12V Hand Held Sprayer

814jeffw

Active member
Thought I'd share a project I've been working on,

As you all know,..especially the guys who do other things than roofs,..there is always a need for a small spot sprayer. A pump sprayer works very well to fill that void. Last season I put together a 12V hand truck rig as a gap filler for jobs that aren't big enough to warrant the air system. So the hand truck rig with 50' of hose on a reel works very well as a mid sized sprayer. But sucked for the times I need to blast the remnants a bees nest with some 12.5%,..or hit some rust "real quick" near an A/C unit or something. Or spray a few slabs of flagstone. So,.back to the pump sprayers for these small "shots"

So I wanted a small truly hand held 12V. So here is what I came up with. I first made one from wood and painted it,...I really liked the "prototype" so I had the local weld shop make me one out of aluminum. I made this so I have total access to the internals. Pump and battery and all connections are easily accessible. With this full 1 gallon jug of windshield fluid it weighs exactly 20 LBS.

But,..weight isn't an issue, only gonna be used sparingly as mentioned above. Could also add a shoulder strap if needed,..don't see me doing that though.

Can simply swap jug of this for a jug of that with no swishing out a sprayer,..and therefore don't have to have multiple sprayers,..one sprayer with different jugs and even a 16 OZ. water bottle maybe to rinse pump between chemicals.

Can also draw from a 5 gallon bucket if I choose,.and can also be used as a stationary unit with the addition of a longer hose that simply connects with QC.


The pump is a Seaflo 1.2 GPM,..and is a pump I'm trying out.,..and the battery is a small 12V 5AH. All connections are soldered and dielectric grease applied. I have a spare pumps on hand. These pumps will be abused by strong cleaners but I don't care,..they will make money.

The plug coming from the back is a charging jack,..I have the corresponding plug tied directly into my regular 12v car battery charger,..so,..I can simply "Plug it in"

Since these pictures,.I changed the routing of the outlet hose,..they both now come out the top front,..same as the suction hose,..more compact this way.

Jeff

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Thank You Steven! I think this thing is gonna be more handy than I even counted on. The Wooden one is very cheap and easy to make. The aluminum is nice but $$. I have about $50.00 in woody,.and about $250.00 in the aluminum one. But it should last and last,...the internals are made to "get at" easily.

I really like the short hose,..doesn't hold alot of chemical,..so switching products is made a little simpler.

Jeff
 
That is very cool!

I like that as I also agree sometimes you need a little less spray than using a dedicated sprayer but don't want to be pumping up a pump sprayer a lot to get small jobs done.

I am interested in this as this will definately help me on some projects.

I like the idea of those 12 volt sprayers that some of the vendors are selling but I really like the gallon jug idea you have as you can just put a jug of whatever you need on there, flush it out with water and/or neutralize if needed and spray something else quick and easy.

Are you going to sell these, have a vendor sell them or just share it?

Great job on a great idea Jeff, thank you for letting us know about it.
 
Hey Christopher,..I needed it,..is why I built it. Yes,..the "caddy" is the best part,..and short hose makes for very quick change overs of products. Not alot to be concerned with regarding waste.
I few years ago I gave my buddy the boat bottom cleaning business,..he said he wants one of the aluminum ones. Very flexible tool,..you can set it down,..or you can grab it and go.

My welder guy,..REALLY liked it!
I will keep the "Woody" as "Plan B"

I also wanted the "working parts" outta' the weather and overspray. And it was designed around a bigger battery that is used in a wheelchair,..just in case? But I don't think it will be an issue for my uses anyhow.
Either way,..both battery types are deep cycle for multiple charging cycles.


Jeff
 
I am fixing to get one of those.
 
Thank you Jason! The one I'm putting together for my boat cleaning buddy is gonna have the ShurFlo 8000-343-236,..it has Viton valves and Viton diaphragm. This should be a little better with handling the acid used for pontoons,..over the Viton/Santoprene combo. That's what else I like,.not bound to one pump,..these can be made to suit the needs of the user.

I'm using these little Seaflo pumps until they prove to be not worth it. I like trying new pieces and parts. Never seen anyone talk about these but they seem well made?

Jeff
 
Got to use this thing the last couple days,..and aside from the remote,..this is the best tool I've added for a while,..very flexible,...and NO pumping, Ha,Ha,..one jug out,..one jug in,..just cap the ones that aren't being used at the moment. Really liking it so far. Spraying 12.5% and PP,..I will update on how these cheap Seaflo pumps hold up. But,..if nothing else,..they work very well.

Jeff
 
Where do you buy the seaflo pumps? I have not heard of them before.

Sounds like a great rig you made.

Any video of it in use?
 
Got a couple inquiries on these things here locally,..One guy wants to buy one for his brother. For these local units I am gonna initially offer free troubleshooting and or repairs on any I sell. Not really looking to get rich on them,.but would be neat to see my idea being used.

