Hey everyone. I've scoured the site and the net for some time and could only find a passing reference to my problem, so I thought I'd ask ya'll:

My close to mint condition Iwata HP-BCS has recently developed the bad habit of shooting paint when I push down the trigger without pulling it back. I've de- and re-assembled the thing many times making sure everything is tight and clean. I've always been meticulous about cleaning it and treating it delicately. It is only a few months old, I'd hate to think it needs a replacement part given its history of use and how careful I've been with it.

Any suggestions?

Stephen

To answer my own inquiry, it turns out that the order of assembly matters. If you don't put on the nozzle end first, when you insert the needle it may move slightly backward after using the trigger for the first time, creating a tiny gap which allows the paint to escape.

Stephen

I am sure glad it wasn't a defect, for you as well as me, cause in the near future I am planning on purchasing a Iwata, I have kicked around all the pros and cons, on to what I want, seems to be in the Iwata, and ever sense I've talked to them at Dixie Art, their prices make them affordable. All the reviews before have been nothing but great, and all them come from somebody that has moved up from one of my other choices. How did you come to this equation, did you see it in the directions, or did you call for tech support, or just stumbled across it by accident Stephen, I sure would like to know? Kerry

Basically I got out the 8x magnifier and checked out what was going on in the nozzle. I actually ended up learning a lot about how the airbrush works. I knew that the air had to come out when the trigger was down regardless of how far it was pulled back, but I didn't really understand that the locking nut keeps the needle against the nozzle housing. If I put the nut on before putting the needle in it can come loose after the first pull as things move around. It was a combination of looking at the schematics online and playing around with the magnifier as I moved different things.

My only complaint with the airbrush (my first, and also after a ton of research) is that I managed to accidentally buy the bottom-loading version, which requires a higher pressure than gravity-feed models. This is a real pain in the rear for doing fine camouflage jobs on 1:72 armor. It wouldn't be an issue at all with 1:35, as I can manage to get 1/8" lines fairly easily, but nothing smaller without running into mad spitting/spidering tradeoff that can't be overcome with a bottom-feed architecture. My next large purchase is the same model with the gravity feed cup.

Stephen

I appreciate your answer, see I've been trying to do a lot of studying, and at first everybody almost had me talked into a bottom feed, then after a lot more study, I found out if I want real fine lines, I got to go to the gravity feed, then after I talked to them at Dixie Art, I found out Iwata has one in a price range that is reasonable, before all I seen was super exspensive models like 700 and more for an Iwata, so I never looked at them again until Dixie Art, and not only that, a few here said they got their Iwata's, and say it works great for them, and the brushes they had were some of the ones I had thought about in the first place, so I was thinking if they are happy with it, I should be to, so many Thanks Catus 911, and I'm glad it is working again for you, sorry about the bottom feed.