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Advice on new paint gun

4K views 29 replies 14 participants last post by  turbosc20 
#1 ·
I am looking at getting a new HVLP paint gun. The one I have seemed to work OK for me but also seemed to be a little inconsistent. Not that I am any paint expert, but I though that as long as I am starting my new project (66 Bronco) I would invest in a better one. The one I have now is a cheap one I bought at Carquest. No real name on it. I would plan on using it now for primer, but would like to get a little better one.

I looked at this one

http://www.spraygundepot.com/script...custnum=WEB-CUST++&password=&sesid=0824050539

What do you think?

Any other suggestions. I would like to keep it under $200 if possible.

I am mostly spraying Nason (or other)bc/cc but may be painting single stage Nason on this project.

Any advice would be helpful. I am sure that there are plenty of searches on this but I wanted a recent update as I know what is available is always changing.

Thanks
 
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#2 ·
That is a nice gun. My first good gun was a D'Ville Finishline and I still use it today.
The Harbor Freight "Purple" HVLP is always a good,cheap gun.

There are a ton of Chinese knock off's on e-bay for cheap as well that do a good job.

The Astro's are another line that have favorable mention.

Most any gun paint's well,It really comes back to air supply being the trouble with most as HVLP requires a large VOLUME of air that most hobby compressors can't supply for a full on paint job.
 
#6 ·
pink63impala said:
the only bad thing about the central gun, is the cap is threaded on, and its a pain if some paint dries in the threads :mwink:
That is why I do a really good cleaning everytime I use mine. Take it all apart everytime, clean it and you will not have that problem.

Vince
 
#7 ·
How you like the finishline gun compared to purple HF gun?
IMO, The D'ville paint's base better and the purple lay's clear better. The purple has a larger fan and seem's to atomize a heavy solids clear better.
The D'Ville also has the "bag" cup adapters to make clean up much easier.
You can get a universal adapter kit from D'Ville that will fit in most cup's,some need a little modification,that makes clean up quicker.

I've just alway's preferred a 2 gun system. One for paint,one just for clear.
Rarely do you shoot the 2 at the same pressure and gun settings and trust me,Once you find a setting on your gun that lay's clear smooth,you'll want to weld it in place. :D
You also eliminate the possibility of cross contamination of the 2. Nothing worse than having some color stuck in a gun that comes out in your clear.
Kandy's being the worst as the dye saturates into every possible crack and into the metal's microscopic scale. I have cleaned a gun THROUGHLY and leave some clean thinner/reducer in it for storage and the next shoot open the cup to see some of the residual kandy color in the thinner.
 
#8 ·
i personally like the devilbliss, but you can take another can, and put it on the central gun,and will be pretty good, i like mine, cause it olds almost a quart of material..it does wear your arm out painting a hood or roof when its full!
i also soak mine in thinner til i use it again, just dont soak the plastic tips and the threaded part in thinner, as mine expanded and had to replace it :mad:
 
#15 ·
What pressure on the gauge of the HF purple do you operate at? I'm new to painting an I've been having a hard time getting paint down the way I want it. I tried putting it at 10 - 20 psi and it just splaters on there. And my fan is all crazy. Any pointers?

Bee4Me said:
Purple Gun

You can get the HVLP aluminum cup which will fit it fine. It's usually on the shelf with the other paint gun stuff if you want a larger cup.
The D'Ville universial bag adapters WILL NOT FIT IT!!!
They will however fit the white plastic one.
 
#16 ·
I recently got one of those HF guns. I had problems with getting it to spray properly also. I took it to work and gave it to the painter there. He checked it out, and could not get it to spray properly either. I also have problems with the spray pattern amd it just dumps the paint out. Although the tip on it is marked as a 1.4, it is spraying paint out like it is a 1.8. He suggested using it for primer.
I was also surprised when lacquer thinner removed the "paint" on the body of the gun.
Maybe they had a bad run of those things.
 
