An Overview of the Airless Sprayer and How it Works

!±8± An Overview of the Airless Sprayer and How it Works

The airless sprayer is among the most effective paint sprayers available for commercial and residential use. Highly touted for their ability to cover large areas quickly and often in less time than compressed-air models, airless spray set ups are top of the line for their quality and performance.

Instead of using compressed air to push material out of the spray gun, an airless sprayer uses a piston pump to draw the paint up through the tube and push it through the hose where it is atomized at the gun and forced out through the tip in a mist. This allows the user to spray thicker materials than most spray guns could handle, as well as produce less overspray.

There are four essential parts to airless sprayers. There is the pump, which can be one of two kinds, piston or diaphragm. Both pumps perform the same function, but rely on different mechanisms to build necessary pressure. The high pressure hose used is designed to withstand the pressure built up by the pump. The gun comes in a range of grip styles with all being either 2 or 4 finger models. The tip, which regulates paint flow and fan pattern size, comes in a variety of sizes.

Whether you are a do-it-yourselfer looking to spruce up your house, or a paint contractor trying to make your blow and go production blow and go just a bit faster, there is an airless sprayer designed to fit your needs. Anyone looking to buy an airless sprayer should do some shopping around to find exactly the right model. Some of the more popular brands of spray guns are Graco, Binks, Devibliss, Fuji, and Wagner.

Words of Caution

Airless sprayers should always be cleaned immediately after each use. The tip on the spray gun has a very fine opening and the smallest deposits can easily clog it up. For the same reason, all materials should be strained before use.

Take some time before you begin your project to work out your spraying technique and distance away from surface. If you are not familiar with using such a gun you will find yourself causing headaches and messes if you just jump right in without getting the hang of it first.

The contents, once drawn up to the gun, are under very high pressure, under no circumstances should you stick your hand or anything else in front of the spray pattern as it comes out. Injection wounds are very serious and potentially deadly, not to mention they hurt. Also after being turned off there is still pressure build up in the gun. Never try to disconnect parts of your airless sprayer without letting the pressure off first.