# Spray extensions causing gun to stick open?



## Last Craftsman (Dec 5, 2008)

I have recently been using a 4 foot extension after many years of not needing one.

Now on two consecutive jobs the gun that was attached to the 4 foot extension started to stick open, and not stop spraying when I let go of the trigger.

I mean it would literally stick on for like 3 extra seconds after letting go of the trigger.

Without an extension, I always just let the pressure out of the pump, and drop the end of the gun into a bucket of water at the end of the day. I never have any problem with this.

I am wondering if doing this with an extension (not cleaning the pump and extension out completely each day) can somehow cause the gun to start malfunctioning.

When I first started painting we used spray extensions for miles of spraying and backrolling new interiors, and I never remember it causing the gun to stick open, but back then we also completely cleaned the sprayer after each use.

Is there any reason leaving paint in the gun and extension with the end of the extension left in a bucket of water would somehow cause the gun to stick open?

Or is it just a coincidence, and happened on two jobs in a row by way of bad luck?

The gun started to stick at the end of the day friday, and I have not had a chance to check it out in depth yet.

Any ideas, what are some other things that can cause a gun to not stop spraying when the trigger is released so I can start checking them off the list.

By the way, the first time it started sticking open I was using an acrylic DTM, and the second time I was using flat ceiling paint.


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## Bender (Aug 10, 2008)

Are you sure its not the 4' extension depressurizing?

What kind of gun?
I use two finger Contractor II's and like to put a drop of throat seal on the trigger up near the pin.


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## NEPS.US (Feb 6, 2008)

It sounds like the cable on your extension is sticking.


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## MDRocket (Feb 3, 2009)

Not sure if droping your gun and extention in a bucket is your problem. I was allways taught that you treat the tools that make you your money like gold tho. I would atleast clean your gun and extention at the end of the day. A little extra time now will do away with a long headache later. Or if ya dont have time to do it right when ya gonna find time to fix it?


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## Last Craftsman (Dec 5, 2008)

NEPS.US said:


> It sounds like the cable on your extension is sticking.


 
No, it's not the cable ind of extension, it's the spray wand extension that lengthens the distance between the gun and the housing.


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## Last Craftsman (Dec 5, 2008)

Bender said:


> Are you sure its not the 4' extension depressurizing?
> 
> What kind of gun?
> I use two finger Contractor II's and like to put a drop of throat seal on the trigger up near the pin.


 
It's not the extension depressurinzing, I am familiar with that little extra spurt that comes along with every trigger pull when using a 4 foot extension, I am talking like the gun sticks open for 3 seconds as though I am still pulling the trigger.

I gues the gun would be a Titan 440i. I prefer the contracter 2 gun also but my employer wont buy them. It doesn't make sense because the contractor 2 can be rebuilt for 70 bucks, so it's cheaper than buying a new titan gun.

Also the 2 fingered grip is way superior.


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## Last Craftsman (Dec 5, 2008)

MDRocket said:


> Or if ya dont have time to do it right when ya gonna find time to fix it?


 
Trust me, it is a complete waste of time to clean your sprayer every day.

I know all about cleaning sprayers every day. I did it for years. I always keep my tools in working order. I would not do it if it caused problems.

However, if I discover that it causes a problem when using a spray wand, I will certainly clean my sprayer every time I use a spray wand. 

By the way, I can't see how you could claen "only the gun and extension" without cleaning the rest of the sprayer at the same time.

I dont even leave my brushes, or caulking gun, or vacuum cleaner etc. in a room where they can get overspray on them because I dont like having everything I own have overspray on it. 

I write a date on the handle of my brushes so I know at a glance which brushes have the most wear and tear, and I use more worn out brushes for certain types of jobs. I need to do this because the covers all look brand new, so I cant tell how old the brush is by looking at the cover.

I dont know if there is an exception with extension wands, but I can tell you for sure that with acrylic paint, you can just depressurize your pump, seal the bucket of paint that has the stinger in it, drop the very end of the gun in 2 inches of water so the tip is submerged, and the sprayer and the gun will work excellently all the time.

I never even have to reverse my tip. I could go five jobs and not have to reverse my tip even one time. And I use really small tips, a 3-10 on trim. 

