Does this look right ?

[RogerS]

Just tried to fire up a replacement airless sprayer. Not priming at all and no suction up the inlet pipe. I'll be calling the supplier tomorrow but in the meantime been doing the various checks that we did last time on the first faulty unit and when I remove the outlet dooberry it looks to my untutored eyes to be manky as hell and if the insides are the same then no wonder it's not working. It's been used but never cleaned is my guess but I'm not an expert on these things.

 

[RogerS]

I'm now in a position to answer this !

I bought the first airless sprayer from Local Tool Supplies or LTS in Blackburn. On delivery, unable to prime it. Some excellent support from their engineer over the phone still failed to get it to prime and so they arranged to collect it from me and send a replacement.

Replacement arrived - the one in the photo - and ditto. Unable to prime it despite telephone support. But this time the response was 'Send it back to us. The last one worked OK'. How much will that cost ? £5 using Parcel2Go. Yeah, right. 15kg..insurance value £350. £5 ? I don't think so. So bit the bullet and drove it down to Blackburn. Engineer tried in vain to get it to work. He commented that it was unusual for two to fail. Two ? Ah, OK, so the owner was a lying bastard when he told me that the first one 'worked OK when we got it'.

I knew judging by the owners' demeanor that the chances of me getting my fuel refunded for the wasted journey was zero so I didn't even bother to ask.

Third one ..."Let's unpack and test it" says I. Which we did and it worked.

Will I go back to LTS ? Not a chance.

The crud in the photo?

'Left over from when they tested it in the factory'. Yeah, right. BS.

 

[Gone fishinf]

Roger

It looks like a worker from LTS took it home for a bit of home decorating and forgot the instructions :shock:

 

[Robert]

Got a tripod for your phone so you can video you using it?

Could be entertaining

Glad you have a working machine now. Don't forget to clean it afterwards

 

[RogerS]

I'm darned glad that I didn't take you up on your suggestion, Robert! If anyone knows of a quicker way to get things totally covered in paint then I'd be interested to hear of it.




Rule 1 - make sure ALL your connections are tight before yanking up the pressure

I've got the measure of the machine in getting it primed (ie getting all the air out). I have an awful long way to go to spray decently though. It seems to use a hell of a lot more paint than a brush or roller but then maybe I'm not comparing like for like.

After the first go I was pretty demoralised as I seemed to have more paint anywhere but on the wall. I even got out the roller and started using that but soon remembered why I wanted to go down the sprayer route. So I persevered and the next passes were much better. I need to do some research into distance from the wall.

You also need to premix your paint (in large quantities) as you do run out. You almost need someone topping up the paint tin. Found that I needed to dilute the paint much more than the tech guy from Little Greene suggested.

This is the first pass.



Ignore the damp patch. That was as result of me not noticing that after I'd primed it, it was squirting out water everywhere. Second pass on a different wall doesn't seem too bad.



and compared to brushing or rollering, it's damn quick!

 

[Malc2098]

That second one looks good, Roger.

I'm going to try my Wagner on the inside of my 'shop, (if I ever get round to finishing the lining)!

Anyone tried a Wagner for these types of job?

 

[MJ80]

Hey, what tip size are you using. I've got the big Graco MK V for painting and spray plastering. I did all my ceilings in an hour and a bit. Remember to wear a mask. Are you back rolling after spraying as well?
I ended up rolling the walls as I was really worried about overspray on the ceiling. On the next house I'm going to give it a go with a spray shield and using it for the woodwork as well.

 

[RogerS]

No idea on tip size, I'm afraid. Mine's not in the same league as a Graco

 

[Robert]

I've done plenty of conventional spraying and now use a fuji HVLP system but I've never tried airless.

Does the gun have the same sort of controls? paint flow. fan size. that sort of thing or is it just squeeze the trigger and it is what it is...?

 

[RogerS]

.... is it just squeeze the trigger and it is what it is...?

It is what it is...I think. Not yet had enough use to know if I can gently squeeze the trigger to get a slower flow.

 

[MJ80]

It is either on or off. Flow rate is related to the pressure setting on the pump and the size of the tip used combined with the material that is being sprayed. They can be quite a blunt instrument, but can be quite versatile with the right selection of tips.
I wouldn't mind a smaller machine as mine takes loads to get it primed, but can't justify it for the amount of work it will do before I sell it. But what it allowed me to do with the spray plaster saved me a fortune.
If you want more control then airless air assisted systems are the way forward. They have your standard gun controls and the grunt of the airless system. I used to hire one when I was making windows and external doors as the Morells Omnia finish is like treacle and my pressure pot couldn't cope with it. They are seriously good bits of kit, I think it was a wagner, the gun was superb.

 

[RogerS]

..... as the Morells Omnia finish is like treacle and my pressure pot couldn't cope with it. .....

That's a very good point, MJ, and one that I forgot to mention. The tech guy at Little Greene suggested 30% dilution for the initial coat and then 10% dilution for the second coat. No way can I get away with that on my sprayer. Needs much more dilution as Little Greene paint is a fabulous paint and stuffed full of pigments.

Now if I was using coloured water aka Farrow and Ball then I'd probably not need to dilute it at all ! F&B paint always reminds me of that joke about drinking Watney's and making love in a canoe.

 

[RogerS]

Thought I'd give an update on this.

After making the initial coating, I finally got round to spraying the second coat. I've got the priming down to a fine art but this airless sprayer has turned out to be a CoS. Failed to get any sort of pressure. I ended up diluting the paint more and more and more. Resulting in runs and runs and runs.

I remain committed to the spray painting idea although it does use a lot more paint. Just need to think about getting a better sprayer. Two names that seem to crop up at the top of any list are Graco and Wagner but they have so many models, hard to decide which to get.

 

[Mike G]

My roller-on-a-pole never seems to suffer these issues. Being on a pole means you never have to work above your head, so I use it even on walls. I've never had much joy spray painting walls and ceilings, and there's probably a good reason professional decorators don't do it.

 

[RogerS]

My roller-on-a-pole never seems to suffer these issues. Being on a pole means you never have to work above your head, so I use it even on walls. I've never had much joy spray painting walls and ceilings, and there's probably a good reason professional decorators don't do it.

I find that rollers-on-a-pole are so cumbersome and unwieldy. You have to shuffle your hands up and down, try and get the roller primed up with paint while having a long pole flopping all over the place. Then shuffle your hands back again, get a few rolls in, then all the way back again...repeat..ad nauseam !

I'm not sure that I subscribe to your view that professional decorators don't use them. A quick google throws up many companies - large and small - who spray.

 

[Mike G]

My pole is about 900 long, and I don't move my hands at all. If you've tried it and don't get on with it, though, then that's fair enough. I've tried spraying and if was unbelievably frustrating.........and you still have to cut in by hand.

 

[RogerS]

....and you still have to cut in by hand.

Not if it's all the same colour !