Koch-Chemie Spray Head "Star" (28/400) CHS-3AN by Canyon 1 Stück

Canyon CHS-3AN for precise spraying on 28/400 bottles

What is the Canyon CHS-3AN? A chemical-resistant spray head with a 28/400 thread and an infinitely adjustable nozzle from pinpoint jet to fine mist. No foam attachment, not for high pressure, not compatible with 28/410 bottles.

The Canyon CHS-3AN spray head is a chemical trigger from Canyon, sold by Koch-Chemie under the "Star" name, that fits any bottle with a 28/400 thread. The nozzle adjusts steplessly between a pinpoint jet and a fine mist, with a mid-range stroke of 1.2 ml per spray. That makes it the go-to head for 1,000 ml HDPE cylinder bottles, the ones detailers use to bottle up their own cleaners, quick detailers and sealants.

• Stepless nozzle from jet to mist. One twist of the head switches between a focused jet for wheels and bug splatter and a fine aerosol for finish sprays or plastic care. You don't need a second spray head for both jobs, and you keep decanting to a minimum.
• 1.2 ml stroke per spray. A mid-range stroke — enough product to lay it down across a fender, but metered enough that you won't pump a 1,000 ml bottle dry in ten minutes. With typical detailing use, one bottle lasts 30 to 40 spray bursts across the whole car.
• Chemical-resistant internals. The spring, valve and seal are built for surfactants, IPA-based solvents and mildly alkaline APC cleaners. Cheap discount spray heads lose spring tension after two or three weeks with aggressive cleaners — that's just not the CHS-3AN's problem.

Detailing1's tip from the shop: The most common mix-up is the thread. 28/400 and 28/410 look identical, but they only seal properly on the matching bottles. The Canyon CHS-3AN spray head goes on our 1,000 ml HDPE cylinder bottle and on any third-party bottle with a 28/400 neck. For the original 500 and 750 ml Koch-Chemie bottles you need the Opus spray head with a 28/410 thread. The wrong thread means: it sits crooked, doesn't seal, pulls air and atomises unevenly.

Twist it stepless. Lock it for continuous spraying.

The Canyon CHS-3AN spray head works with a twist head that has four main positions: OFF (closed), Stream (pinpoint jet), Spray (mist) and the smooth in-between stages. The "Stream" setting delivers a concentrated jet with reach out to about 40 cm — perfect for the gaps between wheel spokes or targeted bug pre-treatment on the bonnet. In "Spray" mode the nozzle atomises into a fine aerosol that lays down evenly at about 25–30 cm.

For continuous spraying during a foam wash or a wide quick-detailer pass, the CHS-3AN has a lock on the trigger. You pull the trigger all the way and push the little plastic tab forward — the spray head then stays open without you having to hold it. That saves your wrist on bigger cars and makes laying product down on estate roofs or SUV side panels far more relaxed.

The piston mechanism is built as a so-called "ring-lip piston" — that's Canyon's term for a sealing lip that gives under pressure and seals cleanly on the return stroke. In practice that means: even after 2,000 to 3,000 spray bursts the stroke stays constant at 1.2 ml, as long as you haven't clogged the head with chemistry left to dry inside.

Working clean means setting the nozzle to OFF after every job and, with aggressive cleaners, pulling some clean water through. Otherwise surfactants and waxes dry in the inner channel and block the valve within a few days. Ignore that and you swap a 4-euro spray head every three months instead of every two years — that's by far the most common reason spray heads fail early.

Fits 28/400. Not 28/410.

The CHS-3AN fits any bottle with a 28/400 thread — the European standard for 1,000 ml HDPE cylinder bottles in the detailing world. That includes our HDPE cylinder bottle 28/400, the CarPro Dilute bottles and most neutral empties from detailing wholesale.

The number "28/400" tells you two things: the neck outer diameter (28 mm) and the thread type to SPI standard (400 = a shallow thread with 6.3 turns per inch). The 28/410 thread is almost identical in diameter but has a different flank geometry. You can barely see the difference — but you can measure it: a 28/410 spray head on a 28/400 bottle sits crooked and only seals on one side.

This spray head doesn't fit the original 500 ml and 750 ml Koch-Chemie bottles — those carry a 28/410 thread and come with their spray head fitted from the factory. For 28/400 bottles the Canyon CHS-3AN spray head is the right part, but it's no replacement for high-pressure pump sprayers like an iK Multi 3 or iK Foam Pro 2. The output is enough for manual detailing, not for active pressure build-up or foam generation.

