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Cleaning Your Spray Gun
Fri, 22 Sep 2017Cleaning Your Spray Gun - Step-By-Step Guide
Keeping the spray gun spotlessly clean insures that it sprays properly. Cleaning methods can range from simple hand cleaning to using a gun washer. The method used should follow national, regional, and local regulations.
The spray gun should be cleaned immediately after each use. Newer waterborne paints and clear coats dry very quickly and are very difficult to remove when dry.
Cleaning the air cap and fluid nozzle is particularly important. Partially clogged holes affect the spray pattern and spray gun performance.
Proper gun cleaning can be performed using the following methods:
Guns with metal gravity cups:
1) Remove gun from air supply, empty remaining paint from cup, and fully trigger the gun to drain remaining paint from fluid passages. Solvents, cleaners, and paints should always be poured or expelled into an approved container.
2) Squirt cleaner into the cup, slosh it around, and fully trigger the gun to expel the dirty cleaner. Repeat again and wipe cup out with a clean lint free towel.
3) Remove cup and remove barrel filter if used. Clean filter or replace and reinstall into cup and reassemble cup onto gun.
4) Squirt more cleaner into cup and trigger gun until it is completely expelled.
5) If a waterborne cleaner is used, the gun's fluid passageways should be flushed out immediately after cleaning with a fast drying solvent such as acetone to displace any water from the fluid passageways. This is very important to help prevent possible internal gun corrosion.
6) Remove the air cap, squirt it with cleaner or immerse it in cleaner, and brush away paint residue using a non-metallic, soft bristle brush. Rinse off the cap and wipe with a clean lint free towel and blow dry completely
7) If paint residue is seen inside any of the cap holes, it must be cleaned out using appropriately sized, non-metallic, soft cleaning brushes or wooden picks. Metal picks can damage holes and cause poor spray performance. If metallic picks are used, extreme care must be exercised.
8) Blow off exterior of gun, fluid nozzle, and through the fluid passageway. Reassemble cap onto gun. The gun is now ready for the next job.
Guns with disposable gravity cups:
1) Remove gun from air supply, invert gun and cup, and fully trigger gun to drain paint back into cup.
2) Release trigger and remove cup from gun. Turn gun upright.
3) If used, remove and clean barrel filter.
4) Squirt cleaner into fluid adapter on gun while fully triggering gun to expel dirty cleaner. Repeat until cleaner is fairly clean coming out of gun.
5) Squirt some cleaner into the fluid adapter and brush out the adapter with a properly sized
brush. Rinse out the gun and adapter with cleaner until the cleaner is clean coming out of the gun. Install a clean barrel filter if desired, and finish cleaning procedure per steps 5 through 8
above.
6) Store or dispose of paint remaining in cup as desired.