HOW TO CLEAN YOUR HVLP SPRAY GUN

SEE GUN WASHERS AND SOLVENT SAVER LINE CLEANERS HERE

See a tip at the bottom - something most people forget to do!

1) The spray gun should be lubricated after every cleaning using non-silicon spray gun lube. Place a drop on all moving parts, as shown in illustration. If you do not have spray gun lube you can use vaseline.
2) For "spitting" or bad spray pattern occurs. See trouble shooting section for information on how to correct these problems. You do not need to take the gun apart.
3) Do not submerge your spray gun or soak your spray gun. You may do this as a last resort if a full overhaul is going to be gun and you have a rebuild kit to replace the soft parts. You may soak pieces IF there is no seals or gaskets and only metal parts. If you do not know, it is better not to soak a gun. It will start to leak. Warning: Painters often thoroughly “soak” the spray guns in thinner which has already been used and dirty. Even the most remote drill holes and ducts become blocked with loosened residual paint. The affect of the accumulation of dirt are not immediately apparent, but with the course of time they completely block the air ducts. Treating an intricate, delicate spray gun poorly is one of the “deadly sins“ of a painter.

4) To clean spray gun. Remove all paint from the gun and cup - Clean the Cup. replace with 3 to 4 oz. of compatible solvent. Percolate the spray gun as follows: Loosen the air cap and using 5 psi or less pull the trigger to the full back position, this action will force the material in the gun head back into the cup. Repeat this until the solvent runs clear. B. Wipe off the outside of the spray gun and cup with compatible solvent. Blow-dry and lube.

5. Do not use hard objects such as a wire, paper clip, or welding tip cleaner, to clean the air cap orifices. There are special tools for this purpose. The air cap is made of high alloy heat-treated aluminum and hard objects will damage the orifices. To clean the air cap: dunk it in a compatible cleaning solution and use soft objects, such as a round wooden toothpick or medium bristle brush or reverse blow the passages. Do not soak if it has a plastic retaining ring.

Cleaning and Care

To ensure a long service life and that the tool retains its function, we recommend your spray gun be given certain basic care and be regularly cleaned and lubricated. The following “maintenance intervals“ have proven successful for this:

For Professional and frequent painters

• After each paint job or before each change in colour or material
• “Routine cleaning“ - Several times a week, depending on the material used and the degree of soiling.
• “Thorough cleaning “ - At least once a week

For “infrequent painters“

• Most important - Clean and Lube before your store your item for a break or any long length of time.
• The respective “extent of maintenance“ depends on the operating conditions:

  1. Fill material pot or cup with suitable cleaning agent.
  2. Start up spray gun without pressure and allow the solvent to run through.
  3. Repeat the flushing procedure until the cleaning agent is clear when exiting.
  4. Clean the outside of the spray gun using a cloth soaked in solvent.
  5. Never "Soak" your gun.

• Special brush is used to remove paint residues stuck to the drill holes (in the picture of the paint duct). Special cleaning needles are available for finishing off the smaller drill holes. But careful: Backing up! Do not simply push the paint residues back into the openings! When changing the nozzle set you should always install the complete set consisting of an air cap, paint nozzle and paint pin. Here you must follow the installation regulations of the gun or nozzle manufacturer.

What solvent do I use to clean my gun?
Use whatever you generally use to clean your paint. i.e. lacquer thinner, water, mineral sprits.

Use only liquids approved or recommended by the paint suppliers for your materials. Common such items are water, acetone, mineral spirits. Avoid Chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents, e.g. 1,1,1-trichloro ethane, methylene chloride, etc. can lead to chemical reactions and corrosion on the aluminum or the galvanized parts of the spray guns. (Attention: 1,1,1-trichloro ethane combines with even small quantities of water to form caustic hydrochloric acid!) In addition, solvent-based and water-based paints should not be used with one and the same spray gun: Cleaning agents for paints containing solvents are generally incompatible with water-based paints. Accidental combined operation can lead to defects in the paint surface (craters, stains, poor adhesion, etc.).

Don't forget! Take care of your spray lines and pipes.

Oil and Dirt can build up in your air lines also. If you have hard pipe it is good to flush these with solvent once in a while. After oil has bled through the whole air pipe network you must thoroughly flush with solvent and blown dry. Omitted maintenance is fatal in very long and twisting pipe networks: if all the contamination cannot be removed the compressed air network has to be renewed, and this is expensive.

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