Yes, one will say that maintenance of the spray machine is the basis of its safe operation, and that components do wear and must be replaced for time to time. Yes, but generally those components are replaced after they break and a bursting hose or blown line can not only injure personnel, but cause spills and other contamination hazards that otherwise could be avoided. Yes, but this is only true if we start out with a well designed and quality-built machine. So, speaking of starting out, let's look at the features we should have in a new machine. I always tell my clients that the equipment they use in their business should be of the best quality, paraphrasing that a professional mechanic does not buy his hand tools at a discount store but will spend the extra money on quality brand name equipment.
Quality is dependability, and dependability comes at a price.
In the mid 80's a major international sprayer manufacturer was installing large 2000psi plunger pumps flowing into aluminum relief valves rated at 150psi. And, until recently, several manufacturers of small utility engine driven sprayers were mounting piston pumps rated at 2200rpm directly to gasoline engines rated at 3200 rpm. We could go on and on about the lack of engineering in many of the lines of sprayers sold world-wide, but don't want to bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that there are many very good, well designed spray machines on the market and you will be relatively safe in choosing equipment manufactured by the larger, established manufacturers, where you will not only get good design, engineering, quality, but also parts and service support. And that all translates into dependability and safety.