Do you drain and flush your sprayer after each use?

[Wayne02]

I just purchased a 15 gallon PK sprayer with solo pump and hand-held fan spray wand which I am setting up in a little garden wagon for use in those areas that are too narrow for the atv to travel, but so large that I don't want to use the pump-it-up sprayer style. This unit will be spraying round-up.

I was taking a break and happened to read the instructions and noticed a big warning that said you are supposed to drain the tank and flush the pump after each use to prevent 'Chemical Attack' on the pump and related components.

I have not done this in the past with other sprayers though maybe it would lead to longer life of the sprayer? Of course draining the tank each time would be a big pia in terms of what to do with the left over material and having to do that makes for a less friendly grab-and-go tool.

Do you drain and flush your powered sprayers after each use?

Also, this unit came with a coil hose, if you can call it a hose, seems like a cheapy plastic thing that is none too long. It's maybe 6' long when stretched out and doesn't strike me as very robust. Is this standard procedure to have coil hose on these sprayers?

Thanks

[Windy in Kansas]

I'm not familiar with the PK sprayer term but assume this is a 12 volt diaphragm pump model much like my 25 gallon one. I do clean mine after each use. Mine does not have a coiled hose. I expect they install on some so that when on a trailer behind a lawn mower the hose doesn't drag and get run over.

I do think that you could probably connect the pump to a different supply line and then use appropriate cleaning solution so as to alleviate need for emptying the tank each time.

Here is a photo of the dip tube removed from my tank and instead placed in a gallon jug. Since it uses a garden hose thread you wouldn't even need to removed the dip tube, just connect to the fittings via hose.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...y/100_1715.jpg

In the photo I'm adding ballast to a two wheeled tractor tire.

If you do save solution be sure to agitate it well before each use as some may settle out and for a film on the tank.

[fols]

I flush my Solo back-pack sprayer and Fimco electric pump sprayer and store both in heated areas in the winter to prevent any freezing of residual water.
I recently had a problem with the Fimco pump where I had to take the pump apart and clean it because I didn't clean it the last time...

[Stephen in SOKY]

I keep Nutri-Sol on hand to clean between selective and non-selective herbicides in all my sparayers: http://www.agrisupply.com/product.as...8159&sid=&eid=

The end of season cleaning is most important around here. That said, I do run pumps with Vitol seals (Roundup ready pumps) on the 4 wheeler sparayers. My six roller pump on the tractor gets cleaned with Nutri-Sol and filled with used oil at the end of the season.

[Wayne02]

Yes it is a 12V diaphragm pump, Shurflo 8000 series with vitron valves and Santoprene diaphragm, if that means anything.

The instructions for the sprayer (made by PK) say that it needs to be drained, flushed, and neutralized if it's left unused for more than two days.

However, I just found the instructions for the Shurflo pump and it simply says to make sure the fluid used is compatible.

I don't have too much of a problem cleaning the sprayer at the end of the season, but cleaning it out after every use is a big pia. We tend to use the sprayer at various times throughout the the spring/summer/fall. Sometimes the sprayer will sit for two weeks between uses, sometimes two months, it just depends on our schedule.

This unit will only be spraying roundup or the like.

[Stephen in SOKY]

My 4 wheeler sprayer will have either Glyphosate, 2-4D or Pramitol in it from now til November without ever being cleaned unless I need to run 2-4D alone. It has had the same treatment for the last four years. The one I had prior had the same treatment for 5-6 years. My hand sprayers however tend to gel if I leave glyphosate in them.

[ET1 SS]

I have a backpack sprayer. I fill it with hot soapy water and flush that through it after each use.

[Wayne02]

Project Death Sprayer had its maiden voyage this morning and worked ok, but a couple of improvements are needed.

- I really need to keep after these areas that are not accessible with the atv as when they get out of hand, they really get out of hand.

- The wand needs to be longer as stooping over all the time doesn't sit well with my back.

- The plastic coil hose needs to be longer or maybe even use a non coiled hose.

- The coil hose has a tendency to kink shut right where it comes off the barbed fitting on the pump unless you angle the hose just right, which doesn't allow much flexibility in where the person stands, thus requiring more repositioning of the whole wagon than should be necessary.

- The above combined with the nature of a coil hose puts quite a bit strain on that barbed fitting. If I stay with a coil hose I think there needs to be a strain relief put on the tank somewhere.

- Not sure if going to longer coil hose is best or using a regular hose would be better in this application. The regular hose doesn't have any of the above issues and would allow a great range of motion without having to move the wagon, but it would be laying on the ground more than the coil hose does. Don't know if that is an issue or not.

- The fitting which connects the hose to the wand has started leaking. It appears to me that it might be designed to swivel in the base of the wand but I've never used one of these hand wands like this before so I'm not sure.

- Do the farm stores usually have a stock of sprayer parts like hoses, wand tubes etc? The pump and wand are Shurflo and I'm not sure if that is a mainstream brand or an off brand. I don't recall my other sprayers having Shurflo components but maybe they did and I just can't remember.

Thanks

[Stephen in SOKY]

Nice rig! When you need to replace your wand, you may want to consider this one: http://www.tractorsupply.com/agricul...ay-gun-2107044
I bought one years ago & just keep moving it to new sprayers. I've never tried coiled hose, but I do know that wand hose needs to be supple. I use anhydrous hose on all 3 of my booms, but it's far too stiff for handgun use. I like a long gun hose so I can walk some without moving the sprayer all the time. I coil it around the tank when not needed.

[Boss Cooker]

We rinse with amonia and clear water after each use. The amonia will remove any trace of the last material used. Be sure to flush with plenty of clear water as the amonia will damage the pump or wand.