If you often switch between spraying overhead and the normal spray direction, take a look at the iK Trigger 360° from the same Canyon family. It sprays upside down too — handy for wheel-arch cleaning or in tight engine-bay corners — has the same 28/400 fitting, but costs a euro more per unit and about five euros more in a five-pack.

Your workhorse for bottling your own cleaners

The Canyon CHS-3AN spray head is the right call when you dilute concentrates like Green Star, Pol Star or Finish Spray Exterior yourself and work out of the 1,000 ml spray bottle. For workshops and detailers running several bottles in parallel, it pays to buy it as a spare — a second spray head costs less than a new bottle plus head.

It's less suited if you only buy ready-made spray products from Koch-Chemie, since those come with the Opus spray head already fitted. It has no place on a 5-litre canister either — there a pump or pressure sprayer does the work. Also off-limits: strongly acidic wheel cleaners like the Koch-Chemie Felgenreiniger Säure (Rrp). The CHS-3AN's acid resistance ends at pH values around 2.5 — anything below that attacks the seals within a few weeks.

If you're starting from scratch, go straight for the spray head + 1,000 ml HDPE bottle set. The set costs 7.49 euros against 7.98 euros for the separate parts — two fewer lines in the cart and a bottle that seals perfectly straight from the factory. For labelling your own decants, grab a waterproof industrial marker or a pre-printed label: contents, dilution, fill date. An unlabelled spray bottle of diluted APC next to one of diluted glass cleaner is the classic among detailer mix-ups — and exactly why pros label every bottle.

The Detailing1 insight to close: if you're honest about it, you don't swap the Canyon CHS-3AN spray head because it breaks, but because of contamination. A spray head that ran APC for years can never be fully switched over to glass cleaner — microscopic surfactant residue in the inner channel foams the glass cleaner up and leaves streaks. The fix is a fixed assignment: one spray head per product type.

In the shop you mark the trigger straight away with a dot of paint marker. Green for glass cleaner, red for APC, blue for quick detailer, yellow for IPA wipe-downs. Four heads, four bottles, no mix-up — and each head then lasts its two to three years too, because it runs constant chemistry instead of seeing different surfactants every week.

Durability in numbers: with daily pro use and proper care (a water flush after the shift, OFF position for storage) the Canyon CHS-3AN spray head averages 18,000 to 25,000 spray bursts. At a 1.2 ml stroke that works out to about 25 to 30 fully emptied 1,000 ml bottles before valve tension or the sealing lip noticeably fade. Hobby detailers in practice never swap the head for wear — only for contamination or a misplaced bottle.

Using the Canyon CHS-3AN Spray Head

Assembly, nozzle adjustment, continuous operation

Assembly begins with the bottle. Place the Canyon CHS-3AN spray head onto a 1,000 ml HDPE cylinder bottle with a 28/400 thread and tighten it hand-tight clockwise. Do not use pliers or tools — the thread is flat, if tightened too much, the sealing lip will deform and then draw air even more easily.

You adjust the nozzle by rotating the head: OFF for storage, Stream for a concentrated jet, Spray for an aerosol. All intermediate stages between Stream and Spray are infinitely adjustable — calibrate it once for your preferred spray pattern, then mark the position with a fine line on the edge of the head.

For continuous operation when foaming or applying quick detailer over a large area, press the trigger and push the plastic tab on the handle forward. The trigger remains open, and the pump operates without hand pressure. To return to normal operation, pull the tab back and the trigger clicks into its home position.

For accessories related to self-filling, take a look at our category Spray Bottles and Pressure Pump Sprayers — there you will find suitable bottles, scale variants, and high-pressure alternatives.

Notes: The Canyon CHS-3AN is not suitable for acid cleaners below pH 2.5, not for strong solvent-based tar removers, and not for high-pressure foam generation. After each use, set the nozzle to OFF, and for aggressive cleaners, briefly flush with clear water, otherwise, chemicals will crystallize in the inner channel. Store frost-free between 5 and 35 °C, upright, so that the seal is not unilaterally stressed. Use one spray head firmly per product type — contamination from product changes is by far the most common reason for diminishing spray quality.