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Guest
Guest
The pumps (yellow nozzle pumps) on my cans of West System resin and hardeners are old, some older than others. I’ve never cleaned them and I don’t completely trust the accuracy of the hardener ones in particular.
I called West System technical services to ask about their pump maintenance and cleaning recommendations. Long time user, first time caller.
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.
Wow. I had an ancient can of 205 fast hardener with a tiny amount remaining. That tiny amount had turned black and useless and the pump was stuck, but a hot water bath and pump, another rinse and pump in clean hot water and an alcohol flush and the pump was like new.
I alcohol pumped and cleaned an old resin pump with similar success.
Yippee, I have clean spare pumps.
I had one pump break irreparably years ago, and it sucks to be in the middle of an epoxy job and have to go hunt down graduated measuring cups to eyeball the resin/hardener ratio. Having clean spare pumps on hand is a good thing.
I called West System technical services to ask about their pump maintenance and cleaning recommendations. Long time user, first time caller.
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.
Wow. I had an ancient can of 205 fast hardener with a tiny amount remaining. That tiny amount had turned black and useless and the pump was stuck, but a hot water bath and pump, another rinse and pump in clean hot water and an alcohol flush and the pump was like new.
I alcohol pumped and cleaned an old resin pump with similar success.
Yippee, I have clean spare pumps.
I had one pump break irreparably years ago, and it sucks to be in the middle of an epoxy job and have to go hunt down graduated measuring cups to eyeball the resin/hardener ratio. Having clean spare pumps on hand is a good thing.