Cermark clogging

[Dan Hintz]

Call Cermark. If that fail, cut the can open and salvage what's in there.

[Kev Williams]

If you've only had one can fail, consider yourself lucky! I've had many. But never has the main tube been clogged.

Try this-- find an old can that worked, take the spray top off and let it soak in hot water or alcohol for awhile...

Take the spray top off the bad can, and set it aside. Some of those just don't work well. And what happens is, while the
top is blocking the spray, the valve in the can lets cermark seep thru, and then the valve clogs...

So take your can to a sink, get the water coming out hot, turn it down to a small stream and place the can under the stream. Let the hot water wash out the valve for about 2 minutes.

Shake the daylights out of the can, at least a full minute or more. Now the fun and messy part. Grab something that will fit into the valve hole-- I use a small HF T-handle allen wrench that barely fits-- and grab a rag to cover the can top, then push open the valve. Chances are you'll get a nice blast of cermark. It may take more than one push and/or a second rinse, but it's never failed me.

If it works, go get the spray top you were soaking, and a small paper clip or straight pin, and clear out as much remaing guck from the little tube. Blow it out with compress air if you have it. A couple more quick rinses in the water or alky won't hurt.

Shake the can good again, put on the clean top and hopefully you'll be good to go!

I've found that cans that clog don't have enough alky 'thinner' within, for whatever reason. Those cans require re-shaking almost constantly while using them....

[Hilton Lister]

The only time I used an airbrush resulted in clogging and more hassles in cleaning it up than it was worth. I have once again reverted to thinning the paste and, applying with a foam brush. Any tips on easy cleaning for an airbrush? I assume it has to be emptied after each use.

[Scott Shepherd]

Hilton, the trick on the airbrush, as mentioned by someone else here, is to use a cheap one. Don't use something like a Pasche for that. Get a cheap $10 Harbor Freight one, open the tip up wide, and it'll spray it fantastic. When you are done spraying, you can cap the jar off, run water through the pickup tube and it'll clean it pretty well. Next time you use it, put some alcohol in the jar mixture, stir it, and you're all set. It works really well. The cermark will eventually crack the pickup tube. At the first sign of any troubles, I toss it in the trash can and get a new one.

[Jeffrey Dewing]

I got this sprayer at Home Depo for $20 bucks. I'm going to hook it up to my compressor and it should work fine! simple little gun that comes all apart for cleaning. I've got 2 compressors from my carpentry business and I'll just mix up my own cermark paste. I seemed to me to be a better vertion of the thing cermark was trying to sell with the can of compessed air...0416151924.jpg0416151941.jpg

[Dan Hintz]

I got this sprayer at Home Depo for $20 bucks. I'm going to hook it up to my compressor and it should work fine! simple little gun that comes all apart for cleaning. I've got 2 compressors from my carpentry business and I'll just mix up my own cermark paste. I seemed to me to be a better vertion of the thing cermark was trying to sell with the can of compessed air...0416151924.jpg0416151941.jpg

That is a MASSIVE gun for spraying Cermark... unless you're trying to cover 4'x8' sheets.

[Kev Williams]

hfairbrush.jpg
This is what I use- it's cheap, the bottles and air nozzle are totally separate, easy to work with.. I keep the bleeder hole plugged with a piece of toothpick, sprays fine and I can shake it without Cermark getting all over the place. I have some thin craft wire to run down the tube to clean it when it needs it.

The secret to having it not clog? Add more alcohol. I thin mine out big time, and put on 2 coats...

DO get an air pressure regulator. The difference between 5 psi and 8 psi is substantial!

>edit< -- another trick to keep from clogging, cut the intake tube so it's at least 1/8" from the bottom of the jar. Cermark separates real quick, shortening the tube keeps it from picking up the thicker solids...

And finally, because Cermark separates real quick, SHAKE as often as possible...

[Gary Hair]

If you are using that for Cermark then you will waste more than you actually use - might as well use spray cans at that point. A small airbrush is much more effective and less wasteful.

I got this sprayer at Home Depo for $20 bucks. I'm going to hook it up to my compressor and it should work fine! simple little gun that comes all apart for cleaning. I've got 2 compressors from my carpentry business and I'll just mix up my own cermark paste. I seemed to me to be a better vertion of the thing cermark was trying to sell with the can of compessed air...0416151924.jpg0416151941.jpg

[Dan Hintz]

The secret to having it not clog? Add more alcohol. I thin mine out big time, and put on 2 coats...

DO get an air pressure regulator. The difference between 5 psi and 8 psi is substantial!

>edit< -- another trick to keep from clogging, cut the intake tube so it's at least 1/8" from the bottom of the jar. Cermark separates real quick, shortening the tube keeps it from picking up the thicker solids...

And finally, because Cermark separates real quick, SHAKE as often as possible...

I use about a 10:1 ratio... too thin for some, but it has worked out quite well for me, and never once have I have a clog. I tend to shake between squirts, so that likely helps a bit. I never thought of shortening the pickup tube... but I suppose I don't need to if it hasn't caused a problem yet.

[Mike Null]

I was one who recommended stirring the devil out of the jar but somebody recommended putting some small nuts in the jar as agitators and I found that they work better than stirring.

[Tim Bateson]

I too use several cans a year. I don't worry about the waste, as it pays so well. I do occasionally run out of propellent or clog. I bought a re-usable container and can of propellent.

This works for me, but if I did it every day I may use one of the a fore mentioned methods. Any less and you are wasting your valuable time on them.

[Ross Moshinsky]

I didn't like the spray can at all. Very difficult to get the proper, thin coat. Paste with a brush or airbrush is the only way I'd consider doing Cermark.

[Keith Colson]

I used my new airbrush today for a bunch of champagne buckets. I was a little nervous as I had to have this job done by end of week and only my clogged can of Cermark. Plus it was my first time with an airbrush and I was pretty high on "clog fear"

All I can say is wow! The airbrush really did the business. These were my least stressful, highest quality engraves I have done. With the airbrush you can get a super fine coat, no runs at all. And washing is so much easier too. Here are a couple of pics from today's work.

stainless_bucket.jpg

stainless_hip_flask_front.JPG

Cheers
Keith

[Mike Null]

As I've mentioned several times earlier, I prefer an air brush but my highest paying job is one where I must use a sponge brush--the one inch variety. It works well and is very economical.

[John Frazee]

I tried the tape when it came out years ago without any luck so that was a hundred bucks wasted. Recently I bought a can and from the start it was clogged and spitting. It made a big mess but I didn't call and complain. I used it instead of the rotary engraver to engrave over 300 big metal keys for some kind of church handout. They looked good when I experimented. I lasered, washed and dried one by one, looked great. I lasered the rest and an employee took the whole batch and soaked them in water as she took each one out and rinsed and dried. All the cermark came off! It left a faint amount, just enough that I had to use a scrubber to clean them. They even discolored so I used a degreaser, used metal etch primer, spray painted them satin silver and the ran them again without the cermark and the customer is happy. She was willing to pay for my trouble but it was my fault, not hers so I didn't charge any extra. She's happy but I'm not! I really thought I was going to save time using cermark and lasering 30 at a time instead of one at a time with the rotary. Boy was I wrong!