“Spray Gun Performance”
At BECCA, we have encountered many painters who believe their spray paint guns are being cleaned appropriately. Unfortunately, we have found many problems with current industry practices of cleaning spray guns.
Here is what we see:
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Poor Spray Gun Cleaning Practices:
Most Common Poor Practice Used –
The common use is of a squirt bottle or ketchup bottle to trickle solvent through the spray gun. This is not a sufficient cleaning practice for spray guns. As a result, several issues occur when using a squirt bottle to clean paint spray guns…
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- As a result, the low pressure of the bottle does not provide enough pressure to clear out chunks of paint internally on spray guns. Therefore residue and debris are left behind.
- Air pressure is usually not connected to the back of the spray gun, thus paint is allowed to work its way into the air passageways.
- In some cases, tube or flat brushes are used or not used to address the air cap and fluid tip which ensure all residues are removed.
2nd Most Common Poor Practice Used –
Ineffective spray gun cleaners that do not provide cleaning consistency by using improper tools and/or cleaning materials to achieve success. These poor systems, because of their inability to clean a paint spray gun, good painters forced to use the above practice as the lesser of two evils! A poor painter will just continue to use the ineffective spray gun cleaner!
Does the above make any sense?
- The most important tool a painter has is the spray gun applying the paint materials and there is not practice for success. It is left to the painter to figure it out! Material costs are the most important aspects to control and we leave the spray gun, the applicator of paint materials, the largest reason for touch-ups, redo’s, and customer complaints to the painter to decide the best practices used. The same person we pressure for production!
- It is not the painter’s fault! It is everyone in this industry!
- Paint Companies & Paint Jobbers for not placing the importance of the cleaning process and how that affects painting success
- Paint Companies for not making it part of their training
- Shops for purchasing the lowest cost piece of equipment or Jobbers for providing the lowest cost equipment
Now that we have identified the problem then what is the solution?
- Developing a “System” approach to cleaning Spray Guns
- Teaching “System” that is not only used by painters but found to provide consistent success day in and day out!
- A “System” that is on target with what the top 10% of painters found to be successful! A system that matches those preferred cleaning practices and utilizes them in their cleaning system!
*Part One Of A Four-Part series
Critical to Every Paint Operations Success! – Part 2
