TommyTomTom Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 Hello all. A while ago I had a issue with my iwata hp-cs where I had paint flow whilst only pressing for air. Eventually I bought a new nozzle. Problem solved. I now have air flow but can’t get anything though the airbrush, even water. I have stripped and cleaned many times and always disassemble and clean at the end of each session. The needle doesn’t appear damaged and moves back and forth. When I take the nozzle out I can see through it. Really stumped. Any help appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwh548 Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 It may sound silly, but did you get the same size nozzle? If I remember correctly Iwata will equip the airbrush with a 0.3 (or 0.35), but they will sell you a 0.5 nozzle. If you put a 0.5 nozzle with the 0.35 cap you'll get some air coming out, but not enough to draw paint from the cup. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray_W Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 I find I can make my immaculately clean HP-CS not draw paint if I loosen the air cap. The air cap on the HP-CS provides self-centring of the needle using a taper on the brass nozzle body. The air cap screws on and takes up this taper while sealing against an O-ring on the main air brush body. It then forms an air chamber around the nozzle and holds air pressure to ensure the required higher velocity at the tip to give the necessary pressure drop to draw paint. If the O-ring is damaged and/or the air cap is not closed up, the paint is not drawn (also, sometimes, shows as bubbles in the paint cup). Further, and importantly, if the air cap is in the wrong position and too far out the annulus size at the needle point increases dropping the velocity across the needle and not dropping the pressure sufficiently to draw paint. By the way, a hand tight closure of the air cap is all I use. It would be the first thing I would check. Ray 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyTomTom Posted September 29, 2021 Author Share Posted September 29, 2021 Thanks both I definitely have the right size nozzle (.35) the front o ring doesn’t appear to be damaged. Air flow is as normal, and the needle moves. There is no bubbling back into the paint cup however which I believe would indicate a blocked nozzle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray_W Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 A quarter loosening turn on the air cap and with a pressure in my setup of under 20 psi gives no bubbles in the paint cup and yet no paint/water is drawn with what appears to be plenty of air flow. If this is not the problem with the air cap screwed to the correct position and the nozzle body does not have damaged tapers and is also correctly positioned where it seats in the main body and air cap, the small air holes holes in the end of the air cap are clear, your nozzle is truly clear, then the problem is extra tricky. What happens when you up the pressure significantly, say 30-40 psi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyTomTom Posted September 29, 2021 Author Share Posted September 29, 2021 I got the smallest amount of water through at 40psi, I held the airbrush against a dark surface whilst spraying and couldn’t see the cone, but definitely got some liquid out. That was with the trigger as far back as it would go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyTomTom Posted September 29, 2021 Author Share Posted September 29, 2021 Update - I gave the needle a tiny extra push when I re-assembled the airbrush. At 40 psi it seemed to start operating normally again. Went back down to 20psi and no flow again but now very slow bubbling in the paint cup. One bubble every 5-10 seconds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwh548 Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 I'm going to go out on a limb and say you might have a problem with the main airbrush body. Maybe the front end got damaged and the nozzle isn't seating properly in there. There was a topic with another Iwata (I think it was actually an Eclipse) that eventually got sent out for servicing and they concluded that the body had an unrepairable fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray_W Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 20 minutes ago, bmwh548 said: There was a topic with another Iwata (I think it was actually an Eclipse) that eventually got sent out for servicing and they concluded that the body had an unrepairable fault. Very recent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted September 30, 2021 Share Posted September 30, 2021 Exact same airbrush here, exact same problem...I was going out of my mind. Tried everything suggested so far but no permanent solution to the bubbling paint cup 😭 BUT! I fixed it. The solution for me was a ultrasonic cleaner. Two 5-minute blasts in there solved the problem. You can get cheap Chinese ultrasonic cleaners from the usual places and it's well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyTomTom Posted September 30, 2021 Author Share Posted September 30, 2021 The saga continues. Iwata suggested I apply beeswax to the base of the nozzle and threads around the nozzle cap, didn’t help. I’ve also checked the nozzle, needle, nozzle cap under magnification and I can’t see anything that would cause concern. At this point I’m considering a warranty claim through Iwata, from a glimpse at their website I believe I’d have to send it to the US? Do Iwata have any UK based repair/service centres that can deal with warranty claims? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nheather Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 9 hours ago, TommyTomTom said: The saga continues. Iwata suggested I apply beeswax to the base of the nozzle and threads around the nozzle cap, didn’t help. I’ve also checked the nozzle, needle, nozzle cap under magnification and I can’t see anything that would cause concern. At this point I’m considering a warranty claim through Iwata, from a glimpse at their website I believe I’d have to send it to the US? Do Iwata have any UK based repair/service centres that can deal with warranty claims? The Airbrush Company Ltd 79 Marlborough Road (East) Lancing Business Park Lancing West Sussex BN15 8UF Tel: 01903 767 800 email: [email protected] https://airbrushes.com Where are you in the UK? I have a CS with some spare parts - if local we could try swapping out bits to eliminate components and narrow down where the fault lies. Cheers, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyTomTom Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 2 hours ago, nheather said: The Airbrush Company Ltd 79 Marlborough Road (East) Lancing Business Park Lancing West Sussex BN15 8UF Tel: 01903 767 800 email: [email protected] https://airbrushes.com Where are you in the UK? I have a CS with some spare parts - if local we could try swapping out bits to eliminate components and narrow down where the fault lies. Cheers, Nigel Thanks very much. I’ll have a look at the website properly after work. I’m in the south west, about an hour from Bristol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nheather Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 41 minutes ago, TommyTomTom said: Thanks very much. I’ll have a look at the website properly after work. I’m in the south west, about an hour from Bristol. Too far I’m afraid - I’m in West Sussex. Cheers, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tijuana Taxi Posted November 5, 2021 Share Posted November 5, 2021 @TommyTomTom I have just refurbished an Iwata airbrush and the only part I haven't see you mention is the needle packing screw Not sure how that would affect operation if it were damaged, but its probably worth checking out. Its No 19 on the diagram here https://www.spraygunsdirect.co.uk/index.php/productpartsdiagram/index/viewparts/id/2014/#sthash.z9x0TUG6.dpbs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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