Air compressors for painting cars?

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attitudedesignz, Sep 29, 8:43am
Who the h*** uses enamel or lacquer these days!

snoopy221, Sep 29, 8:46am
what the minimum spac

spac! or vac!
The goblin ace used to be the warrior vacuum cleaner painter back in the day.
LOL

trader_84, Sep 29, 8:49am
Can you still buy dulon lacquer!

gunhand, Sep 29, 8:51am
Yep, or the equivalent of it

gammelvind, Sep 29, 8:52am
Haha not that many as far as enamel goes but I still have a number of dedicated laquer clients who speak highly of their favourite paint and don't comprehend why anyone would bother with these newer "fiddly" paints.

gammelvind, Sep 29, 8:53am
Definitely, I sell it daily.

franc123, Sep 29, 9:46am
And as I said it works just fine.

franc123, Sep 29, 9:55am
Lots of people, for many jobs it works just fine and is cost effective. Not everybody has fallen for the propaganda put out by the paint co's and/or had their better judgement clouded by too many isocyanate fumes, and thinks that 2K is needed for everything including painting your missuses toenails like most of these pro spraypainters think who are downright obsessed with it. The older paints are just that, old technology, not defective technology, its what the industry used prior to 2k. There isn't anything wrong with it.

newtec1, Sep 29, 10:12am
Exactly.The size of the tank is irrelevant if the pump can't keep up with the operator.12cfm would be the smallest pump if you don't want to be waiting for the pressure to build up.As for humidity,i would guess we would have more humidity in the air in summer months,except when it is raining,you don't get much more moisture in the air than rain,even when you are inside.

pnh4, Sep 29, 10:33am
Got a 40 L 2.5hp for orbital bog sanding, but the old 2hp, 20L did the trick, I painted my car bit by bit (eg), front guard - mask it out - door - mask out - rear - mask - etc, etc, small cars easier but.

clanky, Sep 29, 1:11pm
What about HVLP systems for cars! Are they any good!

mrfxit, Sep 29, 5:57pm
LOL yea been there done that.
Slow but not insanity inspiring at all.
1hp/ twin cyl compressor that takes 2 minutes to get to 100psi.
Tanks were a twin 10ltr (20 total on the pump) & an lpg 60ltr stainless tank.
Worked ok for enamel + winter thinners (in summer)
Poor ol pump was running all the time but yea, roof/ door + guard / bonnet & front combo's sort of thing.
Not really all that different to doing a full spray gun pot & having to stop to fill it again.
LOL, paint condition outlasted the car (car finely rotted out 5 years later)

trader_84, Sep 29, 6:19pm
Whats the average pressure you should be aiming for when setting your reguator! And do you have it all out at the wall and screw it down on the gun! I've got a 5.5HP 200L 3PH boy in the compressor shed but use it for running the plasma table mostly. I thought that was marginal for painting but I reckon when I paint . most of it disappears into the surrounds due to too much pressure maybe.

rob_man, Sep 29, 11:15pm
Nah that's heaps big enough for painting. The right pressure! that depends on what material you're using and a whole lot of other factors as well. Modern HVLP guns use less and here's where the recent habit of using the flow regulator on the gun instead of the regulator at the source has me a bit vague about how much pressure I'm using.
I can tell you that most people tend to have their pressure too high though.

attitudedesignz, Sep 29, 11:26pm
Yep, i've got a couple of HVLPs that are 25 psi max, they spray like you wouldn't beleive but holy c**p do ya think i can get my head around using such a low pressure. Ya have to practice and get in the mindset of "less is more" with a HVLP.

rob_man, Sep 29, 11:37pm
You can even use no air at all, the results aren't that great though. A few dribbles of paint across horizontal surfaces :=))

attitudedesignz, Sep 30, 12:22am
LMFAO, sounds like some one made a boo boo at some stage.

gunhand, Sep 30, 3:38am
Ive found over the years my ears are the best guide to pressure at the gun, as soon as I pull the trigger I know if its to high or to low. I have a regulator on my gun but adjust pressure at the wallwatertrap/presssure gauge. I spray at 30psi %99 of the time unless doing a fine touch up then may adjust way down.I run a 12cfm at home and have never run out of air painting cars. Air tools are a bit different but you still get a good run with them with a 12cfm.

joanie32, Oct 1, 8:27am
amazes me how someone who pulls a trigger on a paint gun is a compressed air specialist. Its like saying cause you can drive a car, your an ace mechanic. Its a trade all of its own,and most of whats written in this thread is nowhere near the mark sorry.

gunhand, Oct 1, 8:31am
What bits.

joanie32, Oct 1, 8:44am
I dont know where to start mate, Honestly forget all thats written above and call a good compressed air system company.Wont cost ya a penny.

rob_man, Oct 1, 8:44am
I have owned a lot of compressors and I do consider myself capable of making a judgement on what will suffice. There is a lot of dross in the thread but it's not from the painters.

joanie32, Oct 1, 8:46am
Disagree sorry.

rob_man, Oct 1, 8:48am
OK.

gunhand, Oct 1, 8:48am
Hmmmmm, yea calling a specilist isnt bad advice at all.