Before troubleshooting pressures, temperatures, ratio issues, poor spray patterns, restricted flow, or machine alarms, verify the following fundamentals. Many apparent equipment failures are ultimately traced to one of these three conditions.

1. Clean Material

Contaminated material can create symptoms that appear to be equipment failures. Before assuming a mechanical problem, verify:

• ▸Material is not contaminated.
• ▸Material has not been exposed to moisture.
• ▸Material is appropriate for the application.
• ▸Material drums are correctly identified (A-side vs B-side).
• ▸Material has not exceeded manufacturer storage limitations.

2. Warm Material

Cold material is one of the most common causes of poor spray patterns, pressure imbalance, poor atomization, flow restrictions, and apparent equipment problems. Always verify material temperature before assuming a mechanical failure exists.

• ▸Material temperature is within manufacturer recommendations.
• ▸Hose temperatures have stabilized.
• ▸Primary heaters have stabilized.
• ▸Material has been conditioned properly (drum heaters on, material at temperature before spraying).

3. Clean Filters

Restricted filters are one of the most common causes of pressure imbalance, reduced flow, poor spray patterns, apparent pump problems, and apparent heater problems. Verify all filters are clean before proceeding to advanced troubleshooting.

• ▸Reactor inlet filters are clean.
• ▸Transfer pump filters are clean.
• ▸Gun screens are clean.
• ▸Supply system filters are clean.

1. 1Verify material condition (clean, not contaminated, not expired).
2. 2Verify material temperature (at setpoint, heaters stabilized).
3. 3Verify filter condition (all filters clean).
4. 4Verify transfer pump operation (both pumps cycling and supplying).
5. 5Verify pressure balance (A and B within 200 PSI).
6. 6Review alarms and diagnostics (check for active or recent alarms).