Machines & Equipment FAQ's

It takes 3 hours to charge a dead battery to 80%. It takes 5 hours to charge a fully depleted battery (double these times for 2 battery unit).

If the battery charge drops below 10.5 volts the charger will not work and battery will need a ‘’force charge’’ from an external source, e.g. another battery via jump leads.

a. The most common reason is that the spray machine has 2 guns and the short gun hose is being used, rather than the long one. Only use the short gun hose as a 2nd gun!
b. Often running the engine slightly faster can remove some variation in line width.

Definitely not. It must be standard white diesel as a minimum, always mixed with ATT turbine oil 20:1, or for reduced smoke and to avoid having to mix the fuel, use our premixed Jetpower X790. Red diesel is not refined enough for use in a turbine and will damage the bearings.

All the time!! Lead acid batteries can self-discharge in as little as 3 months depending on storage temperatures. The hotter the storage temperature, the faster the self-discharge occurs. To prevent damage to the battery, it is important to keep the battery in a charged state. Also, a battery that is discharged to 50% depth will get over twice as many cycles in its life compared to it being discharged to 100% depth each cycle.

Battery will charge to 14.6-14.8 volts and then it will come back down to ~13.6 volts when fully charged.

The battery will not drop this low during normal use, as the machine cuts out at 11 volts or thereabouts. The usual reason therefore is that an external accessory has been left switched on, for instance laser guide, LED worklight, flashing beacon.

We recommend to apply at end of every shift as it will extend the life of the pump seals if you do. How to Apply Piston Lubricant video and step by step process. 

Pump seals are worn & need replacing. [This is sometimes called ‘’repacking’’ the pump]. Pump Seal Kits are available from Meon, or alternatively you can get a module one machine service which includes a new pump seal kit.

A quick step by step guide on how to get your linelazer ready for collection can be found here. 

A full recharge takes around 5 – 8 hours, depending on model. that said, it would be unusual for any of the models to have a fully discharged battery, so it would usually be less than this.

They are all designed & tested to last for at least a complete shift. the actual capacity depends on model, & whether it is single or dual battery. Some last much longer than a shift, so please discuss for more detail.

We have an excellent training academy in Portsmouth which is purpose built to ensure we can train you and your team. In some circumstances we may be able to train at your location, as long as it meets a few criteria. These would vary according to what we are training you to do, so please have the discussion with us.

We have rental paint machines available, however we do insist that we provide training if you have not had any previous experience, to protect both of us and make sure you get the best out of the machine!

1. Hire charges commence from;

i) date of collection from our premises if you are using your own transport, or…

ii) date of delivery to your premises if we deliver.

2. If you have any concerns about the equipment when you receive it, please notify us immediately.

3. The onus is on yourselves to off-hire and all hires will be charged until we receive confirmation of off-hire from yourselves.

4. Advice of off-hire can be by phone or email.

5. If we try and collect and the hired item is not ready for collection, we reserve the right to;

i) Charge extra hire charges to cover extra period

ii) Charge for failed delivery.

a. Check the tipseal – it may be missing or incorrectly positioned.
b. Dry paint on end of gun may prevent seal being madec. Check tip guard is hand tight.

UltraClean X792 has a small water content which can led to rusting and contamination of the spray tips, plus you willneed to clean before you can use them. Better alternative is to soak spray tips in UltraClean for 30 minutes (or overnight if required) and then clean using UltraClean X792 aerosol and clean rag.

We always recommend using ''best practice PPE'' with any paint product, by this we mean suitable hand and eye protection.  ViaLine is a low-solvent product, however there is a smell with it, as with virtually any paint product.  If your Risk Assessment recommends the use of a face mask, or if the user suffers from any respiratory ailment such as asthma then it should be mandatory equipment.

Rotary action has a constant contact with the ground so easier to avoid grooves in the surface rather than the flail type.

Not all machines have every option available. Wire Brush - preparation and debris removal Carbide Flail - paint and MMA Miller - thermoplastic Steel Beam - mainly internal preparation and line removal Pick - paint.thermo/MMA - more durable linemarking products and for groove inlay PCD Flat - premium cutter. As pick, with a more quality finish

The DCS (Depth Control System) allows for very fine adjustment to teh surface to leave minimal scarring providing the right cutters are installed. It will also lower to exactly the same depth each time, reducing operator fatigue also.

