DIY Multi Coat Nozzle Repair W/Pictures

Ok guys I have had a lot of people calling me about issues with the multi coat tip. A lot of the issues were just improper powder flow but some people actually had issues with the nozzle itself. I am posting this guide for those people. Keep in mind that you do this modification at your own risk and Columbia may void your warranty if you do this. However my nozzle went out a few months back and I made this modification to it and it has actually worked better than new ever since. Here is a play by play guide for everyone to fix their own tip and get back to coating. I hope this helps you guys out!

For this modification I took the standard 6" extension that comes with the system and basically turned it into a multi coat nozzle. I also used part of a standard tip as well. This will work on the 4" tip but I found better results using the 6" myself. You will also need some 19 gauge hanging wire that can be found at your local hardware store, I purchased mine from Autozone in a small roll. The hanging wire will be your new electrode and it will be replacing that flimsy little wire that was in there before that was prone to burning out.

Now you need to completely disassemble to tip, to do this just pull the barrel from the base and then unscrew the electrode housing to expose the electrode. Now grab the old electrode and pull it out of the base. Now you need to get the graphite ring out of the base. There are several way to do this but compressed air is the easiest. You can also use a xacto knife to pry it out or push it out from the bottom using a wire. After you have it completely apart and the graphite ring removed you can install the new electrode. Cut about a 6" piece of wire and straighten it out. now insert it up through and out the top of the nozzle base. Once you have pushed it through you need to bend the tip 90*. this will keep the wire in place and also give the graphite ring more surface contact area on the electrode. Now just install the graphite ring over the bent wire to hold it in place. You will need a pair of pliers to push the ring back down into the channel and to make the ring form around the wire.

Now that you have the new electrode installed you need to take the electrode housing tip off of the standard nozzle and slide it onto the new electrode. It is a tight fit but that is a good thing as it hold secure the electrode. Now screw the new electrode housing tip into the base and trim the excess exposed wire at the tip to about 1/2" to 3/4". Now you can slide the barrel back onto the base and you are ready to rock!

Here are some pictures to the nozzle I made for myself:

Disassembled Nozzle


Standard electrode housing installed with new electrode


New electrode after housing removal


View inside nozzle base


View of the 90* bent wire under the graphite ring


Pliers used to press ring back into place and form ring around wire (be careful here!)


Here are some modifications I made to mine in addition to the electrode change. These mods are not required but they do help help with performance.


As you can see in the picture below I cut a opening half way through the nozzle base to expose the electrode. Don't cut to far and be sure to do it just like in the picture so you will not weaken the tip. You will also have to trim the threads off of the standard tip electrode housing as it will cover the opening if you do not. The best way to do this is to remove the electrode and install the electrode housing before making your cut.This opening did noticeably improve the charging on my tip and the only down side is you need to remove the electrode housing during cleaning now.


The pictures below shows the new tip I made for my nozzle I cut the tip off of the 6" electrode housing that is no longer used and slide the small conical deflector on it. I then unscrewed the black center and drilled out the center out of the tip. this allow powder to flow through the tip also and helps when coating parts with recessed areas as some powder flow directly into them as it would without the deflector. So you basically get the best of both worlds.



If you guys have any questions please feel free to ask I would be happy to help.