I may
have inadvertently discovered the answer to the great airbrush mystery. On the
72nd Scale Aircraft board there was a discussion concerning which airbrush
everyone was using and why. The discussion wandered, as these things are prone
to do, and eventually touched on thinners. Keith Rider, one of the board
members, mentioned that his nozzle o-ring was destroyed by lacquer thinner. And
I use lacquer thinner almost exclusively for airbrush work.
And
that set the wheels to turning. Though I usually break down the nozzle for a
cleaning after each session, I honestly could not remember seeing an o-ring in
there. So I took the thing apart, and sure enough, no o-ring. Going to the
Iwata website, I confirmed that the Eclipse HP-CS should indeed have said
o-ring as part of the nozzle assembly.
So is
this the origin point of my airbrush woes? Did the ring dissolve or fall out
during one of the many cleaning sessions? No clue as of yet, but I do have a source
for a replacement part, and will have one flying toward me within hours. I
really should pick up a new nozzle tip and needle at the same time, but will
try to get the new o-ring in place first.
So
stay tuned; I don't think this story is over yet, but at least we may have some
progress!
Good luck!
ReplyDeleteOf course, now I have to check MY airbrush for an o-ring...
Glad you have a lead on a possible solution. Fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the report Kevin. I am in the same situation... I have a standard and fine nozzles for my Iwata, the standard stopped working (bubbles back up in the paint pot) a few months ago.
ReplyDeleteLloyd: As you'll see from later reports, replacing the missing o-ring seems to have helped, though I don't think I'm out of the woods yet. But that is the root of my problem too: the paint just bubbled in the cup. I'm still playing with it, but I haven't figured out the solution yet. If you come up with one first, let me know!
ReplyDelete