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Airless paint sprayers reviews

What is the difference between an air paint sprayer and an airless paint sprayer? Airless paint sprayer is a power tool used to spray a variety of surfaces with latex, enamel, stain or other kinds of coating. They are mainly used for wood / wall / roofing / fence / door or window. Instead of using an air compressor to push the air out, they use a pump that builds pressure first. Then you use a spray gun and spray nozzle attached to the high pressure pump to propel a atomized fine coat on the desired area.

Airless paint sprayers use a 3000psi high pressure fluid supply to atomize. It can be applied to medium to high viscosity fluids, but very fine finish and equal surface finish.

Many people has doubts is it worth buying an airless paint sprayer?? Through this article you will have a deeper understanding of airless paint sprayer.

Highlighted Advantage of Airless Painting

Paint Finish

There is no doubt that if you need to apply larger surface in a short period of time, an airless paint sprayer would be suitable. That is why professional contractors use airless sprayers a lot.The speed is 5 times of traditional brush, 3 times faster than the roller. Normally 1L paint output could cover 5 square meters, then a 2L spraying capacity pump could spray a 10 square meters in 1 minute.

Fine Finish

The airless sprayer helps to reduce the chance of air blending with paint and offers a smoother finish, no brush marks will be left on the painted surface, and the coating penetrates better into pits and crevices.

The coating adhesion and coating life are strong and long respectively.

Portable

Airless sprayers are more portable than air sprayers because they do not need to be connected to an air compressor. 

Moreover these are easy to clean and causes very little pollution to the working site.

Applications

Airless paint sprayers use high pressure to spray paint and can handle most viscosities with ease. No matter it’s very thin lacquer, or very thick like putty, all these could be applied through an airless paint spraying machine with different volume. (But the sprayer machine is not for the cement plaster / gypsum plaster / cement plaster / cement mortar which contains sand or stone or grains inside)

Most coatings can be sprayed with very little thinner added, thereby reducing drying time.

Easy to Use

After mastering the spraying method, the use of the airless sprayer will be very simple. Set up the sprayer with the hose and gun and tip, and then put the suction tube into the paint bucket , power on the machine, 1st step is PRIME the paint, and 2nd step is SPRAY it. that’s it!

Paint Wastage

The airless paint spraying save more paint material compare to the traditional air spraying. In the traditional spray systems, particles of atomized paint are sent towards the surface using high pressure air jets. The recommended spraying distance between the wall and the nozzle is 20-30cm.

Shortcomings of Airless Paint Sprayer

Price

Airless spraying is more expensive than some other spraying tools such as air sprayers, paint brushes, rollers, etc. 

Maintenance

The structure of the airless spraying machine is relatively complex, and there are many possible factors for the machine to fail. It is necessary to find a professional repair shop to confirm the cause before repairing. In addition, in the use of the machine, it is inevitable that some wearing parts will be damaged.

The maintenance must also be done frequently if you didn’t lubricating the pump every day, or if you didn’t clean the machine thoroughly every day, You need to treat the sprayer very carefully to ensure proper functioning and longevity of the device.

Danger

Care must be used when operating, as airless spray guns can cause serious injury, due to the paint injecting from the tiny nozzle at high pressure as 3000psi.

How to Choose Paint for Airless Paint Sprayer

There are two main types of paint available for airless sprayers: oil-based paint and water-based paint. Oil-based paint is more durable and resistant to wear and tear. but it’s not very enviroment friendly so it’s getting less and less now. For all the oil based paint, the brushless motor powered paint sprayer unit is recommended because there’s no spark in it, (the universal motor and DC motor has spark during the spraying which is dangerous to the user because the thinner is inflammable)

Water-based paint is easier to clean up and is environment friendly, it’s more and more popular for the wall wood window door furniture etc.

Once the paint is selected, you need to thin it and use a paint mixer to stir the paint 100% before spraying. This is important because it can clog the sprayer if paint is too thick. For some countries the wall latex paint is not thick, then you could just spray it without dilute.

Do I need to thin paint for airless sprayer? Please note that different machine could spray different paint with different viscosity. more powerful the motor has, bigger max tip size the sprayer could support, higher viscosity the pump can spray.

How to Choose an Airless Paint Sprayer

When choosing a spraying machine, it is best to confirm your own needs in advance, including the following points: spraying materials, product uses and other needs.

