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Polymac GH-40 vs. Graco H-40 Post New Topic | Post Reply

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John Cottle Posted: Oct 01, 2010 04:15 AM	Polymac GH-40 vs. Graco H-40 Hello all. I am going to purchase a SPF Rig. I had been in contact with CPI, however due to their demise; I have been in contact with another company. This company is proposing that I purchase the Polymac GH-40 proportioner. Initially I was looking at the Graco H-40, and felt pretty confident in the Graco brand. The Polymac machine is less than the Graco; however I have read, and agree wholeheartedly, that a person should not base a decision on price alone. As may have stated, “Buy cheap, you get cheap”. Not saying that this is the case here, because I do not know, so I turn to the best source available, the actual persons involved with pulling the triggers and busting their rumps to put food on the table. While speaking with the salesman of the particular company, he has eluded that the Polymac GH-40 is as good as the Graco H-40. His spin on why the Polymac Gh-40 is better is because it does not have, or rely on a circuit board. He has stated that if something were to go wrong with the GH-40, I should be able to pick up most, if not all, of the electrical parts at a local hardware or electrical supply store, which I would not be able to do with the circuitry system of the Graco proportioner. It is my understanding that this “salesman” has been involved in the SPF Industry for a very long time, and is extremely knowledgeable in the operation, equipment and the SPF products. All the same, at this juncture he is still the salesman. My question is; has anyone on this forum have any personal experience with the Polymac line of proportioners? If so, would you purchase this machine again, and how does or will it compare to the Graco H-40? For the Graco users, is the electronics/circuit boards a typical problem with the Graco? If so, what is the average down time waiting for replacement parts, or to have the machine repaired? Thanks for your time, and I look forward to future discussions, directions, and maybe sometime in the far future, being able to make a few of my own suggestions.
Posted: Oct 02, 2010 09:01 PM	I bought a Gama 250H last November, which is the GH-40 now. I love the machine and have probably sprayed a 100-150 sets or so since then with it. The one problem that I had was over 4th of July Holiday and believe it or not, Frank from PMC answered my call on the 4th of July and worked me through my problem. Try catching Graco on the 4th of July! I have owned both Graco and Gama and prefer the Gama or "New" Polymac over Graco. Price wasn't an issue for me on my purchase. I had sprayed with a Gama 140 (GH-25) and really liked it. Goodluck with your purchase whichever one you decide to go with. Steve
John Cottle Posted: Oct 05, 2010 02:55 PM	Thank you Bayouboy, your input is very much appreciated.
SprayFoamSupply.com Posted: Oct 05, 2010 08:27 PM	Hi JC. I know that you are looking for input from contractors. We are Graco distributors that started out as contractors. We have a very good understanding of these machines and how they work. When we were spraying foam, we had a Glascraft unit, which is more like the PMC units than the Graco units. We have no first hand experience with PMC units. Both styles of machines have their pros and cons. The benifits of the Graco units that use the circuit boards is that diagnosing machine issues is easier. Circuit boards are allowed to "think" and talk to each other. Circuit boards shut the machine down if you are spraying off ratio. Circuit boards give you error codes so that if you are having an issue, you know where to look. When we were spraying with our Glascraft MH2 and there was a problem, we had to got out our multimeter and test relays and trace wires to diagnose the machine ourselves. I was always the one that did this. I am extremely mechanically inclined, but the first few times, it took a while to find the stuck relay, or broken hose heat wire. I handle most of the tech support calls that we get. Even though I know the glascraft MH2 unit inside and out, if the guy on the other end of the phone is not mechanical, troubleshooting can be difficult. If you are mechanical and are going to be the one behind the gun and "under the hood" when there is an issue, then you would be fine repairing a relay based proportioner. If you are planning on having employees spraying, then you are better off with the Graco. We do sell replacement circuit boards and modules from time to time, but the majority of these come from generator issues. Alot of times, a sprayer with a shore power rig rents a generator for a job and wires the rig to the gen incorrectly, or has the gen switch on the wrong setting. Had one guy hook his single phase 220v E30 to a generator and have the generator set on three phase 480v. He blew his motor board and his heater control module. His down time was less than 20 hours. We had all the parts he needed in stock, as a distributor should. This would have blown something on any proportioner. Again, can't speak for pmc equipment, but I doubt that you can get any of the electronic parts at your local store. I can tell you that none of the glascraft electronics are available at aubuchon hardware, home depot, lowes, sears, NAPA, or any other store that comes to mind. Ask the salesman that is telling you that you can get the parts local for the brand and part # of the relays and other electronics, then try to find one locally. Steve is right, you will not get Graco to answer the phone on the 4th of July. But, your Graco distributor should answer the phone. I know that I answer mine. Weekends, holidays, whenever. pmc is the distributor, so they almost have to answer the phone every day. Whatever way you go, talk to the guy that you are buying the machine from and make sure that they can support you after the sale. Ask what kind of inventory they have, which parts, etc. What is the cutoff time for ups overnight shipments. Hope this helps. Good Luck! George Spanos President Spray Foam Distributors of NE Inc. 603.348.8880
Daniel X Posted: Oct 06, 2010 12:49 AM	JC, have you ever sprayed before? Why don't you see if you can try out some equipment or at least see different rigs in action...?
