Does anyone else disassemble their nozzle to clean it? They say you aren't supposed to. I did that the first time and then spent 4 hours trying to get dried acrilic paint off of it. So now i just strip and soak the nozzle and haven't had a problem yet.

I've been disassembling my Aztek (Model Master) tips since way back when. I wipe most of whats left in/on the nozzel (and the other parts) off and then put all the parts into an old tall Riccota Cheese container half filled with the hottest tap water I can get and lemon scented dishwashing soap. Swish the parts around abit, fish them out and clean with pipe cleaners and Q-Tip equivalents. There is still some ensuring to do, but this has worked well for me.

Thanks,
Kevin Keefe
Mortars in Miniature

I too always clean them after each-n-every use! With the Aztec nozzles you really have to clean them good. Be sure to pull out the needles and clean them too.
I love ignoring those warnings...

Yeah thats what i figured

If my nozzle gets too gunked up, I just say screw it and head to Michael's with one of their 50% off coupons and get a new nozzle for ~ $5.

I didn't realize you could open them for a long time. Now I always open up to clean after use. It works so much better if it 's absolutely clean.
After opening I let soak for a few minutes in an empty Tamya paint jar that contains tri-chlore-etylene. Works miracles to dissolve paint (and most of your lungs if you breathe it in).

Just one word of warning if you never took a nozzle apart : there's a SPRING inside. Once I did this wrong, and the needle and spring jumped over my shoulder and went missing for 3 days. It was Junior who found it in the end.

I took Aztek's admonition to never do this to heart...until nothing would come out of the nozzle. I figured out how to get the needle out and cleaned up that and the nozzle, and have never looked back. It is very easy to do, and makes a world of difference. No need to buy new nozzles when just a little elbow grease does the trick. If later, the performance deteriorates, then yes. But really, it is simple to do, and one of the reasons the Aztek is a good brush to use.

Mike

one thing i noticed is aztek has good costomer relations, by removeing the needle and spring i voided the warranty on the nozzles. according to aztek they will replace any nozzle free of charge if it doesn't work properly...but since i live in japan such a nice company does me no good. ps any one seen the new aztek airbrush yet.... i need to order one to replace my aging 470..stug

They give anew one to you free?? How can they tell its been opened ?