G
Guest
Guest
I know folks here use various brand epoxies, and weigh their resin mix on a scale or in graduated cups. I like the ease of West System pumps, especially for one pump batches on little jobs, but the pumps require occasional maintenance.
It was time to clean the West System pumps again. It had been too long; maybe 3 years for one pump. That rarely used 205 fast hardener pump was sticky hard to compress and dispensed a suspiciously small amount, even with some half-pump priming.
I needed a one-squirt batch for something unimportant so I chanced it, kept pumping dribbles and guesstimated the hardener amount. The epoxy set up fine, but I don’t want to do that again. Time to clean the pumps.
West System technical services recommends:
To clean the resin pump, flush it with a solvent - lacquer thinner, acetone or denatured alcohol. West suggested alcohol.
To clean the hardener pumps first flush with hot water (the hardener is water soluble) and then with alcohol.
I had spare cleaned pumps for everything. I had a pump break irreparably years ago while making a pot of epoxy, and hunting down graduated cups in the middle of an epoxy job sucked. Waste of time and a pair of gloves.
I had checked ratio calibration on those pumps the last time I switched them out for cleaning (easy to check during the alcohol flush), so I screwed on new ones and set the old 205 and 206 pumps in a bucket of hot water to soak. Don’t really need spare pumps to clean a set, the rinsing and flush squirting takes only a few minutes.
On removal the 205 fast hardener pump was dark gummy sticky, and the 206 slow hardener pump, which still seemed to work fine, had some white crystallization forming, above the”waterline” as it were.
Couple minutes soaking in a bucket of hot water (I wanted to clean the caps and threads too) dissolved 99% of the crud and I ran a rag around the cap to remove the rest. A few alcohol pumps and they are clean as a whistle, with like new action.
I really should clean and check the pumps as soon as they first become sticky recalcitrant. Or somehow before they become sticky recalcitrant. Maybe annually every spring, when warmer weather brings more frequent epoxy work.
I should date the pumps. Really should date my resins and hardeners too, but I don’t remember when each of those cans were purchased over the years. The pumps at least are now dated, so I will know when they were last cleaned/installed.
The next time I buy resin or hardener I’ll date those new cans as well. I expect that may be common practice among epoxy users. Someone could have told me 30 years ago. Someone probably did; I’m a slow learner.
It was time to clean the West System pumps again. It had been too long; maybe 3 years for one pump. That rarely used 205 fast hardener pump was sticky hard to compress and dispensed a suspiciously small amount, even with some half-pump priming.
I needed a one-squirt batch for something unimportant so I chanced it, kept pumping dribbles and guesstimated the hardener amount. The epoxy set up fine, but I don’t want to do that again. Time to clean the pumps.
West System technical services recommends:
To clean the resin pump, flush it with a solvent - lacquer thinner, acetone or denatured alcohol. West suggested alcohol.
To clean the hardener pumps first flush with hot water (the hardener is water soluble) and then with alcohol.
I had spare cleaned pumps for everything. I had a pump break irreparably years ago while making a pot of epoxy, and hunting down graduated cups in the middle of an epoxy job sucked. Waste of time and a pair of gloves.
I had checked ratio calibration on those pumps the last time I switched them out for cleaning (easy to check during the alcohol flush), so I screwed on new ones and set the old 205 and 206 pumps in a bucket of hot water to soak. Don’t really need spare pumps to clean a set, the rinsing and flush squirting takes only a few minutes.
On removal the 205 fast hardener pump was dark gummy sticky, and the 206 slow hardener pump, which still seemed to work fine, had some white crystallization forming, above the”waterline” as it were.
Couple minutes soaking in a bucket of hot water (I wanted to clean the caps and threads too) dissolved 99% of the crud and I ran a rag around the cap to remove the rest. A few alcohol pumps and they are clean as a whistle, with like new action.
I really should clean and check the pumps as soon as they first become sticky recalcitrant. Or somehow before they become sticky recalcitrant. Maybe annually every spring, when warmer weather brings more frequent epoxy work.
I should date the pumps. Really should date my resins and hardeners too, but I don’t remember when each of those cans were purchased over the years. The pumps at least are now dated, so I will know when they were last cleaned/installed.
The next time I buy resin or hardener I’ll date those new cans as well. I expect that may be common practice among epoxy users. Someone could have told me 30 years ago. Someone probably did; I’m a slow learner.