Do-it-all paint gun: iWata w-400 or devil bliss tekna pro lite

Schroeder

Schroeder

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I am painting a 77 trans am eventually. I am using SPI white epoxy primer. I want to do a pearl white and clear. I think I am leaning towards PPG Ballon white. If I remember right the paint code is 22409- or something. Anyway, it's a pearl, so I'll be doing a tri-coat. I am a newbie, so I know this may not be wise, but it hasn't stopped me before. I will do trial runs on old fenders I have. Of course I'll prep them and treat them as if they were actually going to be on the car, so I get accurate, realistic results before I go shooting my whole car.

Anyway, I have been reading amazon reviews and watching reviews by the gun man on youtube. From the little I have read I am leaning towards the iwata w-400 or tekna pro lite. They sound like they can do it all and do it all well from epoxy primer to clear-especially the tekna pro-lite. The tekna pro lite comes with a 1.2mm, 1.3mm, and 1.4mm tip as well as a te-10 and the-20 air cup.

Anyone have any experience and recommendations? I've screwed around with the $9 HF HVLP guns and used siphon guns plenty of times. Never have I tackled something like this though. I'm getting to the point where I have to spray some epoxy on a couple parts, so I have been looking into the gun aspect of things. For what I need to do right now a HF gun would probably be fine, but I thought if I get as much experience as I can with the gun I will eventually be shooting the important stuff on the car with it will only help me. So fire away with your recommendations please!! I want to pick one of these bad boys up.
 
That's a tough one. Solvent basecoat I've always had better luck with the Tekna but I've never like them to lay down clear.

The W400 is the opposite, awesome gun for everything, except a bit trickier to use for light metallics solvent base. Mid-coats in white tri stages aren't that hard to shoot with the W400 though. Oddly enough the W400 is a very popular gun for the painters that shoot PPG waterborne, works very well for that.

Take this with a grain of salt bc I'm not the best at fine tuning a spray gun when it's sort of fighting with me, I just switch to a different gun that is easier to do what I need it to do and call it a day.
 
only tip size. the iwata lph400 has different caps for different applications but i have found the standard silver cap 1.4 works for everything . if shooting heavy polyester i use the 45 dollar vaper 2.2 gun.
 
Schroeder said:
Epoxy all the way to clear can be sprayed with the same tip size?? Keep in mind I'm new
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2K primer you would need something bigger than 1.4 to get decent build. The Turbo 6300 sprays really nice out of smaller tips like 1.6. The regular 2K 6520 and the HB 2K 8000-1 need at least 1.7-1.8 to spray good.

Polyester primer at the very least 2.0 tip.
 
yes you can shoot epoxy to clear with a 1.4 . if shooting polyester or high build use a vaper 2.2
 
all these tips can be purchased for any given iWata or tekna though, right? Can I buy these tips in separate kits for the tekna pro lite??

I will probably be doing a 2k or high build primer. I have to do a lot more research and of course see how things turn out.

Is this a good value and also what I need?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006...i=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=tekna+pro+lite


Update: I just looked on the devilbiss website. I don't see any tekna accessories period much less a 2.0mm tip and air cup.

Update 2: I have received a recommendation from SPI tech for iWata w-400.
 
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northern tools sells the vaper 2.2 gun for primer. decent gun for heavy build. the iwata only needs a cap change. all other guns need nozzle/cap/needle for a change. $$$
 
You're saying I can get the iWata and throw out thick, high-build stuff and only need to get a new cap, or I can just buy the caper 2.2? These are two options you're proposing, correct?
 
Schroeder said:
You're saying I can get the iWata and throw out thick, high-build stuff and only need to get a new cap, or I can just buy the caper 2.2? These are two options you're proposing, correct?
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Vaper 2.2 for the thick high build stuff, Iwata for the rest.

The LPH400 you have the option to buy dedicated caps for basecoat applications.
 
once again. the vaper 2.2 is for high build primers . the iwata can shoot epoxy , base , cleat with the 1.4 . to change the iwata to 1.3 or higher is just a cap change . other guns require needle/nozzle/cap to change them.
 
Well that's what I'm asking, shine. If the iWata requires a simple cap change wto shoot the high build stuff wouldn't it be smarter and cheaper to just buy the cap for the thick stuff as opposed to getting a caper 2.2 gun?
 
correction. you can change just the nozzle . needle and cap work with different sizes. you cant go to 2.0 with the lph400 . you can go to 1.8 but the needle will need to be changed. with most other guns you must change nozzle/needle/cap . 1.4 will shoot base , epoxy or clear . nozzle is 100 bucks but i have never used my 1.3 .
first off i do not shoot primer through my good guns . a 45 dollar vaper is a good gun for heavy polyester or high build urethane. i also shoot gelcoat with it .
 
Ok. Got it. So buy the iWata or tekna and then get the vaper 2.2? That sounds like a solid plan. I'm sure I'm going to suck with whatever I have, so maybe I shouldn't get too excited and spend so much time reading.

I do wish to have a bit of a poll. Can I just get people to "vote?" Tekna pro lite or iWata lph400 or iWata w400?
 
So is it safe to say that for a beginner who may need time on his hands and might be prone to laying it on too heavy and getting runs that I should go with the iWata and then pick up the vaper 2.2?
 
Schroeder said:
So is it safe to say that for a beginner who may need time on his hands and might be prone to laying it on too heavy and getting runs that I should go with the iWata and then pick up the vaper 2.2?
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That's what I have. I use a cheap 1.4 tip gun for epoxy most of the time, to save wear and tear on the LPH 400. I do spray epoxy through the LPH sometimes, but never any build primer.
 
i bought a vaper 2.2 to shoot slicksand and some gelcoat. figured i would toss it when done. damn thing is 5 years old and still shoots ok.
 
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