a paint-related idiom

[JACEK1]

Hello all users
Does "Running old paint through" mean "using up old paint" or "reusing old paint"?
After the application, all brushes and rags used should be thrown away, as should any cans used. Any attempt to use these will result in silicone contamination. The equipment should be thoroughly cleaned; this includes again removal of the filter and recirculation with thinner. Running old paint through (old is not a requirement, but just something that will not be used for any other purposes) helps remove the last of the silicone.

What is your opinion?
Thank you.

 

[Lynxear]

This is probably the most well written instruction that you have shown us.

It seems to me that you were using a silicone product through your equipment and now it must be cleaned to prepare for another task. It seems that ANY silicone that remains in the equipment is a problem for future non-silicone applications.

This is why after cleaning the equipment with rags and brushes they want these items thrown away to make sure they are never used again.

As a last step in the cleaning procedure, you must remove trace amounts of silicone that may not be reached by rags and brushes. To do this you must operate the equipment for a short period of time using new or old paint that has NO silicone in its makeup. "Running paint through" just means to operate the operate the equipment normally. Another expression that could be used is "flush out the system with paint".

It seems that ordinary paint is fine in the system ... it is the silicone product that could damage future work. Probably because it would not allow normal paint to adhere to a surface if it was contaminated.

 

[JACEK1]

It is nice of you to say so. As I said many times before, what I get and what I ask you to help me unravel is beyond my control.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

I think what RobertJ is rather frustrated about (as are all of us who are eager to help you) is not the words you are asking about, it's that it's sometimes hard to tell which words are your question and which are the ones you are asking about. I suggest using a format something like this:

Hello all users
Does "Running old paint through" mean "using up old paint" or "reusing old paint"?

"After the application, all brushes and rags used should be thrown away, as should any cans used. Any attempt to use these will result in silicone contamination. The equipment should be thoroughly cleaned; this includes again removal of the filter and recirculation with thinner. Running old paint through (old is not a requirement, but just something that will not be used for any other purposes) helps remove the last of the silicone."

What is your opinion?
Thank you.

Some space between your words and theirs, as well as a font or color change, would be a big help.

 

[Lynxear]

I think what RobertJ is rather frustrated about (as are all of us who are eager to help you) i

Not all of us are frustrated. Perhaps I have more of a technical background than many here and that is the difference.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

Running old paint through (old is not a requirement, but just something that will not be used for any other purposes) helps remove the last of the silicone.

It's good that we have an expert on paint, and I agree with your assessment, but can you explain how "old paint" can be run through an application system? Are the words in parentheses the guesses of the OP or are they from the instructions? I don't know, and I don't think it's wise to assume one way or the other without some clue from the poster's formatting.

Expertise can trick us into responding according to our 'reading between the lines', most especially when dealing with what is very probably a translation (and maybe not a good translation) from the original. Don't forget that several blind 'experts' were quite confident in their opposing descriptions of the elephant...

 

[Lynxear]

but can you explain how "old paint" can be run through an application system?

Old paint is not a reference to paint that has been lying around for a year. It use means silicone-free paint that is not used any more for that job.

They are just preparing the machine for the next job to make sure it was squeaky clean of silicone. I don't think they want to open a source of new paint since that would be a waste of new paint and opening the new paint container can potentially could make it unusable later when they needed it. So if there was was a partially filled can of paint lying around, it would be useful for this purpose. Of course, if there were no partially filled used paint around then they would use new paint as getting rid of the silicone is obviously important.

I believe I am right in this matter. The instructions are pretty clear and without serious grammar errors. The poster has in the past posted some really bad instructions.

Perhaps the original poster can say if I am correct or not. A simple "like" would say so if he doesn't want to post a short message.

 

[JACEK1]

In reply to RoertJ's remarks about me not delineating my own text ffrom the question, I would like to explain as follows:
I have been thinking about it for some time now and I must tell you that I used to separate my questions from the rest of a document until a technical problem occurred on this forum. I don't know who is to blame for the problem. Since the appearance of the problem, I have avoided - for fear of being accused of breaking your rules - leaving one space between my thoughts and a question and the rest of a document. The reason I no longer separate thoughts from the rest of a document is that I am afraid to make one space between lines because there is something wrong with editing my document in case I would like to change something. As I said before, I don't know who is at fault. I am not talking about you or me. One of the forum members advised me to report the problem to ?????? I don't know who. Who should I report the problem to? Besides, on several occassions, I made one necessary space between lines and it was doubled, for which I was reprimanded and rightly so. Can anyone of you see a solution to this technical problem?

 

[JACEK1]

I sent this text to you a few minutes ago, then I left it and wanted to re-enter it in order to edit it. No luck. Please try for yourselves. Maybe you will have more luck.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

I used to have real problems posting, until I started clicking the little 'remember me' box when logging in. I don't know if you do that or if it would help with your issue, but if you are not doing that, I recommend you give it a try.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

Lynxear- As previously stated, I agree with your interpretation. But the original post just doesn't 'read' like technical instructions to me- more like a translation, so I tend to think this is JACEK1's first attempt at translating from the original (Polish?) into English.

Like RobertJ, I think it should be worded better so that someone who is not such an expert as yourself can follow the instructions without the possibility of error. Yes, the person likely to read the instructions will probably be a professional, but that isn't the point. When writing technical instructions, we should always ask ourselves, "How could the stupidest person on Earth possibly misunderstand this?" or "If this document was presented as evidence in a court of law, how could the words be (mis)used by a clever attorney?" and edit accordingly.

Most of the posts on this forum are from students asking about academic subjects- I call them 'Cousins and Gloves'. But JACEK1's posts are more interesting to me (and I look for them) because they are real-life situations (She: "What did you do today, Dear?" Me: "I helped to paint a boat!" She: "That's nice, Dear...") But we should never forget that the words we provide can have very real legal, financial, operational, and even health & safety implications for users and the people they work for. It therefore behooves us to be as clear as possible in gathering what facts we can before asserting an affirmative response.

 

[Lynxear]

Well, to me they are instructions from a manual of operation or such. This post by JACEK1 was similar to other posts that were work related. I have a feeling that this time it was for a different machine as the instructions were not laden with grammar errors, and for me they were completely understandable.

Why can I follow such instructions? Well I was an industrial salesman for a good 1/3 of my working life. I had to be able to communicate/read instructions of this ilk to many customers and their workers.

 

[andrewg927]

JK Tutoring, was it your intention to change the font midsection? In post 12, it looks like you used three different fonts and sizes.

 

[andrewg927]

There is a reason why it is called technical instructions. Those instructions are not supposed to be read by "the stupidest person on Earth".

 

[andrewg927]

Jacek1, let Rover or EMS know of your problems and they will direct you to the right place.

 

[Rover_KE]

That's the Support Area.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

andrew927- ... not supposed to be read by "the stupidest person on Earth" No, they're not supposed to, but what's your point?

Yes, post #12 looks just as I want it to look.

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[Tdol]

I used to have real problems posting, until I started clicking the little 'remember me' box when logging in. I don't know if you do that or if it would help with your issue, but if you are not doing that, I recommend you give it a try.

If you do that, it keeps the account open. If not, it will close automatically after a certain time for security reasons. When you check that box, you are allowing cookies, which will be deleted when you log out.