HVLP Paint sprayers Experiences ?

[Lakewood90712]

Looking at the all in one self contained systems. Your experiences ,? The good , the bad , and the ugly ?.

Not looking for perfection. Looking for minimal overspray .Have a bunch of shutters to paint. Already have an old ( 1976 ) Wagner airless buzz gun and conventional air compressor high pressure spray gun.

Thanks in advance

 

[ponyboy]

I had one. For outside projects, they're great. For inside projects, they suck. The amount of prep work needed before you can use these on walls/ceiling is ridiculous. Its much quicker to cut your lines with a brush then roll the walls/ceiling than using a sprayer.

I eventually sold and it. Never went back.

 

[Spaste19]

Curious about the same. Have some shutters to do and some doors I would like to use it on.

 

[NgineER]

I purchased an Earlex Spray Station HV5500, this is not quite as self contained as some of the completely hand held systems that are available.
I've used it for refinishing kitchen cabinets, spray paint bath vanities and spraying on polyurethanes onto large countertops.

Overall very happy with the purchase. There certainly is overspray, but unless the items getting overspray are within a couple of feet, the overspray is dry. If you have louvered shutters, this is the way to go.

 

[Surewhitey]

I do a lot of painting in cabinetry and furniture. This setup is very easy to use with minimal overspray.

 

[nap470]

Not an HVLP sprayer, but I have owned a Graco 16N659 TrueCoat Plus II sprayer for several years and really enjoy it. There is a newer, lighter model out that I don't think is as highly rated. Mine is heavier to hold than most HVLPs, but I have stained 600ft of fence, painted a shed, my shutters (removed from the house), several doors, and painted part of the basement walls with it. I loaned it to a friend who painted all the kitchen cabinets in his daughter's house while they were hanging. It does have overspray, but I have been very happy with it. I've never had to thin any paint.

 

[Walt34]

I did buy a Wagner HVLP sprayer, worthless piece of junk. I was going to throw it out but DW insisted on giving it to her nephew. He threw it out.

Later I bought a Graco 360 VSP handheld airless sprayer and that works very well. For a larger project I also bought a Graco ProX17 airless sprayer and I'm happy with that one too. The latter one sprays fast so be ready for it!

Wagner products have been consistently disappointing. I'll never buy anything with "Wagner" on it again.

 

[zinger1457]

I do a lot of painting in cabinetry and furniture. This setup is very easy to use with minimal overspray.

Is that compressor able to handle larger jobs like multiple shutters? I had a similar setup (same paint gun) and a 6 gal. compressor and it was great for really small paint jobs but the compressor couldn't stay up with larger jobs.

If just a one time job I would think about just renting an airless sprayer at HD or other rental place, could knock those shutters out in no time and have a quality paint job.

 

[Fermion]

We got a Graco Magnum X7 at Home Depot for $370 and love it. I don't know honestly why anyone would paint with a roller when this type of device is available.

 

[Surewhitey]

Is that compressor able to handle larger jobs like multiple shutters? I had a similar setup (same paint gun) and a 6 gal. compressor and it was great for really small paint jobs but the compressor couldn't stay up with larger jobs.

If just a one time job I would think about just renting an airless sprayer at HD or other rental place, could knock those shutters out in no time and have a quality paint job.

Yeah, that was my concern too. My large tank went caput and I started researching the science of air flow. This 3hp one puts out 6.9 SCFM @ 40PSI & 6.5 SCFM @ 90PSI. The guns I have use between 5-9 SCFM @ 40-50PSI, so it can handle most everything that I've done in the past 6 months. Some cabinet doors have been shutter sized and no problems. The viscosity is important to dial in though. If you have a thick oil based, some thinning may be required or a larger tip on the paint gun. Primer, good quality urethane based paint and clear coat finish I have never needed to thin, using a 1.4mm tip gun.

I really needed a mobile unit for cabinet box painting and doing back to back doors. It goes from 0-130psi in about a minute, so very quick refill if you ever get too low. The SCFM is as important as the tank size (maybe more). Even some of the big tank units are only pushing 4-5 SCFM...

I also use it for nailing, blowing and tires so it's well used in my shop.

 

[Koogie]

For those with smaller compressors (like moi) you can also get LVLP sprayers when volume is the issue.

