I am looking for a good paint sprayer that can do exterior/interior/water based/oil based/stain...everything. The sprayer will be used probably twice per year. Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated.

 

I am a profesional painter and I usually poke fun at the cheaper, do it yourself type spray rigs, but, my father (handyman) had a Wagner when I was younger, it was a diaphram pump and had a hopper on top that you pour the paint into. He had that thing for years and it sprayed very well for a cheaper type rig. It was too small to keep up with production painting but for what you describe it should work well, just stay away from the cup gun looking sprayers unless you are just going to paint toys or small furniture. If you are looking for something stronger (and expencive) then go for a Titan or Graco. Have your hand out and ready to catch your chin when you see the prices though.

Be sure to clean it really well and keep mineral spirits in it when storing, it will cut back on corrosion and won't freeze like water.

 

The DIY pumps have come a long way. Originally the diaphram pumps @$300 were all that you could get and as chipfo says they work great (have had them for 30 yrs and 1000's gal.) but now Wagner make great DIY piston pumps for $180-$700. To make using one easier I like: 50' hose (the 25' wont reach a high peak exterior, or do more than 1 room without moving it), a cart (makes moving the pump & 5gal. easy), reversatip spray tips (easy cleaning of clogs). The "paint crew" isnt rebuildable (packings wear out @ 400 gal.?) they don't spec. life of pump. Figure on one size smaller than max. tip size will always work. I use a .517 (where first # is doubled to give fan width (here a 10"pattern), and the 17 is the opening in thousandths ") to spray with mostly. The smaller sizes (.211) work well to spray trim and a .513 to spray oil base. Not to many painters run oil through the same machine as latex because the cleaning requirements are a pain. It can be done though. The smaller output machines will still give a good pattern straight out of the can (pressure is what it takes) but will take longer to apply the paint. I would recommend a unit that will take a .019 tip max but i'm sure the smaller ones will work well. If you go back through the threads there is more info available. You can also see sprayer advice @ www.painterschatroom.com and go to the sprayers forum ...good luck

 

jeffk is right about the pro's useing one rig for latex and one for oil and lacquer, I do. If this is a concern and you don't want to buy two rigs you can have two lines, one for oil and one for latex and change them out, I do that to when nesasary. I never run lacquer through the latex line, it will loosen any deposits and play havoc on clogging the tip, but if your only going to use it twice a year and you keep it well cleaned you shouldn't have a problem. Good point on the reversible tips, it didn't even cross my mind since I haven't used a conventional tip in years (boy those were a pain), make sure the gun will take a reversible tip and tip guard, most will I assume, like I said I don't pay any mind to the DIY rigs so I am not exactly sure what they are equipt with.

As far as tip sizes go, every painter is different, you will have to use what is comfortable with you depending on the material your useing and the surface your spraying. My prefferences are, 517 for ceilings and walls and I use a helper to back roll for a more even coat, 515 or 513 for exterior (I now do mostly brick homes), 413 for closets because of all the shelves and 411 for oil base , stain and lacquer.

I am sure the DIY rigs have come a long way, the one I spoke of was probably purchased about 19 years ago, it finally gave out about 6 years ago. In most cases the piston pumps are far better than the diaphrams, we don't even have any diaphram pumps.

 

Thanks for the info.

We are looking in the $300 price range. A latex/oil/stain sprayer is a must (used for interior and exterior) and as I mentioned it will only be used a couple times per year.

How much would an extra hose cost if we went that route for stains?


Are there any specific models that are recommended for this use and in this price range?

 

If it was easy to get a great sprayer for $300 everyone would. It will cost you $700-900 new to get an entry level contractor grade pump (spraytech 2105, titan 440i) capable of shooting everyday and with repacking will last many 1000's of gal. A wagner 7/8 hp DIY piston pump (.521 max tip) is around $500 and will spray just as well but there isn't enough data on how much total paint they will spray (they can be repacked and rebuilt, but definately aren't built as well). The cheaper units have lower outputs which may or may not be an issue as they wear. As I said looking at a max tip size of .515 with a little wear or thick paint and you are using a .513 (is that enough?), a wagner 9140 piston ($200+)comes with a 25' hose, throw away gun, and no cart (is rebuildable). Look @ www.gleempaint.com for wagner sprayers and ebay (search "airless") for used and new sprayers. The diaphrams will put out more for the money but are more temperamental to run (not as userfriendly), they are cheaper to maintain, and wont shoot as thick a paint (you have to water down). If you get something entry level you can always trade up later when you decide what features are important. Good luck

