Upcoming Shows and Events

Check out the following shows for the opportunity to speak one-on-one with Graco^® representatives:

• Spray Foam - Austin, TX; January 11-14, 2009
• PDA - Albuquerque, NM; January 20-23, 2009
• IBS - Las Vegas, NV; January 20-23, 2009
• Sherwin-Williams - Dallas, TX; January 26-28, 2009
• World of Concrete - Las Vegas, NV; February 3-6, 2009
• International Roofing Expo - Las Vegas, NV; February 3-5, 2009
  
• PACE - New Orleans, LA; February 15-18, 2009
• NACE - Atlanta, GA; March 22-26, 2009
• Wind Power Expo - Chicago, IL; May 4-7
  

Center for Polyurethanes Industry Award: 2008 Innovative Product

Graco's Fusion CS™, a plural-component spray gun designed with ClearShot™ Technology, won the 2008 Polyurethane Innovation Award - Processing Equipment at the Center for Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) annual conference in San Antonio, Texas.

Voting by more than 1,200 conference attendees took place during two days of the conference. Scientists, engineers, manufacturers and business leaders from around the world voted for the product best representing the role that innovation plays in advancing the polyurethanes industry.

For additional information about the Fusion CS, please visit www.graco.com/ClearShot or an authorized Graco distributor.

ClearShot - Polyurea Test

Recently, Spray Pump, Inc., of Baytown, Texas, needed to spray polyurea on the walls (wood) of temporary buildings at a correctional facility. The challenge was to create a fail-safe barrier or seal that would prevent screws from being removed from the walls. Why? So inmates could not remove the screws and either create holes for escape or use the screws as weapons.

Willie Herrington, at Spray Pump, Inc., was asked to conduct field tests to find an application that would speed up the process. The material Herrington used was the Bearcat Industries SL-400 Polyurea. Before the field test, Herrington was using the Graco^® Reactor^® E-10 with a 2K Ultralite Gun. The application was good but extremely slow.

In Test #1, Herrington used the Graco Fusion Air Purge gun and the E-10 heated proportioner.

Herrington used the E-10 proportioner with heat and tried several different configurations of the Fusion Air Purge gun. Application productivity was greatly increased in this test.

Results: Herrington found that the Fusion AP had too much flow for the given application. Using the GX-8 gun would be too cost prohibitive; i.e., selling it with an an E-10 package. A suggestion was made to try Graco's new Fusion CS.

For Test #2, Herrington picked up the Graco Fusion CS with a round mix chamber and used a E-10 heated proportioner. Fluid temperatures were set at 125F for the A and 130F for the B. Spraying pressure was 1700-1800 psi.

Results: Herrington tested the gun using the variable flow setting, reducing the flow to the desired rate. This was a great improvement over the Fusion AP, but there was a problem: one side of the pattern had a much higher millimeter build than the other - a condition unacceptable to the end user. The test results were better than those of the Fusion AP, but not quite to what was needed.

Test #3 was similar to Test#2, but Herrington used a Graco Fusion CS with a flat mix chamber and a flat tip (FT0424 tip). Again, he used an E-10 heated proportioner and A and B temperatures of 125F and 130F, respectively. His spraying pressure was 1850 psi.

Results: Using a flat mix chamber solved the inconsistent pattern problem that the round chamber produced. Bearcat Industries found the production and quality of finish to be acceptable. Herrington commented, "The spray test was performed and the results were beyond my expectations. We were able to maintain 1850 psi and the product sprayed like an automotive finish. If I had not seen it with my own eyes, it would have been hard to believe.”

As a result of this test, the Fusion CS earned its credibility in the coatings market. It may present a lower-cost alternative to the GX-8 gun for low-output polyurea applications.

Manual Updates

Please note the changes to the Reactor H-50 manual:

• A table of specifications has been added to page 3
• Pages 20 and 21 now have electrical requirements
  

Performance Tips for the Fusion CS

Now that the new Fusion CS™ has been spraying foam and polyurea for a few months, we have collected some tips from users that will help you achieve optimum performance with your gun:

Prime the gun before spraying.
Pull the trigger until the ClearShot™ Liquid begins to flow or starts moving. Do this at the start of a job or anytime the gun has not been in use for 10 minutes or more.

Use grease sparingly.
The gun only needs one or two shots of Fusion Grease™ at the end of the day. More than two shots over-greases the gun. Be sure to follow proper shutdown procedures for both the gun and the machine at the end of the day for best performance.

Hand seat the manifold before using a nut driver.
When assembling the manifold to the gun, mate the manifold to the gun by hand before tightening the manifold bolt. This ensures proper seating of the gun and helps prevent check valve damage.

High-Volume Reactor Added to Line of Proportioners

Graco^® recently launched the new Reactor^® H-50 high-output hydraulic proportioner. Designed especially for high-volume applications, the Reactor H-50 delivers 50 pounds per minute (22.6 kg/minute) – allowing you to spray more foam in less time.

The Reactor H-50 is Graco’s largest Reactor proportioner, joining a wide variety of air, electric and hydraulic-driven units. This unit will have 140 size pumps installed on it, driving maximum flow rates and giving high-output users the capability of spraying high volumes of material.

This new Reactor was designed for use on high-volume applications such as roofing and insulation projects. With its high output, the Reactor H-50 can increase the yield, productivity and efficiency of your jobs.

Foam systems are available with outputs ranging from 20 to 50 pounds per minute, while the Reactor systems that proportion and spray protective coatings have maximum outputs from 1.0 to 2.5 gallons per minute.

The Reactor series of proportioners are manufactured at the George Aristides Riverside facility on the Minneapolis campus. For more information about Graco's new Reactor H-50, visit your local distributor.