HVLP stands for "high volume - low pressure. Contrasted with a conventional compressed air spray gun which uses high pressure, the HVLP is a soft sprayer with much less overspray than a conventional air gun. The HVLP is a small surface spray gun conpared to the airless sprayer, which is a high production, large surface sprayer. The airless can be used to spray smaller areas such as interior wood trim if you use the right spray
tip and pressure setting, but the HVLP will never be a high production gun for large areas.
Most HVLP guns handle thinner viscosity paints and finishes better than latexes. With the exception of latex enamels, the HVLP's will do a great job and give an excellent finish with most oil enamels and clear coats as well as lacquer and shellac. You probably will need to thin these materials a little bit (some not at all - the bigger your HVLP the better it will spray thicker viscosity materials). The problem with spraying latex enamels in a HVLP is that you need to thin them quite a bit, which ruins one coat hiding of the paint. I have always preferred to spray latex enamels (or other latex paints - interior or exterior) with an airless sprayer.
Spray Guns
Most of the popular HVLP manufacturers (Graco, Titan, Wagner .....) have similar features on their spray guns and units. The fan pattern is adjusted at the nozzle from vertical to horizontal. They have a air valve on the hose or elsewhere to adjust air flow and they have a fluid valve on the gun itself. One difference between the various guns is the siphon tube. One makes a flex tube which is weighted and will always siphon regardless of the gun angle. Another makes a siphon tube that you manually turn so that whether you are angle up or down it will spray. Others have a stationary siphon tube which requires the gun to be sprayed level or either tipped down or up ( but not both ways).
I always run the paint through a filter (cup gun type) as I pour it into the cup, that way I can eliminate tip clogging as much as possible. The other regular maintenance item you will need to do ( apart from cleaning the gun itself) is to clean and / or change the filter after each use (clean) and as needed (change).
The video below shows the basic operation of a Graco HVLP . Most of the operational functions are the same or similar with other manufacture's HVLP units and spray guns.
I use a Wagner HVLP unit, and with it I use dedicate one gun to enamels, and one gun to clear shellac, one gun to clear lacquer, and one gun to clear alkyd varnishes. I also have a stainless steel gun for latex enamels (which I seldom use - but I do occasionally) which has a wider orifice and the stainless parts for exposure to water without rusting.
This video shows the operation of a Turbinaire unit
Bleeder and Non Bleeder describes whether air flows continuously through the nozzle of the gun - whether of not the gun is triggered.
HVLP Spraying
Search This Site
 | ||||
Custom Search
| ||||
The
Concourse eStore
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
SM
Painting Tips and Advice
| ||||
Painting and Decorating Concourse
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
Painting and Decorating Concourse Home > Interior Painting Tips > Spray Painting With an HVLP Sprayer
Our "terms of use" governs your use of our website; by using our website, you accept this disclaimer in full. If you disagree with any part of our "terms of use", do not use our website.
| ||||
HVLP Sprayers
Click here
All types Wagner, Graco and more...
The Internet Paint Store
| ||||
