Airless Sprayer Common Repairs

What cleaner should I use to clean my airless sprayer? Generally, you should use a thinner that is appropriate for the material you are spraying, for example;

Latex = water

Oil based = mineral oil

Lacquer = lacquer thinner

After you have thoroughly cleaned your sprayer, you will need to use a protectant such as Pump Armor.

How often should I clean my airless sprayer? After each use! Clean thoroughly! Always clean the filter, housing, gun and nozzle!

Is there a solvent that can loosen latex paint as it passes through the airless sprayer? （Is there anything (other than water) that can dissolve it?

Removing dry material from an airless sprayer can be a small or very difficult task. The only solvent that works well and is readily available is lacquer thinner. This may or may not work, depending on the amount of dry material in the sprayer and how long the dry material remains in the sprayer.

Note that lacquer thinner is a "hot" solvent and may shorten the life of the packing and/or other seals in the sprayer. Also note that once you start loosening dry paint with paint thinner, the paint will continue to flow out of the parts for a considerable period of time, clogging your pump and/or gun filters, as well as the pump itself. Also, sprayers with flexible intake tubes are more prone to this than rigid intake machines.

Always follow your sprayer's grounding procedures when working with flammable materials!

Often, if there is not much paint thinner in the sprayer, you can run it through the pump for a while and remove most of the old dry debris. If your sprayer has a flexible intake tube, bend it and move the thinner as it passes through it to try to remove the dry material inside.

If there is a moderate amount of old stuff in it, you may need to let it sit with the lacquer thinner for a couple hours, then run it for a while and pour in some clean thinner. If you still get junk from it, repeat the process. If you still get junk after repeating this, try the next process.

The final remedy after trying the above is to do the same as above, but let the sprayer sit for 2-4 days between flushes and add paint thinner to it. Note that if the sprayer is already in poor condition, this may result in damage to the packing and/or seals. On the other hand, if the sprayer is in such poor condition to begin with, it will probably need to be rebuilt.

Be sure to clean and store your airless sprayer properly, unless you prefer to repeat the process!

Instead of wasting money and valuable time cleaning the hose, buy a new one.

Clean your airless sprayer immediately after each use to avoid this problem!

As we say elsewhere on this site - a penny of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Where should I put the TSL? In front of the nebulizer, directly above the liquid section is a black metal section with several rectangular holes. Behind the plate is the pump rod. If you look down the rod, you will see a lip (cup) where the TSL is located. You should be able to insert the tip of the bottle through one of the holes and into the back plate. Gently squeeze the bottle to fill the cup. Do this every time you spray to make sure no paint sticks to the rod or filler, this reduces the maintenance cost of the machine.

Should I cover the unit with a cold wet rag to prevent the machine from overheating? No! Sprayers are designed to circulate air, placing anything over the sprayer will block the airflow and prevent the machine from cooling itself!

Spray Tips

What size tip should I use? This is an in-depth question, see

Tip Size

What is the best way to clean an airless tip?

To clean the sprayer, first use the same thinner as the product being sprayed. Then place the sprayer with the shield in a bucket or other container and use a small stiff-bristled nylon brush and the same thinner as the product being sprayed to remove as much material as possible. Rinse with clean thinner. Afterwards, place the guard and nozzle back on the sprayer and finish with a high-pressure blast of clean thinner to remove any material that may have gotten into the nozzle while the brush was being cleaned.

How do you know when to replace your tips? All tips wear out over time, depending on how worn the material is. The more worn the material, the faster the tip will wear. For example, latex will begin to wear out the tip at 40-50 gallons. Stains wear less and therefore last longer!

How can I tell when the tip has worn out? The nozzle starts out spraying in an oval shape. As the tip wears more, the oval shape will gradually turn into a round shape, spraying more paint into a smaller area. Another way to tell if the nozzle is worn is to see if you start to see the effects of fingers or tails. Typically, RAC X nozzles will spray approximately 45 gallons of paint before needing to be replaced. the RAC IV or RAC V nozzles will last approximately 40 gallons. All nozzles will vary depending on the pressure the user is spraying and the type of paint being sprayed.

Airless Paint Tail Airless Painting Fingers