Both times I had to strip my Iwata completely as it "gummed" up. Do you thin it Frank, and if so with what?
Lance, as far as I know there is no thinner for Alclad, I never needed one. As printed on the bottles. I have only the "Airbrush cleaner", but this can't be used as thinner.
But for your problem I have an idea! There were only glass bottles for colors and primers. Lately they were forced to use also plastic bottles for environmental or shipment reasons, at least for primers. I had only one of such can until now, and I had the impression, that the solving fluid goes through the bottle. At least mine was no more that full as before. So I filled that immediately in a near to empty glass bottle of the same type. I inform a Alclad seller at a exhibition last year about my experience, it was new to him.
So may be it was a older plastic bottle with lost solvent???
My glass bottles never had that, and since my models are not so big, some are still half filled and years old - still usable.
Or - may be there was a rest of cleaner of another type in your airbrush and caused a chemical reaction?
I use a 0,2mm needle in my H&S Infinity, never had an issue with any Alclad. As beginner it was easier to me handle the Alclads then any other color, because:
- no thinning possible (one reason for errors away) and
- even the needed pressure is stated on every bottle (second reason for error away)
For the primer it states 12-15psi.
- and good shaking of course until the metal balls are free
And the needle should not be too close, the filler needs to go through. It is still very fine on the model surface after the solvent is away. If the flow is not enough, then it may create a "stopper" on the needle tip, but with normal handling it is not a issue.
Cheers,
Frank