# help with cleaning tapetech bazooka



## d's (Mar 16, 2008)

Had my first go today on the used tapetech bazooka i bought on E-bay. Was getting the hang of it by the end of the day and was impressed at how clean and quick the tool is. Kicking myself for not getting one sooner.

My question is on how to clean the thing properly at the end of the day. How do you get water to rinse in behind the mud gate. When I tried to pump water into it it would just shoot out rather than going in. Even when I pumped mud into it I had to use alot of pressure and the Manual Drive Grip didn't spin evenly - kinda stop/start. Are these problems normal? Diagnosis doctors?

Also, is it okay to leave it in a bucket overnight between taping days, or until I figure out how to clean it properly? It'll probably be used once a week now so when not in use is it adequate to give it a good clean and spray the moving parts with lube? Is it worth buying one of those cleaning kits from All-Wall?


Thanks,
D's


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## Brocktologist (Sep 16, 2008)

We recently went through this...
http://www.contractortalk.com/f49/cleaning-automatic-taper-51325/ 

You can leave it in a bucket of water overnight without a problem.
Don't forget the WD-40.:thumbsup:


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## Capt-Sheetrock (Aug 8, 2007)

d's said:


> Had my first go today on the used tapetech bazooka i bought on E-bay. Was getting the hang of it by the end of the day and was impressed at how clean and quick the tool is. Kicking myself for not getting one sooner.
> 
> My question is on how to clean the thing properly at the end of the day. How do you get water to rinse in behind the mud gate. When I tried to pump water into it it would just shoot out rather than going in. Even when I pumped mud into it I had to use alot of pressure and the Manual Drive Grip didn't spin evenly - kinda stop/start. Are these problems normal? Diagnosis doctors?
> 
> ...


Hey D, Its not rocket science man, just relax. At the end of the day, take it outside, spray all the mud of the outside, spray down the tube from the back, to clean the insides of the tube, then stick the nozzle of your sprayer (have to try differant sparayers to find the ones that fit the fill tube) in the tube and spray it till the water runs clear. Then open the valve(like you were going to fill the tube with mud) and spray into the tube, (that will fill the tube with water just like you were filling it with mud). When it fills, throw your sprayer down, and turn the crank with your fingers, rolling the cable back up, that will pull your pluger up the tube, bringing water up and cleaning the tube as it goes. Then pick your sprayer back up and finish spraying into the slot to get anything that was missed before. Now spray the entire thing, every inch of it with wd-40. Don't forget to spray it in the tube from the bottom to get a good coverage inside the tube. (Iknow they say wd will mess up the rubber, but it won't).

A tip, cut you a sponge to fit insde the tube, and put it in the end, so that the mud doesn't dry up during the day, it also helps, when your filling it, you can feel the sponge before the plunger gets to the end so you don't always end up jamming the plunger hard on the bottom of the tube. And. when your taping and you need to stop, always sit the bazooka nose down in a bucket of water. (if your stopping for more than 5 mins) then rip the tape and re-thread it, and go back at it.


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## A+ Texture (Sep 23, 2008)

D's, I just used mine for the first time too, I was kinda discouraged the first day but day 2 was pretty smooth. You can go on ebay or newtapingtools.com and get complete dvd's from this guy showing you how to run all the tools. The sound quality isn't that great but you get the idea. I watched em twice, used the tools and watched em again that night. It really helped me adrress the things I had trouble with. Happy Taping.


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## Tapingfool (Feb 28, 2008)

*cleaning bazooka*

You can also get a cylindrical brush with a longer handle to clean and leave in the open end. make sure if you are leaving it out to thoroughly clean the cable, look into the gun and move the nozzle around..good luck..


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## d's (Mar 16, 2008)

Being an ebay purchase i guess I was freakin' a little because it was so hard to pump mud into it and water wouldn't go in at all. I let it soak over night in a bucket of water like the previous post suggested and tried again this morning. It must have loosened everything up because the cog and plunger moved much more freely and it filled with water. I rinsed it out as well as I could on the job site but since it's around -19 today there's not much outdoor spraying happening this time of year. So... I took it home at the end of the day and had a shower with it. Our shower head is on a hose so I set it to "massage" and sprayed it out. Had a bit of explaining to do to the Mrs. and now I'm in charge of cleaning the shower:laughing:. I used a spray lube in a can called Jig-a-loo but I think I'll try to find a stickier oil based one, and/or try some wd40. 

I've got the technique down now I think. I found a ops guide from the columbia website that helped alot.

Next up... mastering my new 10" fatboy and adjustar handle.

Thanks guys,
D's


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## Brocktologist (Sep 16, 2008)

Most of us learned to run the tube from guys who have been running them for years and I could not imagine trying to do it on my own.
Hats off to you guys! 

*Get someone take some pics of you taping ceiling flats!*:thumbsup:


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## A+ Texture (Sep 23, 2008)

Whats even crazier is I never taped with paper tape before, so it was first time for both. I've done over 500 mods, but new const. is new to me. Lucky for me I love learning anyhting new. It's unbelieveable how much mechanical tools can make a guy actually enjoy doing drywall. I was definately burnt out by the other stuff.


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## Capt-Sheetrock (Aug 8, 2007)

d's said:


> Being an ebay purchase i guess I was freakin' a little because it was so hard to pump mud into it and water wouldn't go in at all. I let it soak over night in a bucket of water like the previous post suggested and tried again this morning. It must have loosened everything up because the cog and plunger moved much more freely and it filled with water. I rinsed it out as well as I could on the job site but since it's around -19 today there's not much outdoor spraying happening this time of year. So... I took it home at the end of the day and had a shower with it. Our shower head is on a hose so I set it to "massage" and sprayed it out. Had a bit of explaining to do to the Mrs. and now I'm in charge of cleaning the shower:laughing:. I used a spray lube in a can called Jig-a-loo but I think I'll try to find a stickier oil based one, and/or try some wd40.
> 
> I've got the technique down now I think. I found a ops guide from the columbia website that helped alot.
> 
> ...


About lubes, I use wd, alot of folks and all manufactors say not too, that it will mess up the rubber parts. I don't have any trouble with that, I think that rubber is nowadays plastics,,,, anyway,,,, like I said, wd will not cause your plunger or bushings to swell. The reason I like it is that the silicone sprays are heavier and will collect dust between taping times making a sticky gooey mess in the tube, why ask for self inflicted drag??


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## Muddauber (Nov 2, 2007)

d's said:


> Next up... mastering my new 10" fatboy and adjustar handle.
> 
> Thanks guys,
> D's


 
That 10" fat boy & adjuster handle is gonna whoop your a$$.:laughing:


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