george koller on wed 20 feb 02
Dear MudBuds,
My hope had been that somehow world economics had
allowed the Chinese to build a $2000 like heavy duty
and high quality gun for $70. That didn't happen this
time. The HVLP spray system I received was a
"you get what you paid for" completely "value
engineered" system. Light duty, but not necessarily
"cheap" (made in Taiwan, not in mainland China).
On the other hand nothing about the unit has been
disappointing either, it appears to be an entirely useful
tool for glazes, as I will elaborate below.
I purchased this under $100 spray system specifically
to test it with glazes for our tile spraying operation.
This will be a preliminary report, as I am looking forward
to using the system over the next weeks and months.
All indications are that it will be an entirely useful
tool. (Keep in mind that we have a rather elaborate
2 stage compressor, moisture traps, filters, and I have
been happy with our Pseudo HVLP spray guns and
have a lot of miles on them.) At this point I have only
sprayed a few tiles.
First Note: Because this is a complete system (true HVLP)
no compressor is needed so for somebody not wanting a
compressor and wanting to do occasional glaze spraying
I think this represents an attractive opportunity to experiment
with spraying.
Second Note: This system is noisy, but not particularly worse
than an average vacuum cleaner. It is not a "heavy duty" system
in any way. The complete system weighs about 10lbs. This
includes the "blower base", some 15feet of hose, and the spray
gun. Tools included with it are a stamped wrench and a plastic
viscosity metering device (a cup with a hole in it).
Misc Notes: The total cost of the system was almost $100 because
I paid an extra $15 in UPS ground to speed up shipping. Well, it still
took a week anyway from CA to Northport, MI. Harbor freight ships
by US Mail, I think I remember, and I think then the shipping is
"free"
- but I was also warned it was very slow. Either way they are getting
$5.95 for s&h.
Over the next week I will get some more experience with spraying and
will use it at every opportunity but for now I'll go on initial
impressions
and will compare it to the Pseudo HVLP guns that use a compressor.
Within the bands of adjustment that I used for metering glaze flow I was
surprised at the amount of material that was sprayed, and at the size of
the
dispensed particles. This is not all good, or all bad. For my work it
seems to mean I can get more glaze on more tiles faster if I want to.
The glaze finish when the job was done was no different than any other
gun I have used that was spraying well.
It took a little while to get used to the idea that there is air pushing
from
the system all the time. When you pull the handle your material is
sprayed
when you release the handle it stops cleanly. Nice smooth action.
Noted
that the air holes are much bigger than the compressor guns. This gun
uses 48CFM at 4 PSI (this is very low, we set our compressor guns
at 40 PSI).
I can go on and on about the system but the bottom line first impression
is
that it is a potentially USEFUL tool and that it is robust enough one
might expect to get years of light, non industrial use out of it. I
noticed
that the spray needle is made of what appears to be brass. This could
be
a problem but is probably in keeping with the light duty nature of the
system (but at lower pressure & velocity perhaps the abrasive effects
of glaze will not be as damaging to the nozzle needle((hoped to see
stainless used there)))
One last note: The strange opportunity that a low cost HVLP system
presents is, I think, this:
A true HVLP of any type, including this entry level system, has
some
inherent advantages over ANY compressor based guns, no matter how
expensive. Strange perhaps, but true..... here are a few:
1. No oil, moisture, or contaminants from a compressor
(remember
compressors almost always have pistons, pistons need to be
oiled....).
This is an expensive and real problem to solve with filters
and such
that can cost more than this gun.
2. I believe that this gun will spray larger particles, if
desired,
without plugging because the nozzle is larger. (I have only
used
one glaze at this point, so.....) However, from reading the
manual
it appears that keeping viscosity within limits (suitably
thin) is
crucial to the successful use of this gun. I diluted my
glaze about
50% (with water) for my first tests and it sprayed the glaze
very
easily, if anything it was spraying a bit more material than
I was
comfortable with yet. (The flow control did not seem to
work
per the manual, an experiment with water since then seems to
me
to show that the manual is backwards. I check it out)
Enough from this early test. Hope this is helpful....
Sincerely,
George of Door, that met Bruce of Travis yesterday....
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