Spraying epoxy primer with airless sprayer outdoors?

[hooblah]

I need to do a few bit in the engine bay and chassis of my car. I don't want to use my compressor for spraying as its a faff and spits out water even with a water trap on the gun. I was thinking of using an airless sprayer as i've heard good things. I don't know much about them so wouldn't mind some opinions.

I've never used epoxy primer before, but I've read that it's quite thick. Is this true? Will this be an issue?

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

I've never used epoxy primer before, but I've read that it's quite thick. Is this true? Will this be an issue?

Without thinner, 2K epoxy primer is quite thick. I add about 10%. The other day I painted and will still be, but with an air gun.

 

[mr haynes]

Do you mean using a turbine gun i.e. like a reverse hoover/hairdryer style?
Or
True airless system?

 

[hooblah]

Do you mean using a turbine gun i.e. like a reverse hoover/hairdryer style?
Or
True airless system?

I don't know the difference.

 

[mr haynes]

For example:

This

Work Expert Electric Paint Sprayer Spray Garden Fence Decking Painting Varnish 5017730871126 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Work Expert Electric Paint Sprayer Spray Garden Fence Decking Painting Varnish at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

Or

SiteMate SM700 HVLP High Volume Low Pressure Turbine Paint Sprayer Spray Gun | eBay

Works fine with standard fence paints (i.e. Ronseal), just water them down a bit to put less stress on the sprayer. saves buying the hugely expensive "sprayable" paints! Used but in good working condition,has given many years of great service.

www.ebay.co.uk

Or

This

Pardon our interruption...

 

[hooblah]

Hmm. Without spending exorbitant amounts, which one of those will give me a decent finish? And what are the differences?

 

[500e]

The true airless £700+ is Not the thing you want, the electric ones I have never used but would think they are for thin materials, people talk about garden fence stains (thin).
You need to look at the water traps for spraying on here not a lot of money to make and good enough
You do drain tank regularly
Have a look at Paint at top left of page and some one will also put up a picture of their ideas

 

[mr haynes]

If you don't want to brush paint the cheap turbine setups should be fine for what you want to do.
I will qualify this though, i haven't tried the current cheap turbines but used to use one on chassis stuff for convenience.
Pretty much use as you would with a compressor setup.

 

[ChrisBailey]

I can recomend the PCL dropout. I used one on my compressor in april to paint some acrylic on MDF.
The dropout caught lots of water and no water go to the glass bowl filter immediately after it.

 

[Domdom]

+1 for a dropout. Makes a world of difference.

 

[hooblah]

Thanks. I'll take a look into a dropout. It would seem that a separator needs mounting to a wall. The issue I have is that I don't have a solid line mounted to the wall, just a hose that comes straight out of the compressor and gets dumped somewhere convenient when not in use. Hence only having a water trap on the spray gun inlet...

Looking at the turbine ones, you've got handheld units for under £50, which then go into the hundreds. And you've got standalone units like apollo and fuji which start in the hundreds.
Now i'd rather have something that uses a gun with a small pot, like a gravity fed gun. Does such a thing exist?

 

[Domdom]

As long as the compressor is out of the way a bit you can mount a decent set of filters and a dropout on the compressor outlet. I did this for years without issue. It also protects air tools from moisture which will rust them internally.

I sort of question, when you have a compressor, why looks for an airless sprayer? Perhaps there are other reasons, but unless you’re spraying a fence the airless units are not as good as an air driven one,

 

[vw1]

I had an apollo 1500 s3 . I used it for epoxy in the pasted with 2.0mm for chassis parts and it was fuss free and done the job perfectly. Cost me £400 new had it for 5 years or so and was very happy. I even used it for clear coat and came out well with 1.8mm

Sold it recently on the bay for good money.

 

[hooblah]

As long as the compressor is out of the way a bit you can mount a decent set of filters and a dropout on the compressor outlet. I did this for years without issue. It also protects air tools from moisture which will rust them internally.

I sort of question, when you have a compressor, why looks for an airless sprayer? Perhaps there are other reasons, but unless you’re spraying a fence the airless units are not as good as an air driven one,

So just have it all rigidly mounted to the gun? How does that work? Won't you then be swinging around all that stuff as you paint?

The compressor needs to be moved from place to place so not ideal. It's only a 50l unit so it runs out of steam quite quickly. Continuously have to empty it of water etc.

 

[Domdom]

So just have it all rigidly mounted to the gun? How does that work? Won't you then be swinging around all that stuff as you paint?

The compressor needs to be moved from place to place so not ideal. It's only a 50l unit so it runs out of steam quite quickly. Continuously have to empty it of water etc.

No, mount it all on the outlet of the compressor. Then plug the hose into that, and connect the other end to the gun.

 

[fizzy]

Proper airless sprayers designed for epoxy paints are silly money. A world away from the cheap little things used by DIYers. They are basically pressure washers for paint. Operate at 3000psi and are awesome.
I know DCAL on here has had good results with normal air spraying. Lots of thinners and a big 2mm tip are the answer.

 

[Domdom]

Lots of thinners and a big 2mm tip are the answer.

The ANI F160 gun can be had with a 2.5mm tip. This is what I used for Jotun87 Epoxy primer which came out like this. 4:1 Epoxy/Hardener and 20% thinners.

 

[fizzy]

The ANI F160 gun can be had with a 2.5mm tip. This is what I used for Jotun87 Epoxy primer which came out like this. 4:1 Epoxy/Hardener and 20% thinners.

View attachment 354188

Very nice indeed!

 

[500e]

Dont even think of the airless ours are north of £2k each, then cleaning is a pitta they are for big areas, we have 3 one always needling seal kit.
Interesting about the electric
This one?

Apollo Pro-spray 1500 HVLP Sprayer Kit (Top Seller) - Apollo HVLP Sprayers | Apollo

Apollo Pro-spray 1500 HVLP Sprayer Kit (Top Seller) Apollo HVLP Sprayers

www.hvlp.co.uk

 

[Dcal]

Gravity gun with 2.5 nozzle and slightly over thinned as @Domdom says, but if you need to spray overhead a gravity gun is as pain to use.
If you have a roll over jig or similar they are perfect.