# Too many painters and not enough repair guys



## stelzerpaintinginc. (May 9, 2012)

I don't know about you, but I could keep a repair guy busy for days and days. I got 5 pumps that could use re-packing and countless guns. Seems that the repair guys are constantly swamped and it takes 2-4 weeks to get anything back. Maybe I should hire a guy to do JUST repairs and share him with other painters when he gets done fixing all my crap...in 2016.

I've never repacked anything but a sleeping bag. Sad, but true. Sure, I could watch some YouTube videos and take up a bunch of time learning, but is it time well spent? 

Seems like re-packing your own guns is the only cost-effective way nowadays, (I'm not talking about the high-end guns).


----------



## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

stelzerpaintinginc. said:


> I don't know about you, but I could keep a repair guy busy for days and days. I got 5 pumps that could use re-packing and countless guns. Seems that the repair guys are constantly swamped and it takes 2-4 weeks to get anything back. Maybe I should hire a guy to do JUST repairs and share him with other painters when he gets done fixing all my crap...in 2016.
> 
> I've never repacked anything but a sleeping bag. Sad, but true. Sure, I could watch some YouTube videos and take up a bunch of time learning, but is it time well spent?
> 
> Seems like re-packing your own guns is the only cost-effective way nowadays, (I'm not talking about the high-end guns).


Same here.. I have never even opened a (pressure washer) pump let alone rebuilt one. I'm lucky enough to have a good shop that will take a machine and work on it by 6:30 am an usually have it back to us by 9 am or earlier.


----------



## Oden (Feb 8, 2012)

There is something to be said for buying lower end and throwing it in the trash when it breaks down.


----------



## stelzerpaintinginc. (May 9, 2012)

Oden said:


> There is something to be said for buying lower end and throwing it in the trash when it breaks down.


My wife uttered something similar to me last night when I complained about my shoulder. Pretty sure it was a threat.


----------



## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

stelzerpaintinginc. said:


> My wife uttered something similar to me last night when I complained about my shoulder. Pretty sure it was a threat.


Better that than HER offering to open it up and repack it :thumbsup:


----------



## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

Our local shop is usually 2-3 weeks out as well. It's a drag.


----------



## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

We pack our own pumps, very easy and doesnt take much time to do. Guns get so hammered we jusf buy new ones, hell packing for a gun is half the cost of a new one, pluse you get 2 tips, new guard and filter. If you think about the gun itself is only costing you 50 bucks with the value in the contractor gun packs, not considering the time involved repackaging or paying someone to repack. Its even a better deal when you get the line and gun kit.


----------



## SprayRepairGuy (Jan 15, 2014)

Repacking a gun or a complete sprayer fluid section is pretty simple. Most of the time spent in the shop is cleaning them off from not being properly maintained after use. The manuals are commonly found online, and no special tools are required in most cases. Give it a try, you may be happy when something breaks or leaks and you need to finish the job that day.:thumbup:


----------



## paintball head (Mar 3, 2012)

I started doing my own re-packs on my pumps a couple of years ago, (thanks youtube) glad I did it saves time and is much more convenient. I now keep a fresh set of packings on hand in case a pumps packings go out in the middle of a job.


----------



## SprayRepairGuy (Jan 15, 2014)

paintball head said:


> I started doing my own re-packs on my pumps a couple of years ago, (thanks youtube) glad I did it saves time and is much more convenient. I now keep a fresh set of packings on hand in case a pumps packings go out in the middle of a job.


:thumbup:


----------



## stelzerpaintinginc. (May 9, 2012)

I guess I need to learn how to do em then...unless SprayRepairGuy wants to add Oregon to his list of locations?


----------



## SprayRepairGuy (Jan 15, 2014)

stelzerpaintinginc. said:


> I guess I need to learn how to do em then...unless SprayRepairGuy wants to add Oregon to his list of locations?


