Hi There,

Has anybody ever used a Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner on their airbrush?

I'm thinking of asking for one (the small one which is about $40.00) for Christmas, but I want to make sure that it would be a worthwhile expenditure.

I do clean my airbrush (a Tamiya HG trigger type) after every use, but still have to deal with the recurring problem of paint refusing to spray when the needle is seated all the way forward.

Hoping the ultrasonic cleaner might rid me of this problem once and for all.


Thanks, folks!

With Regards and Aloha,

Johnny B.

Check eBay. I bought one for under $30 including shipping and it works well. Search for sonic jewelry cleaner, there should be some really good deals. Cheers.

This is what I have:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sonic-Wave-CD-2800-Ultrasonic-Jewelry-Eyeglass-Cleaner-/251187181654?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a7bec3856

I have an ultra sonic cleaner I use with my airbrush needle and head assemblies and it does or should I say did remove a surprising amount of muck from my oldest airbrushes after 20 years of use.

I have been trying to talk my wife into letting me use the one at her animal clinic, but she won't let me..

Darren - do you just to the head and needle, or have you ever thrown the entire body in unassembled?

I have found cleaning the needle and the head assembly broken down is all that is needed to keep the airbrushes working perfectly.

I have a harbor freight one. It works alright. It would probably work better with a better working fluid. I only use distilled water. Disassembling and using lacquer thinner will get stuff off that the cleaner won't touch. This is with an Iwata HP-C Plus.

Thanks, folks!!!

I really appreciate the feedback, links, and the help!! will probably put this on my Christmas list...

Much Appreciated!

With Regards and Aloha,

Johnny B.

Johnny,

I have the small ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight and I use it just for cleaning airbrushes. It does an amazing job. Even if you think your airbrush is clean, you'll be amazed at all the tiny little goop balls that come out when you run the cleaner 3 or 4 times.
Only use Medea or Vallejo airbrush cleaner in it though! The cleaner has soft rubber parts that will melt if you use anything stronger!
I disassemble my airbrush and throw the whole forward body in with the needle and nozzle. Anything the paint touches goes in. Inside the paint passage in the forward body - that's where the goop likes to grow.
Definitely one of the best investments you'll make in the airbrush department.
Offer to clean the wife's rings and she'll see the wisdom of owning it, too!

See, there is always a catch.

Matt, my experience has been different. I use only Vallejo acrylics in my airbrush and tried using the Harbor Freight ultrasonic with Vallejo airbrush cleaner. As you said, I disassembled everything and put in the parts that touch paint. I ran it three cycles and it didn't appear to do much of anything. The parts weren't filthy dirty so I didn't expect to see big gobs of paint. However, the stubborn paint on the needle itself did not get removed while in the cleaner. But to my dismay, the tip of the needle came out bent, I assume from vibrating against the basket or other parts! I ended up wiping off the stubborn paint with a soft cloth moistened with cleaner and doing my best to re-straighten the tip on some sandpaper. Jury is out on if I did a good enough job since I haven't had a chance to paint again in a while.

Suffice to say my needles won't be going back into the ultrasonic any time soon, but can you suggest why the Vallejo cleaner didn't seem to work? Is there anything stronger you would suggest for acrylics short of solvents? I've heard that simple green is an alternative to the Vallejo cleaner but it doesn't seem to me that it's any stronger.

Thanks for any feedback you can provide.

Any thoughts on using windex in the ultrasonic cleaner rather than water to clean Tamiya and Vallejo acrylics? Water doesn't seem to fix much

I have one and tore the airbrush down and cleaned it today after using Vallejo paints. I had cleaned with swab and thinner and got most of the dried paint but there were a lot of little floating chips in the ultrasonic cleaner when I was done nonetheless. Personally, I've always had good results after cleaning thoroughly and then just putting it in the ultrasonic with tap water. I don't think it works well if you're using it to get a lot of hardened gunk on it, rather it's to get all the teeny fragments out. I never put the needle in though, too much risk of it whacking tip first against the sides.

Matt

I've never tried an ultrasonic cleaner, but it's on my buy list, having read so many laudatory comments about same for AB care.

Beyond distilled or even tap-water, running the sonic cleaner with "Windex" and / or isopropyl would also be good for the acrylic gunk... In addition, there are various "paint-brush-restorer" products at the HobbyLobby or other such which could be very useful for degunking parts.

But the needle? NOT EVER in that sonic cleaner tub! WHY put the needle into such an unfriendly (for very fine points) habitat? Just wipe your needle down with a soft rag and water, Windex, dish-soap or isopropyl alcohol. IF anything survives these friendly approaches, try a little paint-thinner on a paper towel. Still dirty? (I don't want to suggest HOW or WHY a needle on a well-cared-for AB could ever become that dirty when being cleaned after each use... ) Dip the dirty needle into your acetone or lacquer-thinner can and wipe it down with a soft rag or paper towel.

Bob

I've been told that windshield wiper fluid works well too but I've never tried it. Probably more cost effective than window cleaner if it wouldn't damage anything.

Matt

I have used Medea Airbrush Cleaner from the airbrush company in the ultra sonic cleaner without issue and it removes all traces of paint in the airbrush.

Since I just got done with an airbrush session using Vallejo acrylics, i thought some pictures might be in order. I cleaned the pieces fairly thoroughly with airbrush cleaner and a whole bunch of water as well, backflushing, using Q-tips, etc. I got these:


Put them in the ultrasonic with water after saturating the pieces with Windex. Immediately, paint swirled out of some of the pieces:



After 20 minutes, these specks of paint were floating all about:



I'm not saying you couldn't clean this brush as thoroughly by hand, but boy was this a lot less time on my end!

Matt

I used the windex in my ultrasonic cleaner and even on the simple Paasche H, it cleaned up a bunch of hidden gunk!

So two follow-up questions:

1. I hate dumping the windex and getting new windex every time I clean... sure it's murky and clearly has paint in it after cleaning my airbrush, but can it be reused without concern? New windex is obviously better than reused, but is reused inherently bad?

2. I've just received my tasty new 2 stage airbrush. For cleaning, is the body component (with the built in top up and the air hose attachment) safe to dunk in the windex or water? Seems like I shouldn't, but.... ?

I don't really see why there's a need to clean that part of an airbrush. Surely there's only air going through there? The paint must all be between the cup and the nozzle - so in my view it's only necessary to clean from the cup forwards. But I expect some will disagree with that.

For what it is worth, between sessions, I store the needle in one of those plastic lunch boxes, propped at an angle and with enough Vallejo cleaner in it so that the needle is submerged. That way when I put it back in the airbrush to use it, the needle is wet with cleaner, clean and lubed, and so never sticks. Sometimes I have kept the nozzle in the same tub.

That's a good idea, I will have to try that. I don't always get paint that far back in mine but somehow I've managed on occasion.

Matt