HF HVLP paint gun

[uncletater]

Has anyone had any experience with the HVLP spray gun from Harbor Freight. They are on sale for 12 bucks. I have to paint some cabinet doors and was thinking to give it a shot. For that price I would use it once and trash it. I hate cleaning paint guns. Please share your opinions. Thanks

 

[mds5951]

I have no personal experience but if i remember correctly they were a big hit among budget guns in a couple of the auto forums i used to frequent. I believe ive even heard good things on here. Everywhere seemed to call them "purple guns" ive even seen some really good show cars done with them.

 

[skamp]

Has anyone had any experience with the HVLP spray gun from Harbor Freight. They are on sale for 12 bucks. I have to paint some cabinet doors and was thinking to give it a shot. For that price I would use it once and trash it. I hate cleaning paint guns. Please share your opinions. Thanks

What kind of paint? This is a HVLP gun so latex will not shoot right.

Steve

 

[uncletater]

Sherwin Williams Latex thinned with flotrol to thin it. I have used this method in a old school suction gun with good results in the past.

Why will latex not shoot thru a HVLP gravity gun?

 

[JMcFly]

I've had good results with them
Doing some basic painting. We would
Joke around that there is no need to clean them, just toss them in the scrap metal bin and buy another.

 

[uncletater]

I've had good results with them
Doing some basic painting. We would
Joke around that there is no need to clean them, just toss them in the scrap metal bin and buy another.

What type of paint did you use?

 

[skamp]

Sherwin Williams Latex thinned with flotrol to thin it. I have used this method in a old school suction gun with good results in the past.

Why will latex not shoot thru a HVLP gravity gun?

It may if you thin it enough. It also depends on the tip size. Normally they include a 1.4mm size. I think some may include a 1.8mm which even seems small for thinned latex.

Steve

 

[92GreenYJ]

I've had good results with mine. Used it to paint my brewing system with black high temp BBQ paint thinned down a bit. And used some of the duplicolor auto paint in black to paint the bumpers and roll cage on my Jeep.

 

[mharmon]

I have used them to paint cars and furniture.

With the 1.4 tip you will really need to thin latex. Oil based tends to respond better.

 

[MovingAlong]

I've enjoyed using mine. Used it to spare Valspar Tractor & Implement paint, thinned 5-10%. Also sprayed some Rustoleum Hi-Gloss Red from a quart can, thinned a bit more though...

One thing I knew going in was that they use silicon (seemed like caulking) to seal all the threaded connections inside the gun. Took it apart, cleaned out the silicon pieces that squeezed out and used Teflon tape to seal the threads instead. This guy had a pretty extensive YouTube video on it.

The 1.4mm tip was pretty small for my paint and I had to move fairly slow when spraying. Your mileage will vary.

I've cleaned mine a few times now and plan on keeping it awhile.

 

[shannonw]

I use them all the time, gelcoat, primer, paint. You can get for 9.99. You can get a few uses easily out of them before you say ehhh 10 bucks i'll grab another.

I gravitate them paint->primer->gelcoat after a few times of gelcoat they're more creaky and not worth messing with much.

 

[NUTTSGT]

My neighbor painted a car door with one, that I know of. I looked at it and when he told me what he painted it with, I was impressed.

 

[JMartel]

It may if you thin it enough. It also depends on the tip size. Normally they include a 1.4mm size. I think some may include a 1.8mm which even seems small for thinned latex.

Steve

The combo pack that has the 2 guns is the one that comes with the 1.8mm tip.

http://www.harborfreight.com/professional-automotive-hvlp-spray-gun-kit-94572.html

I have that pack, but haven't been able to use it yet. I need to repaint the motorcycle, but I haven't had time.

 

[Zeke]

Sherwin Williams Latex thinned with flotrol to thin it. I have used this method in a old school suction gun with good results in the past.

Why will latex not shoot thru a HVLP gravity gun?

It will but it won't be optimum. Suction has more power to bring the paint to the air cap. It's all in the general ratio of flow to pressure in order to atomize the paint. You do the fine tuning with the knobs.

Latex-acrylic is heavy and if you thin it enough you will have nothing more than over thinned water laden paint. You could somewhat get away with that on horizontal surfaces on a hot day spraying light coats.

As I said, it isn't optimum. Also most acrylic latex house paint has pretty coarse fillers in it. I guess a lot of oil enamels do too.

One more thing is that the latex is lots of little strings. That's why it's added to paint. It provides flexibility to stretch. It sprays OK when the power is there.

 

[JMcFly]

What type of paint did you use?

It was for doing props and some basic body work so usually crappy paint.

 

[nehog]

I have five guns. My go to gun is a dirt cheap Chinese import gun that I got first, and paid the least for!

 

[arturo7]

Would this gun be OK for shooting epoxy primer?

 

[Shadowdog500]

This one did a pretty good job on the tank on my old bike even with the $8 can of tractor paint from tractor supply. This was my first paint job ever.

Here is a link to a page that gives the setup for the gun because the instructions that come with the gun ****. The factory instructors has the boilerplate diagram showing that you need a line oiler in the system. WTF!!!

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/techinfo/HVLPspraygun.html

Shot the primer with it too.

 

[brownbagg]

if its the purple gun, its better than my high dollar gun, and yes i think it was about 12 dollars

 

[My2boys]

A friend and I both have that gun and we have sprayed fiberglass speaker boxes, interior parts, and body panels and never had any trouble with them. I have never sprayed anything but automotive paint through them but I have been impressed with how well they work.

 

[sxk122]

I too have the purple gun, I love using it for enamel and poly. For latex pain, I use the lvlp canister gun they sell. Works well for smallish projects/ trim. http://www.harborfreight.com/household-low-volume-low-pressure-spray-gun-92841.html

 

[uncletater]

Thank you everyone for your feedback.

 

[GarageNewbie24]

Used one to spray some stain for a custom aquarium stand I built. No issues, worked fantastic. Didnt clean it out though after use so i'm gonna toss it and go buy a new one.

 

[Wine-o1]

Just got the new flyer in the mail and on the front page they have these for $10. I may just have to pick up a few now lol.

 

[Falcon67]

Just got the new flyer in the mail and on the front page they have these for $10. I may just have to pick up a few now lol.

Not fair! $12.99 in my flyer. I'm gettin' ripped off here