Spray Equipment Blog

The Easiest Money You'll Ever Make

We have had a number of technicians and PCO's stop in the past week. They asked us to service their pumps because they were losing pressure. It turned out all that was needed was to clean their filters. We gave them a lecture, but no invoice, and sent them on their way.

                        

Checking and cleaning your spray equipment filter is the best thing you can do to reduce downtime and repair expense. Here is an article I had published in Pest Management Magazine last year. 

Would you like to boost productivity, improve service and reduce repair expenses? When it comes to pest industry spray equipment, the single most effective means of achieving these results is proper filtration.

Filtration is the removal of suspended foreign material from water. Foreign material can be dirt, sand, rocks, trash or anything else that makes its way into your spray tank, other than the chemical you've added.

Filtration is critical to pest management professionals (PMPs) because debris will wreak havoc: damage pumps; clog hoses, guns and tips and starve pumps of water, causing extensive damage. Our service facility estimates that almost 50 percent of sprayer repairs are avoidable if proper filtration design and operation is implemented.

While I'm focusing on power sprayers in this column, much of the information also applies to compressed air sprayers and backpacks.

DESIGN

Design includes equipment selection, placement and access. Selection should be based on material being applied, quality of water, technician compliance and the type of pump.

Most PMPs can get by with one line strainer between the tank and pump. Note that a line strainer refers to the complete unit, which contains a metal filter. However, the mesh of the filter is important: Too fine, and it will clog quickly; too coarse, and small debris will get through.

If your water source is poor, use additional filtration. For example, many termite pretreaters in new home developments rely on water lines filled with debris. For some clients, we've added a line strainer on the hydrant fill line, a filter basket in the tank fillwell and/or two line strainers between the tank and pump. In the last situation, the first filter is coarse and the second is fine — a combination that works well to eliminate most debris.

Some pumps require more filtration than others. Roller pumps, for example, are sensitive to debris and require better filtration than diaphragm pumps.

It's critical that the filtration device be located for easy technician access. This includes being able to easily reach and check the filter, as well as ensuring the system is plumbed so the filter can be checked without causing a spill. If the tank is bottom-plumbed and the strainer is below the water level in the tank, be sure to install a shut-off valve so the filter can be checked even when the tank is full.

Whatever filtration system you and your equipment provider design, try to standardize it across all your vehicles.

OPERATION

Checking and cleaning the filter is the single most valuable preventative maintenance task you can perform. It's also the easiest.

For new equipment, check the filter daily. If there's consistently no debris, consider reducing the frequency. When you determine the appropriate frequency, make it a company policy. Too often is better then too seldom. Reinforce the importance of checking and cleaning the filter.

MAINTENANCE

Eventually the filter will become too dirty to clean. Replace it. Chemicals will eventually swell the gasket in the line strainer, making it impossible to create an airtight seal and causing the pump to suck air. Replace the gasket.

Equip each vehicle with an extra filter and gasket so the technician can perform this repair in the field. If you've standardized your filtration, this is easy.

Eventually the line strainer body may crack, causing an air leak. This requires replacement of the entire unit.

These steps, if followed, will boost productivity, allow you to provide better service to your customers and reduce repair expenses.

Questions, comments?

Andrew@qspray.com

www.qspray.com

Spray Tanks – Pre-Season Cleanout Worth the Effort

Would you rather have your pest control spray equipment down for servicing now or in the middle of summer?

 

The high season for pest control is approaching. Now is the time, when business is still a little slow, to get your spray equipment in fighting shape for the long hours and hard use it will undoubtedly endure. Taking a little time to prepare now will reduce downtime during your critical busy season, as well as help reduce equipment repair expenses by fixing small problems before the become big problems.

 

The first thing to do is give your tank a good cleaning. Tanks often experience a buildup of chemical residue caused by pesticides falling out of suspension and accumulating on the bottom of the tank. This can cause a variety of problems. 

 

1.   The buildup can affect the concentration of the material you are applying. For example if you are getting toward the bottom of the tank and some of the residue came free, you could be applying material at higher than label rates. Alternatively, you could be inadvertently applying a different chemical from an earlier mix. 

2.   The residue could come free and clog filters, hoses, guns, tips, etc. All of these outcomes are negative and may affect equipment availability, technician productivity and repair expenses. At best, clogged equipment will cause your technician to lose time. At worst, it will destroy your pump.

3.   The cleanout process will remove other dirt, rock and debris that accumulate in a tank that likewise plays havoc with your downstream components.

 

Here are some thoughts for cleaning out your tank:

A.    Get the tank as empty as possible without running your pump dry. 

B.    Fill the tank with clean water and run it through your system. Remove the spray gun so it does not get clogged. Periodically check the filter to be sure it does not clog. Be sure to follow all applicable laws when dealing with the rinsate. If you do not have a good place to spray out the rinsate, spray it into another tank on a different truck.

C.    Add a little more clean water to the tank. This time we do not want to fill the tank we just want enough water to feed the pump and fill the hose. We want most of the tank to be visible. Turn up the pressure on your system and use your spray gun pressure wash the inside of the tank.  Add more water then spray out this rinsate as in “B” above.

