When you’re not using your spray unit you need to ensure it is stored properly. Storing your unit can increase its lifespan and reduce maintenance costs. Even if you plan to leave your airless sprayer overnight correct cleaning of the unit is critical. It’s even more important to store your unit correctly if you plan on not using it for a while, if you don’t you may find you’ll struggle to prime the next time you come to use it.
The first step in storing your airless sprayer is flushing out all material from the sprayer. If you don’t flush your sprayer you run the risk of residual material clogging the machine.
How do I flush out my machine?
- Turn off power to the machine
- Turn the pressure control to the lowest setting
- Turn the prime valve to the open position
- Remove the spray tip and guard from the gun
- Remove the fluid intake and drain tube from the material and wipe any excess material off
- Place the fluid intake into a bucket of water/flushing fluid
- Place the drain tube into a waste bucket
- Turn the prime valve to spray
- Point the gun into the paint bucket, pull the trigger then power up the machine
- Increase the pressure slowly whilst holding down the gun trigger
- When the material flow ends and you see water/flushing fluid appear, turn the power to the machine off and release the trigger
Using Pump Armor
The next step in properly storing your machine is using Pump Armour. Pump Armor is a storage protection liquid, made to be primed into the pump when the spraying unit is not in operation. Pump Armour protects the pump from freezing and corrosion when not in use. It also helps to keep all parts of the pump lubricated and stops the seals from drying out.
You should always use Pump Armor when you plan on storing your machine for more than a day. By doing this you will avoid costly maintenance repairs on your unit.
Should I dilute Pump Armor?
Pump Armor can be diluted for daily cleaning, you can dilute with water up to 20%. If you are storing your unit for a longer period time, we recommend that you should use it undiluted, straight out the bottle.
Can I reuse Pump Armor?
Pump Armor isn’t too expensive, so most don’t reuse it however, it is possible to. When flushing the Pump Armor out the unit you can easily refill the container. Make sure that the pump Armor that has been flushed out of your unit is clean and free of any impurities.
Can I use antifreeze instead of Pump Armor?
Pump Armor is very similar to antifreeze so many will use antifreeze as a subsite. We don’t recommend this however as pump armour helps protect your pump against corrosion and helps lubricate it. Antifreeze will only protect your pump from damage in cold conditions.
How do I prime the pump with Pump Armor?
- Remove the gun and the hose from the unit
- Remove the filter from the suction tube
- Place the suction tube in the bottle of Pump Armor
- Place the return tube into an empty cup
- Turn pressure control to the lowest setting
- Turn the prime valve to the open position
- Turn the power on
- Slowly increase the pressure, drawing the Pump Armor into the pump
- When you see the Pump Armor coming through the return tube decrease the pressure
- Turn off power to the unit
- Turn the prime valve to the closed position
- Carefully remove the suction tube from the Pump Armor bottle, making sure to draw all the remaining Pump Armor inside the suction tube into bottle
- Place the filter back on the suction tube
- If the fluid that was pumped out the return tube is free of any impurities, you can put it back in the Pump Armor bottle
Your machine is now primed with Pump Armor and ready for storage.
How flush out do I flush out the Pump Armor?
Before you reuse the machine, you need to flush out all the Pump Armor so that is ready for spraying.
- Place the suction tube inside a cup/bucket filled with water
- Place the return tube into an empty cup
- Turn the power to the unit on
- Switch the prime valve to the open position
- Slowly increase the pressure
- Stop the device as soon as you see all the Pump Armor in the cup, you don’t want a lot of water in the cup as this will dilute the Pump Armor liquid
- If the Pump Armor left in the cup is free from impurities, it can be placed back into the Pump Armor bottle and reused
- Turn the power onto the machine back on, making sure the prime valve is open
- Flush out the machine with the water
You are now ready to spray again.
You can purchase Pump Armour directly from us here.
Have a question? Use our contact form here or call us on 0113 231 0500