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Hi all, I’ve been asked to test out a tool at this shop to see if it’s in working order. I have never seen this setup before – it’s a big bottom-feeder HVLP with its own tiny, relatively portable motor. I would say compressor but it doesn’t seem to regulate the air pressure the way a compressor does, you just turn it on and it whirrs like a vacuum cleaner and pumps air out. the air hose is pretty inelegant – just a big plastic hose that fits into the back of the gun, not the usual pneumatic situation. I checked out the gun and it seemed to have all its parts, so I put some paint in the cup and set it up. When I turned on the motor, I heard hissing and discovered that a LOT of air was coming from the gun’s tip, around the aperture. No paint came out until I pulled the trigger, and it came out with great pressure, so the extra air being released doesn’t seem to affect the spray. The fan direction and paint volume are adjustable, but air pressure and fan size are not.
Has anyone used this system before? Does air always come out of the tip, even when the trigger is not engaged? How do you like this sprayer?
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I will say, I really liked the quality of spray it gave out, but because the gun and fan are so big, it seems best used for very large projects. The needle is huge and it shoots out a ton of paint unless you crank the output way down. You may be able to replace the needle with a smaller one though.
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That is like the R2D2 of paint sprayers, Sara! I’ve never seen a setup like that- it’s kind of a adorable.
When you said the problem was that the air was still shooting out the tip even before you pulled the trigger, my first thought was that it might be over pressuring itself, and that adding an on-gun regulator might help, but i have no idea how you’d hook that up to this type of butt-end vacuum hose!
I’ve also had that hissy leak thing happen when to me on guns that have a rubber o-ring gasket behind the spray tip. Removing it, cleaning any gunk thoroughly, inspecting that gasket for flaws and/or replacement, and then screwing the tip back on really tightly might help.
Hello
I’ve used a gun like this for priming. Mine was made by a company called Apollo (I’m in the UK) who make their own guns and turbines. It was great for getting a lot of paint onto a cloth and quickly, and so I used it to prime and then brushed the paint into the weave with a laying in brush. (Ths was a cloth on a paint frame not the floor) I now use an airless, a Graco, which is again quicker still.
The trouble with these guns, or at least the one I had, was that there is only one air pressure. You can’t dottle with them and they are not much good for detailed tight work. I rang up Apollo and asked them how I made the gun dottle. The technical guy there said that they had spent the last twenty years developing the gun so that it didn’t do that!
But for big flat areas they are great and of course the kit is really mobile.
Valeriepaints wrote:I’ve also had that hissy leak thing happen when to me on guns that have a rubber o-ring gasket behind the spray tip. Removing it, cleaning any gunk thoroughly, inspecting that gasket for flaws and/or replacement, and then screwing the tip back on really tightly might help.
I have a feeling that this particular gun is missing a rubber ring between the horn and the plastic screw-on ring that holds the horn in place. I noticed that if I pushed on the horn, it would sink a little further into the gun and close up the opening where air was escaping. so, it seems like the plastic ring isn’t pushing the horn in as much as it’s supposed to.
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I’m glad Valerie is faster at responding than me – I was gonna say I think the air problem is from an O-Ring issue.
And yes – HVLP’s that come with their own turbine instead of being powered by an air hose usually only have one “air pressure setting” and the best you can do to adjust is the “on gun dials” They are meant for blasting paint in way that creates less over spray than an airless, but not meant for fine art – even if they have a “detail” gun to go with.
dap studio wrote:
The trouble with these guns, or at least the one I had, was that there is only one air pressure. You can’t dottle with them and they are not much good for detailed tight work. I rang up Apollo and asked them how I made the gun dottle.I have just learned a new word from you. Is dottle the same as spatter?
If so, yep, that totally makes sense. The on-gun adjustments just won’t choke down the air flow enough to get that finesse into the spray, right?
And Sara, you’re definitely on the right track. Just did a quick google for current model Earlex components, and new tip & needle sets from Home Depot come with a hard plastic o-ring. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Earlex-1-5-mm-0-06-in-Stainless-Steel-Tip-and-Needle-Kit-0HV5ACC15USR/203391496
Valeriepaints wrote:dap studio wrote:And Sara, you’re definitely on the right track. Just did a quick google for current model Earlex components, and new tip & needle sets from Home Depot come with a hard plastic o-ring. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Earlex-1-5-mm-0-06-in-Stainless-Steel-Tip-and-Needle-Kit-0HV5ACC15USR/203391496
you are so right! that looks exactly like what I need 😀 thanks!
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I use “dottle” for a sprayed spatter rather than a spatter done with a brush. Maybe somebody should do a scenic painting glossery one day with national oddities and variations.
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