Help! Fence sprayer problem

Seakay

I bought a Cuprinol Fence Sprayer last year and have used it several times with non Cuprinol products designed for spraying with no problem.

Last week I wanted to get some stuff to do a fence in a dark oak colour, and by coincidence the nearest colour in Homebase was Cuprinol one coat sprayable in forest oak.

I poured it out and noticed that the were some globby bits in the liquid, the consistency of scrumpy cider thats gone ropey, but assumed it would all mix up ok

After one panel the spray nozzle started to clog and although I've washed all the bits of it loads of times the sprayer won't work

After all this I noticed that the closing date for the promotional competition on the fence treatment was September 2011.

I haven't been able to get Homebase (where I bought everything) on the phone yesterday or today.

I can't find any receipts.

Can fence treatments go off? Am I entitled to replacement fence treatment? Am I entitled to a replacement sprayer as it will take house to get all the product out and clean all the bits? Should I just take everything back to Homebase (on the bus) or should I wait until Monday and try the phone again first?

If anyone has advice to offer or experience to share I'd be very grateful.

neilmcl

With no receipt I'll doubt you'll get anywhere. The only thing you could do is go back to the store in question and first check to see if they have any more of that stock left as this may go some way in backing up your claim.

shaun_from_Africa

If the Cuprinol liquid had been sitting around for a long time then it should have been thoroughly mixed/stired before pouring it into the sprayer.
Ignore the dates on the promotional offer as these wouldn't have anything to do with the expiry date of the contents of the container.

"I poured it out and noticed that the were some globby bits in the liquid, the consistency of scrumpy cider thats gone ropey, but assumed it would all mix up ok" implies that it hadn't been mixed up well enough (or at all) before trying to use it, hence the problems that you've encountered.
Have you taen the spray head apart totally and washed it in hot soapy water? It's normally the pinhole sprayhead or ball/spring valve that gets clogged up and if it's very bad, disassembling it is normally the only way to clear the blockage.
Be very careful when you do this as there are a couple of very small bits that are extremely easy to lose.

When I first did this, I filmed the disassembly using my mobile phone so I saw exactly where everything came from.

Seakay

I don't have the ability to film but I was careful, I have cleaned several times in both cold and hot and soapy watery, I have reassembled correctly and it still clogs again.

I stirred the Cuprinol liquid thoroughly once it was in the sprayer.

Seakay

Eventually got through on the phone, explained the situation and the manager gave me a straight swap for the sprayer and the fence treatment even though i had no receipts - very impressed!