John Cottle Posted: Oct 06, 2010 03:14 AM	George, Thank you! I have read approximately 95% of all posts in SprayFoamMagazine.com forums. I have noticed that you have posted helpful information in a considerable number of the posts. Also most of the content of your posts, where not to draw business, but true posts, to help with the question at hand. I have also noticed that questions posted on many of the forums, were replied, by multiple members, with advice to contact you for your expertise and opinion. I must say that this speaks highly, not only of your personal character, but also your reputation in the SPF industry. You made several excellent points in your response to my post. Some of which I have given consideration to, and others that I had not. I thank you for your response, and I am most certain that I will be contacting you in the near future for further assistance in the purchasing of Graco equipment. Thanks, John
John Cottle Posted: Oct 06, 2010 06:57 AM	dl123, No, I have not sprayed before. I would love to get some time behind the trigger, or work a week or so with someone; however I did not know if this was common or even possible. I'm currently in Iraq, will be home for a few weeks in November, and then back over here(Sand Land) until March. My plan is to purchase/build my own rig when I return home in March.
Daniel X Posted: Oct 08, 2010 12:16 AM	I would get in touch with a supplier and see if they can let you tag along when they visit one of their sprayers on a site... See what you can soak up from them.
Gerry Wagoner Posted: Nov 14, 2010 10:13 AM	What guarantee is there that PMC will be around in 2-years? Graco succeeded in killing off the Gama in that amount of time. I am appalled at how messed up our industry is ever since Graco created their equipment monopoly.
quentin Posted: Nov 14, 2010 10:30 AM	JC, depending on where you are when you get home, let people here know and maybe you can tag with one of us on a job. Also I know that they are spraying tents in Iraq and Afghanistan and know some of the companies doing the work there so maybe you can arrange something with one of them and your unit to check it out. Feel free to get with me and I can try to get the info for you as I have it somewhere. I am a disabled Marine now spraying and spent years on this board before making the jump. It is not an easy business and when starting off you may want to look at a smaller machine like I did to allow building it. I know after looking long and hard I went with the Glasscraft A5 instead of the E20 or E30 since it has a higher output though not as much pressure. I also liked being able to repair it myself without a board. Being infantry and then electronics repair in the Marines made me feel more confidant in being able to repair and and I just avoid circuit boards from having to repair so many before. They both have advantages and disadvantages so it is more what is best for you and the business you are starting than anything else. I can also help with getting you some numbers of experts to talk to who will give you good advise like George and John Thompson. Yeah they would like to sell to you but both are good and honest people I would trust in a heartbeat for steering you in the right direction.
John Shockney Posted: Nov 14, 2010 10:38 AM	I agree, I sure wish GlassCraft hadn’t sold out their spray-guns are great and I’m glad to see Graco keep the P-2 but the price has gone up from $1800 to over $2100. Airpro
chad harris Posted: Dec 13, 2010 06:30 PM	I would try finding a Gusmer H 20-35 Pro that does'nt have very many strokes on and is not set up. You can find them out there pretty easy, and will probably save you quite a few thousand dollars. We use these machines everyday, and for the most part, they operate flawless. Even have one with over 3 million strokes on it, and the packings are the originals.