Thought on an affordable HVLP system

[Dave Gallaher]

I'm getting ready to make the jump to HVLP. Any thoughts from those who have been there and pro's and con's of systems you have used.

[John TenEyck]

If you already own a decent sized air compressor the cheapest option is a conversion HVLP gun. You can by many low cost HVLP guns, including the Harbor Freight purple gun for $10 on sale, that will spray low viscosity finishes like shellac, lacquer, and thinned water borne products, very, very well. If you don't have a compressor, then a low cost turbine outfit, like the Earlex, might make more sense.

I used a couple of really low cost guns for about 5 years and got very good results on everything but paint. Then I got a couple of paint jobs earlier this year, so I bought a pressure assisted HVLP gun. Not only does it spray paint amazingly well, but also all my clears, too. Now I can spray finishes from less than 20 seconds up to at least 100 seconds Ford #4 cup without thinning. I bought the 3M PPS cup system to go with the gun, and highly recommend it. It reduces cleanup time but, more importantly, allows you to spray at any angle, even upside down. That may not seem important, but I've found it to be very useful. I can just turn the gun to spray sideways or straight up, if needed, which reduces how much you have to re-position the piece. That gun/cup system cost about $350, so it was a big step up over the less than $50 guns I was using, but it's capability and the quality of the finish well justified the cost to me.

John

[Mike Ontko]

I bought the Earlex 5500 system last year for use in spraying GF High Performance and couldn't have been happier with the results. I've only sprayed latex in the past using airless systems, and of course there's the good old rattle cans, but the HVLP systems are a big jump up from those. Had I been able to research more about conversion HVLP guns I probably would have gone with that option. But I also don't have a drier for my compressor (it's a Craftsman portable 7 gal., 135 psi) which would have added to the cost of that option, and then there's also the issue of compressor noise. The turbine systems are a bit quieter--more like a shop vacuum.

The Earlex system and ones like it will set you back a bit (about as much as any serious piece of shop gear), but if you plan to do a fair amount of painting in the future it's a great way to go.

[brian cere]

#FujiSpray..........I got the new Fuji Platinum 5 stage...........nice kit as they throw in a few goodies like the flexible whip,,,,,, and it was less than half the price of a comparable 5 stage from another reputable brand.

[Alan Lightstone]

Been very happy with my Fuji 4 stage system. Probably more than you need.

Apollo, Fuji, and Earlex all make good HVLP systems.

[Steven Wayne]

#FujiSpray..........I got the new Fuji Platinum 5 stage...........nice kit as they throw in a few goodies like the flexible whip,,,,,, and it was less than half the price of a comparable 5 stage from another reputable brand.

Where did you buy it?

[roger wiegand]

How long does it take to clean one of these systems? I'd be a very light user, small projects, perhaps once a month unless it turned out to be super easy. I've always been frightened off by an early experience where cleaning a conventional spray gun of oil-based paint took about an hour, full disassembly of the gun, and at least a gallon of turpentine (this was before "paint thinner"). But then perhaps the person showing me didn't know what he was doing.

[Alan Lightstone]

Cleaning time depends on the finish used. It is different for shellac, vs lacquer, vs water-borne, vs (ugh) the epoxy I'm spraying now.

I find it usually takes me no more than 10 minutes to clean for the difficult stuff, and more like 5 minutes for easy stuff like shellac and lacquer. I don't use much water-borne finishes, but that should be closer to the 5 min range also.

Just be meticulous and clean it every time, and it will stay in good condition for years. (Yes I know some finishes can be kept in the gun longer, but if you're a newbie to this, better safe than sorry.)

There are lots of good videos on how to clean a gun. YouTube is clearly your friend on this one.

[Marty Schlosser]

There are two issues that need to be raised regarding the compressor and conversion HVLP gun solution. First, check the required CFM requirements of the gun you're considering, and you'll find that most of them need at least 12 SCFM at 40 psiand some as much as 15 SCFM. Those figures are beyond the capabilities of most portable compressors, so you're probably going to have to get a compressor that'll be able to keep up with this significant demand.

The second issue concerns inexpensive conversion HVLP guns. Bear in mind that guns which don't have stainless stell fluid pathways won't last very long when used to spray waterborne finishes. None of the inexpensive ones I'm familiar with have that feature, but it's possible someone has found a way to use proprietary plastic components, or to coat the interior surfaces of those areas to enable them to work in this environment. Perhaps with more research you may find ones that are.

That having been stated, many of my associates achieve excellent results spraying waterborne finishes using their non-portable compressors (which they needed to drive their sanders and other shop tools anyways) and quality guns by such well known brands as Kremlin, Graco and Lemmer. But if you haven't already got a large enough compressor, by the time you factor everything into the equation, you'll most likely be spending much more money than going the HVLP turbine route.

Incidentally, I had the opportunity to try out the full Earlex line of turbines and was woefully disappointed. With the exception of their most expensive model, their guns performed poorly in my estimation and in most cases the hose kept disconnecting from the gun. Further, the connection point for the hose was very awkwardly located.

[Prashun Patel]

I have a fuji semi pro.
My advice is to get the beat one you can afford. The ability to accurately control air and material flow is key.

[John TenEyck]

The HVLP gun I referenced above, and use, above requires 10 CFM at 40 psi. The LVLP version requires 6 CFM, putting it in the range of many small compressors. The low cost, purple HF gun sprays fine on less than 10 CFM. There are a lot of other low cost guns you can pair with a low CFM compressor.

The internals of both the HVLP and LVLP gun I referenced are all stainless. That said, I've used several low cost guns for about 5 years now to spray WB finishes. None of them have ever shown any signs of corrosion and they still spray fine. I may leave finish in them for hours, but I do clean them out at the end of the day.

If you are a hobbiest, you don't need to spend a lot of money to get good results.

John