Generally speaking, the types of materials sprayed can be divided into 4 categories: textured materials, standard paints and coatings, plural component paints and coatings, and heavy solid coatings. The pressure and nozzle size required by the machine need to be determined according to the spray material.

Choosing a suitable sprayer according to your actual needs can effectively save cost and time.

How to Prepare the Surface

Surface prep work is the most important part of a spray painting job. How you do it will determine the results you end up with. Doing the prep well means reducing the overspray.

1. Move anything out of the way beforehand. Whether you’re painting indoors or outdoors, be sure to cover areas near your spray location with some tape in order to avoid any splashes. Also cover all of the surrounding areas that you don’t plan on painting. 

2. Clean the walls of dirt and debris. Use TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) to wash any interior walls and allow to dry. For exteriors, use a pressure washer and a cleaning solution to thoroughly clean the surfaces and allow to dry. 

3. Fill in any small dings and depressions. Press drywall compound into the area with a putty knife, then smooth it down flat with the tip of the tool. Allow it to dry for 24 hours.

4. Sand the drywall patch down with a drywall sander until it is smooth, then sweep and vacuum the surface to prep it for the paint.

5. Shut all windows and doors where the spray might go so that it doesn’t travel very far into other rooms throughout your home.

How to Prepare Yourself

1. Gloves--the jet from an airless sprayer can penetrate your skin, known as an injection injury --leading to paint toxins entering your body. Should this occur, seek medical attention immediately.

2. Protective goggles--not just to shield your eyes from the paint plume, but also from bounceback.

3. Face mask--fumes and atomized spray can enter your lungs.

   Always spray in a well-ventilated area — open windows, doors, louvers, and use additional fans if necessary.

   Read the manufacturer’s instruction guide before first use.

   Don’t paint on windy days.

How to Use Airless Paint Sprayer

1. Setup

The basic steps include:

Connecting the spray gun and hose

Flushing and priming the sprayer

Installing the tip and guard

It can be hard to get your sprayer primed with liquid when there’s a lot of pressure. You might need to spray a little so that the liquid goes through the system.

Connect the tube to the funnel at the bottom of the container and fill it up with paint. Place the tube from your funnel into your container, locking it in with a clip where necessary.

2. Test

You can test the cardboard on the floor or against a wall. If you notice any problem with the paint sprayed from the nozzle, it can be solved in time. Be careful, don’t hold that cardboard.

The problem of paint splutter caused by low pressure flow can be solved by increasing the pressure.

Adjust the nozzle if you want to spray in wide medium.

If you notice any“tails” then increase the output pressure and then check it again.

3. Start painting

Follow these basic spray techniques:

• Keep spray gun about 8-12 inches from the surface.

• For best coverage, use a long, continuous motion—start your motion before triggering gun and continue your motion after the gun trigger is released.

• Overlap your spray pattern by about 50%—simply aim the tip of the spray gun on your next pass at the edge of the previous painted area.

After drying check that all the surface has even coating on them. If you find any uneven coating then do another coat and make sure all the surface is even. Once the paint has dried, remove all of the masking tape and newspapers.

How to Clean Your Airless Paint Sprayer

After spraying, the paint should be pumped out of the sprayer and airless hose, otherwise the spray material may harden in the sprayer, the hose and the paint spray gun causing malfunctions and defects.

Before cleaning your sprayer, always perform the pressure relief procedure.

Paint Sprayer

The cleaning of water-based paint and spray material is done with tap water or lukewarm water. For oil-based paint, use a solvent such as thinner instead of water.

Put the suction of the airless device into flushing fluid and place the drain tube into a waste pail.

Turn the prime valve to spray until the paint flow ends and you see the flushing fluid appear.

Spray Nozzle

Nozzles can be cleaned and stored using a cleaning system in the form of an hourglass.

Particularly stubborn blockages in nozzles can be easily solved with nozzle needles.

If necessary, replace a new nozzle so as not to affect the spraying.

Spray gun

Small brushes are suitable for removing the paint residues from paint channel and filter.

Care and Store Your Airless Paint Sprayer

Store the machine is necessary, especially if it may not be used for some time.

You can use care products, diluted with water in a ratio of 30: 1 and drawn into the sprayer.

The piston pump needs to spray a little oil on the piston before each job to protect the seals and piston.