Tired of pumping your sprayer? A simple fix

tuscarora dave

tuscarora dave

Active member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
5,403
Reaction score
0
A lot of you know that I work on a lot of commercial vehicles. These vehicles come to me really cruddy, so most get a good pre-soak using a strong degreaser. I use this degreaser to pre-soak the entire vehicle before doing the initial wash.

When I'm not working on commercial vehicles I still use this pump up sprayer to spray down wheels, wells and tires with the degreaser before pressure washer. In other words, I use this 2.5 gallon pump up sprayer a lot and can't even begin to guess how much time I've spent pumping this thing up over the years. Lots and lots of pumping is all I can accurately say.

Quite some time ago I had the idea of making an improvement on the pump up sprayer to make my life a bit easier. With all the wiping, claying, waxing etc. that I do up there at the shop, I'll do just about anything to save my shoulders, as the older I get, the more worn out my shoulders get.

I bought this bolt on, removable valve stem (for a car rim) about a year ago with the intent of making an air operated, bulk APC sprayer. I was going to use it for my most used sprayed solution and have a regulator inline to regulate a constant air pressure in the system and utilize a 25 foot air hose with a custom trigger and nozzle on the end, to spray an interior strength dilution of APC for working on carpets, seats etc. with my extractor.

Well I never actually built the contraption. After using this little time saving valve stem for my presoak/tire/wheel APC pump up sprayer yesterday, I wish I'd have done it a year ago when I first bought the parts. I'm still going to make the interior dilution APC sprayer and will update this thread with the photos of it.

Here's a photo of what I did yesterday and a short commentary of how I did it and how it works.



I drilled the hole using a 1/2" drill bit, then I took a very thin piece of wire and wrapped it around the tip of the valve stem and installed a cap over it. Next I threaded the wire through the new hole I just drilled and pulled the stem up through from the inside. I had to grind the outer neoprene seal a little to have enough threads to start the nut that compresses the outer seal and washer that holds it all together.

All in, the little improvement took 5 minutes to make, cost only a few bucks for the stem, and now there's no need to do all that pumping anymore. I just take my tire inflating chuck and pressurize the unit until the safety relief valve pops out and gives a little hiss and it's ready to go.
 
Nice!!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online
 
That's a great idea. I use 2 gallon pump sprayers regularly for detailing so I may just try this. I thought about getting a Zep Model B sprayer before, for this sort of application, but the capacity is only a quart and they aren't exactly cheap.

Do you have a link for the valve stem you used? I suppose the thickness of the sprayer walls can vary with different brands, and I've never shopped for valve stems. Are they all one standard size or can you get extended mounting threads for thicker-walled sprayers?

When you say, " I had to grind the outer neoprene seal a little to have enough threads to start the nut that compresses the outer seal and washer that holds it all together" are you talking about the thickness of the neoprene seal I assume? How do you grind neoprene (seems too soft to grind)?

Were you able to tighten that compression nut without the valve stem spinning, or did you need to do something like put a couple nuts on the valve stem, tightened against each other, as a "holder" to keep the stem from rotating as you tighten it?
 
Great idea!
I may try this with the old one when I buy a new one (I will probably fudge it)
 
I remember discussing this with you while you were down here. This is awesome. I may try this with my pump sprayer.
 
Awsome Idea Dave!

You mentioned a pressure relief valve( which I assume is the red botton on the side) did you have to buy that and install or was it included with the sprayer?
 
Dang it..... one more project I need to do!

Thanks for sharing. One of the best idea I've seen in a while!
 
Great idea! Looks like my Motive brake bleeder.

7equry9y.jpg
 
Very nice out-of-the-box idea! Congrats! :xyxthumbs:
 
smack said:
Very good idea Dave! I bet your shoulders love you for doing this.

Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...

Yes they do!

SR99 said:
That's a great idea. I use 2 gallon pump sprayers regularly for detailing so I may just try this. I thought about getting a Zep Model B sprayer before, for this sort of application, but the capacity is only a quart and they aren't exactly cheap.

Do you have a link for the valve stem you used?

No I don't but it is a standard replaceable automotive wheel valve stem that can be purchased at any auto parts store.


I suppose the thickness of the sprayer walls can vary with different brands, and I've never shopped for valve stems. Are they all one standard size or can you get extended mounting threads for thicker-walled sprayers?

I'm not sure about this, I just grabbed what I saw on the shelf at Advance Auto Parts. You'll have to stop in or call them to get that answer.

