Compressor Spray guns and all that Jazz

Corvus

The 2.5 runs on 13a but one 3hp needs 16, the other 32 for starting. Once had a 2hp that needed 16, usually if its got a 13a plug you're fine though.

rexter

I love the turbines for sure and they have a lot of advantages - but they are let down by the fact that you can’t run other stuff off them. Compressors win in that way for sure - take your pick of 1000s of sprayguns and tools.

I’m thinking with a large 100l compressor I could run a very decent air powered da sander too.

@Corvus thanks for sharing your flake experience! I might just stick with siphon gun and a big old 2mm nozzle. My issue is more the cleanup of flake from the spray room. Ideally I’ll fix up a separate area for it in my drying room one day!

Corvus

Hi @rexter no worries, it's not direct personal but I saw the results, I suppose at least the flake blown around was dry! Probs a bit easier to clean but didn't seem like there was much less of it about the place. After matey had a go I haven't been tempted, stayed with the same as you, siphon guns. I'd love to have some way of cleaning up easier, even sheeting out it still gets around.

Jez6345789

Hi 
I have been doing some more reading up and stumbled on  LVLP
Which I don't think got mentioned here originally, it would seem to the novice like me LVLP gives you some of the benefits of HVLP without the higher turbine cost, smaller compressor lower entry cost can be run with a cheap moderate compressor. Less overspray than traditional.  Guns seem a reasonable price. 

Any experience could save me a load of money over FUJI stuff. 

thanks

SPRAYIT SP-33000 LVLP Gravity Feed Spray Gun

Danielsguitars

Jez6345789 said:

Hi 
I have been doing some more reading up and stumbled on  LVLP
Which I don't think got mentioned here originally, it would seem to the novice like me LVLP gives you some of the benefits of HVLP without the higher turbine cost, smaller compressor lower entry cost can be run with a cheap moderate compressor. Less overspray than traditional.  Guns seem a reasonable price. 

Any experience could save me a load of money over FUJI stuff. 

thanks

SPRAYIT SP-33000 LVLP Gravity Feed Spray Gun

hvlp is used with small compressors too, i only use a 24ltr one and spray at around 2 bar,  the tank just charges up more often, no good if you're doing lots of commercial work but suits my needs for a few at a time

Corvus

If you want a quick answer, the Aldi comp, or the same thing appears with SGS, Wolf and other brands. 24 litre or 50 if you can.
The Bergen guns are decent and will work fine with those comps, the air draw is low. They're cheap too.
For a bigger-size gun the Sealey S701 is fine. Get a 1.4 'setup' if it doesn't come with one (tenner - needle/nozzle/cap).
Combined pressure regulator/filter trap. The Draper Professional ones have good filters, 5 micron. But anything will do pretty much.

What matter is the air consumption. Forget the label and choose a gun with an air draw roughly on par with what the compressor is able to deliver.
This is more about comps power. Hence you talk about the 'free air delivery' not the tank size, that does come into it but power/FAD is what really matters.

In the cheap gun area labels often aren't worth a damn. Labels are used because of regulations and a vague idea that HVLP is 'better'. LVLP can just mean 'small conventional gun'. There are plenty of guns labelled HVLP that aren't at all, and some are just conventional ones basically opened out.

So the Sprayit one - air draw is low, so all good. Quality, no idea. Usually cheap guns are usable but there is a luck of the draw element.

Danielsguitars

You'll be hard pushed to beat the ANI gun for £100 and it'll set up and spray better than the really cheap guns, I'll definitely get another one, i got a 1.2mm

Especially if you're doing metallics etc, i never found cheap guns that good, i was used to iwatas before so could be biased

Corvus

Can't beat Iwata, that's my favourite gun, everything about it the fit, the action, the fan, just top drawer.
The advantage of the cheapies is having 2-3 keep one for metallic one for solid etc, esp starting out it's less pain on the wallet.

Talking comps I think this capacitor might be f*ed!

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/misc/cap.jpg

it's about 1.5 or 2 inch by 4 inch, if it went bang it must've been quite a pop.. the comp just got a bit slow to start but worked fine otherwise, so went poking around. Cap was in a housing so hidden from view. Grey gack was blown around inside it.
The comps maybe 14 years old and done a lot of running so not too bad. 15 quid and 2 mins to fix.

rexter

Bringing this thread back from the dead as I've finally had time to get my secondary regular air compressor setup. 

So here's a bit of a long boring observation while I have my post lunch coffee... 

I went for the SGS 100L one that's all over ebay. Got it using a discount coupon for £210, knowing full well it's a generic, cheap Chinese unit, but at that price worth a shot.

The reason it's taken me until now to get it set up (ordered on New Years Day) is not purely just being so busy, but the fact that the manifold is a real weak link on these (and I'm guessing most of the sub £500 100l compressors available in the UK that are all from the same Chinese factory and rebadged by the looks of it).

