airless sprayer quick question

[billconner]

I'm thinking of buying a Graco X5 or X7 - reconditioned if I can find one - initially to paint - solid stain - my barn/garage.

How long can I pause, to go down and up a repositioned ladder for instance? I just can't get a sense of how fast it sets up.

 

[Walkers]

Are you talking about in the gun/hose? In that case days.

 

[billconner]

I'm asking about in the machine. Didn't know how long I could let it idle while moving ladder to etc.

 

[KenC]

It will bypass when the trigger isn't pulled. Like all pumped fluids it heats in those conditions. But I've never experienced any issues with 2-3 minute pauses.

My ancient Graco with the exposed pump cylinder used an accumulator and actually stopped the motor when not needed.

 

[BobnCO]

Yup you can go to lunch etc… you can drop gun in bucket of water but no one i know does that but me!

 

[The Cobbler]

you could probably leave it for days in between if you cleaned up the outside of the gun/hose etc.
but hours for sure would be no problems.
just keep your gun & hose clean so you don't struggle with cleaning of drying paint

 

[jar944]

I've left my airless for days while spraying cabinet parts.

 

[pcmeiners]

"I just can't get a sense of how fast it sets up."

Do not worry about paint solidifying in the hose/gun/nachine, though I clean my hose/gun at the end of the day, sometimes twice a day when spraying >6-8 hours; I would not dare leave paint in the system for a week . It can require a good bit of cleaning, especially the gun and hose but it is worth it as it can apply an incredible amount of paint in a day. You can spray so fast, up and down a ladder gets tiring. Painted the entire inside of a homes >2000 squft with oil or latex primer in a day, (after masking), same with the exterior. As the cobbler mention cleaning dried paint is not fun, it can take hours if at all .

 

[billconner]

I obviously have no idea how these work. Just seems worth it with a good size rough sawn board and batten building. Better than roller and brush.

So just keep paint on exterior wiped/rinsed off, and I don't need to clean entire machine for lunch?

 

[jar944]

It will bypass when the trigger isn't pulled. Like all pumped fluids it heats in those conditions. But I've never experienced any issues with 2-3 minute pauses.

My ancient Graco with the exposed pump cylinder used an accumulator and actually stopped the motor when not needed.

The x5 or x7 stop pumping once the reach the set pressure point.

 

[The Cobbler]

^^ correct
now you bring up another point.
with rough sawn lumber you will need to hit it at several angels to get everything covered properly . may even want to back roll it after spraying a section.
tip size matters too. practice on a small area before you go into it full speed

 

[yatg]

The x5 or x7 stop pumping once the reach the set pressure point.

^^ this. It pumps when you pull the trigger. If you hear it pumping continuously, then you're out of paint in the bucket or something is very wrong.

 

[mcj115]

A word of caution....choose the standpoint you want to shoot prior to getting a sprayer.... I have a Graco tradeworks 150 ( similar to current x5) but can only spray up to a 517 tip. With some exterior coatings may call for a 515 or similar tip.
I am happy with my smaller machine but if I could do it over I may go with a x7.

I would not buy a current x5 machine since they only give you a 25 ft hose vs a 50 I got. Also I believe the gun is a little nicer ( with a swivel) to prevent hose kinks.

Depending I have seen some killer deals on refurbished x7s on eBay with no hose or gun....the just go with a cheapie set from vevor or similar.

Also spring for extension wands for the gun this makes shooting taller outside object a little easier.

 

[billconner]

Thank you all.

A lot to consider. The X7 is tempting. Definitely want the extension wand - pretty sure that keeps me on the ground for sides.

At 71 not sure how many more projects I have left but it even if I use it and sell on it after, I'm a lot further ahead than rollers and brushes on a 28 x 32 with tall gable walls and exposed rafter tails.

 

[tncatadjuster]

Airless is great, I highly recommend to back roll everything sprayed. I’m doing my building now, spray backroll then rest, repeat. As stated you can let the machine stop with paint in it for a day at a time if needed. Buy a good extension pole, with good cover and park it between application. Take a kitchen trash bag and wrap the roller between uses. I used one roller per side of building. You will be amazed at how well this works.

 

[billconner]

Here is back side of garage/barn. (I cut in around windows before I installed the sash, thinking it would make painting easier later.) Also have not installed battens or trim - planning on them shrinking and will preparing them on ground.

It's the open eaves and rafter tails that most leads me to spraying.