When you say, " I had to grind the outer neoprene seal a little to have enough threads to start the nut that compresses the outer seal and washer that holds it all together" are you talking about the thickness of the neoprene seal I assume? How do you grind neoprene (seems too soft to grind)?

The thickness, yes that's correct. Just hold it against the grinding wheel on the bench grinder, it's not too soft to grind. Just be careful not to grind your fingertips.

Were you able to tighten that compression nut without the valve stem spinning, or did you need to do something like put a couple nuts on the valve stem, tightened against each other, as a "holder" to keep the stem from rotating as you tighten it?
Click to expand...

Yes, I placed the valve stem close to the top of the jug so that I could reach my other hand's fingers in and hold the stem from spinning. Once my outer seal was ground thin enough to get the threads started, one nut worked fine.

dad07 said:
Awsome Idea Dave!

You mentioned a pressure relief valve( which I assume is the red botton on the side) did you have to buy that and install or was it included with the sprayer?
Click to expand...

The pressure relief valve came with the Gilmour Professional Sprayer that I purchased from the Home Depot. I wouldn't have done this mod if the sprayer didn't have the pressure relief valve, for safety reasons.

epikls said:
Why not use a battery powered sprayer
Click to expand...

Because batteries suck.

They are expensive, they go bad, they take hours to charge, I forget to charge them, when they go bad they need to be disposed of properly, I'm sure i could think of more reasons not to go battery powered.

The reason I chose the Mod I did was for convenience reasons, Simply find the end of my airline, place the tire inflation chuck on the tip of the valve and in 2 seconds the sprayer is at full operating pressure. I have air compressors both in my shop and my van so this was just best for me.

Perhaps battery power is better for some.

BradsDetailing said:
Do you use an electric pump
Click to expand...

I use my air compressors which are technically BIG electric pumps.
 
We started doing this 6-7 years ago! It's a great time saver! We also found that using a rubber truck valve stems works better, we use a 2 gal sprayer and drill a 5/8" hole, lubing the stem with some car wash shampoo it pulls right through and seals up great! To add good longevity to the sprayer, pull pumps out every night and lock the sprayer trigger/handle in the closed/off position. another thing we did was add a 5' hose to the sprayer that way when doing an RV your not having to hold the sprayer, like wise the bottom of a boat not having to drag the sprayer underneath.
The electric pump sprayers are a pain, always breaking down, seals going out, just big time wasters and NOT cost effective!
 
Custom Detail said:
We started doing this 6-7 years ago! It's a great time saver! We also found that using a rubber truck valve stems works better, we use a 2 gal sprayer and drill a 5/8" hole, lubing the stem with some car wash shampoo it pulls right through and seals up great! To add good longevity to the sprayer, pull pumps out every night and lock the sprayer trigger/handle in the closed/off position. another thing we did was add a 5' hose to the sprayer that way when doing an RV your not having to hold the sprayer, like wise the bottom of a boat not having to drag the sprayer underneath.
The electric pump sprayers are a pain, always breaking down, seals going out, just big time wasters and NOT cost effective!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip on the 5/8" hole and pull through rubber stem. Are truck stems and car stems different diameters?

Is it the length of the truck stem that makes it's use more advantageous over regular automotive stems?
 
After talking with my lead Man apparently we have been doing this for almost 10 years! man how time fly's when your have fun!
Basically the truck stem is longer and a truck rim is thicker so the stem fits the sprayer better, also you can get them in 90 degree which will keep any crap out of the stem, meaning after airing up the valve won't stick and spray out back toward you.
To make the hole we use a 1/2" step drill and it makes a tapered hole smaller at the bottom and larger at the top or outside making a wedge and holding the stem tight.
Since we changed too the truck type stem we have never had one fail, the first ones we did we used the same stem that you used and had problems mostly coming loose or valve sticking open.
 
Custom Detail said:
After talking with my lead Man apparently we have been doing this for almost 10 years! man how time fly's when your have fun!
Basically the truck stem is longer and a truck rim is thicker so the stem fits the sprayer better, also you can get them in 90 degree which will keep out any crap out of the stem, meaning after airing up the valve won't stick and spray out back toward you.
To make the hole we use a 1/2" step drill and it makes a tapered hole smaller at the bottom and larger at the top or outside making
Click to expand...
Nice, makes total sense. Thanks for the feedback.:props:
 
Good post. Amazing how things go around, I did this in the late 70's only with a metal sprayer as plastic wasn't that big at that time for sprayers.

Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top