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A side hardening in Gun Post New Topic | Post Reply

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Craig Gifford
Posted: Mar 08, 2014 02:13 PM
A side hardening in Gun
Been foaming for 7 years...over the past week the A side keeps hardening in the gun...blowing gaskets...clogging screens...spray 2 hours then happens again...have changed guns...at my wits end...temps & pressures at machine are ok.

Need help!
mason
Posted: Mar 10, 2014 08:07 AM
If the A side is hardening overnight, then the gun is not really clean. Some tips: Use a squirt can to rinse the gun more thoroughly. The pressure helps get the residue A out of the ports, and mixing chamber. Be sure to clean all of the gun parts, take the springs out and check seals.

With some guns such as the Fusion, it is better to not clean it often. For example, the Fusion gun really works best if you leave it on the coupling block overnight and just grease it.

Remember that the A side will harden if exposed to the air, so if the gun is left on the coupling block, air can't get to it. But, if you take it off, then you need to really clean every spec of A side out of the gun.

If you are getting a crossover that causes the A side to get clogged, then it could be your check valves, or even dirty material. Do your A side screens get crystals on them? Have you checked the pump screens lately.
jimcoler

I have over 10 years of experience specifying and installing open and closed cell spray foam. I've sold my business but I'm still selling for the new owners and consulting on large and custom specific jobs. 

I've expanded my knowledge into t

Posted: Mar 10, 2014 08:59 AM
Is this a Fusion AP? Is there air coming out of the end of the gun when you're not spraying? Is there any A mixed in with that air? I've had this happen where we cleaned our guns and didn't get them completely clean and within a couple of hours we were back at the truck cleaning the gun again! I would re-clean the gun and make sure that the air passage is clear too! You don't want that air or moisture getting to the A side!

The other thing that I can think of is "How dry is your air?" I realize that there is no meter that you can put on the end of your gun that will tell you on the Dry-o-meter scale how dry it is, but have you checked your Air system for any moisture buildup? Is your air system piped to allow moisture to flow back down and out? Do you have any moisture bleeder valves installed? What about moisture filters? When was the last time you changed this?

Hope this helps!
SprayFoamSupply.com
Posted: Mar 10, 2014 02:02 PM
If you spray for a couple of hours and then your gun screens get clogged up, then you don't have the A hardening in the gun, you probably have iso crystals coming from the drum that you are spraying out of, or the hose. Has your machine sat for more than 30 days? How about the foam that you are using? Did you get an old batch from your supplier?

George
Craig Gifford
Posted: Mar 13, 2014 07:22 PM
Thank you everyone for your input...it ended up being dirty chemical...not sure how it happened...but problem resolved!

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