In this next edition of Stupid Shit Tech Do, we are going to talk about spray hoses, which is a very common repair in our shop. We see so many examples of hoses that are cracked or bulging. If these split or burst, your business will be faced with money lost due to downtime to repair or replace a spray hose .

Hoses don’t tend to split or burst when they are empty, so a burst or split hose will cause a chemical spill to clean up, causing more downtime as well as the costs of replacement chemical and the spray hose.

Here are just a couple examples of spray hoses that have wear marks from rubbing against various things. The protective outer layer is broken or worn away and the only thing holding the chemical in is the inner layer, which will split eventually. Some of these hoses have worn away areas or created grooves in the vehicles from years of rubbing against those areas. How does the tech or supervisor not notice this? 

We have a list of some things you can do to maintain the life of your spray hose and prevent these types of problems for your pest control and landscaping company:

1. Buy a longer hose than you need. Trim off about 10-15 feet each year. It is usually the first 10-15 feet that normally have problems. If you cut it off each year, you hopefully won’t have any problems.
2. Train your techs to rewind the hose through a rag which helps to remove debris that can cause damage to the hose and allows the hose to be wound more evenly.
3. Periodically reverse the hose. To extend the life of the hose, every 6 months or so, put the outside of the hose on the inside. Since the first 10 feet of the hose is the first to wear out, this will extend the life of the hose.
4. Make sure your techs know to report problems right away.
5. Owners and supervisors need to be checking and inspecting vehicles and equipment on a regular basis to make everything is in good working order.

With preventative maintenance, regular equipment inspections, and attention, your spray hoses can last a long time. If you have questions about spray equipment or you need a spray hose or any other parts for your pest or landscape sprayer, visit us at Qspray.com.

Keep watching for the next installment of "STUPID SHIT TECHS DO."

Andrew Greess : Hi, this is Andrew Greess from Quality Equipment and Spray, Qspray.com with the next edition of "Stupid Shit Techs Do' that cost your pest and landscape equipment company time and money.

Again, our goal here is not to pick on technicians, but it is to learn from other people's mistakes so that you don't have the downtime, expense, and missed appointments that come from so many of these problems which are completely avoidable.

Today, we're going to talk about spray hose. We see lots of spray hose problems in our repair shop. Here's some examples.

Here's a hose that is just totally cracked and the inner layers are exposed. We have lots of examples of this. Clearly, these issues were existing well before the techs brought these hoses in. It doesn't get this bad this quickly. It takes a while for a hose to get this bad.

Here's another one split for a couple feet of the hose. You really don't want to wait this long to bring the hose in or to replace the hose because you're going to have a chemical spill. You're going to have downtime. You're going to miss appointments. It's just crazy.

Here's another one. This one actually shows a nick or a gouge taken out of the hose. We haven't seen this too often, but you can see that inner layer there. You definitely want to get this taken care of quickly.

This is actually a good example. This is one where the tech saw a bulge in the hose and brought it right in, and didn't wait for it to burst and have a chemical spill. This guy gets kudos. This was an exception to the rule.

Here's some really crazy photos. This was an example of a tech who didn't bother taking the hose off the vehicle and was rubbing the paint off the side of the truck.

This is even worse. You can see here that the tech was winding a hose, and it was eating a groove in the aluminum frame of the camper shell. You can also see a gouge here taken out of the hose. This is a problem waiting to happen.

This is costing someone a lot of money. It just amazes me that it can get this bad before the owner or the manager would notice something like this and take action. I don't know how you allow a tech to do this. Crazy to me.

Here's another one. This one, again, was damage caused over years. The tech didn't bother taking the hose off the truck, just wound it up. You can see the hose is digging gouges in the plastic side rail of the vehicle.

I don't know how a guy like this can continue to work for you. I know it's tough finding techs but man, oh man, this guy needs to be fired. This is just horrible.

These are just some of the examples we see at our shop. What do we recommend for preventing some of these problems?

Number one, hose wears out so you want to start with extra. If you think you need a hundred feet of hose, don't buy a hundred feet, buy more. Hose is cheap. It's going to wear out so buy longer hose than you need and cut off 10 feet a year. It's always the first 10 or 15 feet of hose that's going to have the problem. Every year, just plan on cutting it off.

Number two, train your technicians to rewind the hose through a rag. Pull the hose through a rag to wipe off debris that can cause damage to the hose. It also helps you put the hose on the reel much more evenly. That can prevent problems.

Number three, this is a tip or a secret not many people know. It's always the end of the hose that wears out first. If reverse your hose periodically, maybe every six months or so, put the hose that was on the outside on the inside and the inside on the outside. You can extend the life of your hose.

Next, make sure your techs are reporting escalating problems. They shouldn't be living with hose problems.

Finally, inspections. If you're the owner or the supervisor, you need to be looking at your vehicles and seeing if they are any problems. If there are, take care of it. You don't want to have a hose problem. You want to replace the hose before you have a problem because a hose leak. Chemical spill is expensive, costly in terms of time, money, and missed appointments.

If you thought this was valuable, please think of Qspray.com when you need a spray hose for your sprayer or any other parts for your pest or landscape sprayer. Thanks so much for watching. Have a great day.