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Quick modification for Harder Steenbeck Ultra airbrushes


Dave1973

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I own a few airbrushes, three or four chinese ones, (used for primer coverage and clearcoats)

I use harder stenbecks Ultra with .2 kit and Infinity CRPlus with .4 kit.

Then a Paasche Hsr for primer detailing.

The ultra is a good airbrush, but suffers one misfortune, the needle tip and cap design.

The CR plus and infinity range come with a different cap and push on tip cover, but nearly all use the same needle tip. This is a pinch tip design, which i think is totally imperative when spraying acrylics. Dry tips easily fixed!

But the Ultra range come with a solid cap/cover design which is very difficult to backflow and nearly impossible to quickly clean tip dry problems.

So here is the fix.

Whichever needle size you have (.2 or .4) all you need is the CRPlus or infinity cap and push on pimch type cover. They fit perfectly, and presto! A much more user friendly pinch tip on the Ultra.

Surprising that Harder Steenbeck dont list it as an option!!

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The ultra is a simplified version of the Evolution/Infinity brush.

They have simplified the manufacturing process to cut costs so it can be offered for the price that a novice is happy to pay.

For example push in paint cups and solid nozzle cap.

Officially there is no expansion past the Ultra 2in1, but as the threads are the same some things that may work, but are not officially supported on the brush.

Paul

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Thanks paul.

I think the back end of the Ultra is certainly different, and would require almost everything from the rear of the evo/infi brushes to upgrade, and as you say not cost effective.

The front cap is only £18 for the standard evo, fineline kit, and fits perfectly. Works exceptionally well.

I guess they dont want to advertise that fact to encourage buyers up to the Evolution range.

My point is, if money is tight and you want a decent airbrush, the Ultra is a great buy, because the body is in effect an Evolution, and those parts will fit later.

Going the Iwata (sic) neo route at the same cost is personally not a good choice. Mainly because its Not an iwata!

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  • 5 weeks later...

There are various ways to add the pincer aircaps, There are standard finish and CRplus finish ones available.

People normally go for the standard finish and I've put some links in for these to show the options and part numbers..

There are two pincer aircaps, one that fits the 0.4mm needle & nozzle and one that fits both the 0.15 and 0.2mm needle/nozzle combination.

http://www.modellingtools.co.uk/air-cap-04-mm-infinity-126793-3487-p.asp

http://http://www.modellingtools.co.uk/air-cap-015-02-mm--infinity-126783-3486-p.asp

If you buy them as a needle, nozzle & aircap set the bundle saves you a few pounds over buying the parts seperately.

http://www.modellingtools.co.uk/needlenozzle-set-04-mm--infinity-air-cap-126843-3475-p.asp

http://www.modellingtools.co.uk/needlenozzle-set-02-mm--infinity-style-air-cap-126833-3474-p.asp

http://www.modellingtools.co.uk/needlenozzle-set-015-mm----infinity-style-air-cap-126823-3473-p.asp

Ta,

Paul

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  • 7 years later...

Folks thanks.for all the advice in this thread I bought a .15mm needle and the pinch cap for the ultra. Worked perfectly and I wish I had done it ages ago, I can see so much better when am airbrushing,  you don't really realise how limiting the clunky standard nozzle on the ultra is until you swap it over. 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I bought a H&S infinity cr plus and I absolutely hate it! 9 times out of 10 it just spits air back into the cup and blows the paint everywhere. I have changed the Teflon washer as some people have suggested but it still does it. Both the 0.2 and 0.4 tips do it. I wish I hadn't bought now. 

Any ideas. Perhaps there is a mod for this as well!

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If it spits back the air cap isn’t tight enough.  Or some dried paint may be blocking the nozzle.  That’s been my experience on occasion.  I have both H&S Ultra and Evolution which are great. 

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I have the cap on as tight as it can go and I am quite thorough with my cleaning. I use liquid reamer to clean the brush after lacquers and the foaming cleaner for acrylics, could these cleaners be affecting the washers?

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The nozzle cap washer is not solvent resistant and is prone to damage or deforming. It's a cheap and easy fix to replace it.

That solved the problems I had with my H&S, but I've since changed to an Iwata Eclipse which suits me better

 

/P

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The rubber seal on the nozzle cap IS solvent resistant. It swells up a bit after taking a hit of lacquer thinner and it goes back to the normal size in a matter of minutes after it dries up. I'm not 100% sure, but I think mine still has the original seal (after....6 years maybe?). 
Make sure you didn't cross the set (the 0.2 nozzle cover with the 0.4 nozzle, or maybe the needle...). There's markings to help you sort them out. The nozzle covers you can tell apart just by looking at the diameter of the holes.
Get a dental brush and clean the nozzle covers, there might be some dried up paint in there blocking your airflow. Every time I had bubbling I just gave the nozzle cover a twist and the problem went away.

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