Airless paint tips

[Scott Parks]

I'm planning on buying an airless paint sprayer. In the lower price range, the pumps I've looked at only can support up to a .015" tip. Is this adequate for an amature do-it-yourself hack like me? I'm planning on painting my house, inside and out, trim, doors, and all. According to tip charts, latex needs .013-.025. Since .015" is the low end of the range, will it be suitable for all my needs? Are regular paints thin enough for this tip size, or do they typically need thinning?


Thanks...

[Jason Roehl]

No thinning necessary with an airless sprayer. Atomization occurs by forcing material through a small opening at high pressure (1000-3000psi for what most of us are ever going to do, higher for some industrial apps).

I've got many, many hours behind an airless spray gun as a pro, so it would be tough for me to recommend a 0.015" tip for latex. I recently sprayed a bunch of new apartments with a 525 tip (0.025" orifice, 10" pattern @ 12"--that's what the first '5' stands for). Many pros wouldn't even go close to that big--it's a lot of work to keep up. The standard for your typical interior waterborne paints is a 517 tip, though. It will seem large at first, but you should back-roll anyway, so you can just roll out your miscues to begin with. You'll probably want something smaller for doors and trim, maybe a 312FF (fine-finish, 6" pattern @ 12") for the trim, and maybe something like a 413 (8" pattern @ 12") or even a 515. I prefer the wider patterns for doors, as you have fewer passes and less chance of "fingers" showing up. I also NEVER spray at the 12" recommended distance--that wastes a LOT of paint and creates TONS of overspray. 6-8" works for most things, you just have to move a little quicker.

As much as possible, you also want to keep the center of the tip orthogonal to the surface being sprayed. No whipping your wrist around like you see the powder-coaters and auto body guys doing on TV. Think about keeping the bone below your index finger on the back of your hand pointed perpendicular to the surface all the time.

I'd also spend a few more bucks and get a piston sprayer, not a diaphragm. It will last longer, particularly in that price range, and they pretty much all support a 0.017" tip. I just saw one today at Sherwin-Williams for $400--a SprayTech (Wagner) of some sort. I think it was 1/3 GPM, probably 1/4-1/3HP.

Hope that helps!

[Scott Parks]

Jason,

Thanks for the help. I'm not sure if I'm following you, not recomending a .015 tip. Are you saying I should go with something bigger? I'm looking at a Spray Tech 1420. http://www.wagnerspraytech.com/Wagner/product.do?productCode=SprayTECH_1420
It is a double piston pump, max tip size .015". Is tip size a function of pump capacity, or limited by the gun. Would this pump get me by satisfactorily, and if I go this route, what tip would you recomend? I can get this pump reconditioned for $209. For what I need it for (approx. 2 jobs per year), I thought it might be a wise investment. To get something with a bigger tip, I'd be spending almost triple that.

Thanks for your response!

[Phil Phelps]

...can you spray latex with a FF tip? I thought that would have too much solid material for a FF tip. I do reduce alkyd enamel by five percent. Re: fingers. These are streaks that resemble fingers in the spray pattern and aren't pretty to the finish. It is my experience that they are caused from material being too heavy or lack of pressure. Now I need your explanation for back rolling. I've sprayed many gallons of latex on flat walls, textured walls, and masnory. Not to the extent you do, but I don't need to roll at all. A 10" fan is plenty for me. What am I missing on the rolling part?

[Jason Roehl]

Yes, you can spray latex/waterborne with a FF tip (0.010" might be too small, 0.012" pretty much always works). BUT, you have to strain your paint somehow, or you're bound to have a bunch of tip clogs. The fingers I'm talking about are only the ones that can appear at the edges of the spray pattern. They can be noticeable on a smooth door when you've used a narrow and/or worn tip. A wider tip can feather the edges better so that the overlap doesn't accentuate the fingers. Plus you can paint faster.

Back-rolling is generally done on new drywall because there is a distinct texture difference between the exposed paper (woven-like) and the joint compound (smooth or sanding-grit marks). Plus, if at least the prime coat is back-rolled, then the walls can be more discreetly touched up after all the other trades have been through. You don't do touch-up spraying in a finished new house--it won't blend and the builder and homeowner would freak. So you already have to have some roller stipple on the walls to be able to blend in with a roller. We don't back-roll trim or doors, and generally not ceilings if they're stomped (most common ceiling texture in these parts). Also, we're back to that overspray/waste of paint thing. If you are only going to spray, you have to back up from the wall to avoid leaving behind visible spray tracks--which leads to more overspray in the air and on everything around you. Back-rolling evens it all out while allowing you to get closer (less overspray) and not have to worry about a perfect, automotive-type spray coat. Because of this approach, I would bet that I get far better transfer efficiency with an airless than even an HVLP (especially when taking amount of surface area to cover into account).

Scott, you COULD paint your walls with a 0.015" tip. To me, that would be agonizingly slow. I can't hardly even use a 0.017" tip to do any amount of interior spraying. I was even using a 517 tip to do doors, up until I was doing them 30 at a time, then it was too much (a guy can only keep up with that for so long). But, a 413 is fine for exterior paint, particularly if you're back-brushing.

BTW, a paper dust mask is not sufficient for airless spraying. Get a properly-fitting half-mask respirator with the appropriate vapor filters at the very least.

This is the sprayer I just saw at S-W for $400:

http://www.wagnerspraytech.com/Wagner/product.do?productCode=SprayTECH_1720

The upgrades over the one you listed are well worth twice the price, IMO. Renting's not a bad option, either.

[Scott Parks]

Thanks Jason! It sure helps to get an opinion from someone who uses these things everyday...

I'm skeptical on the .015" tip. (if it's agonizing slow, I'll just dip/roll...) But, I'm not sure I wan't to spend $400. I have a freind with the Graco .015" Home Depot sprayer, that I can use to "try out". I think I will do this before I decide on buying one....

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Scott,

WhenI bought my unit The man at Sherman Williams contractor center pointed to the Graco ES190 and said it was the smallest unit he would carry. He said anything smaller and painters would bring it back at lunchtime and ask for something that would spray paint.

I picked up a new unit on ebay for about $400 less than new. It was about a $750 unit at that time. If you will only use it once or twice a yeal I would lean towards renting.

An airless sprayer really isn't a unit you want to loan out because if it isn't cleaned properly and quickly you have a real mess that can be expensive to fix.

It takes about 1/2 gallon of paint to prime the unit and purge the mineral spirits from the unit so it isn't something you can just get out for a small job.