Chrome Erosion on Iwata Eclipse

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

Realized I put this in the wrong forum a bit ago, so I’m moving it here:

Hey guys,

So, I’m on my second Eclipse now in 4 or 5 months, the first one was sent back to Iwata and they replaced it, but it’s happening again, I already contacted Iwata and they said they’d replace it again, but I’m trying to root down to the meat of the issue, so here goes.

I only shoot Vallejo paints and use Vallejo thinner. I only clean with isopropyl alcohol and Iwata airbrush cleaner, however, no matter what I do, within less than a month, the bottom of the color cup starts to lose its chrome plating and turns a copper color(I can only imagine the metal under the chrome is copper. I never use any windex or ammonoid products(unless its in the Vallejo paint or thinner).

The way I mix and shoot is as follows: I put thinner then paint into the cup then I mix it in the cup with an old brush and then shoot as normal. To change colors, I pour in some isopropyl alcohol use a paper towel to get the paint residue off the sides of the color cup and use the same brush to get all the bits of semi-dried paint out of the corners in the bottom of the color cup. For a deeper clean, I disassemble the front end and clean the front end with isopropyl alcohol, an interdental brush, and q-tips.

So, my questions are these: What causes this? And the question to end all, how do I prevent it?

I find that as the chrome continues to wear, my airbrush clogs faster, requiring me to blow out the needle more often. And, it also makes the airbrush more difficult to clean in that the paint adheres to the bottom of the color cup stronger.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

2

I don’t know about the chrome wearing off the bottom of the paint cup. Mine does too and I always figured it was normal, maybe you’re right, maybe it’s not.

But you mentioned running iso through your brush between Vallejo colors. Vallejo and alcohol don’t get along and I’m surprised you are not reporting clogging and gumming-up problems.

3

True,usually alcohol turns Vallejo to gunk.

4

Ammonia will do that in time. If you use a cleaner that has ammonia like windex it will do it. It is not covered by warranties but does not effect performance. So it is your doing probobly, not a defect.

5

I’ve had my Iwata Eclise for almost 12mths and use my own cleaner for acrylics (IPA, Windscreen Cleaner) and Laquer Thinners to clean my AB. I personally have not seen any signs of the chrome being removed from the color cup.

Do you have any pictures?

6

I don’t use IPA for thinning, I use it for cleaning and in my experience with cleaning Vallejo paint in between colors, it works great.

The only way ammonia could’ve gotten into my airbrush is if it’s in vallejo’s thinner or model air paint.

I can get pictures when I come home from work. I specifically don’t use Windex or any other window cleaner because it has ammonia in it.

7

If the chrome is coming off but the underlying metal is not showing signs of corrosion and the airbrush is performing as expected, does it matter then?

I have airbrushes that are 15+ years old. Much of the chrome has worn off all over the airbrush inluding the cup. They still perform and only seals and needles have been replaced.

Keep using it and if you see a significant degrade in performance or corrosion on the exposed metal where the chrome is gone then you have a case for replacement.

8

After having a quick look at my Eclipse it appears that some of the chrome has indeed worn away at the bottom of the paint cup. I called the dealer where it was purchased from and he said All AB do the some thing over time, all ab’s.

It works the same as it did 12 months ago, it has no corrosion and will most likely work the same in another 10 years.

As route62 has pointed out, just keep using it.

9

I have some wear of the chrome to brass in the colour cups of:

my Iawata CS, 9 yrs old

my Badger 100 small cup, 20+ yrs old

and my on my Badger 150 original seperate colour cup, 25+ yrs old.

I’ve never used Ammonia cleaner on the Iwata.

So long as the needle, headset, & air valves are ok, then you should be good to go.

10

So, perhaps I’m just being paranoid. Thank you all for the excellent advice and for sharing your experiences.

11

On a side note, would the nickel on an H&S Evolution be more or less durable than the chrome on an Iwata Eclipse?

12

Chrome is harder than nickel, so it should wear better. But, it mostly depends on the thickness of the plating, and both are very thin. I suspect it is especially thin in the recess of the cup.

I’ve heard that the gold plating on the Evolution handle wears away fairly fast.

Don

13

Thanks for your prompt response. So, if I wanted to go the evolution route, I’d definitely spend the extra 50 bucks or whatever and get the CRplus version.

14

Well, I wouldn’t. To me it’s just an appearance thing unless you are alergic to nickel.

Don

15

Oh, I thought the chrome being harder and more wear resistant would mean the airbrush would last longer.

16

Whether chrome or nickel plated, a good quality airbrush that’s taken care of will last you many years. The parts that wear are easily replaced.

Don

17

If I decide to purchase a new airbrush, I don’t want something similar happening to it as what happened to my Iwata Eclipse, it was disheartening to have that occur after only a few weeks of use, especially when I try to completely avoid the use of anything with ammonia in it.

18

Having had conversations with HS … the only reason for the chrome plating was because some people reported allergic reaction to the nickel. Other than the plating, the airbrushes are identical.

As to the original post … not sure what you guys are doing, but I have 3 Eclipses HP-CS … that I have had for years and none of them show any signs of plating wearing off … but I only clean with lacquer thinner.

19

That’s the thing, Paul, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong either, but this is twice in a row.

I outlined everything i do exactly in my original post

20

It may be that Iwata is having a plating problem. That they were willing to replace the airbrush might indicate that. They could have just told you the wear was normal.

Don