How To Use A Spray Gun With An Air Compressor? You may consider a spray gun with an air compressor for professional painters. Don’t think that instead, this handy tool can be used easily with a little practice. Plus, you don’t need extra effort and time.
However, while the traditional rollers and brushes can’t give you blissful service in large areas and uneven surfaces, you can easily solve that using this Spray Gun With An Air Compressor.
Painting with a spray gun plus an air compressor seems quite easy, but you have to know some hacks, especially how you can use it.
Don’t worry, if you have no idea about how to use a spray gun with an air compressor. You don’t need to search anywhere, rather this article will inform you of all your needs. So, stay tuned and follow what we say herein.
Table of Contents
How To Prepare The Air Compressor For Spray Guns?
Professional and DIYers need a painting job for painting walls, cars, garden fences, and many other surfaces.
But before setting out for a job, you need to ensure that How To Use A Spray Gun With An Air Compressor and you have appropriately set up an air compressor for painting.
If you are new to the painting experience, you may prefer traditional painting like using a paintbrush, etc., to paint. But you will wonder if you know how modern spray guns can give you a fast but perfect painting experience that you never imagined.
So it is best to invest in a good quality spray gun instead of wasting your time on traditional painting tools. But for the spray gun, you will need an air compressor to apply paint on the required surfaces properly. So you have to know How To Use A Spray Gun With An Air Compressor?
When it comes to the air compressor, it does not mean you can use any of the air compressors. You may find a variety of air compressors.
But keep in mind the specifications of your spray gun before selecting the air compressor because each air compressor is suitable for a specific spray gun model.
So to avoid mistakes and ridiculous painting experiences, you should get the right fitting kit to ensure that you will complete your task efficiently, smoothly, and quickly.
How To Use A Spray Gun With An Air Compressor?
Painting a surface with a spray with an air compressor is a tricky job but not very tough. You need to learn How To Use A Spray Gun With An Air Compressor and the tricks to apply the paint.
What Will You Need?
Before setting out for the work, arrange the required tools and materials to ensure consistent and satisfactory completion of the painting assignment.
- Arrange the safety gear such as gloves, goggles, glasses, and mask
- Hose
- Specific air compressor according to your spray gun
- You also need some attachments with a spray gun, such as a filter, regulator, and quick disconnect fittings
Step-By-Step Process: Ways How To Use A Spray Gun With An Air Compressor:
Check the following steps to complete your painting job finely with an air compressor.
Step One (Check The Spray Gun):
Check the spray gun; it should be clean for smooth delivery of paint material. If you find some dust material try to clear it. After that, check the adjustment as we have guided you above. Once you have made the proper adjustments, then go for the next steps.
Step Two (Wear The Safety Gear):
Your safety has prime importance; paint includes different materials that can affect your breath and eyes. So put the safety gear first, wear a mask, glasses, goggles, and gloves.
Step Three (Connect And Check All The Connections):
Connect your spray with the hose, then an air compressor, and put all other attachments according to instructions in the manual.
Once you have connected, check all the connections to ensure you have done everything correctly and no leakage.
Step Four (Double-Check About CFM And Pressure):
It is essential for smooth painting that you should make a double-check about CFM and pressure, both should be according to the requirement, but CFM should be more than the required level.
Step Five (Prepare The Paint Material):
Prepare the paint material for painting. You can follow the recommendation to find the ratio. Typically 4: 1 balance is suitable for preparing paint.
There are plenty of thinning agents depending on your requirement such as medium, water, turpentine, acetone, paint-thinner, flow-air, etc.
Step Six (Fill The Spray Gun Cup With Paint & Thinner):
Fill the spray gun cup with paint and thinner mixture; make sure you have filled it adequately. Do not fill it too much or too low; it depends on your requirement.
Step Seven (Test The Spray Machine Before Applying Paint):
Before applying paint on the required surface, it is good to test that your spray machine is flowing correctly.
You may go directly if you are an experienced painter. But if you are a beginner, never apply paint on the required surface before testing it on the cardboard first.
If you need adjustment, then make adjustments by available knobs on the lower and upper portion of the spray gun for pressure, volume, and the right level of the funnel.
Step Eight (Spray Paint On The Surface):
Once everything is okay, start applying paint on the selected surface; once you have applied the first coat, leave it dry.
Once you see it completely dry, check the paint; if needed apply a second coat. Do not apply the next coat until the first one is completely dry.
Step Nine (Clean And Dry The Spray Gun Before Storing):
You have completed your job; it is good, but you will need the spray gun next time, so do not put it filled with paint. Properly extract out the remaining paint material and clean the spray gun with recommended cleaner.
Once the spray gun is cleaned, let it dry. Do not store it in wet condition; before storing, make sure it is clean and dry.
More Quests…..
Air Compressor Requirements For Spray Gun:
What type of air compressor does your spray gun need? It depends on three major factors such as PSI, CFM, and the size of the tank. So, must have known better about How To Use A Spray Gun With An Air Compressor?
Check Pressure Level
It is easy to guess from HVLP that you need low pressure, but it does not mean that you need very low pressure, but it should be enough to guarantee safe and consistent delivery.