In fact I was really bummed when they started making reversable tips because now it cost me 25 bucks to have a new carbide rather than 8 with a flat tip. I dont know why people cant keep their tips from clogging, it's simple. I would rather have fresh carbide twice for the same money.

The sprayer gets cleaned out with every color change, and cleaned really good with corrocheck at the end of each job.

Not only is it extra time each day at the end of the day, but then you have to get paint in the pump in the morning. Also its that much more paint water/sludge that you create. Plus sometimes there isnt water around, or you have to walk through someone's house to dump a bucket full of paint water.

Also, it's nice just having the gun in the color, so if something comes up like a touch up, or fly gets in paint, or paint is bumped, you can just mask off a section and touch it up without haviing to load up the sprayer.

*I wouldnt recomend leaving anything like Lacquer, or poly, or any type of quick dry paint*, but acrylic is fine. ( the bold is for any newbies who might read this post and assume they can do this with any paint) 

I worked for a real high end painter a few years ago that had a lot of nice equipment and he did the same thing. I asked how long it had been since the pump we were using at the time had been rebuilt and he said FIVE years. It was his main workhorse pump for exteriors, and interior drop coats and such.

Even if I had to rebuild a pump every 3 years instead of every 4 years, it would still have paid for itself a hundred times over to not have to clean the sprayer after each use, and load the sprayer up with paint before each use. Even if I had to rebuild a sprayer every year, I would rather pay someone 300 bucks once, then have to clean my sprayer out every day, and load it with paint every day.

Here is the most important thing: LOGISTICS. Any little thing you can do to get less bogged down reduces logistics, and logistics add up to cause phases to get completed later rather than earlier.

When I first started painting, we used to clean our _rollers_ every day. 

What a waste of time that was. I hate throwing things away, but I would sooner buy a new roller each day than clean one out. Fortunately, you can just wrap them in plastic and it works just fine.

I dont even clean my brush, I just wrap it in plastic. Unless I have been painting outside in the sun, then I often will clean it at lunch _and_ at the end of the day.

If you spend 10 extra minutes with your sprayer every day, that's 50 minutes a week, so basically $40.00. $40 x 4 weeks is $160 a month.

So basically after 2 months to recoup rebuild costs, I am netting an extra 160 a month by NOT cleaning the sprayer out every day. And I can go 3 or 4 years without rebuilding a sprayer so at 3.5 years minus the two months to re-coup rebuild cost, I have netted an extra $6720 dollars.

Now, to be fair, I dont use a sprayer every day, but you get the picture.

Even if I reduce that figure 4 times, it's still $1680 that I have profited over 3.5 years by not cleaning my sprayer out compulsively. I could _BUY_ TWO brand new sprayers for that money.

Have fun always cleaning everything to death. But as someone with experience, I have evolved past that *affliction*. And it is not because I lack any dedication to "do it right", but rather that I have the experience to _know _exactly what is actually required to get the job done, and I dont waste time doing any more than is necessary.

By the way, you shouldn't always do something simply because it's what you were "always taught". God gave you a brain and free will didn't he? Use it.

Innovate. Create. Illuminate.


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## MDRocket (Feb 3, 2009)

Ive never had problems cleaning my tools and taking care of them and they have takin care of me. bottomline. I have owned three sprayers all graco and only one had to have the pump rebuilt and it was purchased second hand. I'm not saying its a must, but from my experience with sprayers I guess I'm lucky or taking extra care of them hasnt done me harm.:thumbup:

I dont clean up the sprayer every hour, but when the spraying is done for the day it gets cleaned, or at the end of the day. So if a fly gets into the paint I can touch it up or a drip or what every god decides to throw my way that day.

But what works best for each person, just giving my 2 cents.


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## Workaholic (Apr 17, 2007)

MDRocket said:


> Ive never had problems cleaning my tools and taking care of them and they have takin care of me. bottomline. I have owned three sprayers all graco and only one had to have the pump rebuilt and it was purchased second hand. I'm not saying its a must, but from my experience with sprayers I guess I'm lucky or taking extra care of them hasnt done me harm.:thumbup:
> 
> I dont clean up the sprayer every hour, but when the spraying is done for the day it gets cleaned, or at the end of the day. So if a fly gets into the paint I can touch it up or a drip or what every god decides to throw my way that day.
> 
> But what works best for each person, just giving my 2 cents.