 

[strutaeng]

Yeah, I would also consider back rolling or back brushing for a rough texture. It gets the paint into the rough pores to adhere better.

My 2 car detached garage has rough board and batten cedar siding. I washed and scrubbed with a stiff bristle brush and a cleaner.

I sprayed and back rolled/brush with some Glidden semigloss exterior. That was about 6 years ago and still looks great.

 

[dfiler2]

Great looking building! My airless sprayer is one of my favorite tools, probably because I hate painting. I've had mine for almost 20 years and I painted a house and a fence with it just in the past few months. I have a Campbell Hausfeld that I got from Menards. As far as your original question about leaving it when you move the ladder, mine has a bypass valve that I turn if it's going to be left running for more than a few minutes, I've never had a problem with it. There are a couple of filters you need to clean, one at the bottom of the pickup tube and one in the gun itself otherwise just make sure you clean it well after using. The backrolling doesn't make much sense to me, especially on a rough surface, I've never needed to do it. Maybe on a smooth interior wall but never outside.

 

[tncatadjuster]

The backrolling doesn't make much sense to me, especially on a rough surface, I've never needed to do it. Maybe on a smooth interior wall but never outside.

You don't have to back roll, the decision is yours. I did not on my first airless job and it showed with time. There is a big difference between flooding something with a coating and spraying it, the roller pushes paint into places a sprayer alone will not, remember you are doing your best to apply a water barrier. If I sprayed your building and did not back roll, I would consider it cheating the customer. If I did that to myself again it would really bother me.
Spraying is a fun and easy, you see the progress at once, which encourages you to just spray it all and be done, where back rolling forces you to do relatively small areas and then quickly start rolling before the paint skims over. Overspray is easy to do, you are placing a lot of paint in a short amount of time, if you hit air not wood it can be overwhelming if there is wind.

Think of an airless as simply a way to get the paint on the wall before you work it, it can deposit a lot of paint just where you need it before finishing the application with roller or brush.

Enjoy, as the power of an airless is intoxicating.

 

[yatg]

Thank you all.

A lot to consider. The X7 is tempting. Definitely want the extension wand - pretty sure that keeps me on the ground for sides.

At 71 not sure how many more projects I have left but it even if I use it and sell on it after, I'm a lot further ahead than rollers and brushes on a 28 x 32 with tall gable walls and exposed rafter tails.

Get the X7. It has a slightly more HP (.625 compared to .5) and can spray with a larger tip size (x17 compared to x15). The x in the tip sizes are the spray fan width, a 517 sprays a 10" width, a 217 sprays a 4" width. You might want a narrower tip for the open eaves to reduce overspray.

Both of them now come with 25 foot hoses so you'll want at least a 25 foot extension (+ male coupler) for your gables.

A whip at the gun makes hose management easier. The hose is stiffer than you think and shooting into the open eaves will require a lot of different positions.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CPE6L7K/?tag=atomicindus08-20

And it goes without saying to practice before you hit the real project. Get the timing right of pulling the trigger after the gun is moving, and keeping the gun at the correct distance and parallel to the surface you're painting.

 

[Zeke]

I sprayed for a painting company for a few years. 1000's of gallons. I went out on my own and did painting for 10 years as a business. I've never stopped, but the times between dipping a brush are getting further in between except at my own house.

I have a Graco ST395 still in the original box but it's been used a couple dozen times. Great piece of kit but not worth selling even though it is as clean as new inside and out. The estate sellers will get 100 for it. If that.

There is LOT to spraying. You don't know what you don't know until you've got 100 hours in. Like which way to hold it if there is a breeze or how to pin down drops so the gun velocity doesn't lift them up. Pole guns should mostly be limited to one section. Never point the gun any way but 90º to the surface avoiding 'fanning'. And certainly don't accidentally pull the trigger near your skin or you will inject paint into your body.

The only exception to the 90 degree rule is heavy texture. Backrolling is almost a must on anything with texture. Interior walls don't need it. Interior trim doesn't want it.

I could go on for chapters so if you have specific questions, post 'em up.

 

[pcmeiners]

"Think of an airless as simply a way to get the paint on the wall before you work it, it can deposit a lot of paint just where you need it before finishing the application with roller or brush."

The issue with airless sprayers ....

First, if you can not spray a car well, you not going to do airless well.