#17 ·
What pressure on the gauge of the HF purple do you operate at?
The gun regulator should have a "green" range on the guage dial which is somewhere between 30-50 if I rember right.
I run it just into the green for paint and about half way for clear using a 1.4 tip.

ALL gun's should be dissasembled BEFORE use for a good cleaning and inspection. I found a small piece of aluminum from the machining inside my new Iwata and it's a $350 gun so you never know what may be inside. I know of a few people who have had problems with their harbor gun and as it's a mass produced piece,sometimes things are not done right at the factory. I'd take it back and get a replacement.

I also have the purple touch up gun and the "C" clip on the fan adjust knob was screwed and like the above post,could not get a proper pattern. I just took it back and they replaced it.The next one has been great.
 
#18 ·
I have the purple touch up gun from them. That gun works great, with a good pattern and a smooth flow. I attempted to disassembe the bigger gun to clean it. The nozzle is so tight, that I cannot remove it, and actually broke the wrench that came with the gun. I contacted HF by e-mail about returning it to a local store. I was told that since it was ordered thru the internet, it has to be shipped back, to be replaced. Their internet sales is separate from the store sales, so I cannot exchange it at the store. Since it took almost 2 weeks to get it in the first place, that is a big delay for me.
 
#21 ·
Yes, But so is having to wait 4 weeks on something that should be able to get returned locally. I alway's print off the page of the item I'm after as it's usually,not alway's,but usually cheaper online and get it locally if avil.
Beside's, YOU are saving THEM shipping cost. Right? :evil:
They also have 2 web sites which I did not know.
I alway's go to harborfreight.com but the sales guy I talked with explained about the other which was less of a site and more expensive IMO. Imagine that,a salesman sending me to a more expensive site. :rolleyes:

That stinks you had the nozzle locked in that tight. Course,those "wrench's" aren't the best in the world.
 
#22 ·
I would be happy to make the hour drive(one way) once to exchange the thing. Since I have already spent the money on the gun, I will send it back to get it replaced. I will think twice before buying something else online from them now. Fortunately, I have access to numerous guns for finishing this project, so I can get it done without that long of a wait. I bought the gun based on the praises on this site and the performance of the mini gun that I got from them. I am not impressed at all with this piece of garbage that they sent me.

I could not believe how tight they put that thing together. The wrenches that they send with the gun should not have any problem taking it apart. This one was so tight, I could hardly hold it while trying to turn the wrench.
 
#24 ·
Thats a little dishonest dont you think
No I don't. I think it is a clever way to save some time. The only one that stands to lose any money is the customer (adtkart). It's all covered under warranty. The store owner will be reimbursed fully and I doubt that he (adtkart) will leave the store without buying more than just the paint gun especially if he had to drive two hours total to do so. I know that I can almost never leave without getting something. In fact he'll have to make two trips = more profit for the store

It's a faulty product. That really is the bottom line. He stands to gain nothing but a little time. Fact is it will cost him four hours driving and with the price of gas....

I was just trying to make a helpful suggestion with my first post on this board. My intent wasn't to offend or suggest scamming anyone. You are entitled to your own opinion as I am to mine.

Dusty
 
#26 ·
adtkart said:
I recently got one of those HF guns. I had problems with getting it to spray properly also. I took it to work and gave it to the painter there. He checked it out, and could not get it to spray properly either. I also have problems with the spray pattern amd it just dumps the paint out. Although the tip on it is marked as a 1.4, it is spraying paint out like it is a 1.8. He suggested using it for primer.
I was also surprised when lacquer thinner removed the "paint" on the body of the gun.
Maybe they had a bad run of those things.
This is a problem that I have mentioned on this forum before.
Those HF guns vary in quality, you can have one that sprays perfect
and the next one is awful.
I switched over to the Astro brand for just a few dollars more.
It's a significant difference in fit and finish, and sprays better too.
And there's parts and tips available.
 
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