I just bought one myself, but I had a decent compressor to run one off of, and experience using spray equipment. If you don't, you'll need to get a turbine model (or buy a big compressor). $$$$. It works well, lays down a nice flat finish, and covers the area much faster than a brush ever will. You need to consider a lot of other things though: where will you spray, where will the pieces dry, do you have access to a professional paint store, can you develop your skills on something else first, etc..

Spraying does provide a better, faster finish, but it has a lot of caveats.

Do you have more specific questions?

Bob

I have a Craftsman 5.5 HP 25 gal. tank that I use all the time. Is that decent? What brand and model did you buy? What type of paint do you usually spray? How is clean-up? Except for the yellowing I much prefer the finished product when I use oil. However most of the painted trim is in bright rooms so there hasn't been too much yellowing.

I thought all HVLP's had from one to four turbines? And the more, the more $$$$'s.

I am also thinking that priming would be faster with a sprayer because there would be much less sanding. Right?

Spraying crown from a ladder with a tank attached seems like a challenge.

Are HVLP's useful for exterior production painting?

Thanks.
Edwena

I didn't want to comment on this question, but like Bob, I have been using an HVLP conversion gun from Apollo for a few years. It's not a true HVLP unless you have the turbine. I generally spray at 35# of pressure and low volume of paint which does alot to stop runs.

Apollo is an excellent gun and cost me $350 at least 10 years ago, but the end result is great. I use it in manufacturing.

I don't know that it is that precise that you can paint trim in place, but if overspray in the air isn't a problem, it should work for anything, like if you were pre-painting off site.

I probably have the same compressor, with a bigger tank, but it's the cfm not the hp or pressure that's important. Best would be in the 10cfm at 40psi range; good enough is 8cfm at 40psi.

I bought an Astro QUL from Spraygunworld.com. It has a pretty good reputation, not as good as Apollo, of course. It was $180 or so, but I bought a lot of accessories.

I've only sprayed clear water-based finishes so far, but paints are similar. You can spray them, with the proper tip. That's why I suggested a professional paint store, though, because you can buy paints that are intended to be sprayed. Mine is a 'gravity-feed' gun, with a cup on top. Clean-up couldn't be simpler.

'True' hvlp's come in either turbine or 'conversion' (compressor) types.

I'm not sure how the sanding will be reduced, except there will be no brush-strokes.

I'll write more later.

Bob

To continue:

I'm sure there are pro's out there finishing trim in place, and most of them would use hvlp, but it's way more difficult than I would want to do. If you are willing to tape and cover everything else, and ventilate the room, have at it.

I'm not sure what you mean by "exterior production painting" but, there are guns useful for everything. HVLP is just a method for getting finish out of a gun. If you want to paint A LOT, you should probably look at airless.

Bob

What is airless? I mean I think I know what it is. I was thinking about buying an electric paint sprayer which is pretty inexpensive at the hardware store, but not for big jobs. I'd like to be able to paint the house with it, but think that it wouldn't be powerful enough. Mainly it's small stuff and my two arbors which spraying would speed up tremendously compared to brushing by hand.

Is that a good idea or would I run into trouble with not enough pressure, clogging, etc.?

My son does have an air compressor I could borrow, but no sprayer. I'm not ready to tackle this quite yet, but it's good to know things in advance when you've had no experience with it.

Another concern is oil base vs. latex paint in the sprayer. Oil base is a lot more tedious to clean up, but I have gone back to that for some things and used a good old paint brush (it's a lot messier and harder to clean the brushes) because I like the finish.

Wagner makes a line of airless sprayers, not just the Power Painter. They don't need any air just an electric cord. Don't buy latex from the big box stores, it's way too heavy for spraying through them. Probably in a paint store you could find a high quality latex, try Sherwin Williams. They're everywhere.

I have a Craftsman HLVP (model 919.155190) that I've just picked up new. Using it with a Craftsman compressor (919.167312) that puts out about 8.5 cfm at 40 psi. I found this topic thread because I was looking for advice using the spray gun with its quart reservior attachment.

Earlier this spring, I bought the gun along with the Craftsamn paint tank (919.161020) to help paint my hardiplank exterior using latex. The paint guys at my local Lowes really cautioned me on using primer like the Kilz I bought in the sprayer -- they said it would be too fast drying and tough in clean up... I might ruin the gun quickly, but the actual paint would be fine if I thinned it with one of the commercial spray thinners. Bought a jug of the thinner, followed the directions, and painted the back of the house in no time. As usual, good prep took easily twice as long as the actual spraying. First, rolled on the primer with a 4" short pile roller and brush. Then sprayed. Second coat went on as easily, too. Very happy. But the learning curve remains.

That was by using the spray gun feeding from the tank. So here I am with my second project -- a bunch of interior doors and shelving that I've removed to the back yard spray area for a fresh coat.

The first time I used the paint tank, I poured the paint directly into the tank. Like I said, I'm a novice. The decal on tha back shows a 1 gal paint can IN THE TANK. Do'h! -- that would be so much easier. So I place my can in the tank -- and the tank lid won't seat all the way. The pickup tube hits the bottom of the paint can before it can seat and be sealed. Pressing down on it pushes the tube into the bottom of the can (a standard can -- nothing odd about a behr can)... and when everything is together, no paint out of the gun. I suspect the tube is completely choked against the botton of the can.

Removed the tube from the tank lid, and it has non-standard threading, so I can't make my own feed tube from spare parts. What the hey?

Tried a small paint bucket that is shorter -- same problem with the tube hitting the bottom -- there is a depression at the bottom of the tank (think pressure cylindar hemisphere) that flat-bottomed containers don't flex into -- the feed tube again closes off when pressed into a container placed in the tank. Must be doing something wrong.

So I got out my spray gun's original quart reservior attachment. Filled it with the thinned paint and figured it would be a snap. No dice. No matter the adjustments I make on the gun, or even increasing the pressure a bit to 50# to compensate for pressure drop (using 1/4" hose rather than 3/8"), I can't get the gun to pick up from the reservior either. The gun is clean -- I can see into it well and pass light through it. All is clean. So I'm not certain what I'm doing wrong with the material cup. Or my expectations with a paint can within the tank. Ideas?

I use a Graco Pro-Comp 4800 HVLP system; it was about 2K when I bought it. Excellent coverage of everything; very easy to clean. HVLP guns in general, however, aren't always the best tools for either exterior or production work, as you need significantly larger volumes of material being supplied so you can go fast. That's where airless sprayers come in; airless sprayers have a pump that actually pressurizes the paint, forcing it through a nozzel.

I have a question for all you experienced hvlp users.I just bought a hvlp gun and requires 8.5 / 40 psi....why is that?
What will be the outcome if you use a compressor with less specs?