Whilst water will dilute and flush out the bulk of the water based paint, it won't clean the machine. We would recommend using UltraClean W990, a cleaner designed for water based paints.

Mechanically you can remove using captive shot blasting or milling with a steel beam miller. Concrete primers will also help with overcoming the effects of applying coatings onto laitance covered concrete.

The spray tip is getting blocked and there are two main reasons for this happening: 1. The paint itself may need more stirring or it may have become contaminated by being used without a lid covering it when spraying which can allow dirt and particles to blow into the paint. Paint will also start to skin over and this skin can cause a blockage of the spray tip. If it needs stirring or thinning slightly then do this thoroughly. If it is felt to be contaminated than either discard or filter the paint. 2. The second reason is that the the blockages are coming from a residue within the hoses possibly by lack of cleaning effectively or where machine has been left dormant for a while and the hoses have dried out. Either way the answer is to thoroughly clean the machine through before reloading with paint. We strongly recommend using the deep flush method and continue until the inline filter is not catching any more particles during the cleaning process.

If there is no liquid being drawn into the machine at all, the first thing to check is that the pump is turned on and the pressure gauge is set above zero. If both of these have been checked then the most common cause is that the inlet valve is not seating properly. A sharp tap with a hammer to the inlet valve may release the steel ball if it is stuck. If it can be heard rattling inside the valve that probably means that there is some dirt or paint stuck between the valve and the seat. Remove the inlet valve from the pump and clean it out and reassemble.

If you refer to the Meon Machine Brochure, our Technical Data Sheet for your machine, or the owners manual, you will find it listed.

The most likely cause is that the tip is blocked. Depressurise, reverse the tip, pressurise, squeeze gun trigger slightly to expel the blockage, depressurise, turn tip back again, re-pressurise.

The root cause is the change in viscosity, caused in turn by changes in temperature. If you look at the rate of change in viscosity v's temperature increase, you will find that the change rate is much faster or higher with water than it is with solvents. Therefore a change of say 5°C will cause a bigger change in viscosity in a water based acrylic than it will with a solvent based acrylic. The acrylic is essentially a solid and therefore it is only the liquid part of the paint that will be affected by viscosity, whether it is water or solvent based. There are several ways that you can combat this challenge with water-based. The first is to ensure that the paint is at the same temperature as the environment in which you are spraying and the simplest way to do that is to leave the tin of paint in the environment for 1 to 2 hours before you start setting it up in the machine. The second way is to maintain viscosity at an optimum spraying level by thinning the paint in cooler temperatures. The final part of the equation is intelligent use of spray tips and pressure settings but ultimately if the viscosity is too thick then spraying is always going to be a challenge. There are very simple tests for viscosity using viscosity cups, whereby you measure the amount of time that paint takes to empty out of the cup. If it takes too long and it means the paint is too thick and you simply keep thinning it until it has reached the optimum amount of time. It is, however, important to understand that you can only really do this when the bulk paint has reached a stable temperature in the environment in which you are spraying, otherwise as soon as you take it into another temperature environment the viscosity will gradually change and skew the set-up again as you start spraying. This is the main reason why customers say it started off spraying fine and then stopped, as it is due to the gradual adaptation of temperature within the paint causing the viscosity to change.

You need to use a spray tip with a minimum 31 thou hole size, so as this tip has a flow rate of 3.9 litres per minute you will need a spray machine that supports that.

If the paint is too thick after you have stirred it well, you can thin it down a little bit using the correct SF Thinners. If the LineLazer is losing pressure it is probably because the paint is too thick and it is not flowing through the filter. Definitely try thinning the paint down, not too much. Ideally 10% maximum - this is about 1.5 litres of thinner, per full 20kg tin of paint. Mix it into the paint well, and ensure the LineLazer is full of thinned paint before attempting to continue spraying.

If your machine is not going to be used, then a full clean and flush is required to removed all residue of paint, before filling the pump with pump armour to prolong the life of the pump and seals. It is also a good time of year to send the machine into Meon to have it serviced where it will be completely checked over to ensure full working order for the following season.