A patio misting system is a major benefit to any homeowner. It can provide cool summer afternoons outside when you would otherwise be hiding indoors with the AC, and thanks to high pressure misting systems, you don’t even have to get wet. The water evaporates in the air, and that’s how the cooling effect is provided.
However, there is a problem you have to look out for, and it’s present in any system that utilizes liquids: Leaks.
A leak can quickly turn your high pressure misting system into a useless decoration.
Today, we’re going to go over five simple tips for preventing misting system leaks that will help misting system owners deal with the leaks efficiently.
1: Maintain Your Pump
The pump is the most important part of the misting system. As such, there are a lot of things that can go wrong if you don’t maintain the misting pump properly.
For the most part, this means setting it up properly, ensuring it’s set according to manufacturer recommendations, and using it properly. However, it also means doing things such as replacing old seals and filters, getting professional repair help when needed, and generally keeping it in good shape.
If you let your pump go without proper maintenance, there are a lot of parts that can start leaking, and your entire misting system will stop working properly.
2: Clean Your Nozzles
This is a big problem that a lot of misting system owners essentially cause themselves. You might think that only water is going through your nozzles, so you don’t have to do much. Right? Well, the water in your local municipality supply is actually mixed with minerals and chemicals to make it meet modern potability and health standards. That’s great for your health, but those minerals end up clogging up the holes in your misting system’s nozzles.
When that happens, you not only get poor dispersal of the water that is blasted out, but the pressure can build up and cause leaks around the base of the nozzles or even in the tubing.
Luckily, this is the easiest bit of maintenance you can do to prevent a leak. All you need is vinegar.
Whenever you notice that calcium or mineral deposits are on the nozzles, which is easy thanks to the chalky substance that forms on the surface of the nozzles, simply remove nozzle, disassemble it, and soak it in vinegar. Vinegar will help dissolve calcium and keep the holes in the nozzles clean, and the water will be pushed through it properly; not backed up down the system until the pressure springs a leak.
3: Inspect Your Misting System Regularly
Leaks are things that tend to get worse the longer they go unnoticed, and they’re also very easy to prevent with a bit of due diligence.
Once a week, make it part of your schedule to walk around and inspect the misting system. This includes checking the pump to make sure it’s working properly and doesn’t have any signs of abnormal wear and tear, checking the nozzles for residue and mineral buildup, and of course, looking for puddling near and around the misting system.
By doing this, you give yourself a chance to exercise preventative measures, and you catch small leaks before they become a huge problem.
You might find that there’s a small puddle in a rarely-looked-at part of the system, and when you trace it, you might find a little leak that is easy to patch or even just tighten a joint that came loose over time. With that simple check, you might have stopped a much larger, more costly leak from happening.
You might even find that calcium is building up your nozzles and causing a slight blockage; allowing you to knock it off before it’s a problem.
A full system inspection won’t take more than five minutes, and that’s if you’re being extremely attentive. However, it can potentially save you lots of time, money, and effort in terms of fixing the problem when it gets much worse.
4: Store Your Misting System Correctly
This is another very common mistake that causes leaks, and in fact, it might be the biggest problem.
First, your misting system shouldn’t be left up all year. When the cold season comes, and you no longer need a cooling system on your patio, it’s time to take the misting system down. If you don’t, the tubing can be damaged, sensitive parts of the pump can be damaged, and more. It’s not something you can just leave up for next year.
Before the winter sets in, winterize the system by draining water from all lines and water filters, disconnect and store the pump at above freezing storage, and if you have ceramic orifice nozzles, take them down and store at above freezing temperature as well.
This will prevent freezing temperatures from destroying your system during harsh winters,
5: Start with the Best Misting System Possible
Finally, there is one more way to help prevent misting system leaks. Start with the best system you can get.
A low-quality, cheap, and generally sub-par system will be much more likely to spring leaks because the components aren’t as well made, the fitting might not be made to extremely high tolerances, and overall, it’s just not built as well.
A high-quality misting system will be made from materials that are designed to last, and the craftsmanship will clearly show through in terms of long-term performance.
If you want a high-quality high pressure misting system to prevent leaks, contact aerMist.
