two questions: tip dry and bubbles in my cup (SFW)

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

Hi Gang,

I have a few questions about my Iwata Eclipse gravity-fed airbrush:

  1. while painting I’ve noticed that I cannot gradually pull back the needle and get paint flowing from zero to full flow. To get any sort of partial flow I have to open it up all the way and gradually decrease the paint flow to get to the amount I need. When shooting plain water the flow seems to sputter as I gradually pull the needle back. Does this sound like a problem with my AB to you guys?

  2. While flushing out my AB with water, I noticed that if I only shoot air then little bubbles will appear in the bottom of the paint cup. From what I understand about airbrushes, if the needle is closed there should be no air escaping back into the cup should there? Could this be causing (or related) to my problem above?

Thanks in advance!

Jeff

2

Make sure the nut at the back end of the needle is completely tightened down. It sounds like it might be a bit loose and and not getting a good enough grip to open and close correctly.

If it weren’t for the backflow of air into the bowl, I’d think were either a clogged nozzle or the air pressure is too low. But the air bubbles lead me to believe that the needle isn’t closing properly. Just check the nut at the rear.

-Fred