Clogged MistKing

[Ecotect]

Title says it...I can't unclog the mister nozzle. It was working fine when I decided to clean it by recirculation vinegar through the system. I took all the pieces apart and let them dry for 2 days. In retrospect I probably should have flushed the vinegar with water, but I didn't and here I stand. I tried soaking just the nozzle in vinegar for 2 days to dissolve what I assume is a mineral build up to no avail. I also hooked it up to a vacuum pump to try and suck/blow the blockage out, again nothing. Has anyone successfully tackled this problem or do I need to buy a new nozzle?

 

[Zen Reptiles]

The nozzles are cheap enough to replace. You should try CLR though, way better than vinegar. Even fresh lemon juice is better than vinegar. Goodluck!

 

[Ecotect]

Well I wanted to use something non-toxic...and it was cheaper/easier then squashing 45 lemons lol. The MSDS for CLR looks pretty rough; I'd be worried about any residual contamination. Or is my thinking unfounded? thanks!

 

[Silkyslim]

I saw those MSDS sheets too, but I ended up using it on my nozzle anyways. Although, when I ordered them I bought a few extra just in case so I switch mine out for a freshie. Soaked the dirty one in CLR over night then gave it a really really good flush the next day, let it air dry and put it away until the current nozzle needs a cleaning. Not sure if this rotation does anything but I haven't had any problems with it yet.

 

[Ecotect]

Thanks, I think that's pretty good advise. Regardless of how I clean them redundancy is a good idea...looks like I'll be buying two lol

 

[SliK JiM]

I had dodgy spray coming out of one of my nozzles, so I just took a pin and gently pressed it into the middle of the nozzle while it was spraying, removed it and it had almost sorted the spray. Did it again and it was fine. I've repeated this now a few times with no problems. Just do it gently and see what happens. It needs to be under pressure otherwise it doesn't really do a lot and you cant tell if its worked!

Hope that works!

Remember, gentle now!

 

[Ecotect]

It's funny I read somewhere some time ago that doing this could cause damage to the nozzle. So it just never registered in my head as an option until you brought it up, but at this point I have nothing to lose...can't believe I didn’t think of that lol. I'll give it shot when I get home later and let you know the results. Thanks for the help!

 

[SliK JiM]

It's funny I read somewhere some time ago that doing this could cause damage to the nozzle. So it just never registered in my head as an option until you brought it up, but at this point I have nothing to lose...can't believe I didn’t think of that lol. I'll give it shot when I get home later and let you know the results. Thanks for the help!

That's why i said gently!

Yeah, it worked ok for me! I tried soaking and other things to clean it, but it did nothing. then this, and it was a lot better! Definitely will need to be replaced eventually, but seems to be hanging on in there!

 

[MrGonzo123]

Reptifogger

Title says it...I can't unclog the mister nozzle. It was working fine when I decided to clean it by recirculation vinegar through the system. I took all the pieces apart and let them dry for 2 days. In retrospect I probably should have flushed the vinegar with water, but I didn't and here I stand. I tried soaking just the nozzle in vinegar for 2 days to dissolve what I assume is a mineral build up to no avail. I also hooked it up to a vacuum pump to try and suck/blow the blockage out, again nothing. Has anyone successfully tackled this problem or do I need to buy a new nozzle?

Do you have a Reptifogger? If so, does it still work?

 

[Ecotect]

Well I tried unclogging the nozzle with a very small hypodermic needle...unfortunately it didn't work. I just couldn't gain any headway no matter how hard I pushed.

Interesting side note; as I picked up my spray bottle in defeat, looking at the misting line then back at the bottle it hits me! I wonder...sure enough if Works! I unscrewed the hand mister from the bottle and connected the draw tube right to one of the mister fittings and BAM! Home made misting nozzle in a pinch. The squeeze trigger is even handy for hanging on a well placed vine.
Just thought I'd share this epiphany lol

 

[richpass6]

what kind of nozzle is it? metal or plastic? i have really copper ones which are easy to unclog with vinegar (which happens to be a really good acid) to get rid of the calcium buildup and whatever else. plastic nozzles are crap and i suggest using one made of metal. if you have a copper one, then you did everything right up untill you started blowing air through it and poking a needle into it. soft metals can be bent and easily damaged so you got watch out.

 

[Ecotect]

I have the standard plastic misting nozzle form MistKing. I have been soaking the nozzle in vinegar for about a week now, I've resolved to the fact that whatever is in there is staying in at this point. Hence any extreme measures taken were knowingly a gamble for broke. While I'm sure you have had success with copper heads, and I appreciate your input on this matter, my occupational scars steer me towards inert materials for my husbandry needs. Furthermore unlike many plastic misting heads on the market, I truly believe MistKing offers a far superior product. In my opinion it was my own human error that caused this malfunction which should not be misconstrued as a shortcoming of the nozzle itself.

 

[Jimturner]

The plastic tip of the nozzle will unscrew from the nozzle assembly... You may need tools to do this. There is a small screen filter inside. This filter clogs very easily, remove and clean the filter and I would bet your nozzle will work like new. Cheers!