Airless paint equipment
Understanding the difference between air-powered paint equipment and airless paint equipment will help you to choose the appropriate machine for your projects. Paint sprayers offer speedy painting and high quality finishes. Both types of paint sprayers are capable of spraying all types of finishes, but each one is best suited for spraying specific paint and finishing products.
Air-Powered Sprayer
An air-powered paint sprayer is best known as an HVLP sprayer (HVLP stands for high volume low pressure). This means that a high volume of product is sprayed under low air pressure.
Airless Sprayer
Airless paint sprayers make use of a pump to force paint through a hose. This type of paint sprayer uses high amounts of pressure to emit high volumes of paint.
Features
Each type of sprayer has its own features. An HVLP sprayer uses an air-powered base. One end of an air hose is attached to the HVLP base or machine, and the other end of the hose is attached to a paint canister and gun. An airless paint sprayer also has a hose with one end connected to the sprayer and the other end connected directly to a paint gun. Paint canisters are not needed with an airless paint sprayer.
Function
An HVLP sprayer functions by sending air through the hose and into the gun. When the trigger is squeezed, part of the air is redirected into the canister. The air flowing into the canister forces the paint to rise up a tube and out the gun nozzle. The diverted air decreases in pressure when it mixes with the paint. The result is a fine spray under low pressure.
Airless paint sprayers do not used compressed air to operate. An airless sprayer has a pump that draws paint from a container and then forces the paint through a hose. At the opposite end of the hose is a gun without a canister. Inside the gun is a valve that opens when the trigger is squeezed, allowing the pressurized paint to flow from a small tip. The paint emits from the gun at a high volume and under high pressure.
Benefits
The benefit of an HVLP sprayer is that it does not create lots of overspray. Because the paint is under low pressure, there is very little bounce back of the paint. These sprayers are used to spray fine finishes when overspray will cause problems. They are also used to spray expensive finishes such as lacquer. There is very little waste of your product when you use an HVLP.
An airless sprayer also creates a fine finish, but it also creates a lot of overspray. When the product hits the surface being painted, bounce back occurs. This just means that because the paint is under so much pressure that some of it bounces from the surface being painted. The main benefit of an airless paint sprayer is speed. Large areas can be painted quickly with this type of sprayer.
Warning
Always wear protective gear when using powered paint sprayers. Respirators must be warn when spraying lacquer or epoxy and dust masks when spraying latex products. Safety glasses should be worn at all times. All it takes is a little bit of wind to blow paint back in your face. Never put your hand in the path of paint coming from an airless sprayer. The high pressure will embed the paint in your skin and could cause blood poisoning.
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