Sprayer Head (Tolco) Maintenance

[Route246]

I have a ton of spray bottles, mostly with Tolco sprayer heads. They get "tired" and stop performing well after awhile, especially those that are spraying wax, sealant and other things that have coagulants in them. Here is an example of a 32 oz bottle of spray wax.

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Notice the dip tube end position. This is very important if you're spraying with a forward tilt to the bottle. Always try to orient the dip tube to match the spray head position. If you're "active" when you're spraying, that is, you move the bottle quite a bit you need to try to keep the dip tube end submerged in liquid and making sure the tip is oriented this way tends to allow for more effective spraying when the bottle is almost empty.

This is the head and dip tube.

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If your sprayer head is getting unresponsive, spotty, ineffective or otherwise dysfunctional, try blowing it out with compressed air. I use an air nozzle like this. Notice the rubber tip on the end.

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I start blowing gently and the liquid and embedded crud starts blowing out of the sprayer head in an atomized flow. Lightly pumping the spray handle while air is blowing through the mechanism also helps to clean out the plunger mechanism. You'll see an amazing amount of stuff blow out of your sprayer when you you do this. Start gently and gradually apply more pressure. Once all of the atomized stuff stops coming out of the head, you're done. Reassemble and enjoy your new sprayer head.

Here are some of my spray bottles, on my cart, in my totes and still unpacking from past orders.

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[LEDetailing]

I’ve probably thrown away a lot of good spray heads (Tolcos) that just needed this trick.

Thank you

 

[Dr Oldz]

Awesome thread! I have found thru experience myself that they never actually die.... just need a good cleaning! The compressed air idea is actually great. Thank you!

 

[SWETM]

Great tips that I will have in mind.

Thanks for shareing your experience!

/Tony

 

[Finick]

Good tip. I wonder if this info could’ve saved a lot of people from tossing nozzles that get clogged with optimum hyper compound... all them poor sprayers. I’ll have to try this on some of mine just to see

Also, I really need to get a label maker... my painters tape just doesn’t compare to a real label.


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[JCDetails]

You could also thread off the atomizer tip and clean or replace the O ring. I find this is a common failure point especially with the stronger cleaners.

 

[oneheadlite]

Also, I really need to get a label maker... my painters tape just doesn’t compare to a real label.

Short term I've been applying a piece of packing tape, writing the info on it, then covering it with another piece of packing tape to keep it from rubbing off. Not as glamorous as actual labels, but totally functional.

 

[Finick]

Short term I've been applying a piece of packing tape, writing the info on it, then covering it with another piece of packing tape to keep it from rubbing off. Not as glamorous as actual labels, but totally functional.

That’s sort of what I do with painters tape

It’s definitely functional, and it actually holds up reasonably well. I’ve got some bottles with labels on there that are at least a little over a year old, and some get wet pretty regularly.

A label maker would just satisfy my obsessive nature


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[kb2ehj]

You could also thread off the atomizer tip and clean or replace the O ring. I find this is a common failure point especially with the stronger cleaners.

Do you know what size o-rings they are?


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