One of the main reasons your painting equipment might not function properly is lack of maintenance, and the most important aspect of this maintenance is keeping the equipment clean, especially the paint guns. For example, when the nozzles on the gun tip are clogged with paint, the gun's passes won't be proper, causing blockages or other problems in your painting process. That's why it's so important to keep the gun clean and ready for work.
Let's learn how to properly clean a paint gun;
Cleaning equipment
Before cleaning your spray gun, it's important to create a checklist of the materials and equipment you'll need.
1. Brushes, usually the ones that come with the spray gun when you buy it.
2. Cloths for drying.,
3- Thinner and water
4- Brush
5- Tools for assembling and disassembling the gun.
With all this material at hand, we can then begin the cleaning.
Which parts need to be cleaned?
It's important to clarify that not all internal areas of the spray gun need to be cleaned with thinner or water. There are parts of the gun where the paint doesn't pass through, so using a material like thinner would not only not help with cleaning, but could also damage some parts, such as the rubber parts that can dry out and the metal parts that can corrode over time.
Therefore, the areas where the paint passes through the spray gun should be cleaned, especially the nozzles that dispense the paint, as dried paint can accumulate in these places, making the spray gun difficult to use and reducing the quality of your work.
Daily cleaning
With the hectic pace of daily life, it's sometimes difficult to do a deep clean of spray guns, but it's possible to perform daily maintenance that will allow them to be used without major problems. To do this, you need to clean everything from the paint-receiving area (whether from a cup or tank) to the nozzles using paint or water. Then clean the spray gun nozzle, paying special attention to the holes, which should all be unobstructed.
Deep cleaning
To perform a deep cleaning, it will be necessary to disassemble some parts of the gun, and this requires the utmost care, as disassembly (or assembly) done in the wrong order can damage essential parts of the gun.
To disassemble it correctly, the first part to be removed is the needle, as this piece is very sensitive and damage to it can compromise the quality of the work. To do this, you must remove the screw and spring that support the needle, then press the trigger and the needle tip will come out enough to be removed.
After removing the needle, the other parts can be removed, provided you have the necessary tools. After disassembly, clean the parts with thinner, using the brushes and other cleaning tools that are included with the gun or in cleaning kits sold in specialized stores.
After cleaning and drying the components, reassemble the gun in the reverse order of disassembly, leaving the needle for last. It is also important to pay attention to the good cleaning and maintenance practices specified in the gun's instruction manuals, as each brand has its own characteristics and what may be common practice for one may not necessarily apply to all.
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