I could travel out to your location to do your repairs, but then it would be a wait time of 2-3 weeks.


----------



## 2statepainting (Apr 26, 2015)

My question is about buying a replacement pump off ebay or some such place vs buying one from portland cj or graco. I dont believe some of the ebayers that say same pump fits 395 thru 795. That dont make no sense. What do others do. I hastily bought a 695 boat anchor. Thank yia.


----------



## SprayRepairGuy (Jan 15, 2014)

Know what you are buying. New fluid sections sold on eBay that are not manufactured by Graco are cheap knockoffs of poor quality made in China. They do not last, and you will be sorry you didn't spend the money for quality.



You could buy a used Graco fluid section on eBay and repack it with Graco or Bedford parts for a reasonable price. Then repack the pump you removed and keep it in your toolbox for a quick replacement when on the job.
:thumbup:


----------



## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

I just found a guy, had our big sprayer checked out, picked up the sprayer only to find out the guy is giving up the business.


----------



## stelzerpaintinginc. (May 9, 2012)

Just tuned up my Speedflo, (thanks to SprayRepairGuy). Also resurrected my HVLP that had more dust on it than paint. I've decided I'm gonna make time to learn this stuff. I've got more non-working sprayers at my shop than working ones at this point. Enough is enough.


----------



## Jmayspaint (Mar 26, 2013)

I just got the HVLP back from being repaired. A guy at a local paint store offered to fix the gun. Well, he fixed the gun but when I started it up with some water to test it was leaking at the cup. A closer look revealed some a crack obviously caused by some severely inept wrench work.









What a joke. I really need the dang thing too. Can't get any other cups around the shop to work with this particular gun for some reason.


----------



## stelzerpaintinginc. (May 9, 2012)

Jmayspaint said:


> I just got the HVLP back from being repaired. A guy at a local paint store offered to fix the gun. Well, he fixed the gun but when I started it up with some water to test it was leaking at the cup. A closer look revealed some a crack obviously caused by some severely inept wrench work.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What make, model & year? You've got some pretty smart dudes here who might offer a solution.


----------



## Jmayspaint (Mar 26, 2013)

stelzerpaintinginc. said:


> What make, model & year? You've got some pretty smart dudes here who might offer a solution.



Worth a shot right 

It's a Turbineaire 1235 GT










The cup on top is the one that came with it. The other one is an old one that is almost the same, but it won't thread all the way tight onto the gun. The threads look the same but the neck isn't quite the same. Still, it looks like it should work if it would thread up all the way. It's goes about half way then gets really tight, almost like its cross threaded but it's not. I can force it about 3/4 of the way up by torquing hard, but can't get to go all the way.


----------



## stelzerpaintinginc. (May 9, 2012)

Jmayspaint said:


> Worth a shot right
> 
> It's a Turbineaire 1235 GT
> 
> ...


I am NOT one of those smart dudes I was referring to in this case. The only half-wit suggestion I'd have would be taking the old one and your gun to a hardware store to see if you could find an adapter.


----------



## SprayRepairGuy (Jan 15, 2014)

Sounds to me like the monkey with the wrench might have crushed and distorted the swivel nut so it's no longer completely round, causing it to jam as you tighten it.


----------



## psychofast (Feb 10, 2015)

could have metric and or british threads which are finer.


----------



## Jmayspaint (Mar 26, 2013)

SprayRepairGuy said:


> Sounds to me like the monkey with the wrench might have crushed and distorted the swivel nut so it's no longer completely round, causing it to jam as you tighten it.



This turned out to be the answer. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## stelzerpaintinginc. (May 9, 2012)

Since this thread has been resurrected, I thought I might give thanks again to SprayRepairGuy. He comes on this site, offers great advice & insight, and never asks for anything in return. Check out his website next time you're in need of something. The guy is a class-act and we are lucky to have him, (even though he still hasn't traveled to Oregon to fix my pumps).


