It’s Always Something
Arizona’s hot. I expected that.
What I didn’t expect was spending the first day of startup elbows-deep in an infrared oven because the electricians miswired it. Not a loose connection — we’re talking full-blown miswire that required tearing apart the panel and tracing every damn wire until we found the issue.
Once we finally got heat, the fluid system decided it was its turn. Stainless steel piping was leaking at the compression fittings. Then we noticed the pump dripping. So the first spray of the week? It was me — spraying thread sealant and profanity across half the system.
Finally, First Spray
After plenty of fixing and flushing, we got the guns up and running. Here’s a clip of that first spray cycle:
It sprayed. Parts rotated. Guns triggered. And nothing exploded. So technically — progress.
Not Quite There Yet
That’s where the week ended. We ran out of time to dial in the spray setups. I’ll be heading back in a few weeks to fine-tune and qualify the system by spraying full batches of 8-part numbers.
Until then, it’s sitting in a weird halfway state: functional, but not final.
The Bigger Issue: Missing Motors
One of the core features of this system is supposed to be explosion-proof servo-driven spray gun positioners.
But those servo motors? Still haven’t shown up.
They were ordered in February. But thanks to recent U.S. tariffs, China’s been holding back the rare earth magnets required to build them. Last update from the supplier? October. Maybe.
So right now, all spray gun brackets are manually adjustable — fine for startup, but not what this system was designed for. And definitely not how we want to leave it.
Lessons (Re)Learned
“Prewired” means nothing. Always double check. Stainless pipe doesn’t mean leak-proof. Startup always finds the weakest link. Global supply chain issues still matter, even at the spray booth.