Striping help when there are cars in spaces

So if I am understanding this correctly, I can use the short hose for the 2nd gun for the majority of the striping and touchups and I can just leave thinner, spirits or xylene in the long hose? I am guessing that if I needed to use the long hose, all I would have to do is flush out the thinner/xylene with paint and it is ready to go. If I leave the thinner or xylene in the long hose, has anyone ever noticed it bleeding in with the paint in the short hose? Just wondering. Thanks.

Yes you can leave the long hose unused but over a period of time paint will work into it. Thinner or water will not work back into the short hose if that is what you are spraying with. So if you are planing on a color change you can leave the long hose unused and not have to clean it or purge it for the color change. Our method is keeping a strainer in the bucket with the pickup tube outside the strainer and just adding paint as needed. We have three machines and the white and yellow never get a color change. We keep paint in both hoses and just circ it if they sit for a while. We have a 3500 that has the 1/4 inch hoses so we use it for dark colors ( blue red black). Seldom ever put paint in the long hose but if we do not bad to clean like the big hoses on the 3900's. We normally keep blue in this machine but if we need we can just purge to red or black. To go back to blue we have to clean the machine. We are now using only latex (yuk) as most of our work is new sealer but did the same things when we were using oil or acetone. Even with latex we usually only clean the white and yellow machines once or twice a season. We do change the rock gaurds as needed.

That makes a lot of sense, Thanks Milt.

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If right side is available- swing the gun to the back wheel. In between two cars- use a couple of cut down boards. If car is on line- tow or mob fee. Personally a Ford PSD and a chain works best

Milt wrote on Jun 8, 2011:Go to #2

Yes you can leave the long hose unused but over a period of time paint will work into it. Thinner or water will not work back into the short hose if that is what you are spraying with. So if you are planing on a color change you can leave the long hose unused and not have to clean it or purge it for the color change. Our method is keeping a strainer in the bucket with the pickup tube outside the strainer and just adding paint as needed. We have three machines and the white and yellow never get a color change. We keep paint in both hoses and just circ it if they sit for a while. We have a 3500 that has the 1/4 inch hoses so we use it for dark colors ( blue red black). Seldom ever put paint in the long hose but if we do not bad to clean like the big hoses on the 3900's. We normally keep blue in this machine but if we need we can just purge to red or black. To go back to blue we have to clean the machine. We are now using only latex (yuk) as most of our work is new sealer but did the same things when we were using oil or acetone. Even with latex we usually only clean the white and yellow machines once or twice a season. We do change the rock gaurds as needed.

I usually move the gun to the left side if the car isn't on the line. Ive gotten it down so I can do it quick and often it seem like there are a few lines anyway that need to be painted from the left due to the cofig of the layout. I state on all my contracts that if there are vehicles blocking line they will not be painted and give the added return charge if they want it done. Also from comments here about putting paint in the long hose, I have had so much trouble if I don't charge that line and fill with paint. When i didn't do that and it was a lengthy job, some paint would migrate just a few inches out of the manifold into the line and clog if it was there for any length of time not moving soooooo now on every job of significant size I fill the long line. I have had to many times trying to unclog the line as you well know the long line serves as the ballast for pressure and if it clogs its hourglass city!!!

When we have jobs like this, we take the Line Cheater that Jim made. It is the best for getting up in between vehicles.

When I have had vehicles left behind, I have very seldom been lucky enough that they weren't parked on a line or over a stall number so not much of an option with the exception of moving cars but I dont want to go there either.

stripinstraight wrote on Aug 30, 2011:Go to #8

When I have had vehicles left behind, I have very seldom been lucky enough that they weren't parked on a line or over a stall number so not much of an option with the exception of moving cars but I dont want to go there either.

I hate it when some kid parks the car daddy bought in two or three spaces so no one can park near his. Some people park on the line on purpose and some just can't park.

Another option is to have a gun holder of both sides, switch the gun to either side as needed, and keep spare gun in the job box. Other uses of shooting from either side.... crosshatches without waiting for paint to dry; curb faces in one direction, curb top opposite direction back.

If you push by hand, and paint with the gun at the rear wheel you can paint toward the curb or away from the curb. There is no need to move the paint gun to the other side of the machine. Saves you time.

Not sure what you mean by toward or away from curb, but what I meant was shoot curbface on right side holder, turn around and shoot top on left holder coming back. Rear wheel on both.

Gauxt wrote on Sep 2, 2011:Go to #12

Not sure what you mean by toward or away from curb, but what I meant was shoot curbface on right side holder, turn around and shoot top on left holder coming back. Rear wheel on both.

He means to run the gun off the back wheel to paint the lines. That works when walking but with a driver a gun on each side works great.

Even with a driver. Disconnect, swing the gun to the back, strip the line and put it all back. It's good to give the legs a good stretch once In a while, and you don't have to deal with setting up a 2nd gun or switching sides. Unless you have a lot of lines to do, don't waste your time