I've never owned an airless sprayer and never used one. I did see a painter shoot his arm full of thinners while cleaning one years ago and he had to go to the hospital, quickly.
I have to paint the house and the fence this spring and I hate painting. I thought that the airless would help me get the chore done faster.
I'm not looking to be a pro painter any time soon and the bulk of this tools task would be the house and fence. I would also like ot be able to use it to spray unthinned latex on some cabinet projects.
Since my volume requirements are fairly low, I thought I'd get away with one of the dumbed down Gracos from the Borg.
I'm looking at:
Magnum X7 for $299.00.
Magnum Pro X7 for $399.00.
Magnum Pro X9 for $649.00
If anyone can give me guidance on this, I would appreciate it.
I have no experience with the Borg grade units. I have Graco and consider them top of the line, thought there are other makers. Make sure you get a spare handle filter and spend the money on a few sizes of Reverse- a-tips. For the house, get an extension wand to reduce the ladder climbing. More hose saves moving everything, but does require more cleaning. Mask, protect, shield before rather than cry, scrape, and scrub after.
As you already noted, they are capable of injecting paint or thinner into you.
Much to the chagrin of my fellow professionals, they work extremely well. My little X5 has been a tank (I have had two) and it has painted 4 large houses, two to three coats each. I have used it to paint interiors as well. I leaves a good finish (texture) inside with the tip that comes with it, and a great finish for outside work.
I love it, and the reason it is the second one, I liked the first one so much I bought another when it finally crapped out after about 5 years of utility use. I bought it as a cheapie airless thinking that I would just use it for decks, fences and stuff, then I started using it on trim areas on houses as well as spraying primer. Then I tried spraying out a whole house with it and it was a real home run.
The X7 was purchased for two reasons, and at $100 more you might want to consider if the value is there for you on this machine. It handles a bit more GPM out of the gun, so it is a bit faster. It has a better made gun; the X7's is metal housed not plastic. The X7 rolls, as opposed to carrying the light X5 around. It is easier to get the siphon tube in a 5 gallon bucket as it is at the right height to pull off the bung, and throw the siphon tube in. On my older X5, you have to put the machine up on a couple of bricks to get it to sit perfectly.
Both machines perform flawlessly. Both machines spray unthinned latex paint (Coronado, Behr, Sherwyn Williams, Glidden) with absolutely no problems. Both machines are a snap (I mean really easy) to clean. You can change the gun filters out easily (also available at the Borg) in both guns.
The key to keeping these machines in top shape is to keep Armor Guard (I think that's it - it's the blue stuff in the bottle sold at the Borg) in the pump/siphon assembly between uses. Anytime the unit is stored for more than two weeks, I pump the Armor Guard through it. The X5 only takes a drink at 1/2 the bottle per treatment so it's cheap insurance.
If it were me, I would probably buy the X5 and spend the other money on an additional 25 feet of hose for the gun. When spraying a house, that 25 feet isn't much, and if you pull a little hard and tip over the pump and paint, it is disaster.
I know there have been reports of a bad unit on lower end Gracos from time to time, but HD is great at exchanges. Both my units have been great and I think you will be happy with either machine.
This is one of the best things about the Wreck. You know the guys who are putting out the opinion and you have a certain amount of faith in it.
I have a tight situation where I'll be spraying on the exterior. I've seen gthe fog in houses that have been done using the airless. I wonder about drift and stick onto the neighbors and road while i'm spraying the latex.
the range of 1600.00 Work great and no thinning of 5 gallon pals. Rent for
80.00 a day. Last job painted 3 bedrooms, long hallway, walk in closet and
2 normal closets 2 bathrooms and ceilings for all in 5 hours. Just need to run water through the hoses and gun to clean. Its the only way to paint. Not sure how well they work on small projects like furniture. I use a HVLP gun for those. You can paint a average house in a day as long as you setup right. I always work away from the sun.
I'm stuck with a similar job ... two-story house that needs both siding and trim done. Can you control the sprayer adequately to avoid painting over stuff that should remain paint free -- windows. SWMBO would be dismayed if I erred thusly. What about wind?
Any of the Gracos with a metal gun will suit you just fine. I own the X7 with a metal gun as well as a top of the line Graco borg model.
After running water through them to clean them out I run a water/auto coolant mixture through them for storage. I also store the gun in a bucket of coolant/water mixture.
Then the additional hose is a must. I have 50' on both my machines, and neither have any problems pushing latex the additional 25'. I have used the X5 with 75' of hose on it, and didn't notice any problems. (I bought a 50' and just added it to the one on the machine.)
Most of the time 75' is too much and takes too much material to get to the gun, less than a quart, but not by much. 50' is just right for me.
Personally, I will take more hose over a swivel. When the swivels work, they are great. Sometimes when they get dirty, they quit swiveling. I have also had them leak. No swivels for me.
Are you talking about the 515 tip? Here's a quick look at tips to make sure we are using the same nomenclature. The first single digit number doubled is the fan size, and the second double digit number is the actual tip size. So a 515 has a 10" fan, and a .015" opening. The .015" is perfect for latex.
