Electric Airless Spray Gun

[EurasiaOverland]

Hi

I've been lurking for some time, but now need to ask some questions.

I am doing a rebuild on a 1993 Toyota Hilux, and it's about to be painted. I was toying with the idea of doing it myself, but the expense of equipment needed to spray 2K safely has put me off. So the plan is to get the panels to bare metal, then give them to a bodyshop.

There are parts however which I want to paint myself, things like the chassis (which has been hot-zinc sprayed), underbody bash guards, fuel tank etc. Stuff which does not have to have a perfect finish, but is liable to considerable stone-chip / road muck.

I've got some Rustbuster 2K epoxy mastic paint, which is good stuff I'm sure, hardens to what I imagine will be a very durable finish. The trouble is, it looks awful when applied by brush, even when thinned to the max.

As far as I know, it is basically Jotamastic marine primer (wish I'd known this before I'd bought it as the Jotun stuff is way cheaper). I was reading the technical data and see that it can be applied by airless spray gun.

Am I naive in thinking that I could spray this stuff with something like this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EARLEX-HV3500-SPRAY-STATION-500W/360772439773?_trksid=p2045573.m2042&_trkparms=aid=111000&algo=REC.CURRENT&ao=1&asc=27&meid=4206584899039720403&pid=100033&prg=1011&rk=1&rkt=4&sd=360772439773&

Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to try to spray the whole truck with it, I just though that for £60 I can forget about the expense of a compressor, air lines, water / oil filters / spray gun etc etc, and can forget about the hideous brush marks. It seems like a good cheap way to spray an isocyanate-free 2K (I'll use a new 3M organic vapour half face respirator mask) product which will give very good rust protection.

Or am I dreaming about this?

Also, a more automotive-oriented epoxy primer is the Lechler 29107 Epoxy Primer.... could I spray this with the electric airless spray unit?

Thanks very much

Daniel

 

[zx9]

I don't doubt it would handle the epoxy primer but I would be concerned about the solvents attacking the plastic spray gun. Myself and a couple of others on the forum use Earlex HV 5000 sprayers which have metal spray guns and pots but cost about twice as much.

 

[EurasiaOverland]

Thanks for your response. Good point regards the plastic components, I hadn't thought of that... Even at twice the price, it's a big saving on the compressor kit though.

What kind of stuff do you spray with it, if you don't mind me asking?

What is the standard needle size on the gun?

Do you reckon it could handle something like Dinitrol stone-chip and cavity wax??

I assume it actually uses some kind of low volume compressor, can it be used as an air gun, e.g. to give a quick blast of air to clean something, or is it truly airless??

Thanks

Daniel

 

[richie00boy]

The airless mentioned in the Jotun datasheets are professional units that operate at around 3000 PSI, they are not comparable to the cheap airless handheld sprayers.

With a cheap airless handlhed sprayer you can thin the epoxy and spray it, but as has been said the plastics may be affected. There is also an explosion risk as they use brushed motors.

The Earlex 5000 units use a turbine to generate lots of airflow at low pressure, as opposed to a compressor which generates not that much airflow but it's higher pressure. I doubt they would cope with stonechip, maybe somebody can confirm. They can't be used for blowing things clean as they don't have any real pressure.

 

[zx9]

Sorry I did not see your reply untill today.

Thanks for your response. Good point regards the plastic components, I hadn't thought of that... Even at twice the price, it's a big saving on the compressor kit though.

What kind of stuff do you spray with it, if you don't mind me asking?

I bought it eighteen months ago to spray the walls and ceilings of a thirty odd square meter loft extension and new landing. Slow going, it took the best part of a weekend to do, when they returned the contractors were well impressed with the finish they thought I had had it done professionally. Since then it has been used for enamel on various household bits and epoxy primer / 2K on brackets and small pannels for my Range Rover rebuild. I have a graverty fed gun and compressor which gets used for bigger panels, the hoover like sound of the Earlex seems to travel less than the sound of my compressor which is the main reason I still use it.

What is the standard needle size on the gun?

2mm

http://www.earlex.com/hv5000-accessories.php#select link to selecting other needle sizes

Do you reckon it could handle something like Dinitrol stone-chip and cavity wax??

If thinned yes but the texture of the stone chip would be very 'un factory', if the wax is warmed in a water bath yes but I doubt you would get the wax into cavitys smaller than the inside of a door, not ideal I would have thought.

I assume it actually uses some kind of low volume compressor, can it be used as an air gun, e.g. to give a quick blast of air to clean something, or is it truly airless??

They are a constant bleed low pressure high volume system so you could use the blow off dust from components or panels but not small areas / voids as you may with a conventional blow gun on an airline.

 

[EurasiaOverland]

Thanks for the replies guys. With metal spray gun / cup it sounds like a good way to spray (thinned) epoxy mastic paint onto all the bits that live under the bodywork. Will leave the stonechip to the bodyshop and probably use the aerosols to put the Dinitrol cavity wax in.

Cheers!