Is it just me or do sprayer nozzles hate me? I’ve trashed two sprayer nozzles in two days, both to clogs. And of course, there isn’t any sort of conviente way to disassemble for cleaning. Can some one shed some light on to the subject? Perhaps some sort of way to clean them out?
P.S. I was using a 2 to 1 mix of water to white glue when both went bust.
Analog –
Your first problem is the glue ratio. I think that’s probably too thick to go through the spray nozzle. I use a mix of 4 parts water to 1 part glue with 1 drop of dishwashing liquid per 4 oz. of solution. You have to mix it VERY well, to make sure there are no chunks of glue in it, because (as you found out) it will clog the sprayer.
To resurrect your sprayer, disassemble it and make sure the tube or hose that feeds the nozzle is clear. Soak the nozzle for about half an hour in warm, soapy water. Agitate the nozzle in the water, then hold it under the stream of water from the faucett. Then reassemble it and try to spray some of the soapy water solution through it. Repeat as oftten as necessary until your nozzle is clear. Keep the water warm.
Every time you spray anything sticky through your sprayer, follow it with a LOT of warm soapy water to keep it clean.
I keep a separate bottle around to fill with warm, not hot, water and spray at least half the contents of the bottle to make sure the nozzle is clear. At other times I forgo the sprayer completely and use two old glue bottles, one with 70% alcohol and the other with 50/50 glue/water mix. Drip on the alcohol and follow with the glue/water.
Go to the local dollar store and buy a couple $1 bottles of pump hair spray. These bottles work the best, but you still need to run warm water through them to clean them out after use.
You should be using eye droppers or pipettes for ballasting anyhow. (not spray bottles)
Although the OP never actually said what he was doing with the spray bottles.
For ballast, thoroughly saturate with “wet” water (which won’t clog your sprayer), and follow with matte medium or white glue mixed 50/50. Apply with a pipette, ear wash bulb, old glue bottle, or something else which can handle the thick mixture.
FWIW, I assumed he was fixing scenic materials, since he’s talking about spray bottles.
By spraying the glue mixture, you’re not only plugging the sprayer nozzles, you’re also spraying glue onto a lot of places where I doubt you’d really want it. [:-^] As suggested, for ballasting or other scenery work, use the sprayer to apply “wet” water (tap water with either a few drops of liquid dish detergent or a tap water and isopropyl alcohol mix), then apply the dilute white glue or matte medium using an eye dropper, pipette, or plastic applicator bottle. This will give you trouble-free application and better control over the glue distribution, too.
Wayne
The OP said he was ballasting in a separate post…(but ALL our advice should be helpful to him…)
Well, I use diluted white glue for ballast, but I never ever spray it. I use the old method of a plastic glue bottle with a bit of the tip cut off and “dribble” the mix on the roadbed after spraying it with plain water and a little detergent.
This method has worked for me over 20 years with no complaint.