HVLP Turbine Rig

[Ian Barley]

I have just received a large (for me) order for painted chairs for a luxury yacht in the Bahamas. Sadly the deal doesn't include personal delivery.

This has prompted me to look at my options for spray rigs and I am interested in an HVLP unit. Rather than a gun I am thinking about one of the turbine based setups. The paint I use is water based and I suspect is what you guys would describe as a latex paint. I have sprayed before with a standard gun which gets OK results but is very wasteful of finish and fiddly in my setup. I do not paint enough to justify a permanent booth but will establish a portable booth that I can set up when necessary.

The unit I am looking at is a four stage unit as shown at this link
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=22108&recno=7

Does anybody have any experience of this kind of equipment or any tips on what to look out for?

[Jim Becker]

Latex paint generally is best sprayed with an airless system unless you can find an HVLP system with a very large projector set opening. It's very thick stuff and cannot be thinned. You might want to investigate if you can get some kind of acrylic finish that will be ok for outdoor use...something designed for spraying. You'll notice in the description of the Fuji system (a good one, by the way) that it states that "...most will need to be thinned...", so you don't want to start out with a finish that cannot be thinned to work with the gun.

One other thing, while it's true that HVLP guns generally have better control over the material, there is still a lot of overspray with most of them, although you can minimize it with proper adjustment of the gun and the air supply.

[Chris Padilla]

Ian,

Take a look at www.hvlp.com (http://www.hvlp.com/) for Apollo HVLP sprayers. I have the 1000 which is a 4-stage turbine sprayer. It is a loud sucker but I have very successfully spray latex with it however you must still thin the latex (I use Floetrol, water usually isn't recommended) and use a 2 or 2.5 mm tip/needle. They might have larger ones.

Jim, where do you get not being able to thin latex? It might depend on the latex brand, I suspect, but I have done it lots of times.

The Apollos are pricey but these are well-made systems. I love mine. Did I mention it is a loud sucker??

[Jim Becker]

Jim, where do you get not being able to thin latex? It might depend on the latex brand, I suspect, but I have done it lots of times.
I was unaware of Floetrol...and as you say, water doesn't cut it for cutting it...:o

[Paul Berendsohn]

The Fuji has a good reputation, although I bought a Graco (5 stage I think...)that can literally spray asphalt coatings. HVLP is a greatttttttt system once you get past the learning stages. While they do still have some overspray it's a tiny fraction of an airless sprayer. Taunton Press has a good book on spray finishing, and a companion videotape I believe. Be sure that the gun you get with the Fuji accepts a wide range of tips, and follow the cleaning instructions meticulously. The tiny air passages in the horn are easily clogged and tough to fix once the gunk hardens...

[Jamie Buxton]

As Jim mentioned, you can get colored waterborne finishes which are more compatable with most HVLP systems. On this side of the pond, two mail-order retailers are http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/index.htm and http://www.compliantspraysystems.com/. I've shot colored Enduro with a three-stage turbine, and it worked like a charm. Previously, I had tried to shoot conventional acrylic-latex paint with the same sprayer, and it was very unsatisfactory. If I thinned the paint enough to avoid orange-peel and splatters, I'd get drips and runs. I tried thinning with water, and with some commercial thinner intended for latex paints --- I don't remember what.

[Chris Padilla]

The reason I went with a 4-stage turbine was to get the oomph to spray Latex with minimal thinning although you still need to thin it.

I waxed and waned between Apollo and Fuji and the sales guy at Apollo threw in enough extras to make me lean his way.

One other thing to look at for sprayers/guns is the bleeding kind and the non-bleeding kind:

Bleeding kind are always shooting air through them regardless of whether or not you have the trigger pressed. This *can* be annoying and *can* kick up stuff you didn't intend to kick up. However, I understand that this allows the motor to last much longer over the non-bleeding guns due to back-pressure or something. My Apollo (I think all of them) and the Fuji are all bleeding guns...I think.

I think if you have a more or less dedicated area for spraying that the bleeding guns shouldn't be too much of a hindrance. I also think the bleeding guns, in general, *might* be cheaper. I could be wrong here, though. It has been a while since I researched sprayers.

Lastly, I think the best performance of an HVLP sprayer comes from a dedicated turbine engine as opposed to a conversion gun run from your air compressor. The turbines provide warm/dry air to the gun which is ideal for spraying.

[Ken Leshner]

Ian,

Gleem Paint has a whole section on the Wagner HVLP conversion gun. They claim it will work with compressors as small as those 2 HP, 6 gallon pancake ones, and does a very good job spraying acrylic latex paint.

They have a couple of reviews, customer comments, and FAQs on the gun to prove their point. See http://www.gleempaint.com/hvcongunnew.html

I called them yesterday and spoke to a fellow named Nathan. He convinced me that it really works, so I ordered one on the spot. I hope it performs as advertised.

[Jim Becker]

Ken, I've had the Wagner gun for some time and it's terrific (review on my site), especially for the money. Nathan is also a nice guy to do business with.

But Ian is in the UK, so his options might be different...

[Ian Barley]

But Ian is in the UK, so his options might be different...

Unfortunately, in the area of finishing materials more than any other the geographic difference prevails. Almost none of the US brands and very few of the terminoligies are common. We don't really use the term "latex" but obviously the performance and composition of materials is similar.

I have contacted the manufacturer of my preferred finish and asked for their advice, but the general info on the units has been useful.

Thanks