HVLP or other sprayer advice please

[AJB Temple]

I am thinking of buying a spray set up. I am an ignoramus on this subject, and have had a good look on-line. I have never sprayed except with aerosols. This is for my pwn use - not commercial.

This is what I want to do:
Spray oil based primer and emulsion onto panelled walls and ceilings (large house)
Spray kitchen cabinets inside and out
Spray oil based finishes on work surfaces and doors
Spray hardwood gates (and maybe fences) with preservative / colour
Spray smooth render with exterior paint
Possibly spray paint timber cladding on a large barn. ( I realise this may need airless).

I can only afford / justify one system. I don't have a compressor. I don't want to spend any more than necessary, but prefer to spend a bit more rather than compromise on finish quality. It seems HVLP will do most of what I want. I may have gone a bit OTT?

I am thinking Fuji Minimite 4 platinum. (4 stage turbine). Or Q-Tech 5 stage, which is on offer from Brewers. Inc VAT they are ballpark the same price of around £800, but I will need to add a whip hose to the Minimite. I can't find any independent reviews of the Q-Tech and have no means of comparison. Any advice would be appreciated.

Also I am unsure between gravity feed gun and the suction type. I assume the latter if I want to spray ceilings?

If I am barking totally up the wrong tree, please say so! Thanks, AJ

 

[Trevanion]

Also I am unsure between gravity feed gun and the suction type. I assume the latter if I want to spray ceilings?

Neither, they'll both leak paint right onto you! :lol:

Have you looked into paint pumps like a Graco or Kremlin? You can put pretty much anything through them (Even wax!) and you can paint whichever way you want. You can also get a variety of nozzles which can do very narrow fans to very wide fans, you can even get something akin to a pressure washer lance for painting the inside of houses where it will spray a 1ft strip in one shot.

 

[AJB Temple]

Yes, I have looked at Graco, and on-line people moan about them. As I am a novice O need something ***** proof. I know a paint brush fits that description, but time is of the essence.

 

[mr rusty]

I'm not an experienced sprayer, but I bought a unit similar to this https://www.wagner-group.com/en/do-it-y ... 90-flexio/

for a window project, and honestly can say I think it will do everything you want. Before you spend big numbers I'd get one and try it - all plastic heads that are easy to dismantle and clean. I find mine works best with about 1/3-1/2 air on the variable speed blower pack and not too high a paint quantity setting. If you wind up the settings it throws a lot of paint quickly.

 

[LarryS.]

Have a look at Peter millard’s videos on YouTube, he’s got a very good series on the graco and then a short series on £30 entry level gun from Amazon which may be worth a try for an inexperienced user (before a big investment).

My £30 version turned up last weekend, looking forward to trying it later this week ;-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[AJB Temple]

Well, having watched a few videos on the Graco Ultra I am pretty sold on it I think. Airless, so I don't need to strain the paint to minimise blockages, no air hose and no cables. Obviously completely different to HVLP but professionals seem to rate it for finish quality and ease of use. No issues with spraying overhead.

I have a 20% discount voucher with my Brewers trade account at the moment, so they are getting me one in tomorrow to have a look at.

 

[johnnyb]

had to reread your requirements but the graco sounds like a good choice . mostly your doing decorator style stuff(oil based etc) . if you were painting furniture to a good finish mostly and other stuff in a secondary way then maybe hvlp turbine . my feeling though is the graco wont have the durability of a turbine. ie I use my turbine 4 or 5 hours a day(regularly)and over 10 years later it's still fine .

 

[AJB Temple]

Thanks. I am going to a Brewers spray centre today and will get their advice. I'm quite open minded about what I will end up with.

 

[AJB Temple]

After all that I ended up with a complete change of plan. I was able to have a demo session in the shop with various kit. The assistant there, Sophie, is experienced with spraying and has worked on high end kitchens (paints, varnishes, lacquers) and sites.

