Posted: 7/22/2016 9:45:56 PM EDT
|
Have any of you ever done this?
I have my dad's old backpack sprayer. It was a good one for its day...he sprayed acres of tobacco with it. It's probably not as old as me (we're talking olde) but I was really young when I first remember him using it. Tonight I got it out to spray some poison ivy around the yard. (Big poison ivy. I doubt I'll kill it--too high to reach all of it--but maybe I'll knock it back a little). Mixed up the chemical and pumped it up, and it's leaking from the spray trigger and dripping from the nozzle even when the trigger is not activated. Got Dragon all over my hand. 
Anyway I'm wondering if any of you has ever replaced parts or worked on yours? It was too dark for pics tonight but tomorrow I'll get the brand and take photos if anyone has experience. I don't have instructions for it--they were long gone before my dad passed and the sprayer was passed to me-- but hoping I can get them online. Can I buy a new sprayer? Yes. But I'd really like to keep this one going because it was my dad's. 
Kitties |
|
Sounds like rotted o-rings. Take the handle and nozzle apart and see if there are o-rings or seals. Replace if broken / cracked or grease with silicone grease if intact. May be able to find replacements in the plumbing section of Lowers / HD or buy o-ring assortment from Amazon and find ones that will work. While you have it apart, squirt or blow out all the parts. Sometimes too, dirt and crap gets in the end of the wand behind the nozzle and can be remedied by unscrewing the nozzle tip and using tank pressure to squirt out the dirt. |
|
Quoted:
Sounds like rotted o-rings. Take the handle and nozzle apart and see if there are o-rings or seals. Replace if broken / cracked or grease with silicone grease if intact. May be able to find replacements in the plumbing section of Lowers / HD or buy o-ring assortment from Amazon and find ones that will work. While you have it apart, squirt or blow out all the parts. Sometimes too, dirt and crap gets in the end of the wand behind the nozzle and can be remedied by unscrewing the nozzle tip and using tank pressure to squirt out the dirt. THANK YOU! 
I will look closely at it tomorrow. (I was spraying right at dark, because that's when the wind laid enough to minimize drift.) And that's a Corsair in your avatar isn't it? I love those planes. |
|
If you can't find 0-rings close at lowes or hardware stores a good auto parts store like a napa will have selections of them to work through. A lot of times they will be behind the counter in an organizer they will get out, don't just look at what is out front and give up. I would read up a bit on sprayers on a landscaping forum, might find some good ways to get things apart easily. |
|
Quoted:
If you can't find 0-rings close at lowes or hardware stores a good auto parts store like a napa will have selections of them to work through. A lot of times they will be behind the counter in an organizer they will get out, don't just look at what is out front and give up. I would read up a bit on sprayers on a landscaping forum, might find some good ways to get things apart easily. Thank you! First step is to find out what I have exactly, and look at the manufacturer's site I imagine. Doubt my sprayer will be there. (It's too old) but who knows.. Wild hope...the manual will be there that shows how to take it apart and the sizes of everything. 
|
|
Quoted:
I have 2 back sprayers I use for my weekend business. Each of them have a nozzle I can unscrew and I used plumbers tape on those threads to prevent them from leaking. Well...I don't think it's the threads. I think it's leaking through the tip. Which suggests something is off with the mechanism. But I will look at that. And yes, the tip does unscrew. I am guessing, with the age of this thing, that the suggestion about rotted o-rings is probably accurate. |
|
Quoted:
Sounds like rotted o-rings. Take the handle and nozzle apart and see if there are o-rings or seals. Replace if broken / cracked or grease with silicone grease if intact. May be able to find replacements in the plumbing section of Lowers / HD or buy o-ring assortment from Amazon and find ones that will work. While you have it apart, squirt or blow out all the parts. Sometimes too, dirt and crap gets in the end of the wand behind the nozzle and can be remedied by unscrewing the nozzle tip and using tank pressure to squirt out the dirt. OH...when you say "squirt or blow out all the parts" do you mean with air? Or water? Or what? (Sorry if that's a dumb question.  )
|
|
Quoted:
Sounds like rotted o-rings. Take the handle and nozzle apart and see if there are o-rings or seals. Replace if broken / cracked or grease with silicone grease if intact. May be able to find replacements in the plumbing section of Lowers / HD or buy o-ring assortment from Amazon and find ones that will work. While you have it apart, squirt or blow out all the parts. Sometimes too, dirt and crap gets in the end of the wand behind the nozzle and can be remedied by unscrewing the nozzle tip and using tank pressure to squirt out the dirt. Yep, this. A new Solo isn't very expensive, though, maybe $80 |
|
Quoted: OH...when you say "squirt or blow out all the parts" do you mean with air? Or water? Or what? (Sorry if that's a dumb question. )Quoted: Quoted: Sounds like rotted o-rings. Take the handle and nozzle apart and see if there are o-rings or seals. Replace if broken / cracked or grease with silicone grease if intact. May be able to find replacements in the plumbing section of Lowers / HD or buy o-ring assortment from Amazon and find ones that will work. While you have it apart, squirt or blow out all the parts. Sometimes too, dirt and crap gets in the end of the wand behind the nozzle and can be remedied by unscrewing the nozzle tip and using tank pressure to squirt out the dirt. OH...when you say "squirt or blow out all the parts" do you mean with air? Or water? Or what? (Sorry if that's a dumb question. )Short answer - Yes.  Long answer, if you have it all apart, you can blow it out with air. I have been spraying before and small amounts of dirt and crap will migrate down to the tip and cause it not to spray or spray a fine mist. Unscrewing the nozzle tip and squeezing the handle to spray out a little of whatever you're spraying will sometimes clear the nozzle. When you unscrew the nozzle, it will either be that the tube dead ends in a "T" with a hole on each side, or sometimes just ends in one opening. If it has junk in the end of the tube you can use a small ice pick or wire to clear the holes out if just spraying out whatever liquid in the tank doesn't clear it. |
| If its that old it will likely be totally repairable and if a popular brand you may be able to find a rebuild kit that will contain all the needed parts. Usually some combination of rubber orings, washers etc. that will likely be common sizes from a hardware or auto store as noted. I recently had to buy some metric odd ball o rings that the OEM manufacturer didn't even carry... Google is your friend when cost is not the overriding consideration. |
|
Quoted:
Have any of you ever done this? I have my dad's old backpack sprayer. It was a good one for its day...he sprayed acres of tobacco with it. It's probably not as old as me (we're talking olde) but I was really young when I first remember him using it. Tonight I got it out to spray some poison ivy around the yard. (Big poison ivy. I doubt I'll kill it--too high to reach all of it--but maybe I'll knock it back a little). Mixed up the chemical and pumped it up, and it's leaking from the spray trigger and dripping from the nozzle even when the trigger is not activated. Got Dragon all over my hand.
Anyway I'm wondering if any of you has ever replaced parts or worked on yours? It was too dark for pics tonight but tomorrow I'll get the brand and take photos if anyone has experience. I don't have instructions for it--they were long gone before my dad passed and the sprayer was passed to me-- but hoping I can get them online. Can I buy a new sprayer? Yes. But I'd really like to keep this one going because it was my dad's.
Kitties On a lot of sprayers including mine, you can remove the nozzle and still shoot a stream. That stream will go a lot further than the spray. It is pretty wasteful but will get to areas you could not reach otherwise. For poison ivy I would waste as much as it took to do the job. |