STOP Throwing Away Aerosol Spray Cans With No AIR! How To Recharge, Save And Fix It! DIY

Turn the can upside down. That will prevent a lot of the fluid from coming out. If the can is designed to be held upright to spray then turn it upside down to refill. If the can is designed to be used upside down, then turn that can right side up to refill the air pressure.

To add a bit to your post, the propellant in aerosol cans has evolved a bit over the years but it has never been air. In the beginning, it was R12 refrigerant. Obviously, this was curtailed with the whole ozone hole thing. The huge advantage of R12 is that in the can, it was partially liquid and partially gaseous. As the product was used, some of the gas would leave and then the liquid part would boil off to make more gas. As this happened, the cans would cool since the refrigerant was doing it's thing. More recently, CO2 has been used to avoid the greenhouse gas issue. Side note, I worked in a can research department of a major steel company, and I was the first one to find a way to use a can with a welded side seam as an aerosol can. If you look at the weld on your can, note the darkened area where the weld occurred. I figured out how to do that consistently in a way that could hold about 130 PSI safely.

I’ve been doing this for years without anything but a rubber tipped air inflator. Works perfectly, obviously you should take all the precautions the man showed you. Reminder to those who say just buy a new one "a penny saved is a penny earned”……

Sir, this is an excellent video. I've been recharging my depleted aerosol cans for years with a rubber tip on my air gun but your idea that incorporates a tire stem is brilliant. The safety shield made out of the spray can cap is also brilliant. Thank you for sharing this,

WD-40 is renowned in my experience for losing can pressure. Almost every can I purchase loses pressure over about a year on the shelf. This looks like it's worth a try. Thanks!

Genuinely useful and REAL - unlike other silly "tips and hacks". Thank you !!

This is awesome. I bet if you fill the can while it's upside down, you wouldn't have hardly any mess spraying out. Mount your valve stem in a vice or something and just press the can down on it.

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You can do this with a foot pump or one of those small electric air tyre inflator pumps, you might not get the same pressure but in most cases will work good enough.

Here's a safe tip: A can that is nowhere near full, also does not need a full pressure spray. Only need to add about 30 lbs of air pressure to use up the excess. Be safe, don't add 90+ lbs of air to a near empty container. That lbs is for a new can. Be safe, don't use more pressure than needed. You get a lot more air in the can since it's not full of liquid. You don't need that high amount of dangerous pressure

The number of safety precautions and references to SDS, rubber gloves, shields, disclaimers etc. I appreciate the tip, I will save numerous partial cans going forward. Most cans will not produce so much overspray if filled upside down. The pickup tube inside the can runs to the bottom of the can, when inverted the pickup tube will be in the empty portion of the can. Right side up and the pick up tube is down in the solution causing the back spray.

I "refill" my no-pressure cans by making an adapter between the target can and a can of Dust Off ("canned air"). Connect the 2 cans with the Dust Off upside down and press both spray valves. Some of the liquid from the Dust Off will be forced into the target can and will act as the missing propellant. Much easier and more long-lasting than using compressed air.

it is a lot easier to just use a blowgun with a rubber tip just set compressor regulator to 80 or 90 if you are worried about it being too high the cans are rated for way more pressure than the can comes with.

I like that you include your original ideas along with your improved ideas. One thought would be to set the whole assembly down inside a piece of scrap PVC pipe. This might help with limiting the blowback mess and potential damage if the can did decide to give way. Kudos on stressing safety. Well done!

Love it!!! You're both saving money and saving the environment! Saving green is often saving green folks. Repair when possible and logical.

This is actually pretty awesome advice. Usually when people talk about stuff like this on here I see them drill a hole in the can and add the valve directly to it lol. All well and good if you want to keep reusing the can but tedious as hell to keep doing on new ones all the time if you use a lot of cans.

I was thinking using CO2 from a tank I use for homebrewing might be a better choice especially for paint cans. Great video and thanks for the link for the Tire Inflator with pressure gauge!

I have been doing this for a long time just using a rubber tipped blow gun. You do not need to depress the nipple on top of the can, the air pressure opens the valve and I rarely lose any product unless the seal I make between the tip and the can allows some to escape.

Great hack! I just got a can of WD-40 that stopped working b/c of no propellant. You are very methodical and clear in you explanation, thanks 👍

REALLY GOOD JOB!!! You took your time and MOST IMPORTANT you covered all the SAFETY AREAS! All that makes you a FAVORITE CHANNEL !!!