This is how i operate as well.



Last Craftsman, how long do you actualy leave the sprayer in the paint? Weeks? Months?


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## Last Craftsman (Dec 5, 2008)

MDRocket said:


> Ive never had problems cleaning my tools and taking care of them and they have takin care of me. bottomline. I guess I'm lucky or taking extra care of them hasnt done me harm.:thumbup:
> 
> But what works best for each person, just giving my 2 cents.


That is fine. I have read a couple of your other posts and it sounds like you you do real nice work. 

I never argue to much about strategy with someone who gets paid well to do what ever their particular strategy is, and whos business falls in the high end of the spectrum.

But there is a level of cleaning that is a waste of time. Believe me, I used to clean machines so they looked brand new every time. I used to clean the ferrule on my brushes so there was no paint on them. etc. etc.

At some point you start realizing that you are going way past the point of diminishing returns.

I worked for a guy several years back who would spend 20 minutes cleaning his brush every day. You could almost buy a brand new brush for that much money.

I started realizing for example that if I left paint on the stinger, it wasnt going to loosen up and fall into the paint. 

I could peel the paint off the stinger once every 4 weeks and maintain an equilibrium.

It's all time, and time is money.

However there are precautionary measure I do take. I dont keep the sprayer in the same room I am spraying with. If I must I cover it. I dont leave the sprayer/bucket of paint in the sun when I am spraying because this will promote skinning up and drying out.

Anyway, I never argue to much with people who do things to a standard more than necessary, because I have worked in so many environments where the standard is way less than necessary.

Keeping your tools extra clean certainly cant hurt, and is generally a sign of success and professionalism.


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## Last Craftsman (Dec 5, 2008)

Workaholic said:


> This is how i operate as well.
> Last Craftsman, how long do you actualy leave the sprayer in the paint? Weeks? Months?


Months? I cant imagine a job that would require months of being in the same color.

I leave the sprayer in the paint usually for 2 to 3 days. On a few occasions I have left it in a week. 

It gets cleaned out pretty good in between each color change, and really good with corrocheck at the end of each job. If it is a big job, like one that takes a month, I will usually clean it out really good a couple times during the job aside from the in-between rinses to change color/sheen.

I know several high end painters who will leave their sprayer in paint until the color/stage is finished.

I actually mist the bucket that has the stinger in it with water before I tape plastic around it. Then I drop the end of the gun into two inches of water so the housing and tip is submerged. And I let the pressure out of the lines.

The paint is wet in the sprayer. It stays just as wet in the sprayer, as it would in a paint can with the lid on it.


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## Workaholic (Apr 17, 2007)

Ahhh i see, i was not sure if you were running the same color for mutiple jobs and leaving the sprayer like that. 
I have heard of many people that will leave it in for a few days. 
Myself i finish up with a paticular color the same day and clean up at the end of the same day. If i do not have time to finish a spray job i will put it off till the next morning and do some brushwork.


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## MDRocket (Feb 3, 2009)

Just curious, why do relieve the pressure on the sprayer? I'd think without pressure and leaving it open for a week might cause it to dry up internaly in the hose.

I like my equipment clean and fresh but not to the point that its being anal. Where in a dirty bussiness and the equipment will get dirty and wear out. 

I enjoy your post's thanks for your view :thumbup:


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## Bender (Aug 10, 2008)

Craftsman said:


> Have fun always cleaning everything to death.


LOL:laughing::laughing:


I agree with you though. I wont clean my pump everyday. 
But brushes??? I can't start the day with a dirty brush, or worse, a wet one. 

Tell bossman you need a new gun.


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## Last Craftsman (Dec 5, 2008)

MDRocket said:


> Just curious, why do relieve the pressure on the sprayer? I'd think without pressure and leaving it open for a week might cause it to dry up internaly in the hose.


 
Well remember I said on a couple occasions I have left it in for a week.

