That's it - I've had enough of Harder and Steenbeck

[Emophia]

Hi I purchased a Harder and Steenback Ultra this month ago and have been having lots of problems with bubbling/air leak and I can't seem to find the problem.

 

Here is a video where you can see the issue with some alclad light aluminum.

 

 

 

The hose and connectors are fine and I have been testing with a chinese airbrush that came with my compressor and it is spraying fine.

It is a problem in the airbrush but I can't say what.

The needle seems to be sticking pretty far out of the nozzle, past the front of the airbrush, is this normal?

 

 

Cheers.

[little-cars]

Hi,

 

This happens if.... the back of the nozzle isn't flush against the flat metal inside  the brush, the nozzle is split damaged or missing the O ring from the back.

 

 

If you have the 2in1 set, the needle sticking out of the end of the brush indicates the you have either damaged the end of the paint nozzle, or have a mismatched needle nozzle aircap set.

 

Paul

[old thumper]

Little cars has explained it very well. The nozzles can be a bit delicate, I dropped my 2 in 1 the other month and the needle split the nozzle almost in half. I always remove the needle, aircap and nozzle between uses and keep them safe in a tube these days. It is easy to get the needles etc mixed up on the 2 in 1 unless you have two clearly marked tubes to store them in, which was another of my mistakes. I can be a bit lazy when cleaning things up and storing them so all my fault.

One other thought is perhaps the nozzle is the wrong size for the aircap?

 

[Emophia]

Cheers for the replies lads, you're right, there's a tiny split/crack right at the tip of the nozzle. No idea how it happened as it hasn't been dropped yet, maybe I pushed the needle 'in' too hard?

 

Well at least replacements aren't too expensive.

 

Funny that my chinese airbrush trucked along fine for ages, but my first 'proper' one cracks in the first couple uses but what can you do.

Edited April 4, 2017 by Emophia

[Emophia]

One more thing, the needle,  it looks fine, bit if I run my finger up it, right on the top, most of it feels smooth, except for one side where it feels rough right at the end. It doesn't look bent at all though.

 

Is this normal, unlike the nozzle which I'm pretty sure was fine before it broke the needle has been like this since day 1. It didn't seem like an issue so I ignored it.

 

Think it has something to do with the nozzle breaking?

[old thumper]

I don't think the needle should be like that, but as I discovered to my cost these airbrushes are pretty delicate. I think that you get a better deal when you buy a needle and nozzle together, at least the postage is cheaper that way.

[Emophia]

Well the needle has nothing to do with  my handling it that's how it came straight out of the box.

[iSteve]

On 04/04/2016 at 15:39, Texan76 said:

I sure would like to use Gunze, as almost all model kits I build reference their colors. It would save a lot of hassle. Unfortunately, these paints are not available in the USA.

I know I'm really late to the party on this topic, but check this out:

 

https://www.hobbywave.com/modeling_supplies/paints

[Texan76]

Thanks for the link. Those are actually the lacquer based paints. Why those are available here and not the aqueous, I am not sure.

 

I got an Infinity from Paul at little cars U.K., and it seems to perform better than the Evolution. I reserve it for fine detail, while my Badger is my general purpose brush.

[Rob K.]

Hi, 

A little late to the thread, but I finally got my H&S evolution to work again. I had given up on H&S after air leaks at nozzle caps and various o-ring replacement purchases which never seem to last very long before it started to splutter, blow bubbles, etc. Actually bought an Iwata eclipse because I couldn’t work it.

Had some sticky air triggers recently on a few airbrushes I own, so decide to Overhaul them and lubricate at the air valves where applicable and use the badger needle lube etc. After doing the various YouTube round of video’s (not all good), decided to give this beeswax sealing on the H&S’s nozzle cap thread a try with a good amount of scepticism in the process.

Was pleasantly surprised at the result and the fine atomisation. No more leaks, no spluttering or other problems. Anyway, not a new solution, but definitely worth a try if you have been struggling with your H&S like I have.