----------



## fredo (Nov 20, 2011)

I've re-packed my own pumps several times. I seem to remember they last half as long as when my repair guy does it primarily because he typically replaces throat housing and shafts if they are well out of spec. watch this if you try to repack your own. 

I am amazed at the new Graco pumps!!! You can replace the whole fluid section in minutes, literally.

But we finally have a few repair guys here in KC that speeds things up a bit.

As far as guns go, we have been fortunate, most lasting for quite some time.

Cleaniness is godliness...or something like that...:thumbsup:


----------



## Pete6114 (Feb 27, 2016)

fredo said:


> I've re-packed my own pumps several times. I seem to remember they last half as long as when my repair guy does it primarily because he typically replaces throat housing and shafts if they are well out of spec. watch this if you try to repack your own.
> 
> I am amazed at the new Graco pumps!!! You can replace the whole fluid section in minutes, literally.
> 
> ...


I seem to get very good mileage out of all my equipment too. I've got a pail of Clean-N-Dip that i drop the pickuptube and gun in. Next day it's clean. Other then repacking i never have to replace anything. Taking good care care of stuff is cheaper then replacing or fixing.


----------



## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

SprayRepairGuy said:


> Sounds to me like the monkey with the wrench might have crushed and distorted the swivel nut so it's no longer completely round, causing it to jam as you tighten it.


This could be why aircraft mechanics never have Crescent wrenches or Vise-grips in their tool boxes! Remember that the next time you fly!
Real mechanics use the right tools. Paint store goobers don't.


----------



## SprayRepairGuy (Jan 15, 2014)

fredo said:


> I've re-packed my own pumps several times. I seem to remember they last half as long as when my repair guy does it primarily because he typically replaces throat housing and shafts if they are well out of spec. watch this if you try to repack your own.


If your packings are not lasting when you repack the pump, it's probably something you are doing. One of the most common mistakes is to tighten down the upper packing nut way too much. The upper packing nut should be tightened finger tight, then turn on the pump and tighten it further just until the packings stop leaking. If you overtighten the upper packing nut from the get-go, you lose any future adjustment as the packings wear. As you see leakage down the road, again just tighten the nut just enough until the packings stop leaking. 

Your repair guy isn't doing anything you can't do yourself.

One more tip is to stay away from cheap imported repair parts. If you want to stay with OEM, buy OEM from your local dealer or repair shop. If you want quality repair parts made in the USA and at a discount, buy Bedford repair parts from your local dealer.


----------



## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

SprayRepairGuy said:


> If your packings are not lasting when you repack the pump, it's probably something you are doing. One of the most common mistakes is to tighten down the upper packing nut way too much. The upper packing nut should be tightened finger tight, then turn on the pump and tighten it further just until the packings stop leaking. If you overtighten the upper packing nut from the get-go, you lose any future adjustment as the packings wear. As you see leakage down the road, again just tighten the nut just enough until the packings stop leaking.
> 
> Your repair guy isn't doing anything you can't do yourself.
> 
> One more tip is to stay away from cheap imported repair parts. If you want to stay with OEM, buy OEM from your local dealer or repair shop. If you want quality repair parts made in the USA and at a discount, buy Bedford repair parts from your local dealer.


bedford actually supplies a lot of the fittings and hardware used by the pump manufacturers so quite often it is an identical part at a fraction of the price. A local PPG store can order from them or you may be able to get a catalog and buy direct. They used to only sell wholesale but with the internet and whatnot I don't know anymore.


----------



## SprayRepairGuy (Jan 15, 2014)

PACman said:


> bedford actually supplies a lot of the fittings and hardware used by the pump manufacturers so quite often it is an identical part at a fraction of the price. A local PPG store can order from them or you may be able to get a catalog and buy direct. They used to only sell wholesale but with the internet and whatnot I don't know anymore.


