OT Harbor Freight HVLP spray equipment

This looks like a good rig to experiment with, if nothing else. Paint guns seem to all look alike from the outside to me, I can't tell the difference between a great one and an adequate one just by looking at them.

I went to an HVLP gun for car painting (race cars, 50/50 paint jobs :) and was very impressed. a really good finish, and the economy and mist reduction was as advertised. I regulated to about 100 psi at the tank, to

Brian

I have probably the same compressor as you and bought the gun to paint popcorn ceilings with latex paint. I was never able to get it to work satisfactorily with heavy latex. My main objective was to reduce overspray and get better coverage. It certainly achieved that, but it was very slow and I think smooth coverage (not really needed with this rough surface) would not have been possible. The fault may be mine, but I was never able to adjust the gun to provide adequate coverage at a decent rate. For example, the area that a regular pressure gun would do it 15 minutes would require an hour using the HVLP gun. The dilution rate that I used was between 4 and 8 ounces of water plus 4-6 ounces of Floetrol per quart. I didn't try higher dilutions as I felt the hiding power would be too adversely affected.

OTOH, I painted a metal building roof with oil based enamel and was satisfied with the results. I diluted the paint with about 3 ounces of Penetrol per quart.

I had planed on painting doors with latex paint using this gun, but have changed my mind as I believe that I could not get a smooth coverage using the needle and orifice supplied with this gun.

Hi, For things like house painting, I think you would be much happier with a high pressure airless paint sprayer. Sucks paint directly from the can, thru a high pressure piston pump, then atomizes thru an orfice at the gun. This is what painting contractors use. Good ones are pretty pricey. You can rent at many better paint and building supply stores. I bought a reconditioned Greco model a couple years ago at Home Depot at a special half price tag sale -- so it was half off the already discounted reconditioned price -- and it was still almost more than I could rationalize. I do not use it often, but it sure can apply paint in a hurry. Wouldn't want to use it for cars or fine furnature. A real pain (i.e. not worth it) to clean the pump, hoses, and gun after using oil base paint so I try to only use with water based paints.

Mill

You'll need to get a different air cap and needle, the one supplied with the unit is too small for thicker materials like latex, you'll need one with a bigger hole and the matching needle. The part numbers for mine were listed in the manual. I've only ever used mine for shellac and auto paints so I've had no experience with latex. If it were me, I'd go rent an airless rig for the one-time use on the house along with a pressure washer. The pro airless rigs usually come with a multi-gallon supply tank. As far as bounce back, the HF HVLP gun has a little less mist floating around than a regular spray gun, but it's still there. Not at all like the turbine-type high-end HVLP rigs I've seen at the woodworking shows. I've gotten a lot of use out of mine, was a good deal for the money, but you still have to watch out for the overspray. My compressor is an oil-less portable with an 11 gal. tank, it keeps up with the stuff I finish, mostly small woodworking projects. I don't think it would do for house painting, it's rated 4.4 CFM at 90 PSI.

Stan

thanks for the info on the Har. freight sprayer.. you did automobile spray painting with it??? if so please advise me how it came out.... i need to paint a rubber bumper and metal fender on a 2001 honda... the only sprayer i have ever used was a $19.95 gun and compressor that i bought from one of the old time dept. stores( Woolco) which went out of business in the 1970/s. i use it to paint some Enamel paint on a 75 datsun pickup truck sheet metal that goes under its front bumper..... had to do it three times, but finally got it to look pretty good.... did you use the modern paint and a clear coat next with this sprayer.... everyone i talk to that does spray painting says that you need a big compressor and a $1500 gun......hope they are wrong... how did your paint job come out, which paint did you use(enamel, lacquor, or other.. thanks for a reply.)....

For what it is worth, I have a couple of spraygusns. One came with one of those 5 piece "free" kits I got with a 2hp compressor. I use it only for primer these days, but I managed to paint a van with it. The other is a gravity feed Wellmade (inspiriing name eh) gun. This thing rocks and does a great job. Gravity feed guns are easier to clean than siphon feed ones IMO. The 2 hp (~9cfm nominal) compressor is marginal for a spraygun for anything bigger than a small spot touchup. 12cfm minimum Geoff

I have the HF 43430-4VGA HVLP Gravity feed spray gun and am quite pleased with it. I've used it to spray Imron and other base coat/clear coat automotive paints on an airplane. It is so much better than my thirty year old Devilbiss that I threw the old one in the scrap. The HF unit is currently on sale for $49.99, but it seems to me they discount it another ten bucks on occasion.

Rich S.