Upgrading HVLP Spray Gun

[Nathan Mitchell]

I currently have an Apollo Eco-Mini 3 HVLP system with their E7200 spray gun. It works pretty well for me for spraying shellac and stains, but I have had mixed luck using it to spray thinned latex paint. I completely understand that a 3-stage system is not ideal for spraying latex but, as a hobbyist, I don't really want to drop the money on a 4- or 5-stage system if I can get myself closer to a good finish by just upgrading the gun. Which leads me to my current questions.

1. Is it worth upgrading the gun to something like the Apollo 7700 series? My current gun only has 3 options for needles with the largest being 1.8mm. Will upgrading to a gun that has a larger selection of needle sizes (up to 2.5mm) make any sort of difference in how well the system can spray heavier material, or does it really come down to how much air the system can push?

2. Can you use a bleeder style gun on a system designed for a non-bleeder gun? The 7200 I have now is a non-bleeder gun. The only non-bleeder gun that Apollo makes with more than 3 needle options is the 7700, however, they make a couple of bleeder style guns that are cheaper and have the same needle size range as the 7700.

I am also aware there is better finishing products out there than latex paint (Target Coatings, for example) but none of them have a dealer in my area which makes purchasing them kind of a pain.

[John TenEyck]

Forget latex paint. Go to SW's and buy some Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel, or go to BM and get some Advance. Or if you have a PPG store, try Break Through. You will need to thin them substantially, maybe 10 - 15% to get them to spray well through your gun, depending upon what N/N set you have. You'll need at least a 1.5 mm set, maybe even larger depending upon what the cup pressure is on your system. But once you get the viscosity matched with your gun they will spray very well and give a pro quality finish. All available locally, unless you live in outback.

John

[Rod Wolfy]

I got a great quality spray using SW hybrid latex & primer using a $15 HF gravity feed hvlp gun. I thinned with Flotrol by 20%, as I was using the 1.4mm needle that came with the gun. My 6 gallon compressor was running hard when set to 40psi and I decided to get an in-line $10 airline water filter after water started to develop after an hour (painting a hutch). I have a Fuji HVLP 4 stage system, but the HF gun was easier to clean.

[Tom Bain]

I’ve had the best success with thinning latex with both water and floetrol (like 20% thinned). The Fuji website has some good tips and here is a version of those. I use a 2.0 tip rather than 1.8 but otherwise follow these pretty closely.

https://www.phelpsrefinishing.com/ne...spraying-latex