F&%$#ng spray paint cans not working

[rc51kid]

I am so pissed right now. Trying to paint slider. Bought 4 cans of Rustolium etching primer. Shake can 2 min after ball rattle. Start painting and within 30- 60 seconds the can just peters out. Can is very full and it is about 50-55 degrees out with can room temp. If i pull the spray cap and push down the little nub nothing even comes out of it. ALL FOUR cans did this. I went back to the store and got 4 more cans of different Rustolium primer. First one of those, same thing! WHAT THE Fxxx AM I DOING WRONG! I have painted things all my life and never had this happen.

 

[rc51kid]

so i just went and bought a can of Krylon primer. I did shake it for a full 3 min. The can is BONE dry. completely empty. Is my problem a Rustolium thing?

 

[gregnash]

Take cans back to where you bought them and have them exchanged. I have a couple cans of Rustoleum that have been sitting in my garage for over a year and they worked fine (garage normally in the 40s this time of year) and just used them up about a week ago.

 

[JohnVee]

so i just went and bought a can of Krylon primer. I did shake it for a full 3 min. The can is BONE dry. completely empty. Is my problem a Rustolium thing?

So Krylon and Rustoleum or just Rustoleum failed for you? Does the store where they were purchased sell much spray paint?

 

[rc51kid]

Guy sorry i was so pissed about this. For what ever reason the Rustolum stuff was not cutting it for me at all. I actually returned the first 4 cans so it didnt cost me a thing. You could feel they were completely full, push the button and nothing would come out. I bought four more and the first two did the same thing. I will return those as well. I am over it. But i went to a different local store and bought a can of Krylon and a can of cheapo stuff. Both worked just fine. I will admit a shook them a lot during use, maybe that helped. I went back and bought enough Krylon to get all my primer work done on the sliders. It really worked out just fine. It did wast some of my day but in the end no big deal. But i still dont know why this was happening.

 

[JohnVee]

Maybe a worker at that store has a huffing problem. Turn a new can upside down and press the nozzle...nothing but gas comes out.

 

[stevezero]

i usually put my cans in water thats about 100 degrees for a while before I paint. another neat trick i learned is to get some coffee cup warmers and set the cans on those. Just dont leave them on too long. it really warms it up, thins the paint out, and it flows so much better. I spray a lot with Duplicolor rattlecans, and they definitely respond better when warm.

Johns probably onto something about a huffer....either that, or they got a bad batch of rustoleum from the distributor/manufacturer.

 

[Weedhopper]

Sounds like a bad batch/case. And yeah, four more cans from the same box won't solve the problem.

If I use a few cans for a project I use the same nozzle for all the cans and save the unused ones. Helps with half cans with clogged nozzles.

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS]

During the colder months, I place my paint cans in an oven on warm (150 degrees or so) about 15 minutes before I paint. If possible, I also do the same with the item(s) I will be painting. Painting below 60 degrees is not recommended. Problems with fisheyes, drying and finish are always a challenge.

 

[rustybucket]

6:36 am ...dont eat chocolate cookies or no sleep

I would say...yes, return. its a pissant to see the cap also get clogged and fighting to clean it. Any ideas?

 

[vtgbeemer]

I have found that the Rustoleum cans that brag about being able to spray at any angle won't clean the nozzles by inverting. I have saved nozzles off the cans that I was able to fully use just so I would have a spare when one failed. They have a real problem with their any angle idea.

 

[86FJ75]

I always shake spray cans for a lot longer than 2 minutes. Keep shaking the can until the bottom of it is full of dents from the ball inside. You can usually hear when they are properly mixed too because the ball no longer makes a dull thud when it hits the bottom and if you swirl the can it has a definite metallic sound as the ball runs around the inside of the can.

Used to work in Auto Parts and when customers bought paint cans back that wouldn't spray 75% of the time if you shook the snot out of them for a few minutes they would start spraying. Either that or remove the nozzle and blow it out backwards with an air gun. Hold the air gun against the hole the paint comes out of and give it a decent blast (away from anything you don't want paint on).

There were bad batches that came through, but they would usually not spray if inverted so there was an issue at the factory when they were filled and they only got paint and not propellant.

Other times the tube inside the can would have a chunk of dry paint in it just below the nozzle from the filling process so just remove the nozzle and press the exposed tube against something and it would blast it clear.

Sorry for the huge write up lol
Might help if you ever need to use paint and can't return it for whatever reason though

 

[jm599]

Another trick for cans sitting on shelf for years.
A vibrator cleaner for spent cartridge cases.
Pour the walnut media out of course.
Mine holds 4 cans.
A few hrs seems to really shake it.

 

[roadstr6]

I've had the same problem lately...specifically with Rustoleum Semi Gloss. The problem is that the nozzles clog up and nothing will get through. I pulled a nozzle and cleaned it with thinner and a guitar string and it started working again. My thinking at the time was that I didn't shake long enough or else the can was too cool. Maybe they had a bad batch or changed the formulation and the paint just clogs?