A poor workman blames his tools...

B

BC928

Im getting pretty good at body work. :)

I have never had to paint color but I have gone from old paint down to metal back up to blocked-BC/cc ready primer. Block sanding, glazing, fiberglass, metal shaping, bondo shaping, etc - it all makes good sense.

Mist of this is done with a finish line devilbiss and unless I am complete idiot (which is entirely possible and highly likely) this 180 dollar gun is worse than a harbor "fright" purple gun at atomizing and is finicky to the point of every time I take it apart and reassemble it "may" spray the same at the same air/knob settings as 10 min ago.

Really, really frustrated. What this gun does do properly is spray lightly reduced 2k regular build out of a 1.8 tip. It does that all day long and perfectly. Unless it doesn't.

But with reduced or Unreduced epoxy, it will not atomize or spray correctly about 3 out of 5 times.

Then it started leaking. So I redid the needle packing. And then the needle would stick with lube.

My grand father always said a poor workman blames his tools. But this gun really seems to suck. I may have to do some
SS and clear work soon and I can invest in some good equipment for priming and color. I can keep this gun for just 2k
 
I'm willing and able to. I think you have mentioned iwata 400. But I'm even talking about better atomization for the epoxy.
 
BC928 said:
I'm willing and able to. I think you have mentioned iwata 400. But I'm even talking about better atomization for the epoxy.
Click to expand...

I recently tried an Iwata lph-300 in 1.8 with the epoxy, and I was surprised how nice it laid down and no problem spray in it on the heavy side without any craters.

The same lph-300 in 1.4 is very good for smaller jobs, sprays 2K sealer, epoxy, base, clear really well.

The new SATA 1500 SolV RP in 1.3 is not too stupid expensive and shoots basecoat pretty good as well, I haven't tried it for clear bc I like to keep it as a designated base gun but have seen in YouTube a guy using it for clear with good results, that may be a good 'universal' gun that won't break the bank.
 
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The 1.8 will not atomize the epoxy unless you screw the fluid adjustment in, a starting point would be 1.75 turns out with 90% wide open fan.
Back fluid adjustment out all the way for spraying 2k primer and narrow the fan a little as needed.
Sounds like you have plugging issues if it spray good one time and not another.
Check peep hole on top of cup as it could be skim plugging by splashing primer up there, I drill the smaller ones out with a 1/8 drill bit to stop this problem.
Make sure you do not have an internal strainer inside the gun when you unscrew the cup.
Also unscrew the fluid nozzle look inside of it with a flash light, all it takes is a pencil size speck in there for prime to build on and than plug the gun.
 
It has been my observation that most people struggling with a spray gun have undersized compressors. They have a gun that requires 13 CFM to operate and a compressor that puts out 8 CFM.
 
Barry said:
The 1.8 will not atomize the epoxy unless you screw the fluid adjustment in, a starting point would be 1.75 turns out with 90% wide open fan.
Back fluid adjustment out all the way for spraying 2k primer and narrow the fan a little as needed.
Sounds like you have plugging issues if it spray good one time and not another.
Check peep hole on top of cup as it could be skim plugging by splashing primer up there, I drill the smaller ones out with a 1/8 drill bit to stop this problem.
Make sure you do not have an internal strainer inside the gun when you unscrew the cup.
Also unscrew the fluid nozzle look inside of it with a flash light, all it takes is a pencil size speck in there for prime to build on and than plug the gun.
Click to expand...

Thank You Barry,

The devilbiss has the dekupps. Which has helped tremendously with chemical usage (this is back yard stuff and I need the garage) as well as speed. So there is no air hole.

Sometimes I hit it perfectly. Usually more often with the black epoxy than the white. It's just all over the place. And since I am able to do it more often correctly with the same gun but with 2k, it must be how I am dealing with the gun and the epoxy.

No strainer and I will be careful to clean the nozzle. I use a 1.5 with the pressure at 30 or so. It is a #3 cap and I was thinking about getting a conventional cap to spray at higher psi and break up the epoxy more.

With the timing and issues, I am not sure how I would ever be able to seal and base a whole car without way better gun technique. Let alone clear.
 
And the harbor fright 1.4 sprays the reduced epoxy really well too. As long as I go slow, two passes makes a good sealer coat that isn't too thick.

I need to apprentice somewhere To see up close how the pros do this.
 
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