Spray gun cleaning, what solvents

[Terry, NJ]

Originally Posted by BRENT in 10-uh-C

Terry, many do not realize that using those cheap spray guns that cannot (-does not) atomize the paint very well actually costs more to use than if someone spent the money on a better quality gun and used less product. We just got another price increase on PPG's DCC9300 which is nearly $600.00 a gallon now wholesale. The hardener is almost $150.00 a quart, and solvents are up too. That makes single-stage urethane paint over $115.00 a sprayable quart. My Sata gun would likely spray the same coverage and mil thickness with 5 quarts to the Harbor Freights gun using 7 quarts. Doesn't take long to realize how a quality gun saves $$ in product usage, ...and then because it sprays the finish of the top-coat slicker, less labor is spent doing post-paint work such as colorsanding and buffing.

You raise a good point that I never realized before. But then I'm not an real body man or a pro painter. I'm a hobbiest who occasionally paints cars! I never realized that one of the qualities of a great spray gun was that it used less paint. Now that I think about it, it makes sense, but how? Through better atomization? Is it directional? More of the paint gets onto the work and is not dissipated into the air? I've been using the $15 HF Purple gun and I can't say what's wrong with it, but they seem to be OK for a couple of primer applications and then and then they start messing up. I notice that my primer jobs are very uneven and require a lot of sanding to flatten out the surface. Sanding is one of the most tedious things you can do on a car and I don't like it at all. I've got a couple of old guns that are not of the HPLV type. The passages seem to be clear. Is there any point to using one of these? I don't want to invest big money at this time, in a SATA type gun, with maybe this job and possibly one more before I'm finished with painting forever. Thanks in advance!
Terry

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Terry, NJ

You raise a good point that I never realized before. But then I'm not an real body man or a pro painter. I'm a hobbiest who occasionally paints cars! I never realized that one of the qualities of a great spray gun was that it used less paint. Now that I think about it, it makes sense, but how? Through better atomization? Is it directional? More of the paint gets onto the work and is not dissipated into the air? I've been using the $15 HF Purple gun and I can't say what's wrong with it, but they seem to be OK for a couple of primer applications and then and then they start messing up. I notice that my primer jobs are very uneven and require a lot of sanding to flatten out the surface. Sanding is one of the most tedious things you can do on a car and I don't like it at all. I've got a couple of old guns that are not of the HPLV type. The passages seem to be clear. Is there any point to using one of these? I don't want to invest big money at this time, in a SATA type gun, with maybe this job and possibly one more before I'm finished with painting forever. Thanks in advance!
Terry

The best shine comes from a flat surface. Flat as in the substrates, and flat with the outer payer of the finish coat. Let me ask you a couple of question for you to think about. Suppose you were to have two equal sized aquariums that you filled with round objects, -one with golf ball sized spheres, and one with balls the size of BBs. When both aquariums were complete fill to the rim, which aquarium would have the smoother or flatter surface? Most would agree it would be the aquarium filled with the BBs. Arguably, the aquarium with the BBs will have less voids (-trapped air and/or solvents) between the spheres which would allow the paint to shrink down and stabilize better. Additionally, there will be less colorsanding and buffing needed when the top-coat of paint's texture is only as rough as the BBs instead of the Golf Ball sized spheres.

So my point is a cheap spray gun typically can only atomize the paint down to a certain size however the top-quality guns have the precision to atomize the paint into much finer size of spheres where it lays down and creates a much finer surface. Since a much thinner MIL thickness is needed for adequate coverage when the paint is atomized finer, less product is used. Likewise, if the texture on the painted surface is much smoother, then less time and materials are used to sand and polish it to be flat. That is why it is a value to pay more for the better quality gun and use less product or post-paint labor rather than use a cheaper spray gun that costs more in materials and labor.