Cleaning the airbrush

[white97ex]

OK. I'm sure that I have improperly cleaned my guns too many times. I am having issues with both my single and my dual action gun. More so on the Dual. The Dual action is a Paasche VL It does not want to spray from the color cup or the siphon feed jar. I was attempting to spray VERY thin acrylic paint. However I have trouble with anything I put in it. Any tips on how to go about cleaning the entire thing?

[stevenoble]

For a thorough cleaning I always remove the needle and clean it with a cotton bud/Q-tip.I remove any other parts that will not get damaged by thinners and soak them overnight in thinners.I always use a brush and clean any passages in the airbrush that I can reach.If the colour cup is removable I soak this in thinners as well.Once it's all clean I re-assemble the whole thing and flush it through with clean thinners.Occasionally I remove the tip and soak this in thinners.But I'm always careful as over zealous cleaning can damage the tip.

[white97ex]

what parts are considered damageable by the thinners? I've heard that the needle bearing can be damaged by them, thats why I havn't soaked it yet. Was I falsely informed?

[stevenoble]

The needle bearing is inside the main body.It's like a little round washer that the needle slides through and it seals the needle so that the paint doesn't backflush through the handle etc.It can be damaged by the thinners.I wouldn't consider soaking the main body for fear of damaging the needle bearing.I only soak the metal parts in thinners.They won't get damaged by the thinners.Anything rubber,seals etc,don't soak as they will get damaged.

Edit:Have you tried to backflush the airbrush? It sometimes cleans it without having to take it apart.Fill the jar or colour cup with thinners,cover the nozzle on the airbrush tightly with a tissue and press the button on the airbrush.The thinner will backflush through the airbrush and take all the excess paint etc with it.If you are doing it properly you will get some bubbles in your jar or colour cup.You should see the old paint etc in the colour cup.Keep doing it with fresh thinner until the thinner stays clean,then you know all the old paint is gone.