Spray Tip Maintenance
If spray patterns start to degrade when tips are about a year old, check your seals (and look to your air and fluid settings). January 27, 2007
Question
I have two Kremlin tips both not even a year old, taken care of very well, and both are shot. How long are these tips supposed to last?
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor W:
What size are they and what did you shoot through them?
From the original questioner:
It's a 09-114, and I shoot Magnamax, dull. I clean it every day.
From contributor H:
Mine last a year or so. What do you mean by shot? Sometimes a seal will make the tip look bad.
From the original questioner:
Shot meaning not a good spray pattern, heavy, but the hole is completely clear.
From contributor H:
If it is heavy on the ends, increase your air pressure to the gun, not the pump. If it looks heavy in the pattern, check to see if your white o ring is chipped or cracked.
From contributor T:
The Kremlin tips are rated to last for 3000 liters, or 750 gallons. I would guess that you need a new tip seal or the seal that surrounds the fluid nozzle. If either of them is damaged, air will meet the fluid before it leaves the gun and a heavy, rounder fan pattern is seen.
From contributor E:
I agree about the seals. My K rep was just in to check out a plus tip that lost it's Xtra center thing that sits inside the seal. He asked if I had some spare seals (no, I didn't) and said it's always a good idea to have a set of spares around. Apparently they can get a little flat over time and the contact loosens with the fluid opening.
The 06 Xtra I have has a soft rubber seal with a screen, so it looks like it could wear much faster than the white plastic on my 09s.
He also dropped off some new laminated maintenance sheets for the gun and pump that Kremlin just issued, so a nice visit. I shoot mostly Max clear and white base, so I don't expect much wear, but you never know. I have a pack of seals on order. Now I have to learn how to get those little suckers out without damaging the tip.
From contributor O:
What are you using to clean out the hole in the tip?
From the original questioner:
I'm using lacquer thinner to clean it, but I am now learning that it is not the tip, it is something else and of course no paper work on the gun, so I'm stumped. The spray pattern has gotten smaller and heavier. No clue. Any ideas?
From contributor R:
Smaller and heavier? Do you have any adjustment in the fan pattern/fluid amount when you use the adjustments on the gun itself? Perhaps you are missing a seal somewhere? Was the gun recently taken apart for cleaning or maintenance? Are you the only one to use it? More information and specifics would make it easier to assist you. If you go to Kremlin's website you can download schematics for the gun and the pump (they are available as PDF files).
From contributor O:
Plenty of finishers think 10.14 when they hear Kremlin, but Kremlin makes a bunch of different spray guns. On the 10.14, inadequate atomizing pressure usually results in "horns". But on other Kremlin guns, inadequate atomizing air pressure results in a pattern that is "too thick in the center." Suggest you check your air cap for restrictions. If you're convinced it's clean, either increase the atomizing air pressure or thin your finish.
