Wearing the right protective equipment, proper fuel supply, cleaning the tank after each use — these are just a few things you need to keep in mind in order to use an atomizer correctly, efficiently and safely. Find out what other useful instructions you need to know.
The atomizer is one of the devices you need if you own agricultural land that you have cultivated with any kind of plants, from flowers and vegetables, to vegetables, vines, cereals or fruit trees. It helps you to prevent the contamination of the culture with pathogens of different types, facilitating the spread of powder or liquid solution treatments on large areas of land, efficiently and quickly.
Because they include an engine that needs power and maintenance, work under pressure and with chemicals toxic to humans, these devices must be handled with care. Here are some instructions for use that will help you use the atomizer correctly and safely.
Use quality gasoline
If you have a smaller garden and have chosen to work with an electric atomizer, the power supply is simple, connecting the appliance to the socket for charging the battery. In the case of petrol variants, because you use a flammable liquid, you must respect some simple safety conditions.
First of all, the supply is made in the open air, not in an enclosed space and away from any source of fire, including a lit cigarette. In order to keep the appliance at the optimum operating level for as long as possible, it is good to avoid cheap and poor quality fuel and to choose something better. Always keep the filter mounted when refueling to prevent foreign particles from entering the container.
Try to work with gasoline on a concrete surface, so that, if you accidentally escape from the bottom, it will not reach the ground, contaminating it. If you accidentally spilled gasoline on the atomizer, do not turn it on until you are sure that it has been cleaned very well.
The supply is always made only with the engine stopped and using the mixture recommended by the manufacturer. In general, 25 or 30 parts of gasoline are added to one part of oil, but it is advisable to always check the formula mentioned in the technical manual and not to consider the composition used in general as implicit.
Equip yourself properly
Even if you do not feel burning, irritation or itching as soon as the substances you want to spray touch the skin, it is important to remember that there are solutions that should not reach your skin or nasal, oral or ocular mucous membranes and so on. less in the airways.
So don’t start working with chemical solutions until you’ve equipped yourself properly. You need long gloves, a breathing mask, a hat with large brims and glasses to cover as much of the front as possible.
Avoid splashing on your home clothes and make sure you have a long-sleeved jumpsuit for this type of activity. After you have finished spraying, change the clothes and put the contaminated one to wash, taking care not to mix it with the rest of the clothes in the laundry basket and not to be in a place accessible to children or animals. Then wash your skin thoroughly using plenty of soap and water.
Wear boots or boots resistant to chemical solutions or at least one type of waterproof and well-fitting footwear, which covers you at least up to the ankles and does not allow dust to penetrate to the skin. Do not splash on slippers, clogs or sandals, even if it is hot outside.
Do not leave powdery substances in the tank for a long time
As long as you add the chemicals to the tank, the device must be turned off, all the flaps must be in the minimum or closed position, and the bottle must be depressurized. In case of liquid solutions, make sure that you close the lid of the container very well, in order not to allow leaks. If you use powder, it is important to remove the particles on the closing thread before putting the lid on.
Try to fill the tank with a suitable amount of solution, so that it does not remain in the container after you have finished spraying. Powder formulas can solidify, which is why the tank must be emptied if several days pass between uses.
Avoid splashing on windy days
Even if you use a high-performance garden sprayer , if the wind blows hard enough, you will not have much control over the area to which the herbicide or fertilizer particles go. So avoid carrying out important splashes on days with strong air currents.
But you can do your job if the air currents are present, but they do not have a very high speed. In this case, however, you must position your back to the wind, so that the chemical solution does not return to you once it leaves the atomizer.
Before you start spreading fertilizers or herbicide, make sure that there are no other people, children or animals in the area where you work.
Do not use the device if you have consumed alcohol
Because in a state of intoxication it is possible to violate several of the safety rules, inadvertently giving up the idea of splashing the garden if you have consumed alcohol. It is also advisable to avoid working with such a device if you are dizzy, have problems with coordination and balance, do not know how to use it properly or are very tired.
Maintenance and storage
At the end of the spraying, the engine is left to work for another 2–3 minutes at low speed, before being stopped, so as not to abruptly. After use, the tank is emptied and washed well, as well as the rest of the components through which the chemical has passed.
The engine air filter is cleaned with gasoline to remove particles trapped in it, then squeezed and fixed in place.
To store the appliance for longer periods of time, you also need to empty the fuel tank, clean the atomizer thoroughly and lubricate the metal elements with oil to prevent rusting. The subassembly that provides the spray is removed, washed and dried, then reassembled. The whole equipment is covered in a plastic foil and stored in a dry and clean space.
