Ultrasonic Cleaner for Spray Gun Parts

[Ken Krawford]

I've come to the conclusion that keeping a spray gun clean is imperative in order to keep it spraying properly. In spite of quickly cleaning after each use I find that the air cap and various other small parts of my HVLP gun tend to accumulate bits of finish. I'm considering buying an inexpensive ultrasonic cleaner to keep the above mentioned parts clean but wonder if anyone else has done the same thing and has it worked out well. Thanks for your input.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have not. My approach is to keep my air cap and tip in a jar of lacquer thinner. The whole gun gets 'tanked" in lacquer thinner from time to time. Our paint store has a tank and provides the service. I have a gallon steel can with a door cut in the side. It is satisfying to lift the gun out of the tank and peel off the accumulation.

[Jim Becker]

I only spray waterborne through my good gun and it gets cleaned with hot water. Every once in awhile, to insure that I get any hidden stuff that managed to elude the hot water, I use some acetone to dissolve and remove it. I'm not sure how well an ultrasonic cleaner would do to release any chemical bonds, but it certainly wouldn't hurt the metal gun parts.

[George Yetka]

The ultrasonic will eat all the o-rings in there. I would stick certain parts in there but anything with an oring or seal I would avoid the Ultrasonic. I was spraying cerakote for 6 months or so with a buddy. We used Acetone and air dried. after a year or so the seals will start to go even from just the acetone. Jim has the right idea with only waterborne finishes

[Keith Outten]

I recently purchased my second ultrasonic tank. The first one was a cheap plastic one with a stainless rack that I bought from Harbor Freight. I found out that in order to do serious ultrasonic cleaning you need heat so my new tank is one of the large models that has a built-in heater and is made from all stainless steel.

[John TenEyck]

I soak the air cap and nozzle in lacquer thinner, as Maurice does. I don't keep them in there, tough, just a soak for a few minutes, then a brushing with a tooth brush including poking the bristles through the holes, if necessary, to make sure they are open. I hold the air cap up the light to make sure the holes are clear. Internal parts seem to stay clean as long as I clean up right after I finish using the gun for the day. I, too, only spray WB and shellac, but dried WB finishes can still be hard to remove, hence, the approach I use. Ammonia does a good job of removing any remnant shellac as well as WB's before they have cured.

John

[Rob Sack]

I use an aerosol spray gun cleaner called "Naked Gun". It works better than any solvent, including lacquer thinner, and works for both solvent based and water based finishes, without damaging the gun's internals.

[John TenEyck]

I use an aerosol spray gun cleaner called "Naked Gun". It works better than any solvent, including lacquer thinner, and works for both solvent based and water based finishes, without damaging the gun's internals.

Thanks very much Rob. I had heard of that product but forgot about it. Time to give it a try. It's in my Amazon cart now.

John

[Ken Krawford]

Thanks for all the feedback and interesting suggestions. The parts I was anticipating to put in the ultrasonic cleaner don't have O rings but was wasn't aware that ultrasound could damage them. Up until now I've been using Klean Strip Brush Cleaner to clean parts with dried on finish and it worked pretty well. I have also tried Klean Strip Paint Sprayer Cleaner but found it to be totally ineffective.

[Tom M King]

I have forever used carb cleaner for air caps and needles that solvent sprayed through leaves, except for guns that spray gelcoat. I use styrene for those.

[andrew whicker]

I'll have to try ammonia. I used SW shellac primer a few times (probably never again) in the same gun I spray WB paint from and I think it was my culprit for fish eyes and craters in the paint.

Shellac dries extremely fast. I've been using denatured alcohol to clean up the shellac. I'm ready to try something else.