Pbmaster11 Posted May 12, 2014 Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 I would like a new spray system. Have cheap Rockler hvlp. Thinking earlex but don't really know. I do spray a lot of paints so that will need to be an option. Typing on cell phone. I apologize for any typing errors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbmaster11 Posted May 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2014 Oh and I am a firm believer of buying right the first time so cost isn't a huge issue but don't go over board. Maybe $5-600? Guess I really don't know what good systems go forTyping on cell phone. I apologize for any typing errors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estesbubba Posted May 15, 2014 Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 I had an Earlex 5500 and just couldn't get it to lay down a nice consistent finish with waterbornes. I then read a FWW article and they said they couldn't get it to atomize waterbornes either so I returned it. I bought a Fuji mini mite 4 and it atomizes anything thrown at it and puts down a finish people love to touch. If you want to stay under $600 the mini mite 3 would probably serve you well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbmaster11 Posted May 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 That a what I purchased yesterday! Typing on cell phone. I apologize for any typing errors. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted May 15, 2014 Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 ==>mini mite 3 would probably serve you well 3-stage is quite iffy for paints -- it can be done, but you'll have restrict your selection... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbmaster11 Posted May 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 ==>mini mite 3 would probably serve you well 3-stage is quite iffy for paints -- it can be done, but you'll have restrict your selection... I have read quite the opposite... do you have a fuji? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted May 15, 2014 Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 ==>I have read quite the opposite... Probably folks trying to self-justify an Earlex purchase... Have both Fuji 4-stage and Apollo 5-stage. Two and Three stage are incremental. Four and Five stage are incremental. The huge difference is the step from three to four stage... Had issues with some paints through the Fuji. Talked to Roger Phelps over at Fuji --- he gave me a list of paints that work well through four stage and most three stage setups... Switched over to 5-stage, so don't have it anymore... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted May 15, 2014 Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 I wish I'd bought one of these years ago. I'll bet I've spent several times the cost of one of these on other stuff over the years. I still use an old airless sprayer for paint, but this would do that too, as well as any fine finishing. http://www.graco.com/us/en/products/contractor/finishpro-ii-395.html http://topcoatreview.com/2014/02/graco-finish-pro-ii/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbmaster11 Posted May 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 I see the cleanup with those systems and absolute pain. Typing on cell phone. I apologize for any typing errors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted May 15, 2014 Report Share Posted May 15, 2014 Cleanup is really easier than with a gun with cup. The trouble is the loss of the material that's in the hose, but a 1/4" 25 footer doesn't really hold that much. Until recently, I was always out in the country, and just sprayed to waste outside on the grass at the shop, and it got lost after a couple of grass cuttings. There is nothing to take apart to clean. Just recently, I was in a very populated city with strict disposal regs. I put a contractors garbage bag over the spray gun, squeezed all the air out of the bag, shot the waste into the bag, and tossed in some waste paint harder so it could go in with the regular garbage. It worked so well that I've done that a couple of times since at home. The cleanup is well worth it in exchange for the time saved in spraying. It wouldn't be much for a piece of furniture, but If you have to do all the doors in a house, or a large kitchen, the cleanup time is a good exchange. The thing that takes me the longest time to clean is the battery operated Graco sprayer. It has to come completely apart, and washed in a sink. It takes me longer to clean it than it does for whatever use it gets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbmaster11 Posted May 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 How does it save time in spraying?Typing on cell phone. I apologize for any typing errors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 ==>I wish I'd bought one of these years ago. Airless sprayers are great... If you're a finish professional and do large jobs, then these are the way to go... All the dedicated finishing guys I know have one or more airless setups and they love them. They use them on bigger jobs -- the cleanup is amortized over a larger job... An intermediate solution might be the disposable air-based cup systems like 3M PPS. I'm a new PPS convert (maybe a year or so), but found my use of solvents has plummeted. Pre-PPS, I'd order a skid of 5-gal solvent drums every couple of months... Now that I'm on PPS, I haven't ordered any solvent in six months - -maybe even a year... I still go through a fair amount of alcohol because I mix my own flakes, but lacquer thinner, mineral spirits, etc has dropped by about 80%. I'm not sure about the actual ROI on the PPS setup, but just in terms of dealing with bulk solvent disposal it's worth the investment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 ==>How does it save time in spraying? On small jobs, they don't. The setup/teardown would kill you... But if you're the kind of shop that purchases finishes in five (or fifty-five) gal drums and shoot five gals at a time on a run or three of cabinets, then airless is a great way to go... If you regularly shoot say one gal on a small run of cabinets, then a pressure pot setup would be something to look into... There are also hybrid setups -- some guys shoot HVLP/LVLP for tints, equalizers, glazes, etc and keep an airless setup with the bulk topcoat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger. Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 I have an Earlex and I love it. Its the 5500 spray station, and it does a beautiful job of waterbournes. I was going to get the fuji, but the price (and return policy) we so good with the earlex, plus it had marcs very positive review. I went for it and I really like it! I use a different needle for waterborne, so that part was a bir of extra cost, but still a good deal on a machine that performs well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 ==>5500 spray station, and it does a beautiful job of waterbournes Don't know if it's been done, but you may want to publish a list of aircap/needle combos with a list of shootable WB finishes -- bet folks could benefit from that w/ the Earlex. Have you tried latex or milk paint? I know Roger Phelps gave me a list of milk paints that you can shoot with a 4-stage and maybe 3-stage, but I can't lay my hands on it at the moment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 How does it save time in spraying? Typing on cell phone. I apologize for any typing errors. Now I would use rotisseries, and spray both sides flat, but that should give you an idea. If you are doing houses, like I do, aaa is the way to go. If you are doing one offs, or small runs of pieces, I'd say get a 1050VR. The aaa gives the same quality finish as an HVLP, but moves a lot more material, so you can cover larger areas in a fraction of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger. Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 ==>5500 spray station, and it does a beautiful job of waterbournes Don't know if it's been done, but you may want to publish a list of aircap/needle combos with a list of shootable WB finishes -- bet folks could benefit from that w/ the Earlex. Have you tried latex or milk paint? I know Roger Phelps gave me a list of milk paints that you can shoot with a 4-stage and maybe 3-stage, but I can't lay my hands on it at the moment... Good point on the needle size. I'll take a look when I'm at home a list it. I have not sprayed anything but waterborne topcoats. I use general high performance poly most of the time, and it comes out great. I use it without dilution, straight from a freshly stirred can into the cup. The instructional DVD that came with the unit demonstrated spraying paint, and how to thin it, etc. I haven't tried it myself, but it the folks at earlex claim it can be done with great results. Personally, I plan on dedicating this unit to only spray water Bourne poly, but if I come up with an excuse to spray paint I will certainly post the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 ==>I'd say get a 1050VR I've got one -- not sure the VR is really useful. I almost always use the non-VR mode... I think you save a hundred or two going 1050... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbmaster11 Posted May 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 HHH tip size goes along way. If you didn't change it that may have been the reason for poor performanceTyping on cell phone. I apologize for any typing errors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 ==>HHH tip size goes along way. If you didn't change it that may have been the reason for poor performance Sorry, I'm a bit lost in the thread... Are we talking latex paint through a 3-stage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbmaster11 Posted May 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 Yes. Typing on cell phone. I apologize for any typing errors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 ==>==>latex paint through a 3-stage? ==>Yes. Have you actually laid-down a decent latex finish through a 3-stage? I've shot a latex formula recommended to me by Fuji, but it was a bit iffy through 4-stage -- 3-stage would have been a real push... Want to be clear, the finish did shoot. But, the surface didn't look as good as it had been shot with a 5-stage, airless, etc setup. I think this is where the confusion in terminology comes from... When I say that you can't shoot something through a 3-stage, I don't mean that literally... The finish will exit the gun in a controlled fan pattern, but the issue is that it may not atomized properly to lay-down a fine finish... That doesn't mean that 3-stage units are useless, it's just that tinted-poly is a better choice for getting a nice solid-color coating... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbmaster11 Posted May 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 I am running the Fuji tomorrow. Will report how it goes. Typing on cell phone. I apologize for any typing errors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 ==>I am running the Fuji tomorrow. Will report how it goes Hate to be a hard-ass on stuff like this... Perhaps I miss Don... I know you can shoot some latex formulations through a 3-stage and even more through 4-stage. But I know from first hand experience that it's a bit iffy... You can certainly shoot the finish, that it may not lay-down a fine finish... The problem I have is that folks read 'reviews' of value-proposition 3-stage setups saying it's 'fine' for latex. I just hate to see folks make purchasing decisions based on incomplete information... Been there, done that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estesbubba Posted May 16, 2014 Report Share Posted May 16, 2014 I've shot GF Milk Paint (which I've heard is a high quality acrylic paint) through a 1.8mm tip full-strength with my MM4 with absolutely no problems. I've read that if you're going to shoot latex through a HVLP go with something like a trim acrylic. When I was reasearching the MM4 vs the MM3 I was told that the MM3 would require thinning acrylic paint by 25% over the MM4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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