I’ve been spraying vinyl sealer and lacquer with just a compressor and either a pressure pot or handheld gun for around 20 years. I just picked up a turbine assisted HVLP set up yesterday. So now I’m in the adjustment phase.
Having a bit of an issue dialing it in for the vinyl sealer. Checked the correct tip is in. Tried the recommended settings. Then tried adjusting off the recommended settings. I can’t seem to find the sweet spot of consistent coverage without needing to push too much air through to the point where the material starts to catalyze mid air (the fuzzies).
Any help would be appreciated. My lone thought it’s I just need to move a lot slower as I’m spraying while keeping to the lower air flow. It’s quite possible just after so long, I’ve got the pace I’m accustomed to set in my brain and I’ve got to reteach myself to move slower.
Thanks
Replies
Sadly, I haven't been able to use my HVLP much. I don't have a space to use it.
Logically, speaking, though, it sounds like you answered your question by being used to a certain method for 20 years. that's obviously a helluva long time. gonna take some retraining of the ol neural pathways.
I would get a bunch of scraps and block some time to test speeds, settings, distances, etc., and see what works, log it all ect.
I'm unsure if it matters, but have you considered your ambient air conditions, including RH, temperature, and airflows?
It seems like that could possibly make a seriously significant difference when dealing with atomized/aerosolized finishes.
Hey. Thanks for the reply.
Yeah the environment was certainly a thought I had. Though I’m willing to concede that it’s probably not the culprit here. I’m using the same products and while I’m currently spraying in place, on site, I’ve had experience spraying in a variety of on site environments with varying degrees of hospitality. So I went down that list first.
I’ve managed to spray pews in the back of a box truck at the beach. Lol.
I suppose I need to just have some experimentation.
I’ve had great success with low solid finishes with my 5 stage HVLP and not so great with high solid finishes (Renner 643, 851 & 765; Centurian 400 and 2800 series). With the help of the finish suppliers I’ve gotten the turbine HVLP to work fine, but it is definitely much slower in applying finishes as you noted.
I use a viscosity cup to measure viscosity, as well as a wet film combs to measure the thickness of wet film according to the recommendations of the manufacturer.
Keep a log of your finishing process.
If you are doing this already call the manufacture.
I believe I would thin to 26 to 28 seconds with a 1.2 tip depending on the temp and humidity but you should check the manufacture recommendation.
The hot air from the turbine will tend to speed up the drying vs your other methods, even with the same chemicals. Depending on the dew point, you may need to add a retarder to your sealer and top coat.
You are probably on to something about slowing down your application. When I used conventional, I moved quickly because I had an appreciable amount of coverage without wasting time. I found that I had to slow down the coverage speed with HVLP, thus the need for a retarder in hot and humid weather, to prevent parts of my surface from drying while I was still spraying.