I never did hear back from a comment I left on their web site.  Obviously the few dozen cans I have bought over the years means I’m not worth their time.

Continuing my previous rant about failing spray cans.

I’m just back in from spraying some circuit boards with a clear coating; Plasti-kote.

With a near new can, as usual the spray blocked. It started spitting paint all over the place then stopped. Compressed air proved that the nozzle was clear so was the valve blocked? I put a rag over the can a carefully poked a file handle into the valve. A great torrent of paint soaked the rag and my hand, so I figured that was clear.

White nozzle is Plasti-Kote, But red nozzle works

OK, so the nozzle is clear and the valve is clear; you’d expect the two to work together as it is the nozzle that came with the can. NO it didn’t work.  A search through my collection of old can nozzles and I found a couple with similar valve connectors.  One didn’t work but the red one was fantastic, a nice fine and even spray to finish the job.

There is still a problem with clearing Plasti-Kote cans after use. Hold upside down and spray and the paint never stops coming out.  There has to be a small inlet at the top of the can that the paint gets through.  I did this then cleared the red nozzle with compressed air.

I think the red nozzle is from an old Dulux spray can probably dating back 20 years.

Conclusion

Plasti-Kote have a serious design fault with the can to nozzle interface; it doesn’t work reliably.

Don’t buy Plasti-Kote spay cans if your value you money and sanity.

Update – March 2017

My new favourite spray can is RUST-OLEUM Painter’s Touch.  These cans spray nicely, don’t block if treated with care and don’t need clearing after each use.  These are now sold by Miter-10 in New Zealand.