Usually it's for 2 or 3 days.

The reason to relieve the pressure is two-fold. 

1. It's hard on the seals.
2. If on the remote chance that anything should go wrong with the pump overnight, I dont want it spraying paint all over the place while it relieves it's pressure.

Especially because then there is a possibility that the pump could get left on and powered up, which would be really bad if anything went wrong with the pump.

I have never heard of such a thing happening, but the possibility of a pressured up pump in someone's garage next to their BMW wouldnt allow me to sleep well at night.

I used to let most of the pressure out, and leave just a smidge in to try to keep the paint more pressurized. But I eventually decided I didn't want to risk any wear on the seals.

*THIS REMINDS ME.* For anyone reading this who might be using a diaphragm style airless, I have no idea what the effect of leaving paint in it would be.

I am referring only to piston style airless pumps.


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## IHATE_HOMEDEPOT (May 27, 2008)

Do you ever clean the needle in the gun? It takes about 15 minutes and is simple. I would almost guarantee this is where the problem is. When you put it in water it is surely loosening up the paint and making it jam up in the wrong place.


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## Last Craftsman (Dec 5, 2008)

IHATE_HOMEDEPOT said:


> Do you ever clean the needle in the gun? It takes about 15 minutes and is simple


No I have not done this. Bear in mind with this problem I am having, the gun itself is sitting 4 feet away from any water, it is only the end of the extension, housing, and tip that are in water.

I am pretty clueless when it comes to rebuilding equipment. The only thing I know how to do with a gun other than spray things is to replace the filter.

Do you know of a good link that describes how to clean the needle in the gun?

Thanks for the heads up, I will research it now.


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## IHATE_HOMEDEPOT (May 27, 2008)

Sorry I did not catch the part where the gun was not in water.


Last Craftsman said:


> Do you know of a good link that describes how to clean the needle in the gun?


Graco has manuals for all there stuff. On the scale of 1-10 for difficulty in taking apart the gun we're talking 4.


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## Last Craftsman (Dec 5, 2008)

IHATE_HOMEDEPOT said:


> Sorry I did not catch the part where the gun was not in water.
> 
> Graco has manuals for all there stuff. On the scale of 1-10 for difficulty in taking apart the gun we're talking 4.


That's unfortunate. That is exactly 4 scale points higher than I am capable of!



I have zero mechanical ability. It's because I was really poor when I was a kid and I would spend several days fixing my bicycle with nothing but a crescent wrench(a.k.a. "round-all"), A butterknife for a screw driver, and a rock to hammer things with for a project that would take my friends an afternoon with with the proper tools they pulled off the nice pegboard in the garage.

This continued into my car years where I spent a good portion of my life force "making things work", and eventually realized it is better to let people who have the proper equipment and training do it.

I have however replaced a transmission in a camaro, replaced a clutch in a suburu, a radiator in a bronco, and front axles in a sprint. Discovering at each stage the next "special tool" that I needed, bumming a ride, waiting to get enough money to buy it, and putting things on only to have to take them off again 2 or 3 times before I was done.

It always took me 10 times longer than anyone else, but I eventually got the job done properly (minus one or two extra bolts or nuts that apparantly my car never needed to function before) and when I did finish those projects these were some of the most triumphant moments of my life.

(Cue Rocky music, and the theme from 2001 space odyssey)

Also, I have mentioned the Graco contractor 2 to my employer, and that it only costs $70 to rebuild it, and he has not bit yet.

Maybe he will if this gun is toast.

We have several airlesses though, and there is something to be said for having the same gun on all of them, I dont really mind the full grip titan guns, I think I would rather have uniformity so that I always can expect the same thing, rather than one pump with a particular gun, and others with different guns.


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## MDRocket (Feb 3, 2009)

I have takin my guns apart to clean and from my personal experience I rate it about a 2, but if your not sure about it I would like homedepot said get a manual from the manufacture and give it a shot.

I enjoy seeing how things tick tho. I had a problem with one of my guns sticking took it apart gave it a good cleaning and it worked fine. After that ever so often when I get some free time on a sunny day ill clean my guns up just to make sure they dont stick mid spraying!


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