Hiring a paint sprayer

[dreamer]

Hi, we need help, please!  The internal walls of our property are covered in crepie type stuff and a real pain to paint.  Having completed all of the top floor we are rapidly losing the will to continue downstairs.  OH has decided that using a paint compressor/sprayer is the way forward.  Does anyone know of a place that perhaps we could hire one?  We are situated near Mielan/Mirande in the Gers.  I guess another option would be to buy one.  Any help, tips and potential trouble shooting would be greatly appreciated!  Many thanks

[M]

You should be able to buy an electric paint sprayer for £30 - £50, I think - maybe less from Aldi!

M

[dreamer]

Thanks for that - have you ever used one?

[Nick Trollope]

I'd recommend an HVLP (high-volume, low pressure) sprayer, as opposed to a "airless" sprayer or a car-type sprayer. Earlex make one, which I have used plenty, for about 100€ available everywhere in France or the UK.

[M]

Yes, I have one. The key is to get the paint to the right viscosity (by thinning with white spirit or water, depending on the paint type) and keeping the spray-gun moving as you spray. Not that I am particularly good at it!

M

[dreamer]

Thanks Nick and M.  Have cheered OH up hugely and he is now looking forward to our impending visit!  Weilding a spray painter rather than a paint brush sounds far more appealing!  Fingers crossed[;-)]

[Bob T]

I have owned and used many electric paint sprayers in the UK, but they are a pain. When I got here I bought a compressor with a 50 liter tank and many accessories for around 100 euro, I would not go back to electric.

[dreamer]

We too have used them in the U.K and ended up with blocked everything and uneven paint.  Can you remember where you bought the compressor from?  Thanks for your help.

[Nick Trollope]

Don't confuse airless sprayers with HVLP sprayers. High pressure sprayers (as in a compressor) are very difficult to use with emulsion paints.

[Gluestick]

We have covered this subject umpteen times herein!

Spraying anything other than very light undemanding things like wood treatment using a standard compressor and either suction cup or gravity feed spraygun, needs:

i.  A big compressor: and;

ii.  A Pressure Pot.

Absolute air pressure isn't as critical as air volume. Compressors are rated in FAD (Free Air Delivered).

Most paints used in automotive re-finishing tend to be sprayed at circa 40-50 PSI.

The problem with house paints is that they are designed to be applied at far greater viscosity than automotive and metal finishing paints, since automotive paints dry far more rapidly and thus don't run and gather. House finishes do.

A big pressure spraygun (I still use both a JGA and an AID No.2) which have large "Fan" widths, in my case 12" (Up to) eat air like it's going out of style!

Anything much less and the process is self defeating: it's actually quicker by brush!

Cheap sprayguns don't atomise correctly: and one also needs the correct fluid tip and air nozzle. Different for each material. Expensive!

Applying emulsion and stone paint finish requires a Pressure Pot. And a big capacity compressor!

The whole point about High Volume Low Pressure systems is that they are designed for regular house finishing paints and materials.

Nick, I know has a HVLP system and has used it umpteen times. He is also a qualified engineer and works in France!

Listen to the man: he knows what he is saying.

 

[Chancer]

I agree with everything that you have said Gluestick and Nick and would like to throw in one more possibility.

I have successfully used a "schutz" underseal gun to spray textured masonry paints, it is very good in that it forces the paint into any voids in UK type breezeblocks that would normally remain unpainted, the fan was a little narrow but improved by thinning the paint, I should add that I cleaned up and reused and old schutz cartridge as the paint vessel.

I used it here for spraying Rubson (bitumen) and then crepi (the textured paint in a pot not the chaux enduit de renovation that people like to call crepi) which it excelled at.

I have now bought a crepinette from one of the catalogue lorries, this is absolutely fantastic for crepi and also all types of enduit, the limiting factor being the weigh of the product in the hopper.

I use a 3hp mobile compressor with a relatively small tank which has just enough grunt and capacity to maintain the spray pattern until the hopper is empty and then refills the reservoir in the time that it takes me to replenish the hopper and get back to the job.

One day I will try it with emulsion paint but expect a rather rustic finish a bit like Mr Bean got when he tried exploding a tin of paint to decorate a room[:)]

I like the look of the pressurized pot systems on sale in Brico-depot etc are they any good or just an excuse to buy another unnecessary toy?

[WJT]

I bought the below on French Ebay before leaving. I didn't get a chance to use it but will be using it on my return. The photos sold me. I was so hoping it would work. [:(]

http://cgi.ebay.fr/PISTOLET-STATION-DE-PEINTURE-AEROMAX-800B-800-WATT_W0QQitemZ250212671945QQihZ015QQcategoryZ140534QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

[Chancer]

It looked interesting, compact and good value, however the photos unsold me[:P]

Looking at the small wall he is painting it is a very narrow fan, less than I got with my schutz gun that put on far more and heavier paint.

He has done two passes (which looking at the fan width will have taken far more than 2 minutes) yet the coverage is very thin, even the photos cannot disguise the lack of obliteration.

Compare that to a good thick masonry paint put on with a roller, no competition in my mind.

Looks very light and portable though but 800 watts is going to struggle with any weight of paint.

[Gluestick]

Amongst my considerable arsenal of kit, JR, is one of the old gravity feed oil spray guns.

Also useful for chucking large quantities of material at surfaces!

I am presently looking at Machine Mart's new cat and their quite reasonably priced range of Clarke pressure pots.

Once I get my workshop extension sorted in France then I'm taking over an almost new biggish Ingersoll Rand commercial air pump; 2 horse SP motor and a large reservoir. Two stage pump, of course.

Gains on a JGA at full chat and all my air tools, including DAs.

That'll do!

 

 

 

[Chancer]

Must be stronger horses than mine then[:)]

My 3hp 30 year old (but still strong) italian compressor can run my JGA constantly at 60 psi but if I run a DA at 90psi which it prefers it stabilises at about 60 after depleteing the reservoir. 

I know that if I had a larger reservoir these things would not even be apparent, ie running out of paint or strength/patience before air but when I have used my DA with my neighbours 2hp unit which had a bigger reservoir it couldnt keep up.

Mind you I would put up with the waiting time to have an IR unit, my pal liberated two of them but sold the second one.

[Gluestick]

I run the DA at far less than that: from memory about 60 PSI.

Yes it is a big tank. The thing runs at a SWP of 170 PSI, from memory. Very neat and wonderfully engineered.

Quiet too.

 

[WJT]

Ooh I want one of those. [:D] I am disappointed to hear what I bought was a waste of time, I thought it sounded a good idea after painting five pairs of new shutters. I need to do all of the other old shutters in the house and really felt that it would save time. I am so not looking forward to it now. [:(]

[Chancer]

If it is an intricate surface like persian shutters with lots of tricky corners that could only be done by a brush (not roller) it may still save you time and frustration.