Yaqi TFC/Ultima/Brass spring upgrade

[AshleyC]

I first purchased a Yaqi TFC mainly because of its outstanding price. It turned out to be a good, if aggressive razor. A short while afterwards I ordered the stainless steel Ultima version too.

The design, as delivered, does have one weakness. The compression spring. At the lower settings it works fine, but as you go beyond 4 the spring loses compression and the other "spring" in your razor--the blade itself--pushes back against it. This leads to visible uneven top cap gap with the base plate. And weaker blade clamping and rigidity. That can lead to blade chatter, irritation, and nicks.

Today I received replacement springs to swap out with the TFC and Ultima.

Amazon.com

The size is 10x0.8x15mm, in case the ones linked become unavailable and you want to source springs elsewhere. And they should be of stainless steel.

The center and left springs are the ones from Yaqi, as delivered. The one on the right is the new aftermarket spring. Quite a difference!

These come in a pack of five for $5.69. Rex Supply sells a replacement spring for the Ambassador. I do not know it's dimensions, but I remember a guy on YT using it to correct these deficiencies in the early versions of the Pearl Flexi.

Of course, these arrived too late for me to try out today...

 

[JAHE]

Looking forward to reading your opinion.

 

[AshleyC]

Looking forward to reading your opinion.

Decided to use the Yaqi TFC this morning to test the new spring. Went with a new Willy's blade.

I was going to set it to "4", but that wouldn't be a good test. So all three passes were on "6". No visible unevenness between top cap and baseplate, and baseplate was more positively tensioned. No mushy irresoluteness.

One nick, but it was a re-opening of one from two days ago and not attributable to the razor today. It stopped bleeding before my 3rd pass was over anyway.

My opinion is that any Gibbs type razor that can be disassembled and comes with a 10mm spring, benefits greatly by adding a 15mm spring.

 

[AshleyC]

I used the Yaqi Ultima for the first time yesterday since the 15mm spring upgrade on August 7. Blade was a new Derby Premium.

It appears that the price paid for going from a 10mm to 15mm compression spring is that I lose half an increment of adjustability on the low end. So now, "1.5" is the lowest setting possible for this razor. I think it is a good trade for increased blade clamping and rigidity at all settings, especially on the high end.

I think this was the first time I ever used this Yaqi Ultima without incurring a weeper or nick. Probably my 7th or 8th try. I started out on "4" and this is a very blade-feel razor. You will not be constantly losing and re-finding the narrow "sweet spot" of blade engagement, like I do with Techs, Fatip, or PAL Injecto-Matic. The blade on the Ultima is always doing something.

So I get through that first pass and I haven't nicked anything and I start thinking, "I'm close to bowling a 300. Don't screw this up!" I dialed it down to "1.5" for the 2nd and 3rd passes. I decided not to chase BBS, but after the third pass I wouldn't have needed to anyway. It was a really good, blood free shave. I think in large part because of the Derby Premium blade. I think it is a severely under-appreciated blade.

 

[ivan_101]

Do the replacement springs fit both razors on the first photo? I am currently waiting on the brass version to arrive.

 

[AshleyC]

Yes, they fit both. And I used my TFC yesterday and noticed a slight variance from the Ultima. As already mentioned, my lowest setting with the new spring in my Ultima is 1.5. But with the new spring in my TFC, I can still get down to 1.

I expect that your new brass will disassemble and allow a spring substitution as does the Ultima and TFC.

I don't know why the Pearl Flexi, Rex, and the rest put on thread lockers so you can't disassemble them.

 

[ivan_101]

I expect that your new brass will disassemble and allow a spring substitution as does the Ultima and TFC.

Yes it does.