• Proper cleanout of the spray tank, booms and lines are critical components to the application process and Crop Protection.
• When using a tank cleaning agent, remember to always read and follow the label and be patient, proper tank cleanout takes a significant amount of time.

Understanding the importance of proper sprayer tank clean-out procedures, and practicing these procedures, should be a critically important part of the application process.  Remember that crop protection product labels frequently specify the proper sprayer cleaning process for these products.  Become familiar with the label guidelines for sprayer cleaning.  The general guidelines, offered below, should not take the place of label-specific cleanout recommendations.

There are two essential aspects for effective sprayer system cleanout… time and patience.  Thorough sprayer cleaning is very time consuming but crop response complaints can be costly in dollars and reputation.  Remember that some herbicides can cause crop response at the parts per billion (PPB) level. 

Whenever you switch crops, and sometimes when switching from soil to foliar applications, it is essential to take the time for a thorough tank clean-out.  (A complete tank clean-out will take approximately 12 to 24 hours.)  Review the following general tank cleanout procedures.  (A 1200 gallon tank is assumed for these guidelines.)

1. A thorough clean-out involves three, separate, time-consuming rinses that require a total (minimum) of 900 gallons of water, or 300 gallons per rinse.
2. The first rinse uses 300 gallons of clean water, only.  Be sure to circulate the water thoroughly through the sprayer to ensure that the agitation reaches above the sparge lines. 
3. Recirculate the water through the entire sprayer system for a minimum of thirty minutes.  One hour is preferred.
4. Drain the entire tank, lines, and booms.  Capture the rinsate to use as makeup water (for the same crop), or spray the rinsate on an appropriate field.
5. Immediately, add another 300 gals of water, plus the labeled rate of tank cleaner.  If you're using FS RinseOut™, use six quarts of tank cleaner in the 300 gallons of water (2 qt./100 gal.). 
6. Thoroughly recirculate the water, containing the tank cleaner, for one hour.  Be sure to charge the booms and then let everything sit for a minimum of four hours… Overnight is preferred. 
7. The next day, completely drain the entire sprayer.  Remove and check all strainers and screens.  (Note: On a 120 foot boom, that means 95 nozzle screens!)
8. Be sure to clean the end caps from each section of the boom. 
9. Add the final 300 gals of clean water and recirculate for a minimum of 30 minutes.  Again, a one hour rinse is preferred.
10. Drain the entire tank, lines, and booms.
11. When getting ready to spray the first load, after cleaning the tank and sprayer system, find a place where you can safely run full spray for thirty to sixty seconds before making the crop application.  This will clear most remaining contaminants from the boom.