Thread: HVLP Vs Airless

Airless is used by house painters as it is more suited to the type of work they do.

As is forces paint out at high presure without any need for compressed air it works well especially inside as you don't create lots of overspray and masking is not necessary or only needs to be basic. It also makes painting surfaces especially porous ones easier and quicker as the paint is forces paint into any holes or grain where air operated guns prevent the paint form doing this.

HVLP is a method where the amount of pressure needed to operate the gun in lower so the overspray is less and you use less material as more paint goes onto the job rather than being blown away as overspray.
High Volume - lots of air/ Low Pressure - not as much pressure but you need a large compressor and usually larger air hoses to contend with the amounts of air used.

I don't think many house painters would find any great advantage in using HVLP against a good airless system for most of their work.

They would use airless where it could be used especially if large areas were involved. Rollers and brushes where they worked better.

Airless would be a good choise for weatherboards, a lot quicker then brush or roller and a lot less overspray than and compressed air spraygun.

Thanks Durwood.

Could an airless be used to paint doors with a fine tip ? I would think that the pressure would be too great and this is why I am looking at the HVLP. I have a Graco 395 airless and I will use it on weatherboards but for interior doors and frames I am not so sure.
Bakes

The airless should work on them perfectly. One way to find out try it. Airless is designed to spray ordinary surfaces and the high pressure is only right at the tip the pressure drops rapidly once it leaves the tip. At normal spraying distance the paint is hitting the paint surface just the same as a normal HVLP or other spray gun.

Obviously if the pressure is really high and your tip is large its going to pump out heaps of paint. A set up like this would be used on say your weatherboard sided house and a reduction in pressure and a small tip will allow you to do smaller pieces. As doors are a fairly large area by them selves I can't see why the finish would not be the same as the side of a house (if the gun and your spray technique is OK)

If the Graco 395 is the same as the one I just checked on which was for sale on ebay the pressure is adjustable and you can always pull the gun away further from the job.