Needles travelling with an upward motion, WTF?

I have an on going issue with my Vivace 3.5 stroke that I wanted to ask you guys about. Maybe some of you have noticed the same thing with yours?

Just so the variables are under stood, I use the clear rinse tubes from Needlejig, Needlejig needles, and a 3.5 Vivace.

Okay, here is my issue. When I load a needle (mag or round) into the Vivace and snap it into the needle holster, the needle will travel at an upward angle. Its like the clip pulls the bar too far down causing the needles to sit on the corner of the tip opposed to laying flat. When you step on the pedal, the upward motion is very apparent. When traveling at this angle, the needles aren't getting saturated with ink like they should be and that is a problem.
I have to bend my bars close to the needles (instead of the center) and bend my needles down as well to have a chance at a flat ride and even then it is iffy. Friction becomes my enemy here. I have also tried flipping my needles around so the solder bar rides under the needles to combat the weird angle. Rounds dont suffer much from this, but a mag set up like this rides a little strange to me.

These tubes from neeldejig are relatively new. Could the mold for the tips be a hair too high causing a down pressured needle bar to ride at an angle? Does anyone else use these tubes?
I'm sure Ray does a lot of research before releasing his product, but could there be something that causes the needle to enter a tube too low or for the tube to sit too high?

Has anyone else had an issue with this before? I would love to hear some insight into this. Maybe an efficient way to combat it.

i haven't used those tubes or needles, but i have a good amount of hours with a neo tat. I found that bending the needle head down was better than bending the needle bar. It sits really nicely in a diamond tip that way. It also prevents the needle from walking when lining.

Had the same problem with both the Bishops I had you have to bend the needle head properly sometimes even to the side. Could also be a problem with the needle itself if its not soldered properly. I was about to cut the needle bar clip a couple of times these things suck ass from my point of view.

i have a co-worker who use the nipple/grommet upside down on the a-bar. says it lowers it just a bit to make them slide more even.

if your grommet is too tall this can happen as well.

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Originally Posted by Administrator

if your grommet is too tall this can happen as well.

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Yeah, the upside down grommet idea is worth a shot. I would think that since the needle clip grabs the needle and pulls it down to the exact same point, maybe this wont matter too much though? It almost seems like the clip would be the "starting point," so to say, of the needle bar.

And Wildboy, I'll try some, head-only bending as well. What do you mean bending to the side? I'll normally twist my tubes a little if the needles are set up on the bar slightly angled. Is that what you mean?

I know one artist that uses the goodluck irons tubes, with the neotat they use paper towel grommets and no problem. The grommets they like with coil machines are too tall when loaded in the neotat paired with the good luck irons and some disposable tubes.

Silicon tubing, instead of grommets can do wonders as well

I may be wrong, but the Neo tat documentation states to not bend the needle on the bar, but down by the solder joint. I bet this has something to do with the clip.