Hi folks - I have a nagging question. I have a couple of airbrushes (a Badger 360 and an Iwata HP-CS) and when fully cleaning them and removing the needle I always wonder just how far the needle is supposed to be properly re-inserted in the airbrush. Should the bevel of the needle just be fully visible outside of its housing? Or should only part of the bevel be visible, or all of the bevel plus some of the flat part of the needle? Is this making sense? It almost looks like only the bevel should be visible, and if the needle is inserted too far perhaps the larger, flat, uniform part of the needle could deform the housing/tip into which its inserted. Is this true? I just don’t want to deform the housing, but also I want to have the needle in far enough so that brush is as usable as it should be.
The needle should be inserted completely into the tip, but not forced. Forcing it may cause the tip assembly to be distorted. A light hand is required.
When reassembling your airbrush, first replace the “Nozzle” and lightly snug tight with the provided wrench. VERY carefully insert the needle into the airbrush body. When inserting, turn the needle slowly while carefully pushing forward until needle is seated into the nozzle. Once the needle is set, lightly snug the “Needle Set/Stop Screw” to lock the needle in place.
You can find the pictures that go with the above words in the Airbrush City web site. It is for their Iwata clone, but applicable to most modern AB designs.
The needle must “seated” into the nozzle snugly but not forced. It is a good idea to remove the nozzle cap to inspect the nozzle which can split and must be replaced if damaged.
The Iwata manual provides words, but no picture.
Nozzle - Kustom Eclipse CS
Use the provided spanner head cap wrench (#46) to unscrew the head cap (#3). If the nozzle (#6) is stuck, slightly push the side of the nozzle with your thumb, which should loosen it. Pull the nozzle out of the body of the airbrush and replace it with a new nozzle. Replace the head cap and “lightly” tighten with the provided head cap wrench. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN! Re-seat the needle into the nozzle by loosening the needle chucking nut and gently pushing the needle forward until it seats with the new nozzle. Re-tighten the needle chucking nut and re-assemble the rest of the airbrush. NOTE: To ensure even wear, it is recommended that the needle be changed at the same time.
You should be able to feel when it is seated also, without forcing the needle in. Also, as I have noticed on my Passche, if you tighten the needle nut to much the needle will not move with the trigger action.
Hmmm… My Passche has a bullet shaped removable, collar-like piece the tip of the needle rests in. The hollow bullet only allows the needle to protrude just a little bit. The nozzle assembly threads over the top of of the protruding needle. If it is put together out of sequence or if parts are left out, it is quite possible to bend things that are not to be bent and break what is not to be broken!