How to Clean Out Your Sprayer
As a Service Center, we often repair sprayers that either weren’t cleaned out properly or not at all.
Spray Equipment is probably the only tool where the cleaning process plays a VITAL role in maintaining longevity and reliability.
For water-based coatings, it may be obvious to use water to clean it out. It may not be enough however, to stop when the water just starts coming out the gun. Although that may be enough for overnight cleaning or transporting between jobsites, if stored for longer than that try the following procedure:
Establish a prime with water to clear the drain tube.
Remove the spray tip and hold the trigger dumping the paint back into the can or waste bucket. Once water starts to come out, move the gun to the water bucket and recirculate for a while to dissolve paint inside the suction hose, filter, manifold, and hoses.
After a few minutes, prime pump with fresh water and then trigger gun into waste container until the fresh water comes out.
Put the tip back on, spray fresh water through it and clean the tip guard and gun.
Finally, take the filters out and swish them in the fresh water and re-install.
If you are storing the Sprayer:
Prime the sprayer with RV anti-Freeze, pump saver or mineral spirits to keep the pump components from rusting and freezing. Note: Soapy water cleans out paint better than plain water and hot soapy water does the best. If you are cleaning out oil-based coatings cycle the same procedure as above only use the appropriate solvent. Solvent is a good corrosion and freeze protector. Note that hot solvents can damage leather packings, so if you have leather in your packing stack, prime the pump with mineral spirits when you’re done.
Alcohol does not protect from corrosion.
If you’re cleaning out moisture cured coatings, be sure to recirculate solvent for a longer period to separate the coating from inside of hose and then introduce fresh solvent without recirculating.
If you have any questions, feel free to call me. 1-800-400-5084