Devilbiss airless paint sprayer

[Tbender78]

Hey guys, I just picked up this paint sprayer from a yard sale. I was told “not sure if it works” but for $5 and bunch of 90’s playboys, I couldn’t go wrong. I spent an hour or so cleaning the old paint off the suction tube and clearing the hose out. Tried pumping water but nothing came out. The electric motor spins and the pump looks like it is doing its thing. I did find a small ball bearing on the floor after disassembling some things to clean off the old paint. Not sure where it goes and not sure what the problem is. I called Devilbiss and they don’t have any schematics on this. They said it’s about 30 years old.
Model #QFH-513
Serial #D-84-015
Anyone have this model that can share some info?

 

[KenC]

The ball bearing is probably part of a check valve. Really common for people to fail to clear the paint and it checks stick. That allows paint to just move in and out past the same valve.

 

[pcmeiners]

Found nothing with Google.
If you spent a couple days breaking this machine down and cleaning, very CAREFULLY, you might get it working. Likely you would lose the gaskets in the process.
Carefully means you do not have a ball bearing left over.

 

[bb29510]

its real simple, its not a sprayer, its a pumper, the ball is the check valve, you need it. its goes where the hose come out of the pump. and its needs to be clean, one little grit hurts. But you cant break them, they just need to be clean, it pump paint, so there no air involved

 

[Tbender78]

its real simple, its not a sprayer, its a pumper, the ball is the check valve, you need it. its goes where the hose come out of the pump. and its needs to be clean, one little grit hurts. But you cant break them, they just need to be clean, it pump paint, so there no air involved

Thanks for the feedback of the ball bearing. Will try to put it where you suggested.

 

[Tbender78]

Found nothing with Google.
If you spent a couple days breaking this machine down and cleaning, very CAREFULLY, you might get it working. Likely you would lose the gaskets in the process.
Carefully means you do not have a ball bearing left over.

This thing is covered in paint. All fittings were super tight so breaking it down isn’t easy.

 

[pcmeiners]

I have done it before, last time I spent 5 hours just removing over spray paint. Basically you need to judge if it is worth the time. Machines like this are pro machines, equal to machines which now sell for a few thousand. Good luck