tpye of paint to use in an HVLP paint gun

SDE · Jul 27, 2012

I have hung some used aluminum sideing in my shop. I also just bought a used HVLP spray gun at an auction. I would like to put a fresh coat of white paint on this sideing before I return all the junk to its rightful places. I stopped at the Hardware store and the clerk did not give me any answers that inspired any confidence at all. The gun has a 1.4cm tip on it. I have some oil based enamel paint, But I am going to asume that it will need to be thinned in order to get it to work in this gun. I doubt that thinning it by just 10% will be enough to get it to spray. Will Latex work, if thinned enough. Clerk said so, But I don't think so. Is automative paint the only real solution?
Thank you
Steve

sflem849 · Jul 28, 2012

I doubt any house type paint will flow through the gun.

SDE · Jul 28, 2012

That is what I thought also. The clerk asked another clerk and she said to thin the latex with water. I doubt she knew anything about this type of spray gun.
Thank you
SDE

Stephen Newell · Jul 28, 2012

Personally I like a conventional sprayer better than the HVLP but you could spray an oil based enamel through either gun. With oil based paint you thin it as little as possible to get it to spray. It looks awful spraying it because it goes on in splatters however it dries slow enough it flows out and dries looking good. Latex paint doesn't spray very well through these guns. You have to thin so much to get it to spray it stops being paint and becomes whitewash. If you were to do enough painting with latex to make it worthwhile you could get a 2 1/2 gallon production paint tank with the hoses and use a conventional paint sprayer. I've painted several houses with this set up. Another option is a airless sprayer. I bought an airless because I had a difficult time providing enough air to paint a house using a portable compressor.

SDE · Jul 29, 2012

I stopped at ACE hardware again and talked to two more clerks.I guess I will use a roller and brush to paint it. I have an old loader that I wanted to paint and I am going to see what I can do with a quart of oil based enamanel. Ten Dollars for the paint won't kill me if it fails.
Thank you
SDE

TaylorMutts · Jul 31, 2012

I have a gun like yours, and have had really good luck spraying the Valspar tractor enamel with it. I mix 16 oz of paint with 4 oz of Naphtha thinner. Sprays well and the gloss level is still really good.

tpye of paint to use in an HVLP paint gun

SDE

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sflem849

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SDE

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Stephen Newell

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SDE

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TaylorMutts

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