Next one made I make,..I am gonna have the bottom welded on,..that much access isn't needed,..but I didn't know hoe much elbow room I was gonna need for replacing the pump. But it can easily be done with the bottom in place.

Jeff
 
Jeff, Have you thought about a more open design, something where you have a large aluminum pipe type handle across the top and have the battery on one end and the gallon jug on the other and the pump above them on one end or side so it is easier for the welder to make so it cost less? I like those sprayers that they have on the powerwashstore.com but if it had the room for a gallon jug of chemical and a 5' hose so you could put it on the ground and spray so you don't have to hold it the whole time that would be nice.

Since this is meant for spraying small areas, hard to reach areas or stuff where you don't want to unroll a lot of hose and do a lot of walking, have you thought about using cordless tool batteries? That would give you power but not all day long power but would cut down on the weight a lot. A rechargeable tool battery would significantly reduce the weight of this but then you have the additional cost of the battery, special connector and charger to consider to do that. Just some ideas.

I am sure as you use it you will make some modifications and possibly even change how it looks a couple times for easier battery and pump maintenance.

Great job.
 
Hey Christopher,..I like the closed design,..even on the two jobs I had it on so far it ended up splattered with overspray from water and cleaner,.. from it being so breezy. So glad the electrics are protected,..and had this in mind when I built it. As far as the battery goes,..it's very small,..and not much bigger than a cordless tool battery. These are little 5AH batteries I they are like 3"x4" and about 2 lbs.,..and are also deep cycle. By the numbers, even at max amps,.. they should spray for an hour until you would get to 50% charge,..which is all I need,..not even that. BUT,..I did design it around the larger wheelchair battery,..just in case I needed it. Making it look presentable would be a challenge too,..at lest for me,Ha,Ha,..

The battery and pump are very accessible,..the back comes off with two bolts,..and the battery is attached to the back. Remove two connectors and the back will be released to set aside and totally out of the way. Then,..it's very simple to reach in and remove the pump and hoses all together. I could change the pump in about 5 minutes I'd say. I may even go to wingnuts on the bolts to make it even simpler. "Maverick" over on Arts board uses them and I liked that idea.

I could change the battery in about 2 minutes.


I wasn't looking to build it cheaper,..I only had me in mind and wanted it the way I wanted it. Heck,..I have around $250.00 in it,..very much worth it to me.

But yes,..there are gonna be a couple modifications made,..an aluminum handle for one. And I also changed the outlet hose,..it now comes out the top front,..and is smaller at only 5/16" I.D. and clear,..lightweight and easy to change,..at the shorter length doesn't want to kink up at all.

I'm gonna have pumps on the ready with the correct plugs soldered on,..and maybe even the hoses,..so a change could be made like a NASCAR pit stop.

The hose length was made as a hand held,.and quick rinse outs. But there is a QC on the end,..so I could add any length of hose I choose,..if I want to use it as a set down and spray model. Very flexible.

Jeff
 
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How ya like it? I was looking into getting one this season.
A month and a half so far. I really like it. Only thing that went wrong so far is the barb that connects the hose cracked. Easy fix. Used it today on black and orange algae on a pool cage. Saved me from breaking out the xjet. I have been using 60/40, water/ SH. Also use it with dragon juice on dirt dauber nests. Saves a ton of time because the dirt dauber nests just melt away. Very little scrub brushing. $200 is a little steep, but if it lasts 3-4 months it is worth it.
 
It would be nice to use cordless drill lithium ion batteries. Full charge to dead pretty much instantly. Would help save the pumps from overheating. Also their small and easy to charge on a job site without a generator. Think Seal n Lock has a 5 gallon sprayer like that.
 
It would be nice to use cordless drill lithium ion batteries. Full charge to dead pretty much instantly. Would help save the pumps from overheating. Also their small and easy to charge on a job site without a generator. Think Seal n Lock has a 5 gallon sprayer like that.

I use lithium on the system I built, works great!
https://vimeo.com/160824001
 
I like the idea of the lithium batteries,.not the drill batteries,.the 12v only have approximately 2aH of run time,..and the power port would have to be worked in somewhere. No big deal if it were worth it.
But even a set doesn't give as much run time as these much cheaper batteries. The regular "square" type lithium batteries though that are comparable in size to the current battery I use,.which is 5ah for $12.00 ,..in comparison a lithium I priced was around $60.00,.that was 4.5 aH. May be worth it to some,.just not me and/or my uses. I'm only on the trigger on this thing for at most,..1/2 hr. per job. I did however build it around a bigger wheelchair battery (12 ah),..allowing for an upgrade in run time if I ever needed it,..(which I don't foresee) And I do have a sprayer that is a step up from this one,..with 50' of hose on a reel and a hand truck for use of a 5 gallon bucket. So it doesn't have to do a job that's "too" big for it.

And I have two of these,. the wooden prototype and the aluminum,..so,.even if I had to put one down due to a battery issue,..I'd just grab the other,.no big deal.

Jeff
 
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