Unless you get a professional airless sprayer you need to roll the paint after spraying in many applications. My first airless was a pneumatic Graco originally costing about $4000 (in 1980). What a pleasure, even pressure, flawless coverage and could flow paint on as fast as you could move your arm. In one coat I could put on a coat equivalent of two coats with a roller, lost that unit years back .
Purchased an Graco x5 to do the inside of closets and a utility basement a couple years back, worked fine for that use. Tried to paint a bedroom with it, found it sub par. Pressure regulation ***** due to the machine turns off if the gun trigger is not pulled. So when the trigger is again pulled, the pressure is initially higher for a seconds, than lowers a bit, giving a less than even coat, very irritating. End result, I resorted to having to roll after spraying. Just purchased a Graco 490, a pro machine which has superior pressure regulation and sustained pressure, it comes in tomorrow.
If you have a large paint job to do, as in a large garage or the entire interior or exterior of a home either rent or buy a professional airless sprayer.

 

[billconner]

"Think of an airless as simply a way to get the paint on the wall before you work it, it can deposit a lot of paint just where you need it before finishing the application with roller or brush."

The issue with airless sprayers ....

First, if you can not spray a car well, you not going to do airless well.

Unless you get a professional airless sprayer you need to roll the paint after spraying in many applications. My first airless was a pneumatic Graco originally costing about $4000 (in 1980). What a pleasure, even pressure, flawless coverage and could flow paint on as fast as you could move your arm. In one coat I could put on a coat equivalent of two coats with a roller, lost that unit years back .
Purchased an Graco x5 to do the inside of closets and a utility basement a couple years back, worked fine for that use. Tried to paint a bedroom with it, found it sub par. Pressure regulation ***** due to the machine turns off if the gun trigger is not pulled. So when the trigger is again pulled, the pressure is initially higher for a seconds, than lowers a bit, giving a less than even coat, very irritating. End result, I resorted to having to roll after spraying. Just purchased a Graco 490, a pro machine which has superior pressure regulation and sustained pressure, it comes in tomorrow.
If you have a large paint job to do, as in a large garage or the entire interior or exterior of a home either rent or buy a professional airless sprayer.

Do you consider the graco magnum X7 to be a professional sprayer? My plan before thinking about sprayers was a roller.

 

[mcj115]

Do you consider the graco magnum X7 to be a professional sprayer? My plan before thinking about sprayers was a roller.

Graco also offers a pressure roller attachment for airless sprayers, that would get paint applied quick and also rolled out.

 

[pcmeiners]

Have not used the X7, but it has the same features as the x5. The more advanced features start with the Graco 390.
If you could just rent a pro unit from home depot, the following model (Graco 390 ? or equal) $115 a day, you could finish in 1 day. To finish in one day you would need to be prepped before hand. All stain or paint on hand, different tips, all masking completed, all cleaning agents on hand etc. since your new at airless spraying have rollers on hand, good quality, wide and short size and decent paint brushes, masks, lastly rent the roller attachment just in case. Exterior painting and stain is much less exacting then interior rooms/doors/molding.

Graco PRO Paint Sprayer Rental 249914 - The Home Depot

Rent a PRO Paint Sprayer Rental from one of our over 1,200 THD rental locations. Call your local store for same day pickup availability.

www.homedepot.com

To give you an idea of speed...Painted two story homes (2000sqft) off a ladder in one day, after all prep work. Moving the 40ft ladder alone took most of the time, and was the most work. Masking is critical work, use good masking tape (Frog), take your time. Cleanup from poor masking can be tedious. Once your done spraying and the stain/paint is dry to the touch remove the masking the same day if possible, if not possible, within a couple days. The masking comes off extremely fast the first day. Expect a long day if your doing this alone, as removing the masking, general cleaning and machine cleaning takes time. Good part is your mostly 1 story, which is safer and faster using a ladder. As to the spray gun, just like spraying a car, have your gun moving as you pull the trigger, as Zeke pointed out, 90 degrees to the surface, your hand moving as you let off the trigger. Again exterior work is more forgiving/easier.

There is no reason you could not mask and trim paint, then roll the entire building. It will just take longer. As a note once you use a good airless unit, you will not want to brush or roll a large area again.

 

[billconner]

For whatever reason, only HD within 50 or more miles has no rental. A local (30 mi) rental has one for $100/day, below. I cut in all windows and doors, so masking should be easy. saved cardboard from windows, so just drip edge and foundation to mask. Easy.

