Vent: The day my spray rig clogged and I lost a whole afternoon

Last Tuesday I was halfway through painting a living room in Lakewood and my Graco sprayer just stopped dead. Turned out there was a dried chunk of paint in the tip from the previous job. I spent 3 hours flushing lines and replacing filters instead of finishing the room. Has anyone else had a cheap part ruin a whole day like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

masonbell21d ago

A three hour flush over a dried chunk of paint? That is brutal, man. Losing a whole afternoon over something that small makes me want to throw the rig in the lake. Definitely feeling your pain on that one, lol.

william_jackson6521d ago

And yeah that's the thing with these sprayers, it's never a big dramatic failure that takes you out, it's always some tiny little thing like a speck of dried paint or a worn out O-ring. I've had a $2 gasket blow out on me before and suddenly I'm pulling the whole gun apart and missing a window of dry time that screws up the whole schedule. The worst part is you can't even get mad at the machine because it's your own fault for not cleaning it better the last time, but in the moment you just want to kick something. That three hour flush probably cost you more in lost labor than the whole rig is worth for the day, and there's no getting it back.

reesemiller21d ago

Right?? I swear every time I'm staring down a clogged tip I realize my brilliant idea to "just finish this last coat" is gonna cost me the whole afternoon. The sprayer never screams FAILURE, it just quietly ruins your whole life one tiny particle at a time.