Your Power Sprayer Tank is NOT a Trash Can

The tank on your power sprayer is not a trash can.  This may sound obvious, but our spray equipment repair experience proves it is not uncommon for spray techs to use their spray tank as a trash can.

Here is a great example.  Client brought their weed sprayer in for service, reporting pump not functioning properly.  We found the power sprayer filter clogged with disposable rubber gloves.  The white stuff is dried herbicide.  The tech assumed that since there is a hole in the top of the tank, it must be for trash.

This spray equipment problem is common.  Some of the stuff we have found in tanks (power sprayer and manual sprayers): beer cans, soda cans, food wrappers, rocks, men's underwear, Honda pull cord.  The most common foreign object found in spray tanks: labels from pesticide & herbicide labels.  Often the debris gets caught in the filter.   Sometimes debris can clog the output line starving the pump.  This is particularly a problem with top pickup, which uses a pickup tube to suck material to the top of the tank.   Heavy stuff like rocks usually sits in the bottom of the tank.

Here are some key points:
1.  instruct techs that nothing goes in the tank except water and chemical
2.  techs don't listen, so
3.  re-instruct techs that nothing goes in the tank except water and chemical.
4.  spot check filters regularly to find/remove any debris
5.  periodically completely clean out spray tank. For manual sprayers, clean out monthly; power sprayers  clean out quarterly.
6.  run clean water through the entire system to help prevent chemical buildup. Consider using a tank cleaner product to increase effectiveness of cleanout.

Read more: http://www.qspray.com/blog/#ixzz2LN7RIgO1

Power Sprayer Debris - What's That Turd Doing in There?

What is this junk and how did it get into the power sprayer? 

Technician brought his power sprayer in last week and said it wouldn't spray.  Our power sprayer experts checked all the usually suspects when someone brings in a weed sprayer or pest sprayer with a problem:
- Clogged filter
- Clogged tip
- Air leak, etc.
Couldn't find a problem.  Then they started blowing out hoses to attempt to find a clog.  None of the hoses were overly clogged.
Eventually they determined that the hose reel hub was almost completely clogged with a soft sludge.  They pulled the input hose off the reel and blew out the brown green crap you see above (George Washington wasn't clogging the reel, he is provided for size comparison).
Think of how hard the pump had to work to push water through or against this stuff.  The pump life was definately shortened because of it.
 It is critcal to clean out your power sprayer periodically.  Run clean water throught the system.  Once a month would be great, though most people don't even do it once per year.
If it has been a while since you cleaned our your sprayer, you probably need to check the hoses and fittings as well.  Use a compressor to blow air through each hose.  Be sure to blow the debris out of the system, not deeper into it.

If fittings are getting clogged, replace them.  It is faster to replace them then to try to clean them out.
Here is a earlier post detailed power sprayer tank clean out.