# Chameleon Hose-End Sprayer review and test



## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

Watch to the end to see where my mind is going to make one of these sprayers useful. TOMMY

Chameleon Hose-End Sprayer review and test


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

A red 0.4 tip means a lot of back pressure unless the Chameleon hose end sprayer is applying less than 0.4 GPM at 40 PSI. I could imagine this working and now want to try it out with a 3.0 or 4.0 Teejet flat fan tip.


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

Greendoc said:


> A red 0.4 tip means a lot of back pressure unless the Chameleon hose end sprayer is applying less than 0.4 GPM at 40 PSI. I could imagine this working and now want to try it out with a 3.0 or 4.0 Teejet flat fan tip.


... I don't think they exist, but you're on point.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

https://www.sprayerdepot.com/products/h1-4u-8040-1-4-mnpt-threaded-brass-spray-nozzle


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

Tried another idea to solve the Chameleon's poor fan nozzle performance. 
A 47 second unlisted clip.

[media]https://youtu.be/PfKaO18jx2A[/media]


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## Jimefam (Jun 22, 2018)

TommyTester said:


> Tried another idea to solve the Chameleon's poor fan nozzle performance.
> A 47 second unlisted clip.
> 
> [media]https://youtu.be/PfKaO18jx2A[/media]


That looks pretty good! Did you happen to look at the flow rate with that? Thanks for the review video looking at buying this one or the ortho sprayer for applications of air8 and dethatch.


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

Jimefam said:


> That looks pretty good! Did you happen to look at the flow rate with that? Thanks for the review video looking at buying this one or the ortho sprayer for applications of air8 and dethatch.


All 3 settings operated at right around 2 GPM, but that's not important.

One of my key points on testing/calibrating these sprayers is there is no need to measure GPM, no need to pace yourself to some fixed 1 minute/1000 sq ft as some preach, and no need to get all twisted around with ratio math.

The method I show eliminates all that. It allows you at your natural pace to determine how much material is delivered per 1000 sq. ft. for a range of dial settings. The dial settings are marked in oz/gallon, but we need oz/1000 sq. ft.. This method accomplishes that and it only takes a few minutes.

A matter of fact, you can do just ONE test at the highest setting (ie: 8 oz) and the other settings will be proportionally less; the 4 oz setting will deliver half of what was delivered at the 8 oz setting, and the 2 oz setting half of what is delivered with the 4 oz setting ... and so on.

The Ortho does have a FAR SUPERIOR fan pattern, but it lacks some of the features the Chameleon has. Two advantages I see with the Chameleon are that you can use a larger jar and that it does deliver double the material the Ortho does on the same setting. This allows people to dilute their thicker material by 2x or 4x into a larger jar to avoid clogging - a problem the Ortho has (increase the dial setting accordingly if you do dilute).

*Everyone should run their own test and come up with the own chart.*


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

I do plan to retest/recalibrate mine using the Chapin tip shown above. The Chameleon fan pattern is so crappy, you find yourself going slower and taking longer to get through 1000 sq. ft., with the result being more chemical delivered to the area than if you had a much better fan pattern.

I did one run on the shower setting, and it did take less time per 1000 sq. ft., that is why everyone needs to develop their own chart.

I expect when I retest using the Chapin tip, that it will take even less time to get through 1000 sq. ft., and I'll have new numbers for my chart.

Perhaps others have hacks for the Chameleon to get an improved fan pattern. They are only $10, so hack away!


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## cookta13 (Jun 13, 2019)

How did you attach the spray tip to it?


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

cookta13 said:


> How did you attach the spray tip to it?


With some plastic tubing inserted into the jet hole, then some silicon tubing between the plastic tubing and the diverter.

One issue with this is that it increases the velocity of the stream so I'm working on another option that does not involve inserting anything into the jet hole.


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

A related hack is to take the yellow big bottle adapter from the Chameleon and use it on the Ortho. It has to be held in with screws but it works and you can still use the original Ortho jar. This allows one to use Ortho's far superior fan spray but not be constrained by 32 oz/load.

I find the 32 oz of the original jar to be confining, either requiring many reloads or it "forces" you to try to run heavier stuff through it than it can reliably handle. A bigger bottle allows you to cover more area plus the opportunity to dilute the heavy stuff down (and adjust the dial accordingly).

Although this bleach bottle is 128 ounces, in practice that might be a bit much to run full (8 pounds). Running 64 - 96 oz is manageable.


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

TommyTester said:


> A related hack is to take the yellow big bottle adapter from the Chameleon and use it on the Ortho. It has to be held in with screws but it works and you can still use the original Ortho jar. This allows one to use Ortho's far superior fan spray but not be constrained by 32 oz/load.
> 
> I find the 32 oz of the original jar to be confining, either requiring many reloads or it "forces" you to try to run heavier stuff through it than it can reliably handle. A bigger bottle allows you to cover more area plus the opportunity to dilute the heavy stuff down (and adjust the dial accordingly).
> 
> Although this bleach bottle is 128 ounces, in practice that might be a bit much to run full (8 pounds). Running 64 - 96 oz is manageable.


Great hack...thanks for sharing!


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

I bought the Chameleon last year from Lowes and returned it for the Ortho. It leaked really bad and I didn't think to use tape... In the end the Ortho just works for me.


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

ctrav said:


> I bought the Chameleon last year from Lowes and returned it for the Ortho. It leaked really bad and I didn't think to use tape... In the end the Ortho just works for me.


Yeah, I screwed in my hose as far as it would go but it wasn't enough to seat on the embedded rubber gasket shared with that white quick-disconnect flow stopper. QDs are problematic. They would be smarter to just have a normal fitting that worked.


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