Hiya team,

I feel that with all the problem posts im forever creating, i'll be a Lieut-General on this forum in no time!

Okay, I just received my Aztek fine line Tan coloured nozzle. After having a play around with creating fine lines, time had come to pack up and clean up (i actually ran out of paint to play with).

When i was running some clean water through the airbrush rig, i noticed that the water was leaving the nozzle at an awkward angle. I carefully 'field stripped' the nozzle, gave it a good clean with windex, and tried it again. Same deal. From what i can see, there is no damage to the nozzle - internal or external (mind you, its seriously brand new!). Could it be possible that something has bent?

When i was fooloing around with thicker paint and higher pressure, i notices that the needle was getting stuck in the 'closed' position - but this could have been me being too adventurous and liberal with the paint.

Does this sound familiar?

A.

PS - When i ran windex through the rig, i took the advice of someone on this forum much wiser then I and held a cloth at the end of the nozzle. This forces the windex through the internal mechanisms of the airbrush, giving it a mini windex-aenema. The amont of dried paint and crap that ended up in the paintcup was phenomenal! If you havent done this in a while, seriously do it next time the AB is out and being cleaned.

They give you that red three way tool for cleaning the AB out, but it can really do just so much. A complete soak in some cleaner can help remove old paint...just don't leave it in too long so as not to damage the internal parts.
What paint were you using? Was it thinned enough? I've gotten odd spray patterns when the paint dries one one odd side{of couse this comes from about a half an hours worth of constant spraying on three models...I really over work the thing!}.
Last question, did you pull out the inner assy from the tip and clean it all out? Could be a little bit of something from the factory that was/is stuck in there. Hold the whole tip and cafefully pull the hooked inner section out{the one with the spring loaded pin on it}...you'll be able{or maybe not} to see thru the whole tip with that piece removed.
One thing to toss at you about the azteks...don't over tighten the tips! I think I toasted my A320 last week doing that...paint leaks right out of the AB as soon as I fill it and push the trigger...good thing I've got my old badger AB...

Give the tip a good clean and keep re-inserting it till the paint comes out straight. Sometimes the needle spring just seems to reseat incorrectly which pushes the needle slightly off centre.

Great airbrush!

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Best laugh Ive had in awhile... I use acylics and have really had no issues with
the tan nozzle. But even with enamels, a complete teardown and clean after
use is absolutely required. Chances are, the build up of dried paint on the tip
is causing your grief...


Dave

It's not so much the needle tip as the hole it goes into that causes the problem. The whole tan nozzle has to be reasonably spotless.

Mind you, mine takes some amazing abuse and still works.

guys,

thanks for your replies. I dont think it has anything to do with paint drying up in the nozzle because this is a brand new nozzle, used for the first time! When im using it up-close-and-personal on lower pressure and really thinned (Tamiya) acrylics, i cant spot a problem - aside from my dodgy painting. Its only when i was cleaning it and pumping a bucket load of water through the nozzle at about 30psi that i noticed the mist leaving the nozzle was at a weird angle.

A.

I had the same problem, and actually bought a new nozzle, this was before I regained my patience though

When you "field strip" it as you said, are you taking all 3 parts of the nozzle apart. There is the outer shell (the tan thing), the white insert, and inside that white insert, a spring, after each session I spray some thinner through, dissassemble the whole nozzle and rinse it under some warm water and brush it with a toothbrush.

The spring part builds up paint easily as well as the front of the white insert and the outer tan covering.

Make sure your needle isn't warped or bent, as they are plastic and could have been bent somehown.

I usually spray mine at about 40 PSI

hope this helps

Thanks for your response Shain,

I pull apart all of my nozzles into the three parts, and let them soak in water while i attack various parts of the airbrush itself with an old toothbrush. Because im new to all of this, i have been teaching myself the art of painting fine lines, and am almost completely fed up with the lower pressure idea. So far, i have had more success with the thicker paint and higher pressure (40psi) than anything else. Of course, this has its inherent problems, such as paint build up, but if you depress the trigger just a smidgin, you can control it fairly well.

I havent had a MkII trial with the tan nozzel, but when i do, you guys are the first to know/first to bere the brunt of my frustration...