 

John Dillon, you will have to do your homework on this one, like jeffk said 300 bucks isn't much to spend on an airless paint rig, but for what you described (twice a year) I would check Home Depo or Lowes, you could also check your local pawn shops for deals on better but used rigs. When going to the pawn shops be sure and take a bucket with you so you can test it with water before buying it, I would also be prepared to buy new tips for it, maybe a hose to. As far as prices go for the hoses, that will depend on where your buying from the pressure rating and the length of hose.

jeffk, I am useing a new Titan 440 as a loaner from Sherwin Williams as our 740i is being serviced, the 440 cannot handle a continous spray from a 517 tip (that is if I want an even coat) I have to pause between strokes and this is at full pressure, I cannot believe a $500 Wagner can handle a 521 tip, if it can it is one heck of a machine for the price and I would have to jump on that.

 

Your best bet for saving money is keeping a look out at Home Depot for remaned/rebuilt used pumps.They have them all the time here. I bought my last pump there.Graco 190ES great little pump.It was new but the display unit Somewhere around $700+ dollar on clearance for $350. (the gun that comes with it is crap like all of them but they will work for a while) I use it mainly for trim .211 latex but it has no problem spraying ceilings with a .517 or a blown out .521 .Of coarse i usually do use my bigger (Cougar) pump for spraying and back rolling just because it doesn't have to work so hard,and it puts out more volume.But the 190ES will do fine.No complaints about mine at all.

A friend has one sold by Lowe's not sure what the name is but it is made by Wagner.It has been running fine for a couple of years as well.Wagner used to be crap,but i think they my be making them a little better now days.

Like said make sure you store it with Mineral spirit in it! It will dry out in a couple of months with water in it and eat up the packings when you restart it.Been there.

 

Chipfo- the titan 440i specs are .47 gpm with a .x21 max tip so it should have no problem with a .x17 spraying thick latex straight. My $475 wagner DIY apex series,3/4 hp., twin- stroke (lowes sells), shoots straight out of the can, thick latex, continuously with the .517 and they are currently selling a 7/8 hp Wagner with a max tip .x21 for $500 locally, but I think one size smaller would be what I would expect to use. The 440 sounds too used if it wont keep up. The latex may be too thick or cold? to achieve the pressure needed not to get "tails" or a clean pattern. Maybe the suction set is clogged or? also. The DIY pumps wont hold up like the contractor ones from what I can see but they certainly work the same if you aren't requiring 1000's of gal. of use. Makes a great back up pump but If you know what you are looking at, Ebay and maybe your local pawn shops or other stores have some great deals on slightly used contractor grade pumps. Killer deal on the 190 by the way.

 

The Titan 440i I mentioned above is a brand new machine and I keep all our rigs clean as a whistle and it will not keep up with a 517 tip and I use it only for latex, SW's promar 200 to be specific, which is a quality paint, I have to pause between strokes and let it catch up or it will lose so much pressure that it fingers or "tails" and leaves lines on the walls, so I use a helper to follow me and backroll or the results are unsatisfactory. To even think of putting a 21 on it would be absurd, it would burn the poor thing up. I am glad we got to use it as a loaner because I will never spend the money on one, no matter what the specs state. I have to make do with it until I get the 740i back. I'll tell you what, Titan has gone downhill on their 440i and 740i's I don't like either. Our 740i has been in the shop for warranty work for the third time now, and it is harder to clean than any other rig I have used, I can run 10 gallons of water through it and paint will still drip out of the stinger. We will never buy either again. The best rig we have is our Powrtiwin 6900, that's a machine made for a real painter. I can't really comment on Wagner except for the one my father had (mentioned above) worked well for what we used it for, handyman services.

 

Thanks for the info Chipfo. I've never used a titan, used a couple of Graco's, my thinking is based on reading other painter's advice where they like the Titan 440i. I am thinking I'm lucky my pumps work so well. I clean the machine by running about 1 gal. through it, change to clean water, pump the line back into the dirty water bucket and then circulate about 1 gal. through it. It usually is fairly clear and never drip paint out of the suction set. You may be interested in seeing paint issues for Pro's on www.painterschatroom.com. ....jeff

 

Thanks for all the tips. I just bought a Graco Maxnum XR9. It was a display model and didnt' have a manual with it. I downloaded some simplified instructions from Graco's website, but it doesn't address cleaning after using oil based paints. Any advise on cleaning after using oil based paints?

Is a second hose recommended for using oil based paints or can I live with one?

I created another post specifically asking this question as well.

Thanks everyone.