Setting up my airline I decided to get rid of the super cheapo looking Euro connects on the compressor and replace them with some PCL fittings. Good plan, until the manifold split while I was tightening one of them. I maintain I didn't overtighten it it's just that the manifold is made of thin aluminium... so watch out for this. On the plus side SGS support were actually really good at sending me a new manifold to fit - only they were out of stock so had to wait 4 weeks... any generic dual outlet one off ebay probably would have worked but I didn't want to spend any more money on it and just sat waiting.

So now it's all up and running after this hitch I've got to say for the money it's good really. It holds pressure really well, doesn't take too long to charge. It is of course loud as a fucking apocalypse being direct drive, so unless you're in a workshop in a remote area or industrial estate I'm not sure I'd put money on remaining friends with any neighbours.

What has really struck me when comparing this to my HVLP systems is that the difference in the amounts of overspray and efficiency is absolutely massive - bigger than I'd imagined as it's been so long since I've used a normal compressor.

Even with the ANI R150 (thanks for the recommendation @customkits ;; ) which is a small detail gun, which i set to a pretty low pressure, the amount of overspray flying about is mental compared to the Fuji T75 which is a full size HVLP gun. Using the HVLP gun I can paint a guitar body with two coats using just 100ml of paint mixed with 100ml thinners. I'll do a comparison at some point with a conventional gun like the ANI but expect a fairly big difference. I also think cross contamination of paint jobs would be far more likely using the compressor guns, at least conventional ones. But... the ANI is a great gun despite this, very soft controllable spray and light and enjoyable to use.

I did get a super cheapo mini HVLP gun free with some paint last week and got to say there was a noticeable difference in the amount of overspray so perhaps I will look out for a good mini hvlp gun at some point. Seems that they're either super budget or pretty expensive though.

Another HVLP comparison to consider is that although the compressor was cheap at £210, by the time I got everything else in - 3 stage airline filter/regulator/coalescing filter, air hose, connectors, 2 ANI sprayguns I was up to about £500 spent. 

So when comparing to HVLP systems around the same price that offer a one box ready to spray solution, maybe they don't see so expensive? 

What I really see myself enjoying about having the conventional setup running too is a great control of details jobs like sunbursts, cheap guns for metalflake and the use of an airfed mask when spraying modern paints using the HVLP system. Also the airline is slightly lighter and can use smaller, lighter guns which is a bit better for me as carpal tunnel is really messing with my right hand and arm at the moment.

I'm definitely going to stick with the Fuji systems for most painting jobs as I like to spray primer and clear coats pretty wet and I can only imagine the huge amount of overspray this would cover the paintroom in using the conventional guns. So i guess all that hype about very little overspray and extra paint efficiency seems to be true after all!

Hope some of this long ramble may be of use to some people!

Coffee finished... back to the paintroom

criswolks

Does anyone have any experience with these? I recently bought a new house that needs the entire interior painting, including cabinets and molding. I was thinking of getting a sprayer to save time and they supposedly have a cleaner finish than rolling or brush. Please share your experiences and reviews, good, bad or indifferent. 

UncleBiff

rexter said:

It really does get a lot easier! And more fun.

I mainly use HVLP turbines (daily) which might be ideal if you want something you can use a few times a year and forget about maintenance - changing oil and draining moisture etc. Also very small and should be quiet. Looking out for one of the 3 stage Fuji ones second hand would be what I would do if in a similar situation. They're incredibly economical with paint (150ml thinned 1/1 will paint a whole guitar body if you're good) and keep the spray area clean because of low overspray. Negative side - guns are expensive. But you might find the whole kit complete with a gun for somewhere around £300 if you get lucky. I'd say the lack of maintenance makes up for the expensive price and the T-75 spray gun is a beautiful tool.

But if going standard compressor you might get away with a 50l one (can get some compact upright ones that would save space) but you really need to be looking at the CFM rating and checking it is high enough to match any spray guns you intend to use. HVLP spray guns will have quite a high CFM rating and work better on a compressor that's at least 100l.

I'm actually shopping for a new compressor at the moment and seem to keep coming back to the Wolf 90/100l one. Don't think it's that compact though! Price is fine at £200-300. It will do what I need but it isn't small.

You'd ideally want a primer gun with a 1.8mm nozzle - doesn't have to be fancy, a decent 1.3 or 1.4mm nozzle gun for colours and a similar one for clear. I'd spend a bit more on them than the primer one. If you're just painting solid colours you can probably get away with just the one top coat gun and clean it well before switching from colour to clear. But if using metallics I'd get a separate gun for them. Hard to get those little sparkles completely gone!

Oh yeah - would totally recommend gravity feed guns over siphon - soooo much easier to clean, feel better in the hand too - more control and lighter.

Hope this helps! Sure Wez will chime in with his setup too

Thanks for this info, found it very useful. I think this is the set up I'm gonna use when the booth is ready. What does everyone use for extraction and mask?