They say the Ultra Max is a good tool, but nowhere near as durable as a line system. Contrary to what I first thought the life of the piston is 300 litres and a new piston is £204. In use, it goes through a bag of paint really quite fast, and when the bag is full of paint the tool is quite a weight. Enough to be tiring if painting a whole room.

I ended up buying a Graco GXFF. This is similar to a GX21 but the pump is inverted and it has a gallon and a half hopper that you pour the paint into. Airless system. 5 years guarantee (1 year for the ultra) and a user replaceable pump is £80 should it ever be needed.

I tried this and a 5 stage HVLP. The Brewers HVLP is in fact made my Fuji and rebranded Q-Tech. A 4 stage Fuji and a 5 Stage from Brewers are the same money at the moment. Brewers version includes more accessories (like a whip hose).

When using the airless v HVLP, both with a fine finish tip / needle and spraying the same paint for wood finishing, I could not tell any difference in the finish quality (which was very good from both). The technique is different though as the airless is much quicker and the paint didn't need to be diluted whereas it did with the HVLP. Clearing blockages in airless was super easy (just reverse the tip and blow through) but a bit of a performance with the HVLP.

For water based paints the airless is exceedingly quick and easy to clean: you just blow a bucket of water through. More fiddly with the HVLP gun. However, position reverses for solvent based paints, where you would waste a lot of expensive cleaning solvent.

In the end it was the hopper system coupled with the fact that there is no paint reservoir to weigh the gun down, that sold it to me.

The trade reckon that oil based paints will be pretty much extinct in a couple of years.

 

[Sheptonphil]

Hi AJB

Have you tried the Graco at home in real conditions yet?

I’m just about to move and every ceiling is going to be skimmed, all the walls in 8mx4m rooms 5 5mx4m rooms, all empty, a large workshop, to paint white inside before occupying.

I’m also thinking the Graco GX FF purely emulsion as it won’t need thinning.

What has your real life experience been with it?

Phil

 

[AJB Temple]

Hi

To answer the question I have used it. I bought it to do various jobs.

Mist coat and finish coat my new kitchen and utility. The kitchen room is quite large (10m by 8m) plus utility about 5 by 3m and there is a high ceiling of 5m in a lot of it. This was amazing. Very fast, very even. The walls are panelled - so would be a right pain to do by hand. And the ceilings are quite high. I mist coated the entire room in half a day, including ceilings.

I use Johnstone paints from Brewers, who sold me the sprayer and gave me a short training session, and they colour matched Little Green and F&B colours. :shock: Two finish coats were needed on the panelling. I just bought easy cling for masking off, and plastic backed dust sheets. Masking tape is cheap and frankly the masking takes longer than the painting.

I also intended to spray the new render on one of my outbuildings. But it's been either too wet or too cold so far. I also plan to spray the outside of my barn conversion next year - which may be a challenge for this machine, but I have a suitable tip.

It's a good tool. My wife is now trained up on it. 8) Not used it yet for spraying kitchen cabinets. Mainly because I have not made them yet.

I also bought it to do other rooms in the house, but there are only so many hours in a day when I am not doing proper work.

Best, AJ

 

[Sheptonphil]

Thanks so much.

I hate ceilings at the best of times, the thought of doing a whole house full with sealer coats, first and second Coates filled me with dread.

I usually do a white coat on walls to kill previous colours, so I can see this being a very useful tool.
Do every thing to undercoat on wood work, spray walls and ceiling in white, mask then finish walls with top coat colour. Unmask then top coat woodwork.

Seems a plan.

 

[AJB Temple]

It works fine. However, I would choose your undercoat wisely. For example I painted my panelling in Hicks Blue - which is very dark blue. The recommended undercoat was grey. More important with dark final coats I suppose.

 

[Sheptonphil]

All the woodwork will be brush painted undercoat and finish coat. I only want the sprayer for the vast amounts of white emulsion, ceilings and walls. Probably top coat wall colour as well.