Clean the Debris Out of Spray Equipment and Save Time & Money

Posted by Andrew Greess on Dec 28, 2018

Everyone can probably relate to clogged sink drains. Soap and other debris will build up over time, water starts to drain slower and slower until you need to call in the plumber to snake the drain clean. It’s a relatively simple fix while not always convenient.

With commercial spray equipment this is a fix you want to avoid because it can quickly become not such a simple fix. This will happen to your lawn and pest control spray equipment too if proper care is not taken. A simple rinse with water and flush after uses is all it takes.

We can see proof that chemical build up happens when left to sit and harden in the lines. The fix isn’t always as simple as snaking the lines. Many times, with spray equipment plumbing lines have to be completely replaced. Leaving debris in your lines is a waste of time and money. Stop flushing money down the drain.

Stay tuned for our next video all about Pressure.

Andrew Greess: Number four, clean it out. I mentioned that a lot of the debris we find in tanks, and when I say tanks I mean power sprayers, I mean B&Gs, I mean backpack sprayers, any kind of tank, debris in your tank means wasted time and wasted money. I've got some examples. The first three examples, these are all Birchmeier, a backpack.

This is a Birchmeier backpack, and you can see that chemical build up down there. Eventually, that build up is going to come loose and clog something and cause a problem. In this example, this is the handle. There's supposed to be a filter in this handle, but it's so full with debris. They didn't have a filter in there.

This is the check valve on a Birchmeier, and you can see that piece of chemical right there. What that means is it doesn't take much to interrupt the operation of one of these check valves. What this means is you can't pump this backpack. You got to clean your stuff out. I would triple rinse your tank and then run clean water through it whether it's a B&G or a backpack.

Here's that B&G filter photo I've showed you already. Here's some really cool photos. This is a pick‑up tube on a landscape sprayer. That's fertilizer clog in a pick‑up tube. This is a weed control sprayer, and you can see the weed control product starting to clog that filter. This is what I think of my arteries after having lunch at McDonald's. They're just closing up.

Think of how much harder that pump has to work to suck through that or push through that. This is what happens. This is a diaphragm pump. You can see the chemical buildup here. Eventually it starves the pump of water. The diaphragms burst and then all the moving parts just melt.

This is supposed to be perfectly smooth. There's metal wielded to it and its all scored. This is a thousand dollar pump, total loss because they didn't clean it out.

Termite pump. Gear pump. Totally rock‑hard termiticide. Think of how much time this wasted. They went to their job site, couldn't do their job, drove to our shop. We had to figure out what was wrong, open it up, clean this out, put it back together. Hours.

This is my favorite one of all. This was a landscape sprayer. The green stuff is fertilizer. They came in and said, "My pump doesn't work." We look in the tank. The green stuff is fertilizer. It was about six inches thick of solid fertilizer. It was really heavy non‑water‑soluble fertilizer. It'd all sank to the bottom and they never cleaned it out.

These, on the right, are the fittings. Can you imagine the pump trying to suck or blow through that? It was a total loss. The tank was a total loss. The pump was a total loss. All the plumping had to be replaced. Thousands of dollars because they never cleaned it out.

If you missed any of the videos in this series, catch up on them here:

Experience Pays: Top 10 Avoidable Spray Equipment Problems And Ways To Avoid Them

Choosing the Right Spray Equipment Engines, Backpacks, Pumps and Trailers

Spray Fittings and Tanks - The Right Small Spray Equipment Components Matter Too

Oh The Hose Reel Problems We’ve Seen!

Cut Out Design Flaws and Down Time with Better Spray Equipment Design

Common Sense Missing in Some Backpack Sprayers

Avoid Problems By Consulting Experts in Their Field

Bad Design = More Work And Money in Repairs

Need Easy Access to Spray Equipment Filters

Bad Spray Equipment Design Leads to Tank and Pump Troubles

Why Filtration is Critical in Weed Control and Pest Control Sprayers