Lion Power Strainer

It is important to keep any dirt or debris out of the paint, whether you are spraying with an airspray or an airless unit. Small pieces of dirt or a splinter of wood can become lodged in the valves of an airless pump and stop it from pumping properly. Whilst you can quickly access the valves of modern airless units to clean out any debris, this is still wasted time to be avoided.

Even fresh paint from the manufacturer can contain pieces of debris because the can or pail is unlikely to have been cleaned out prior to filling. Also most paint contains a filler that is usually ground chalk that can contain large particles if it is of poor quality. The worst offender is that pail of paint that came back from a job and contains the bottoms of roller trays, because rollers pick up dirt which gets back into the paint.

But debris can get into the paint on the job, not to mention "friendly" contamination with dog-ends and the like, as well as dust stirred up by other trades working nearby. It is therefore prudent to cover the paint when working on the job.

A paint strainer is a very good idea and reduces downtime and wear of the equipment. The Lion Power Strainer™ consists of a 35 litre bucket with a closely fitting collar that holds a 5 gallon American paint strainer bag and a lid to cover it. A slot is cut in the side for the suction pipe of the pump. This system allows you to strain a good quantity of paint for a fair bit of work, which is especially useful if you have several cans of tinted paint that you need to mix together. The paint is then covered to keep out the site dirt blowing about. A large paint supply is very useful when you need to lock up the pump, such as when spraying in schools during term time, and have the airless hose come out from under the door.

It is uesful to put a bin liner in the bucket so that clean up is very easy and it can be tied off to exclude air between jobs.

At the smaller end of the spraying scale, you should also strain any paint used in an airspray gun. Usually this is done with a disposable conical filter that can sit in the top of the paint cup.