What to do with a loaded blocked boom sprayer
Some mixes result in apparently blocked filters, that is, high back pressure at the filters and reduced flow, but when cleaned, the filters seem to contain little more than white or clear slime. This is caused by marginal mixes, when passing through a filter or cavitation in a pump, separating into a layer of water in oil (like mayonnaise) blocking the filter. In these situations, cleaning the tank between loads reduces the build up on the filters as it is often by the second or third tank mix when problems are noticed.
A tank full of an un-sprayable mix should not be dumped until all avenues of advice have been exhausted. Seek advice from chemical company representatives, agronomists or Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia as soon as possible. Please have all of the details for all components in the mix at hand including the water source, any fertilisers and trace elements, wetter, oils and the order of mixing to assist trouble shooting.
It is often possible to retrieve a problematic mix. For instance, adding some extra wetter or using a fire fighter pump to cause vigorous agitation will break up lumps caused by granules which have been added after crop oils and are difficult to disperse.
Faulty products causing problems are fairly unusual but if no other causes seem apparent, contact the manufacturers as soon as possible with the batch numbers to sort out the problem to minimise any inconvenience.