 

[pcmeiners]

As to the foundation, If you have a 2 ft flat straight piece of thin metal, 6" wide you can use that to catch the over spray. The first unit I had produced little over spray, I could shoot your wood wall with 1 inch masking tape and not get any spray on the foundation; that was before my essencial tremor started, now my hands are not so steady.

 

[billconner]

I was watching you tubes and saw a second person with a pole mounted masking piece, at least for eave (drip edge (or gutter) and foundation. Seemed efficient. As photo shows, windows and doors cut in already.

I suppose I should try a side with roller - 17" 3/4" nap - and see how it goes. Sore shoulders for a few days but I'll survive to that.

 

[Zeke]

The trick to no over spray is to keep the gun at 12" and at 90º to the surface. Don't fan as I said above. Act like a robot. When you get to the corner, stop. Paint that by hand too. If you overshoot the corner a bit you may get a face full of paint, or some will swirl a little and land on the glass. Same with the overhang, try not to shoot the back of the facia or barge rafter as some of your paint will be airborne. 98% of the paint should land on the wall and stick or you're not doing it optimally. I see you are using brown. I've seen way too many jobs where white paint swirled up and over and got the shingles. Looks like **** and there is nothing you can do at that point.

Overlapping is by practice. You want to overlap but you don't want runs or holidays. Like a robot.

I'd use a shield and do the bottom first being careful to not spray past the end of the shield. We all have. That's why it's a good idea to have a bucket and a stiff brush nearby.

Being that the siding is vertical I would turn the tip horizontal and spray up and down. It will fill the grooves better as you will see. If you do 2 coats (recommended), then go side to side. Or vice versa, doesn't matter.

The main thing is to try hard to not let any paint NOT hit the wood. It's a waste of paint and that's where most overspray comes from. These are not at all like guns that use air. Get a little too far away and the spray fan will draw in air and create turbulence. Get closer when that happens.

 

[billconner]

It's Atlantic Blue - a very dark blue solid stain. And just the boards of board and batten. Painting and installing battens after boards painted so shrinkage doesn't reveal unpainted wood.

 

[Zeke]

^^^^smart

 

[pcmeiners]

"Being that the siding is vertical I would turn the tip horizontal and spray up and down. It will fill the grooves better as you will see. If you do 2 coats (recommended), then go side to side. Or vice versa, doesn't matter."

Agree... If you do two coats you can thin the stain a bit if it is a bit heavy for the tip. Far easier to get complete coverage with 2 coats. For the inexperienced, getting full coverage in one coat would be much harder. Make sure you get the correct tips for the type stain, verify your tip size needs at the Graco website. Definitely get different spray width sizes, along will the correct size for viscosity.

Wait to you see how fast you can paint with an airless, pretty amazing.

 

[Zeke]

"Atlantic Blue." I think I know a similar color. I had a customer order "Dark Storm." Nice color. Yours looks almost black.

 

[pcmeiners]

Tip chart....

https://images.homedepot-static.com/catalog/pdfImages/5e/5e1dcece-45e7-4e5b-8c42-1689de852a8b.pdf

My Graco 490 came in yesterday supposedly a refurb with possible scuff/overspray. Luckily it is brand new, not a scuff on it. Not bad for $1347.

 

[billconner]

Well beyond my needs. I started this with idea of Graco X5 reconditioned in the $200-250 range.

pcmeiners, you're only about 3 hours from me.............

 

[pcmeiners]

Not suggesting you buy, the one you showed for rental is about equal, $100 for the day is worth it.

only about 3 hours from me....
Sorry I can not volunteer, I am overloaded right here. Ahead of me this year are 4 minisplits, electric water heater, really large water filter system, deck needing painting, garage lighting, that is just this year.

 

[billconner]

I get it.

ps - should have added Bloomsburg is a nice place. Visited once or twice. My mom graduated from Bloomsburg Normal as it was called at the time. Class of 1928.

 

[Zeke]

Yeah, a 517 will put out the paint! I've used a 19 but never a 21. You use a 19 on warehouse walls. Easily 150 gallons a day.

 

[pcmeiners]

"Class of 1928."

Wow I can only imaging. Likely the roads were cobblestones as, likely cows roamed them. My house is up on a hill, farms in front and behind my property, nice neighbors nearby.

 

[billconner]

She was very proud of her new model A with a rumble seat. Born and raised on a farm between Montrose and Kingsley.