hose nozzle sprayer

Air compressors have been linked with paint sprayers for so long that most people’s first thought when they hear of mechanical painting is of compressed air technology. However, the wave of the future is something else entirely: airless paint sprayers, which already offer some of the most powerful, effective home painting options for ordinary people who want to create a professional quality paint job on their property. Commercial painters also find these sprayers highly useful.

With steel pistons moving back and forth in cylinders to propel the paint from the nozzle, even compact airless sprayers that put all the working parts into the hand-held spray gun provide pressures that would require gigantic air compressors to match. Small sprayers offer 2,500 psi, while their larger cart-style counter parts furnish up to 3,000 psi and sometimes more.

The performance characteristics of airless paint sprayers are heavily dependent on these powerful, mechanically generated pressures. They tend to run through paint quickly, which means that there will be a lot of wastage when spraying a small object such as a piece of furniture, but which makes them ideal for swift painting of larger surfaces, such as interior and exterior walls, picket fences, decks, garages, and even barns.

Paint issues swiftly from their nozzles, allowing one home handyman to paint a good sized structure in a matter of a few hours, and smaller buildings, like a one-car detached garage, in an hour or less. You should look for models that include finer controls for different painting situations, such as many of those offered by the main airless paint sprayer manufacturers – Wagner, Graco, Campbell Hausfeld, and HomeRight, for example.

The high pressures create small paint droplet size, which enables both thorough coverage and a smooth finish with very uniform color. Not only do the piston pumps speed up painting projects dozens of times compared to those carried out with brushes or rollers – with tests suggesting an average sprayer can complete a task 10 times faster than even a professionally-wielded paintbrush –  but they also provide a much better looking paint job without runs, drips, or brush marks.

Horsepower is a good gauge of the effectiveness of an airless paint sprayer. Most piston pump sprayers designed for home users who are freshening up their house, painting farm buildings, and so on are less than 1 horsepower.

Smaller models typically have an “open hose” arrangement where the hose is put into a paint can and the pistons are located in the hand-held unit itself, making the paint gun somewhat heavier. Larger, more powerful types have a separate “paint hopper” that sits on the ground and contains the pistons, or which is mounted on a two-wheeled frame referred to as a “cart”.

Cost also increases with horsepower, so you should balance your needs against cost. Bigger isn’t necessarily better, especially since even a ¼ horsepower sprayer can repaint a typical kitchen or sitting room in 10 minutes or less. However, if you are planning to completely paint the exterior of a two story house or a large structure like a barn or a three car garage, larger models are preferable.

You may also find airless paint sprayers are rated by GPM or GPH. This is gallons per minute or gallons per hour respectively. Using GPM or GPH (which can be divided by 60 to derive GPM) and the surface area of the project you have in mind, you can compare airless paint sprayers to see how long each one will take to complete the job.

Airless paint sprayers are an exciting item for the home handyman, putting a full repainting of a house exterior within reach – in fact, part of a Saturday afternoon is now enough to finish a professional-looking, smooth paint job on a two story suburban house. There is no doubt that they’re the wave of the future – and a Godsend for those who want to beautify and protect their home.
 

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