Yes, Bedford does sell their parts to many OEM's - not that the OEMs will admit that. No, they do not sell directly to contractors, but there are many online sources for Bedford parts, or you can get them through any local spray equipment dealer, paint retailer, or repair shop - I carry a complete line of Bedford parts in stock in my shops. Be sure to order Bedford by name and part number, or you may end up getting imported crap.


----------



## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

I can't complain about the service I recently got when my relatively new Graco 395 went bonkers on me - again. Got it to SW, it was shipped out to Portland (Northwest Spray and Compressor) the next day. Came back to a neighboring SW on the next Mon. and one of the guys at my local SW drove over the same day, picked it up, and had it at their store for me to pick up before noon. Had I asked, I know he would have brought it to my house or a job site.

Not happy it was having issues in the first place but SW and the Graco rep did everything they could to expedite the repairing of it. Turns out it was faulty transducer causing excessive pressure to damage some gaskets. The transducer was likely faulty from the beginning since I've always had issues with this machine. Seems to work fine now but it has been fully agreed upon by all parties involved that if it has any more issues within the near future I will be getting a brand new sprayer.

Also, a big shout out to my local Miller store. Even though they had nothing to do with the problem (I didn't originally purchase the machine from them), they still offered me the use of a loaner sprayer allowing me to continue with the job I was on. Thanks a bunch all of you! I' really lucky to have some super stand up people at two places in town.


----------



## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

RH said:


> I can't complain about the service I recently got when my relatively new Graco 395 went bonkers on me - again. Got it to SW, it was shipped out to Portland (Northwest Spray and Compressor) the next day. Came back to a neighboring SW on the next Mon. and one of the guys at my local SW drove over the same day, picked it up, and had it at their store for me to pick up before noon. Had I asked, I know he would have brought it to my house or a job site.
> 
> Not happy it was having issues in the first place but SW and the Graco rep did everything they could to expedite the repairing of it. Turns out it was faulty transducer causing excessive pressure to damage some gaskets. The transducer was likely faulty from the beginning since I've always had issues with this machine. Seems to work fine now but it has been fully agreed upon by all parties involved that if it has any more issues within the near future I will be getting a brand new sprayer.
> 
> Also, a big shout out to my local Miller store. Even though they had nothing to do with the problem (I didn't originally purchase the machine from them), they still offered me the use of a loaner sprayer allowing me to continue with the job I was on. Thanks a bunch all of you! I' really lucky to have some super stand up people at two places in town.


Graco always gave me great customer service when I ran an old Sherworks shop. They are pretty tight with SW so hopefully your experience is the norm. That service alone is why I almost always recommended Graco when I was selling spray equipment.

And I made over $4000.00 renting an old a55 395 when I was with DUUUron paint. Cleaned it good ever time it came back and repacked it every year. Pretty much unbreakable for that small of pump. But like any complex piece of machinery there will be good ones and bad ones.


----------



## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

The issue with my pump was a somewhat challenging one. It would typically only start to act up after it was being used for awhile. So, when only spraying a few door or cabinet parts, I often wasn't using it long enough at one sitting to cause it to malfunction. It was only when doing larger jobs such as complete rooms that I would experience an issue. As a result, it would sometimes work fine and then other times . Guess that's why the first repair outfit didn't "find" anything wrong (though in hind sight, they still should have suspected what the problem might be based on my description). Apparently, a faulty transducer can cause some other weird things to happen so replacing it will hopefully solve all of the other issues I was experiencing.


----------



## Timberhill Painting (Mar 8, 2016)

PACman said:


> This could be why aircraft mechanics never have Crescent wrenches or Vise-grips in their tool boxes! Remember that the next time you fly!
> Real mechanics use the right tools. Paint store goobers don't.


The smart a** part of me wants to tell you that we did have vise grips when I worked on jets... But we very rarely used them, and usually only on things that were already broken, so your point is 100% valid. We had specialty tools for EVERYTHING.


----------

