Boomyal, help

[BoatBuoy]

Boomyal, I noticed in your post New Spare Tire Mount !! in Trailers that you used an HVLP gun that appears identical to one I bought the other day. <br /><br />I'm having a devil of a time getting it to spray any texture better than sandpaper using acrylic enamel (single stage). <br /><br />What pressure are you setting the regulator on that is on the gun? I'm setting mine on 30 lb. and no adjustment I can make will cause it to spray a fine mist, only course. <br /><br />Any help would be appreciated.<br /><br />

 

[RPJS]

Re: Boomyal, help

The only time I have trouble with paint splatter when trying to spray is when I have not used enough thinners.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Boomyal, help

BoatBouy, I used 24 psi, same as I do in my big HVLP gun. I don't think they gave good psi info in the manual. I got this one on sale at, yep, you guessed it, Harbor Freight. I'm assuming that your gun is the small touch up gun as mine is. <br /><br />I'm not sure what the nozzle size is on that gun but maybe as RPJS suggests your paint is a little too thick for that nozzle. Being a touch up gun it is probably sized to spray thin. The two part paint I used is pretty watery. The paint came out of the nozzle like a dream.<br /><br />If your using straight up acrylic enamel, my recommendation would be to thin it with some medium reducer till it is kind of sloshy. I'd also use the recommended dosage of "Japan Drier" to help speed the drying.(optional)

 

[Chief101]

Re: Boomyal, help

thinthinthinthin...Chief

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Boomyal, help

I thought thinthinthinthin myself, but Pittsburg says 8:1:1, paint:reducer:catalyst and that's how I mixed it. Will it run if I thin any more?

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Boomyal, help

Originally posted by BoatBuoy:<br /> I thought thinthinthinthin myself, but Pittsburg says 8:1:1, paint:reducer:catalyst and that's how I mixed it. Will it run if I thin any more?

That is exactly what I sprayed BB. 8 paint, 1 reducer, 1 catalyst. I'm a bit stumped at this point. Does it look a bit thin, unlike old time enamel?

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Boomyal, help

Yea, looks real thin. I talked to the guys at Pittsburg. They suggested I go up on air pressure so that's what I'm going to try, after I sand down the mess I made. This time I'll experiment on something first. Maybe I just need adjustment, the gun that is.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Boomyal, help

Where'd ya get the gun? and is it a touch up gun? Is it spitting at the tip when you spray. Are you sure it's not fisheye that you are getting? That would be a reaction of the paint to some contamination or incompatability on the surface.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Boomyal, help

Not a touch up gun. Also no fisheye. The result is like sandpaper. This is the gun:<br /><br />

<br /><br />And I got it here:<br /><br />harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43430<br /><br />After doing some research, here's what I think is going on. See what you think.<br /><br />My gun is at the end of a 50' 3/8 hose. I set the regulator at the tank on 40 lb. I set the regulator at the gun at 35 lb. I understand that from the tank regulator, you loose 10 lb. for every 25' of hose. That means I'm only getting 20 lb. at the gun when triggered. I think I didn't have enough air.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Boomyal, help

"Nozzle size: 0.054""!!!!!!<br /><br />Whoa BB, stop the train. You could drive a freight train thru that nozzle. Forget all the hose length and air pressure concerns. Although they do not say specifically, I think that set up is made for thick Latex paint. (hint:"for use with water based finishes")<br /><br />You need a .013 nozzle (max .015) to shoot the stuff your attempting. Your nozzle is 4 times bigger. All it is doing is spitting the paint out, not atomizing it.<br /><br />Check the nozzle size in this ad. (just one of many) HVLP Gun I looked at all the HF HVLP guns and they all had large nozzles, even the little touch up gun I got was a .039.<br /><br />I'd be taking that baby back. You'll never spray anything with that. I got a kit on ebay a while back, it was a full size Devilbis HVLP. It came with 4 nozzles between .013 to .022.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Boomyal, help

^<br />bump

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Boomyal, help

From what I've seen, 1.5mm nozzle is not that much out of line. Some recommendations I've seen even go to 1.7mm. I found a site with text written by a guy who uses my exact gun, and I'm now convinced I need higher air pressure BEFORE the on-gun regulator.<br /><br /> http://www.purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/techinfo/HVLPspraygun.html

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Boomyal, help

NO NO NO NO NO! BB, I've sprayed a whole car with that paint, using a .013 nozzle, with the onboard regulator set at 24 psi. PSI is PSI (or what is the meaning of PSI ) As long as you can pull the trigger on the gun and have the guage at the gun maintain the desired pressure, that is all that is necessary. If the air volume were to drop due to too long a hose, the guage at the gun would drop off to ????<br /><br />HVLP stands for high volume LOW PRESSURE, you just are not going to atomize that paint, at any pressure, using a .054 nozzle. I don't know what those people at Harbor Freight are thinking. If you doubt my word, go talk to the people that you bought the paint from and ask them about appropriate nozzle sizes for that paint.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Boomyal, help

Originally posted by BoatBuoy:<br /> From what I've seen, 1.5mm nozzle is not that much out of line.

Ya got the decimals out of place. Big difference between .015 and 1.5. They don't make them that big anyway. Yours is the .054 which, again, is 3 3/4 times bigger than the .015. No doubt you could use a .017 or .018 but NOT .054!!!! You might as well put the paint in your mouth and spit it at your job.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Boomyal, help

Decimals not out of line but we may not be on the same wavelength. My nozzle is 1.5mm (.059"). I talked to the guys at Pittsburg Paints just now and they said that's ideal and I shouldn't go lower than 1.4mm (.055").

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Boomyal, help

Ok BB, I see the light. Wow, that is the second time in 24 hrs I've had to say that. I better grab the ginko biloba. <br /><br />We're kinda back to square one. Yeah, you should be able to spray that with a 1.5 mm even though the identical paint, in my mount picture, was sprayed thru a 1 mm (.039 in) nozzle, Touch up Gun with 24 psi set at the compressor regulator. I did not use the regulator on the gun as it made the gun to wieldy for spraying the mount with the boat on the trailer. I was using 25 ft of 3/8 hose plus the little round plastic filter on the gun.<br /><br />I also use 24 psi, at the gun, for my full size DeVilbis HVLP. The smallest nozzle I have for that gun is the 1.3 mm and that is what I have used for that same paint on other applications.<br /><br />30 psi should have been sufficient but it sure won't hurt to jack it up and see what happens. I'll be interested to hear your results.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Boomyal, help

Problem solved. Needed more air. I gave it all she had at compressor, about 100 lb. and then throttled down w/the regulator on the gun until I had about 7-8 lb. at the nozzle. <br /><br />I spent last 2 days (off and on) re-sanding piece and just now re-sprayed. Worked like a champ. Thanks to all those that replied.