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tips that come with these guns are usually 515s, or 517s, which mean they have a 10" fan. (See airless tip charts from above). That's too much fan for a cabinet gun. Great for walls, big doors, etc., not for cabinets. Way too much overspray, material waste and too hard to control.
I bought a smaller fan 415 to use with the X5, and it worked on cabinets shooting latex. BUT.... I turned down the amount of paint coming out of the gun (mine is usually opened up almost all the way) and thinned the enamel I was shooting by about 5 - 10%, three coats over bare wood. It left a nice, smooooth finish (Sherwyn Williams top line enamel), shooting white on bathroom cabinets, trims and doors. I was surprised, but the thinning improved the finish quite a bit.
If I was spraying smaller stuff, I would get a 315 if I could get my hands on one. That six inch fan would be worthless outside, but for smaller cabs and projects I think it would be great.
I have never shot anything else than latex with either of these systems, so I don't know about other finishes applied with these guns.
To me, the gun on the X7 is fine. I do like it better than the X5's because the gun is easier to clean. It is supposed to have better internal components, but personally, I haven't hammered one to pieces to see if it does, so I don't know. I know in proper application, I can't tell which "off the gun" finish came from which gun.
As far as changing from one gun to another, I would look at how long I would be using it, how it felt in my hand, and how easy it is to clean after a day of work. I think you will find the X7 gun just fine.
Absolutely. If I were to start from scratch and buy ONE of the two I have, I would get the X7 and another 25' of hose and get going. The X5 has been a racehorse and I'll miss her when she's gone, but I won't miss balancing the machine on something during use, or wiggling things around to get the last 1/2 gallon of paint out of the bucket.
It is nice to unscrew the bung, put in the siphon tube and start shooting. Changing from one bucket to the next takes less than 3 minutes.
And silly as it sounds, the rolling feature is great.
One more thing about these units. Don't get rid of the 25' hose. Both of these guns will shoot just fine out of a one gallon can of paint. If you have a project just screams to be sprayed instead of rolled or brushed (a couple of interior doors for example) you can throw the tube in a gallon and spray in no time. The short hose doesn't require much material to get paint to the gun.
As far as your comment about "fog", I only worry about that inside. Outside, use a good tip, maintain the proper distance from the target (usually 8 - 10") and watch your strokes for overspray/fog. Don't hold the trigger down too long, shoot only what you are pointing at. You don't run the gun past the target like you do when finishing cabinets, etc. to keep the application consistent. The latex is forgiving enough that on an outside application you just have to get it on the wall with no sags or drips. But above all >
when shooting paint outside.
If the sprayer won't push out unthinned latex on a 50 degree day or warmer it is either broken, clogged (hoses/filters) or the tip is no good. Overspraying (inaccurate paint placement) of thinned paint is the number one cause of "drift".
They take a little getting use to but I'd still mask. Wind has a way of carrying lots of things further then you wanted it. Mask trim and windows. It usually takes me longer to mask then the actual painting..
I spray exteriors without masking and isn't usually necessary. It takes too long and requires a lot of effort.
If I spray a difficult shape or I am afraid of overspray, I will cut in with a brush or roller to the point where I am comfortable shooting again.
If I am going around square windows, trims, or shooting the fascia to roofing detail I use a paint shield.
In the area I am shooting, I drape drop cloths or plastic over all important vegetation, sidewalks, patios, stonework, etc., since the overspray and drift should fall pretty much straight down.
I have found that clients don't care for speckled plants.
don't know about the borg gracos,but Sherwin William's has the REAL Gracos not much more $$ than el-cheapos.Most SW stores have service available too spray tech makes a good entry level airless too best to stay away from TITAN,nothing but problems with there little machines
by all means get extra hose and a gun swivel,quick change tips too
.015 tip works best with latex/acrylic (515)
I have sprayed airless for over 30 years ,Graco is the best, but you have to spend some real money to get there GOOD machines.
see if you can get a machine with a metal gun with internal filter Always strain your paint before running it through the pump,ladies panty hose works great pore paint through panty hose into another pot then put pump into the stained paint and spray
50' of hose is almost a must. I have painted about 6 homes per year for the last 20 years and have never had a swivel.
I did buy a 4' tip extension wand for $75.00 It is well worth it. Keeps you off the ladder, you don't have to bend over as much, nor stretch as much, plus you are further from the spray tip so you get less paint on yourself.
snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote: : On 2009-04-11, Tom Watson wrote: :>
:> > If anyone can give me guidance on this, I would appreciate it.
: Hi, Tom.
: I have had both the X5 ($299) and the X& ($399).
: Much to the chagrin of my fellow professionals, they work extremely : well.
Second the recommendation. I have an older X5 (bought it in 2003), and it's worked flawlessly. I painted the interior of a house in 2003, n five different colors, and the exterior of the house this past winter. Fast, flows well, easy to use, well worth the money.
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