Overall though I prefer this kind of electric sprayer for most of my (non fine) DIY jobs.

https://www.amazon.com/POPOMAN-Detachable-Container-Adjustable-Decoration/dp/B085T9H7BK


They can be had for under U$30

 

[mountainsoft]

It's probably a different beast than you are thinking, but I had a Fuji 2203G Semi-Pro HVLP sprayer system. I bought it a few years ago to repaint my old 1976 Rabbit

Unfortunately, either the sprayer, the paint, or my lack of experience failed to produce good results. No matter what adjustments I made or how I thinned the paint I got tons of orange peel. So I had to do a lot of wet color sanding to achieve a decent finish.

Also, despite the claim of low over spray, it still filled the garage with a fine paint mist. So everything in the garage ended up with a layer of paint dust (dried and easy to clean up thankfully).

I used it one more time last year to spray water based poly on my wife's new computer desk.

As with the auto paint, it filled the garage with a mist that ended up on everything.

Considering the time it took to get everything setup, spray, and then clean everything it just seemed like more trouble than it was worth. So I sold the Fuji spray system and now just brush or roll everything. The results are just as good without the mess and hassles.

I had a cheaper Harbor Freight HVLP system before the Fuji. It was similar, just cheaply made. We used it to stain our house the first time. I didn't think to mask off the windows, so we ended up with over spray on the windows even though I didn't get near them. The sprayed semi-transparent stain didn't penetrate much, so we ended up have to restain again a few years later. I used a roller the second time. It was just as fast and has lasted 10 years already.

 

[Lakewood90712]

I did buy a Wagner HVLP sprayer, worthless piece of junk. I was going to throw it out but DW insisted on giving it to her nephew. He threw it out.

Later I bought a Graco 360 VSP handheld airless sprayer and that works very well. For a larger project I also bought a Graco ProX17 airless sprayer and I'm happy with that one too. The latter one sprays fast so be ready for it!

Wagner products have been consistently disappointing. I'll never buy anything with "Wagner" on it again.

Scratch Wagner of the list of candidates. That is what the big box stores stock.

Wagner used to be quality , made in Germany...a long time ago.

 

[jazz4cash]

I bought this Wagner to spray latex deck stain on lattice panels around the deck. I took them down into the yard. I could never adjust the spray as fine as I wanted and even though it would spit and sputter a bit, it did a great job. Easy to cover the lattice panels on both sides quick and easy. The smaller sprayer is for detail work but I haven’t used it yet. I agree it would be a pain to use on interior walls unless maybe you use it all the time to maintain that skill. Easy to clean too.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wagner-Flexio-3000-HVLP-Paint-Sprayer-0529085/302752649

 

[Sunset]

We got a Graco Magnum X7 at Home Depot for $370 and love it. I don't know honestly why anyone would paint with a roller when this type of device is available.

You made me look.
Amazing reviews about it, incredible speed of painting a house.

Have you used it on anything large yet ?

 

[NgineER]

I have a Graco X7 as well. With careful planning you paint with amazing speed. But you need to prep right.
I put on a primer coat and two finish coats on my two story house. A total of about ten hours painting. I also painted the front of another two story home which took about an hour each time.
I really like it.

 

[DrRoy]

We got a Wagner to do exterior stain on cedar and it worked fine.

 

[Markola]

Consensus so far is Graco YES, Wagner NO.

What is cleanup like for the Graco? I watched a YouTube about it and it looked like both a mess and a pain. I don’t have a space where paint splattered water can go everywhere. Am I wrong?

 

[Lakewood90712]

Now looking at a Wagner high efficiency airless . Supposedly does not require paint to be thinned

 

[jazz4cash]

The latex stain I used in my Wagner was pretty thick and it worked well without thinning.

 

[Ronstar]

First of all - I hate to paint and I'm not good at it. So I'm not going to give any recommendations - just my pitfalls.

I had a Wagner years ago. It didn't work very well with paint. IIRC, it worked ok with thinner transparent stains.

I later bought a Campbell Hausfeld sprayer for my air compressor - don't think that it is HVLP. Lots of prep and paint thinning. And a lot of overspray. Results were ok, but it seemed like a lot of work for the small woodworking projects that I was painting.

Recently any woodworking projects I'm painting are done with rattle can, a brush, or mohair roller. I try to stay away from painting whenever possible.

A shutter job like OP has seems like a sprayer job to me. Getting the right sprayer, right paint & thickness, sprayer settings, and techniques are needed to get the job done right.