Help!

I've got three aerosol cans of CerMark, including one of the so-called new and improved aerosol cans, that have 1/3 to 1/2 of product left in them and are clogged. I follow the manufacturer's care instructions to avoid the clogging issue, and even do some things beyond that.

I've got a small job I have to get done today for a pick-up in the morning and my new-improved can is even clogged. I have read posts in the past where some of you have opened CerMark aerosol cans. How do you do that safely?

It is definitely time for me to get an air brush and pump.

Dave,

I'm pretty confident that there is plenty of propellant in the cans, plus the bottom of the cans have no lip for an opener to grab on to.

I spoke with a large machine shop in our town that has a laser engraver. They actually had some CerMark on hand. They bailed me out.

I plan to call Ferro to see what can be done about these cans.

David,

I blow out the nozzels with shop air after each use............Have not had a problem since. I believe your problem is just the nozzle clogged.
Even after the procedure you use, when you turn the can upside down not ALL of the residue is cleared. Then when you rinse them in water, the hole is so small that the water cannot get through the nozzle, it just gets the outside wet. Same when you store it in water, it can't move through the nozzle to clear any residue.

Have you tried to blow them out with your compressed air line????

hth,

I don't have a separate compressed air line. My line goes right to the blasting cabinet.

I do get some spirts of flow through the nozzles, which tells me there is some flow. I'll give your theory a try. Thanks!

I just run the tip under hot water ... seem to clean the dried Cermark out.

Mark

David,

Once the can's clog theres not much you can do. I would like to caution everyone about shaking the cans a lot! We had one of the cans puncture and cermark was every ware. The older cans are a different aluminum and shaking them a lot can cause the can to puncture.

What we do with a dead can is to use a pair of dikes for wire cutting and pry up on the seal around the edge just until you start to hear a hiss. Then let it sit over night. then pry up a little more once all of the propellant is gone you can easily remove the top and the stopper.

Then we pour it into our Preval spray bottle DO NOT SHAKE OR COVER THE BOTTLE. leave the bottle opened for another 24 hr period then place the sprayer on try not to shake it as there is some additive that makes the cerdec in the cans spray. It is a lot like shaking a can of soda and then opening it.

We have done this with several cans and as long as you let the propellant slowly leak out you should be fine. Actually if you think the can is empty you may want to do the same thing you will be surprised at how much is still in the can.

After I had a can blow up in the cabinet one weekend and over everything in there I never bought another one! Concentrate and Preval sprayer kit works very well. Since I do a lot of stainless for a couple large shops I invested in a small air brush compressor and the cheapest air brush going.
Good quality airbrushes are too fine for the CerMark to spray well - cheap ones have larger openings and can handle the larger particles that are in CerMark. IMHO - best solution to the Cermark problem.

I still keep Preval sprayer with CerMark in the jar for small jobs when I do not want to set up the compressor.

Carl,

If the puncturing ball were an issue, I'm sure we would have heard about a recall long before now.

I did do the long term shake, which produced a little more spray than I have been getting, but still glogged within seconds.

I pryed the top of the can away until I heard a hiss. The can was hissing away in my photo-resist washout basin when I left, so in the morning I should have a pressureless can.

David Takes
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Carl
The old style can would become dented where the ball struck the inside of the can - the can became thinner and thinner evertime you shook it up. The can I had explode let go where the ball had made dents in the can. I have never used the "new improved can" and have no experience with it. They stopped making the old can for a while before the new one came out - I would guess that might have been part of the reason.

Well, it worked. I had a pressureless can in the morning, pulled the rest of the top off, and now have some useable material.

I appreciate all of the approaches that everyone shared in this thread. It is amazing what one can learn from the diverse experience and practices of others. I guess that what makes this place so valuable to me.

Carl,

Sorry for the delay in responding I was out of the office for the last ten day's.

Joe hit it right on the ball dented the older cans and that is where the puncture happened. They used a larger ball and thinner cans in the older model cans and that could have been the reason for the change.