10 Pest Control Hose Hints — Discover More Today

Here are some tips to keep your pest control sprayer hose in great shape:

Operations:

1. When rolling your power spray hose back onto the hose reel, run the pest control hose through a rag to remove debris that could damage the hose.

2. Inspect your hose (or train your technicians to) regularly for damage, excessive wear, leaks, etc.

3. When the first few feet of hose start showing wear, cut it off BEFORE it leaks and creates a chemical spill. It is much cheaper to get rid of a few feet of hose than it is to miss appointments for a hose repair.

4. Periodically completely unroll your pest spray hose. Power up your system and spray back into the tank. This can help prevent the hose from flattening out and causing pressure-related problems.

5. Periodically reverse your hose. Remove the spray gun and attach the outside end of the hose to the reel. Put your spray gun back on the other end. This will even out the wear and extend hose life.

Purchasing:

6. Don’t buy cheap hose. It will cause problems and downtime that are more costly than the incremental price of the hose.

7. Buy hose with a pressure rating higher than the top pressure on your pump.

8. Buy hose with the smallest inside diameter (ID) needed to get the job done. Most pest control applications are only 1-3 GPM. 3/8” hose can easily handle this volume. Larger hose is heavier and more costly. Note: some termite and weed control applications require higher volumes and larger ID hose (e.g., ½” and up).

9. Because you will be periodically cutting of the end of the hose to prevent leaks, it is advisable when buying new hose to buy a longer hose than you actually need.

10. Standardize the fittings on the hose end so all pest control tools are interchangeable within and among vehicles. This will reduce downtime when a tool fails. Consider the use of quick disconnects to facilitate this swapping.