Spray Gun Cleaning Made Easy!

Operations that use spray liquid coating on their products require spray gun appa­ratus to be cleaned. Historically, cleaning was done manually over a 55-gallon drum. The result was evaporation of solvents into the envi­ronment and generation of excessive hazardous wastes. The environment and businesses paid a high cost. These pollutants potentially are damaging the environment. As a result many businesses are experiencing large expenses. Spray guns not properly maintained result in poorly painted products. As a result there may be a need to be repainted, costing extra work on the unit and lost production. Today’s production environ­ment requires quality while continual­ly to improve the speed of every process, including painting. New spray gun cleaning systems· are available to improve on the quality, results, speed, cost, and liability of an oper­ation. Below is a review of these systems. 

Enclosed automatic paint gun washers: This process involves an enclosure with a manifold of multiple spray nozzles spraying the outside of a spray gun, while another nozzle directs a flow of sol­vent through the fluid passageway of the gun (see Figure 1). A clip holds the spray gun trigger in its compressed state. This allows the flow of  cleaning fluid through the gun, exiting through the fluid tip. 

 

Some designs allow the use of previously used solvents to pre-clean the gun then clean sol­vents to rinse the gun. Such a method mini­mizes solvent use in the overall process. A system also exists to protect air passage­ways from solvents and residues. As well this protects seals on the air passage side of the spray guns. Enclosed automatic paint gun cleaners are the best way to reduce evaporation, protecting workers from exposure to toxins. When it comes to cleaning a spray gun to a level needed by a techni­cian, enclosed automatic paint gun cleaners have proven average. 

 

Manual paint gun washers: This process typi­cally involves a flow brush with stiff bristles and a flow of solvent to remove paint residues from the spray gun (see Figure 2). Some systems also include a spigot or shower flow to manually rinse off the remaining residue. This is the simplest system for cleaning a spray gun. 

 

Solvents are exposed more within this design, meaning there is more evaporation and greater potential for workers to be exposed to toxins. When it comes to cleaning, however, manual paint gun washers can clean guns more effectively than enclosed automatic cleaners. Some designs provide the ability to use previously used solvents to pre­clean, and clean solvents to rinse. This process min­imizes solvent use by up to 50%.