Bill Schoenbeck wrote:

Hi, Sorry for the off topic post but there seems to be a large
knowledge base regarding Harbor freight products here. I'm looking to
buy a rig for spray painting. I would like it to be general purpose
for use with different finish products But my initial use will be with
latex house paint. I'd like to try HVLP for the advertised benefits of
less overspray and bounceback. I see HF has ITEM 7902-5VGA HVLP
conversion spray gun with a remote 2qt cup for $99.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...unction=Search
I like the remote cup as I could then spray overhead to do the eaves
on the new addition to the house and have to stop and fill the cup
less often. This unit looks suspiciously like the Wagner HVLP
conversion gun I have seen online at Wagner and Gleem Paint.
http://store.yahoo.com/gleempaint/hvcongunw2qr.html Has anyone used
the HF (or Wagner) rig with latex house paint? Did you thin the latex?
By how much? I have no doubt that either will work for lighter
finishes but am looking for further insight as to the thicker latex.
My compressor is a Devilbiss with a 25 gal. tank and claimed 5hp (no I
don't believe that) and claimed to supply 8.8 SCFM @ 40 psi (not sure
about that). Thanks for any info to make an informed purchase.

Bill

I have probably the same compressor as you and bought the
gun to paint popcorn ceilings with latex paint. I was never
able to get it to work satisfactorily with heavy latex. My
main objective was to reduce overspray and get better
coverage. It certainly achieved that, but it was very slow
and I think smooth coverage (not really needed with this
rough surface) would not have been possible. The fault may
be mine, but I was never able to adjust the gun to provide
adequate coverage at a decent rate. For example, the area
that a regular pressure gun would do it 15 minutes would
require an hour using the HVLP gun. The dilution rate that
I used was between 4 and 8 ounces of water plus 4-6 ounces
of Floetrol per quart. I didn't try higher dilutions as I
felt the hiding power would be too adversely affected.

OTOH, I painted a metal building roof with oil based enamel
and was satisfied with the results. I diluted the paint
with about 3 ounces of Penetrol per quart.

I had planed on painting doors with latex paint using this
gun, but have changed my mind as I believe that I could not
get a smooth coverage using the needle and orifice supplied
with this gun.