“The best preparation for good work tomorrow is to do good work today.” – Elbert Hubbard
Flushing the “A” side of your proportioner and hoses is a good practice in preventative maintenance of your spray equipment before storage. This will ensure a problem-free start up in the Spring. To flush the “A” side, use a 50/50 mix of mineral spirits and lacquer thinner. This mixture does not harm the rubber hose nor the proportioner pump. Do not let this mixture sit in the hose for several hours. This is ONLY A FLUSH! Place the transfer pump into a five gallon pail with the mixture and allow the pump to cycle a few strokes. Bring your proportioner online to jog, or cycle, and after adjusting the pressure lower than the 1,000 psi, begin cycling and pumping the mixture through the system on the “A” side. You may want to incorporate some filtration apparatus while cycling in order to catch any crystallized contaminants. When you are satisfied that the system has been flushed clean of possible crystallized ISO or other contaminants, move the transfer pump into the hydraulic oil or diesel fuel pumping through your hoses until it has filled the system. You can now shut down your proportioner and close the system. Your equipment is in the storage state.