Question about HVLP Sprayers

well jj that depends on what your spraying between coats of poly you better clean it out the only film finsh i ever leave in the gun for any length of time laqer 1 it usally wont dri in the cup and two if i dose poor in some thinner

-- I buy tools so i can make more money,so ican buy more tools so I can work more, to make more money, so I can buy more tool, so I can work more

That depends on how long you plan to wait between coats, and what you’re spraying.

5 minutes? no. Anything more than a couple of hours, I’d probably clean regardless of material.

If I’m spraying latex, ( Airless 50 ft hose.) I’ll clean the outside of my equipment within an hour of starting, keeps it from being impossible to clean up. Internal flush when project completed.

Airless, spraying a deck or log cabin exterior, Oil Based product, I’ll wait till job completion.

HVLP. or standard sprayer. ( Automotive paint, lacquers, base coats, urethanes etc.) I’ll flush and clean the exterior and the air cap after every coat or canister reload. Teardown and thorough wash after each job completion.

Airbrush, flush after each color change, teardown at project completion, or end of work session, never more than a couple of hours.

I don’t own any turbine equipment, but the same basics would apply.

Hope that helps?

Q

Anything more than a couple ho

-- I don't make sawdust...I produce vast quantities of "Micro Mulch."

Thanks guys. I probably should have said that I’m using a Earlex 5000. It will mostly be used for small to medium woodworking finishes (poly, etc.). At some time, it will be used to spray some latex paint. The way I figure, if there’s any question, go ahead and clean.
- JJ

-- JJ...... I guess you could say I'm a 54 year old "juniorjock". — Make things with wood.

JJ – I have the same system, and I really like it. For cleanup, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry. It may be a hassle to spend several minutes cleaning when you only spent a couple of minutes spraying, but if the finish sets up in the gun, you’ll have hours of cleaning to do.

With oil-based poly, you probably have at least four hours between coats, and that’s way too long to let it sit. Sometimes friends drop by my shop while I’m spraying and I’ve let the gun sit for 10 or 15 minutes with no problem.

What would be cool is a lid for the cup – then you could just cap off your finish and use another cup to clean the gun.

-- http://www.north40custom.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

I use the same system as well. I like it, though I prefer a proper gravity feed sprayer. Anyway, I spray water borne finishes through mine, and I don’t have any problems leaving the finish in the gun for an hour or two. I just have to clean the tip off if I leave it to long. I don’t leave it in the gun over night though. If I were spraying solvent based finishes then I wouldn’t worry to much about leaving it in the gun over night, clean up with solvent based I find is a whole lot easier. I only clean my gun out when I am finished spraying and I’m putting the system away for the day. If you do end up with it plugged up, you can always soak the parts in thinner until the dried up bits soften so you can clean it out.

-- "At its best, life is completely unpredictable." - Christopher Walken

A tip when switching from water-based to oil/lacquer and vice versa. Use Denatured Alcohol as a final flush after cleaning out the former coating. It will absorb the water from water-based (which will really screw up oil based), and will flush out the oils left before using water-based (particularly mineral spirits, etc). You don’t need a whole cup full, just enough to fully flush the system, however, spray until it comes out clean.

Go

-- Go http://ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=730