You should check the requirements of low pressure according to your spray gun. Typically ten or lower than ten pressure is enough for the painting with an HVLP spray gun, but you should check the specification to know the specific pressure needs of the spray gun.
Consider CFM
The next factor to consider is the CFM; never forget to check it because it is the essential point that affects your spray gun performance. It shows the capability of your compressor to produce air volume in a minute at provided PSI.
Here I will mention one thing: do not rely on the requirement. Always choose a higher pressure than the recommended pressure for your specific spray gun.
If you select the low or equal condition, it may drop, and volume is also lost during work, so always go with a safe path.
Size Of Tank
Finally, the size of your tank is also necessary to consider for choosing the compressor for the spray gun.
Right tank size ensures a consistent supply of material for a smooth painting experience. Always get a large enough size tank that provides maximum storage of air pressure for a regular job.
How To Troubleshoot The Problem Of Air Pressure Even If CFM And Volume Are Proper?
Once you have ensured that the CFM and volume of the compressor tank are working correctly but you are still facing the issue of pressure? What could be the possible reason to troubleshoot the problem?
If you have made all the best efforts to set CFM and Volume, but still you are facing the pressure issue, then the size of the air hose may affect the pressure.
Your air hose should have the proper length and width to ensure the correct pressure level for sound pressure. So, before using learn correctly the combination of How To Use A Spray Gun With An Air Compressor?
1. Check The Narrowness Of The Air Hose.
Some experts say that a bigger hose is better for proper pressure, but the bigger one is always not a good option. For a 5/16 inches hose, you will get less pressure than the 3.8 inches 9.5 mm option.
Typically a hose with ¼ inches is advisable for a hose to be bigger than 5/16 inches to provide proper pressure for HVLP.
2. Check Air Hose Length.
The length of the air hose may also affect the pressure level as the distance increases and the pressure decreases. So for a good pressure level, it is better to keep the distance closed between the hose and spray gun.
3. Mechanism Of Air Compressor Working
The Air compressor contains an engine or motor to provide power. Through the use of power, it compresses the air and delivers it in a pressurized flow to complete the painting tasks.
Air compressors are used for DIY and professional projects to complete tasks with ease.
You can increase the pressure that will turn the paint material into a fine and particulate liquid to deal with painting the surfaces ideally for a thin and fine layer of paint.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): How To Use A Spray Gun With An Air Compressor?
1. What Is An Air Compressor For A Gun?
If you are looking for perfect finishing ideas, you should learn what air compressor suits your gun. When talking about a compressor, it does not mean you can use the compressor with your weapon. It means a suitable air compressor that meets your gun-specific needs.
Each compressor has a different power capacity to produce air pressure in a storage tank for multiple purposes.
So pressure limits of each of the compressors are other that make them suitable for different spray guns. So you must choose the right one that suits your spray gun.
Modern air spray guns use a ” high volume, low pressure” HVLP mechanism for delivery, so it is essential to find a suitable spray paint compressor that provides the required volume and pressure to ensure a consistent and accessible painting job.
2. What Is A Good Pressure For Fine Painting With A Spray Gun?
Generally, it sits between 25 to 30 PSI and some modern spray guns offer a capacity of up to 40 PSI. But it depends on your spray gun model because the requirement is different from spray gun model to model.
3. What Is A Good CFM Level For A Spray Gun?
CFM is an essential factor to consider for the smooth flow of paint through a spray gun. It usually ranges between 10 or lower than 10, and somehow 12 CFM also can be used. But there is no exact CFM because it varies depending upon spray gun models.
4. What Does HVLP Mean?
HVLP means “high volume, low pressure” it means a high volume of air between 10-25 CFM at lower pressure of air between 10 PSI or less.
It is one of the most excellent and efficient types of spray guns that can get you the perfect painting finish. It would help if you also had less paint for painting as compared to other spray gun models.
These spray guns are atomized paint coating by applying high volume but with low pressure. Due to that mechanism, the velocity of the paint decreases, and chances of bouncing back are also reduced, which increases your painting efficiency.
But it would help if you had a higher volume for the HVLP spray gun than another spray gun, so you will also need to get a high-power and big-size compressor for a better painting experience with an HVLP spray gun.
5. Do You Need Quick Disconnect Fittings?
Quick disconnect fittings are the connectors that are hand fitted and allow easy and fast connection and disconnection when required during the painting session.
These are used as the alternative to traditional fitting connectors that were tough to connect and disconnect using different tools. It makes your job easy and quick.
But Do You Need These Fittings Or Not?
Well, it depends on your spray gun model, required volume, and design. Here is also the rising question How To Use A Spray Gun With An Air Compressor?
If the pressure limit lies between 1-25 PSI, you will need the Quick disconnect fitting, but choose the least restrictive units. It is good, but if you use too much, it may also affect your performance.
But it only needs to use QDs if you have a plan to remove the air hose frequently during the work. Note: If you need to remove the air hose or compressor once or twice in the day, then do not use Quick disconnect fittings.
Conclusion:
Finishing a painting job with a spray gun is one of the easiest ways to get a perfect result. But the performance of the spray gun is closely linked with the air compressor.
So it is necessary to know How To Use A Spray Gun With An Air Compressor, and what is the best air compressor that meets the specific needs of your spray gun model for a better painting experience.
