[Carrameow]

Whats the minimum Air Compressor I can use for HVLP? I'm reading now that you should have 10 cfm at 90 psi or 230 Volts and 10 amps or 8HP and 80 gallons. That equates to an air compressor that is BIG BUCKS!!
I just do not have a MONSTER compressor, nor can I afford one, since a good one runs like 750 bucks. ( I already bought a nice Hobart welder this year)
I will be shooting my car a panel (ie such as fender, trunk, hood, the biggest would be roof) & I have a 220 VAC Dayton Speedaire & it is not up to the task, I finally confirmed its 2HP & has a 30 gallon tank and only putting out 6cfm at 90 psi.
I am totally frustrated. I totally overlooked this because my machine weighs like 250 pounds.
The most I can afford is to buy another one of those 5 HP machines, but that would only get me to 7 cfm at 90 psi. I could mate the tanks and get 30 +20 = 50, but I doubt I will try running two 220 VAC units in tandem as the amps would probably kill the breakers.
To paint my car , I have already bought a Neotorik Breathing System, two barrel fans for ventilation, a Makita Sander, Tons of PSA Disks, some decent guns, Primer , tons of sandpaper and I have spent hours studying and reading and watching the SPRAY 101 DVD.
I dont want to GIVE UP. Any suggestions?
Most guys have this thing about buying Big Tools. Usually I go for Hi quality, thats why I shelled out the money for the Dayton Speedaire back in 2000, but though its rugged and will last 50 years, its just too small.
Visit me at THIS WEBSITE

[weirdbeard]

What about one of those black iron or whatever series for cambelhosfed. You know what I am trying to spell. They make a large compressor for like $400 bucks.

[CDJr]

Ya, I bought a 60 gallon, 3.5 hp that puts out like 13 cfm @ 90 for $320 at HF. It does pretty good and keeps way ahead of my paintguns when I spray.

[weirdbeard]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...712808-0748823
?n=228013

[x711]

I would think a 60gallon is the mininumn required to do any sort of painting
with.

The one I use is made by Kobalt that I purchased at the local lowes.
It works well and is not too noisy. It does require a 220V supply.

Kobalt
7 HP (Peak) 60 Gallon Stationary Oil Lubricated Air Compressor
Item #: 134819 Model: K7060HFV $499.00

I use my da, gfg Plus gun etc with this without any problems. Its
a chunk of change as you can see. Whatever compressor you decide to
get your also going to need a water trap / high flow 3/8" connectors
and a good quality hose. You can budget an extra $100 to plumb it
in and get it configured for use.

I would recommend that the compressor is first on anyones shopping list
above all else when the intent is to Paint!. If your compressor is not up to
the task you will find you are pretty limited in using good quality guns and
air tools for body work.

One other thing. Its a good practice to not put the compressor in the same
area that you intend painting in. A room off your garrage would be a good place to put it.

><

[adtkart]

You might wabt to try doing a search on compressors. There are a million posts on here already on compressors. They explain the rating and how to determine what size you need. If you check them, you will see that the tank size has almost nothing to do with capacity, it is the pumps ability to put out the air.

Aaron

[Danny G.]

I have the same one CDJr has, refurbed for $329. Remember him mentioning having a similar setup except using galvanized, which I'd problably do nowadays with the price of copper, just some headaches with the threading I hear folks mentioning when ridding the leaks. Lots of other better threads on ac's and piping here. But this is my starter setup and sounds like your going throught the same ordeal. hth

Heres mine with some pics, aslo did a spray gun test with an hvlp.
Compressor and piping all working finally

Heres a good compressor draining thread, helps with constantly having to drain it sometimes. I made one with a 1/4" ball valve.
Draining the compressor.

I feel the same too, all the studying, supplies, and then always something else to get. I have Lens 101 dvd as well. Huge relief and rewarding once you get it finished. But still seems like not even half the battles over yet. lol

[oldred]

Carr, Forget about Horsepower and gallons the thing you need to be concerned about is SCFM because if the pump is not producing the air nothing else matters, a tank can not put out more air than the pump puts in. A 60 gallon tank will not work any better than your 30 gallon assuming the same size pump so don't fall for that oversize tank sales gimmick. The fact is if the tool you are using requires 10-12 CFM@ 90 PSI and your compressor is only producing about 6 CFM@ 90 PSI you have an unworkable combination and about the only practical solution is a larger compressor. If you already have the other compressor you mentioned then hooking them together would theoretically get you 13 CFM which should work but you will have to run BOTH pumps and manage the breaker problem, it would be a total waste of time to simply hook both tanks together and run only one pump.

[colormecrazy]

Oldred beat me to it CFM is your friend.(or in this case your enemy)
What you need is enough CFM to back up the gun. Nothing is much worse than a compressor that won't blow enough volume, when you are trying to paint with it. Except maybe dirty air!

[oldred]

Color, I have dealt with compressors for years and it seems the biggest problem was to get the customer to quit thinking in "gallons". Most would want the biggest tank I could mount (we mostly did service trucks for the mines) and would give little to no thought to the CFM the set-up would produce. One of the most popular units I installed over the years put out over 30 CFM and could have easily kept up with two HVLP guns at the same time but due to space limitations it had only a 20 gallon tank! A 60-80 gallon tank is about right for the popular single stage compressors of about 10-13 CFM in a small shop but this is for a reasonable on/off cycle rate and has nothing to do with how much air is produced.

[colormecrazy]

Sorry, Oldred maybe you misunderstood. By volume I ment CFM. Not tank size.

[oldred]

I understood what you meant and I agree fully, I was just making conversation and adding to what you were saying. You have an excellent point in that there is nothing much worse to happen to a compressor than not enough volume, because if the CFM is not there then NOTHING else matters. The reason I mentioned the tanks was to make the point that hooking two compressors together but only running one pump was going to get him nowhere.

[colormecrazy]

I've painted in poor conditions before. a little 2 horse 20 gallon w/ a TP filter. I didn't even bother to see how many CFM. But the key was I used my minijet (Sata miniature gun). It was a door and fender job on a little Honda that was sollid red. I pulled it off and it looked good, but it did take a little effort. I don't think I could of done it as nice if it had been a metallic.

[sananto210]

What is the minimum compressor i can use for a hplv spraygun?

[oldred]

Originally Posted by sananto210

What is the minimum compressor i can use for a hplv spraygun?

That depends a great deal on the particular gun you have, what are the specs on it? Different guns require different CFM depending on size, design and even quality but as a rule you really should have at least around 12 CFM and more would certainly be better. Someone with a decent gun and a lot of experience who could properly manage their air supply can sometimes get by with less but it can be very tricky and requires a lot of planing ahead to keep from running out of air at the wrong time. What kind of gun do you have and do you already have a compressor?