Paint bottle issues

[Redpenguin999]

I'm having an issue with a few bottles of MSP paint where brand new bottles won't let the paint out. The tip appears to be clogged by something but I am unsure of how to fix this issue. Any advice or tips would be appreciated. 

[Cyradis]

Stab the hole. Paper clip, pin, stiff wire of some sort. 

[Highlander]

1.  Don't try to really squeeze and pressure it out.  It has been known to all come out at once.  Explosively.

 

2.  Get a thick needle of appropriate size and push it down the pointy end.  All the way down.  Pull it out, clean off the needle, and the bottle should flow.

 

3.  If not, shake really well and repeat 2.

[pcktlnt]

I use T-Pins to poke paint droppers.

[Redpenguin999]

Thanks for the help. The pin method worked great. 

[MojoBob]

This is something that probably won't be an issue, but it might.....

 

If you use a pointed object like a pin to clear a plastic nozzle, it can pass through the obstruction (e.g. dry paint) which then acts as an expanding collar as it passes up the taper of the pin, stretching the diameter of the nozzle, and potentially even splitting it.

 

A probe the same diameter as the nozzle with a flat perpendicular-cut end, however, will push the obstruction down the length of the nozzle without distorting it in any way. 

 

I don't actually know what the inner diameter of the nozzle on a Reaper dropper bottle is; I've never measured it. But the moral of this story is this: paper clip, yes; pin, no.

[Zink]

6 minutes ago, Highlander said:

1.  Don't try to really squeeze and pressure it out.  It has been known to all come out at once.  Explosively.

 

2.  Get a thick needle of appropriate size and push it down the pointy end.  All the way down.  Pull it out, clean off the needle, and the bottle should flow.

 

3.  If not, shake really well and repeat 2.

 

Done #1 a few times with already used paints that the nozzle clogged on. Not fun to clean up. I also use a pin vice sometimes in stead of a needle. It usually spins in easily and I use a size that doesn't expand things like what MojoBob said. I've also had the problem on a couple bottles that the paint in the whole nozzle, not just the tip is drying out. I had to pull the nozzle with a pair of pliers and scoop out the goop to get things flowing right. But that was on pretty old paints.

[Glitterwolf]

Paperclip is my way to go.

[Cyradis]

30 minutes ago, MojoBob said:

This is something that probably won't be an issue, but it might.....

 

If you use a pointed object like a pin to clear a plastic nozzle, it can pass through the obstruction (e.g. dry paint) which then acts as an expanding collar as it passes up the taper of the pin, stretching the diameter of the nozzle, and potentially even splitting it.

 

A probe the same diameter as the nozzle with a flat perpendicular-cut end, however, will push the obstruction down the length of the nozzle without distorting it in any way. 

 

I don't actually know what the inner diameter of the nozzle on a Reaper dropper bottle is; I've never measured it. But the moral of this story is this: paper clip, yes; pin, no.

 

Having the nozzle stretch isn't necessarily bad. I think the stabber I use both pushes the obstruction and stretches the nozzle a small bit - it is on the wide side and is tapered but not sharp. The plastic on these bottles is plastic enough (instead of brittle) that it expands instead of splits from my experience. 

[Doug Sundseth]

53 minutes ago, MojoBob said:

This is something that probably won't be an issue, but it might.....

 

If you use a pointed object like a pin to clear a plastic nozzle, it can pass through the obstruction (e.g. dry paint) which then acts as an expanding collar as it passes up the taper of the pin, stretching the diameter of the nozzle, and potentially even splitting it.

 

A probe the same diameter as the nozzle with a flat perpendicular-cut end, however, will push the obstruction down the length of the nozzle without distorting it in any way. 

 

I don't actually know what the inner diameter of the nozzle on a Reaper dropper bottle is; I've never measured it. But the moral of this story is this: paper clip, yes; pin, no.

 

When you're dealing with a bit of paint blocking the nozzle, this is pretty much right. When the problem is with a sketchy hole in the tip (closed by the plastic of the tip, which I've seen), neither one of those will work very well, though the paperclip will work better. I normally use a drill bit when I'm having problems getting paint to flow.

[ced1106]

Meh. I'm lazy. 

 

Spoiler

 

Edited September 16, 2018 by ced1106

[Mnemonic]

This is an older thread, but wouldn't it be nice if the cap had a little "poker stick" built into it?

[Doug Sundseth]

19 minutes ago, Mnemonic said:

This is an older thread, but wouldn't it be nice if the cap had a little "poker stick" built into it?

 

It would be nice. And as long as you don't mind paying twice as much* for paint, that's a great idea. FWIW, I'd be willing to pay more for paint packaged in better bottles with fewer instances of bad spout casting, but Reaper is in competition with every other paint manufacturer, so price is important to maintain market share.

 

If that kind of cap were a standard item (maybe it is for some company; I'm willing to be disabused of my notions), it might not be much more expensive than a standard cap and I'd be right there with you. But to my knowledge, that's not the current situation.

 

None of which is to try to ridicule the idea, but rather to explain some of the logistics of manufacturing.

 

* At a guess. Reaper buys a standard 15ml Boston Round bottle in bulk, which means they get a decent price. If they had to have a special cap made, that would be a mold cost plus special runs for their caps. In order to make money, any manufacturer needs to multiply their all-in cost per item by 3 - 10 to get retail price (because of distributor discounts and the need to keep the lights on, the rent paid, and the employees willing to show up). It wouldn't take much to double the price of a bottle of paint.

[Cyradis]

Meh. A poker stick seems like a new thing to get sticky and mess it up. The bottles could be improved but I don't think I'd do that. A stabby thing to declog is a cheap and easy solution; I'd certainly be irked by a price increase to solve that problem. 

[Mnemonic]

Oh I get the logistics of manufacturing. Nothing is free, but we're not talking rocket science here. Surely there will be development, new mold development, testing, trouble shooting, etc etc. but 3 years from now everyone in the industry would know Reaper has the gold standard in clog prevention.

I'll admit it may not actually pay off as intended. 5/8ths of an inch of plastic with a slight taper sounds like it would help clogs, but I can't say that a slight air pressure build up when inserting it would be a problem. Or alignment issues. But hey, great things can start with a simple sentence "wouldn't it be nice if...."

With trusty paperclips in my hand, I'd still pay an extra quarter or 50 cents for it a bottle cap that prevents clogs. Economy of scale would probably show much less cost. But we're all just spit-balling here.