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Cleaning my airbrush


RidgeRunner

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Hi all,

 

Having recently seen a post about stripping paint off kits with disinfectant I was wondering how effective it would be on an airbrush. Mine has some enamel paint dried here and there. Using proprietary stripper would trash the seals, I think, so I am looking for an alternative. Have any of you used this method?

 

Thanks.

 

Martin

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What airbrush?

 

I primarily use Mr Color paints or other solvent-based paints with Iwata airbrushes. I use hardware store lacquer (cellulose) thinner to flush the airbrush after each use as well as for full tear-down cleaning. I've never seen ill effects to the needle seals within the body or to o-rings in the air-inlet and at the nozzle. I do use Iwata's lube when I re-assemble the airbrush after the full tear-down. The trick is to apply a drop of lube to the blunt end of the needle and use that to lube the interior needle seal. I also use Medea airbrush cleaner after the tear-down. My most recent tear-down was this past weekend.

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  • 5 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Can't really say I'm an expert on these cleaners but that one looks pretty good. The only real difference with the one I have is a plastic basket which holds the bits being cleaned. Whether that makes any difference or not I'm not really sure. It is quite a simple process (vibrations in water with a little bit of cleaning product) so I would imagine if the cleaner is large enough to take the disassembled airbrush parts then you are probably good to go.

Mark

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On 9/15/2021 at 9:22 PM, RidgeRunner said:

Hi all,

 

Having recently seen a post about stripping paint off kits with disinfectant I was wondering how effective it would be on an airbrush. Mine has some enamel paint dried here and there. Using proprietary stripper would trash the seals, I think, so I am looking for an alternative. Have any of you used this method?

 

Thanks.

 

Martin

 

Take the seals out first? Chances are you need a new set anyway and they aren't expensive.

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1 minute ago, RidgeRunner said:

Are they east to buy and install? @Bertie Psmith

 

They are easy to but. Go to https://www.air-craft.net/index.html. The guy is very knowledgeable and helpful. He's a member here too so you could pm him for advice.

 

Whether they are easy to change depends on the type of your airbrush and you own mechanical competence so I can't say whether it would be easy. Changing my Harder and Steenbeck seals is a doddle for me. I change them once every couple of years before they start to give trouble.

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  • 8 months later...

i've had and still own all the Harder Steenbeck brushes infinity, evolution, Al CR+ right down to an ultra. I have Iwata Revolution, eclipse and neo as well as some Chinese knock offs over the past twenty years. I use automotive lacquer thinner to clean the high end brushes and water and IPA for the ones that I cant retro fit PTFE seals in. Which is easy by the way.

Strip them down once a month and clean the seals and pop them in an ultra sonic cleaner. pop a bit of lube on which in my case is either veg glycerin or the sort of lube you get from Anne Summers water based personal type, if you know what I mean and I've never had a problem.

As for servicing an airbrush, lets face it, its a small hole with a needle and a spring. If you pull it apart with a screwdriver you wont find anything special. Your car needs servicing, your airbrush does not. Look at the exploded diagram and rip it apart, clean it and you'll be surprised how easy it is.

The chrome is still chrome even on the cheap Chinese brushes.

This hobby is full of myth smoke and mirrors and snake oil. Iwata lube is just glycerin but it cost £6 for 5ml. I just bought a L for £11. Don't be fooled. The manufacturer of cleaners etc don't have any special additives that you can't buy cheap off amazon.

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