D.    Fill your tank with water and add tank cleaner. Tank cleaner is available from your pest control products supplier. Most of these products use 1 pound of tank cleaner per 100 gallons of tank volume. Put the spray hose end into your tank and let the system just circulate the tank cleaner for a while per the label directions. This will remove any remaining chemical residue. Properly dispose of the tank cleaner rinsate.

E.    Run another tank of clean water through the system to remove any remaining tank cleaner.

F.     Sometimes there may be debris remaining in the tank after you have finished the cleanout. This could be stones, bottle caps, etc. We don’t have a good solution for you here. You need to find a way to manually remove this debris so it doesn’t end causing problems later. If your filter is at a low point in the system, it might be easiest to remove the filter then use a garden hose to wash debris out of the tank then out through the filter.

G.    Finally, check and clean your filter to ensure it is debris-free and ready for your busy season.

 

A clean tank is a good tank. It requires a bit of effort but you will be repaid in reduced downtime and fewer, less expensive equipment repairs. Spend time now preparing your equipment so your equipment can make you money this summer.

 

To share equipment ideas or horror stories, email Greess at Andrew@qspray.com or follow him at www.SprayEquipmentBlog.com or on Twitter.

More Tips on Optimizing Your Pest Management Equipment Efficiencies

Safety is Free. Pest Control Vehicle Load Safety.

 

Pest Management Equipment safety is not just a good idea, it’s a great investment. Inattention to safety has huge financial implications: increased expenses (workers comp, clean ups, medical bills, lawsuits, repairs, etc.), lost productivity, employee turnover, customer impacts, bad publicity, etc.

 

I will discuss vehicle load safety. By this I mean:

- Visibility

- Load security

- Flying Objects

- Vehicle control & stability

 

I raise this issue because our repair facility has seen an increase in the number of totaled pest control trucks. I am not sure of the reason for this. Some possibilities:

- Smaller trucks (easier to total in an accident)

- More equipment in truck

- More traffic

- More time on the road

- More bad drivers (at least in Phoenix, AZ).

 

These accidents have caused us to think about what our customers can do to protect themselves, their employees, and their companies. Here are some ideas.

 

1. Visibility – Make sure that equipment does not create blind spots for the driver.

 

2. Make sure it’s secured. You don’t want equipment sliding around in the back of your truck. It is dangerous to the driver, distracting and can damage your expensive equipment.

 

3. Don’t assume it’s attached. You don’t want equipment flying off your truck crashing into people and property. Even if the accident wasn’t your fault (or your employee’s fault), if your equipment hits someone, a lawyer will sue you. Periodically check your equipment to ensure it’s secured to your truck. For example:

 

Spray Rig – Is it securely bolted to the truck? Are bolts tight? Is the correct fastening system being used (e.g., nylock nuts are unlikely to come loose)?

 

Tank – Are the tank straps intact? Snug? Secure? Do they show any signs of wear? Perform a thorough inspection periodically. You do not want a tank flying off your truck, becoming a water-filled projectile. A 50-gallon tank weighs over 400 pounds when full. It will destroy whatever it hits.

 

Tool Box – Tool boxes are usually bolted through the bottom of the tool box to the truck. Inspect for rust, fatigue, or other wear around the bolts. If the material around the bolts is weak, in the event of a crash, the box may fly off.

 

B&Gs, Backpacks, etc. – most of our clients put these in a snug place in the truck. They are prevented from rolling around but they are not secured from being launched should an accident occur. A one-gallon steel sprayer hitting another car’s windshield at 60 miles per hour will not be pretty. Secure these items appropriately. As a side benefit, this could also help reduce theft.

 

4. Load Stability. This is particularly important as PMP's shift to smaller trucks to improve gas mileage. Some ideas:

 

- Don’t over load the vehicle

- Balance the load

- Pay particular attention to your water tank. At 8.4 pounds per gallon, the water in your tank is likely the heaviest component on your truck. There are two issues with the tank:

 

A.  The weight of the water

B.  The surge of the water in the tank.

 

Anyone who has hit the brakes at intersection with a partially full water tank knows that these are serious issues.  

 

The answer to the water weight issue is don’t overload the truck, i.e., make sure the tank is not too large to safely control the vehicle. 

 

The challenge of tank surge is that most tanks are not properly baffled to reduce the surge. Most plastic (poly) tanks are not baffled and most fiberglass and steel tanks, if baffled, are baffled only in one dimension. There is a new class of instant tank baffles that can be added to the tank at any time. These baffles suppress surge on all three axes (left-right, front-back, up-down) to virtually eliminate surge. This makes the vehicle much easier to control and stop.

 

Conduct these inspections periodically to ensure you and your employees are being as safe as you can be.

 

Andrew Greess is the President of Quality Equipment & Spray, which designs and builds custom pest control spray equipment solutions. He can be reached at andrew@qspray.com.  For more information on this topic or to share your comments, visit his blog at www.sprayequipmentblog.com.