cheers